Tesla is currently developing their proprietary version of Self-Driving Cars. But the tech giant is now involved in a lawsuit against their former employee whom they claim stole confidential information and used it for his own company.
According to jalopnik.com, Tesla is suing former autopilot program manager Sterling Anderson for allegedly stealing confidential company information regarding their self-driving cars. The defendant then used the stolen information to build his own company along with Chris Urmson who has worked as the former head for Google's self-driving car.
It seems that both Anderson and Urmson will use their combined knowledge from Tesla and Google in their new venture. If this goes through, then they could potentially be a formidable competitor in the self-driving car business.
The lawsuit files six complaints against Anderson. The lawsuit basically says that Sterling Anderson breached his contract by stealing confidential information from Tesla. Chris Urmson and Aurora Innovation, the company the two founded, are also named as defendants in the suit.
In addition, based on a report from Bloomberg, Tesla wants a court order of halting Anderson's recruitment of former Tesla employees for Aurora. This is definitely an effort to stop Aurora from gaining more information from Tesla's development.
Tesla is now seeking monetary, non-monetary and punitive remedies against the defendants as well as compensatory damages. This means that if Aurora losses, the defendants would have to shoulder the legal expenses of Tesla.
Sterling Anderson in the meantime has denied the charges filed against him by Tesla. He says that the suit was a way for Tesla to limit their competition in the market. He then says that he looks forward to see them in court and disprove the allegations.
Tensions are heating up on the self-driving car industry as other companies are making moves according to Bloomberg. Google and Tesla are developing their own version of the car and it looks like a new competitor may come along for the ride. The problem now is the new kid on the block may be the better developer.
