Connect with us

News

Tesla’s Elon Musk talks Rivian lawsuit, “They’re doing bad things, so we sued them”

Published

on

Tesla CEO opened up about his company’s recently opened lawsuit against fellow electric carmaker Rivian in a recent interview, stating that the rival carmaker was “absolutely” poaching employees and stealing secrets.

Musk sat down for the final portion of a three-part interview with Automotive News’ Jason Stein, who asked the CEO of the largest automaker in the world if Rivian was poaching the company’s employees and stealing intellectual property.

“Is Rivian poaching your employees as you have alleged in a lawsuit,” Stein asked Musk.

“Yeah, absolutely. Of course,” Musk quickly answered. “I mean it’s not like a massive percentage, but they’ve definitely taken a bunch of Tesla’s intellectual property.”

Tesla opened a lawsuit against Rivian in late July, stating that an “alarming pattern” of poaching employees and thriving secrets had occurred. The lawsuit claims that former employees of Tesla took highly sensitive information with them after they left the electric automaker to work for Rivian.

Advertisement

A complaint filed by Tesla stated, “Misappropriating Tesla’s competitively useful confidential information when leaving Tesla for a new employer is obviously wrong and risky.”

Musk says that the former Tesla employees stole information through thumb drives and personal computers and took the highly sensitive documents to Rivian. “It’s not cool to steal our IP, and for people to violate their confidentiality agreements…that kind of thing,” Musk said. “They’re doing bad things, so we sued them.”

Rivian R1T (Credit: Reddit | u/Rhinotjv)

Interestingly enough, investigators have questioned several employees that left Tesla for Rivian, and at least one of them has admitted to taking company secrets when changing employers.

The complaint from Tesla states that Tami Pascale, a former Senior Staffing Manager for Tesla, “took at least ten confidential and proprietary documents from Tesla’s network, which would allow Rivian to poach Tesla’s highest-performing talent and promising employment prospects.”

Additionally, Pascale admitted to investigators that she confessed to taking confidential and sensitive information about Tesla’s prospective employees. She lied about having Tesla documents on a company laptop. When investigators “confronted her with specific documents she had taken, Pascale finally confessed to taking the confidential and proprietary documents,” the complaint says.

Tesla has been pretty open with its information in the past. Musk has stated on numerous occasions that the company’s patents are open and free to use, especially if it will increase the push toward sustainable transport. However, poaching Tesla’s possible employees and developmental talent is not apart of the deal, which is why the company decided to take Rivian to court.

Advertisement

Musk has been open and honest about helping other manufacturers obtain battery and EV tech if they are willing to push toward an electric fleet. In a Tweet from late July, Musk said, “Tesla is open to licensing software and supplying powertrains & batteries. We’re just trying to accelerate sustainable energy, not crush competitors!”

The full complaint in Tesla’s lawsuit against Rivian is available below.

Tesla lawsuit vs. Rivian 20CV368472 by Joey Klender on Scribd

Advertisement

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

Advertisement
Comments

News

Tesla creates clever solution to simplify and improve its Service

Raj Jegannathan, a Vice President of IT/AI-Infra, Apps, Infosec, and Vehicle Service Operations, revealed that Tesla has started a small pilot program at a few service locations to combat this issue.

Published

on

tesla service
Credit: Tesla

Tesla has created a clever solution to simplify and improve its Service. Tesla performs most of the services that are needed on its vehicles at its company-owned Service Centers.

However, service has been a weak point of the company, as some regions have fewer Service Centers than others. This can cause long wait times for Tesla owners in some parts of the country.

There are also instances where customers do not agree with what Tesla is saying about their vehicle. In fact, one instance that revealed this new change Tesla is making to its Service was precisely that.

One owner posted on X that his vehicle’s battery seal had failed after a recall was issued. Tesla insurance and Tesla Service both did not assist, and it took CEO Elon Musk stepping in to get the issue resolved:

Another owner suggested there should be a more streamlined communications process between the customer and the Service Center, a solution that has been missing.

Raj Jegannathan, a Vice President of IT/AI-Infra, Apps, Infosec, and Vehicle Service Operations, revealed that Tesla has started a small pilot program at a few service locations to combat this issue.

Elon Musk wants Tesla Service to fix two-thirds of cars in the same day

Jegannathan said that Tesla has started to share local and regional leader contact information so customers have the ability to reach out when they have complaints or disagree with warranty claims, changes in estimates, or initial diagnostics.

Advertisement

It is available in a handful of locations already, and Jegannathan said that once abuse guardrails are built, this will expand to all locations:

This would be a major improvement in the Service portion of Tesla’s business. There are common disagreements between Service and customers, specifically when Service’s suggestions don’t align with the customer’s beliefs.

When it comes to things like a warranty claim, these issues are not really up for interpretation. Instead, the repairs should be made. If there is a misunderstanding on Service’s side, a simple message from the customer could have resolved the issue. That’s basically what happened here.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Investor's Corner

Tesla gets its best analysis from Morgan Stanley as ‘it’s all about to change’

He maintained its ‘Overweight’ rating and the $410 price target Morgan Stanley had on the stock.

Published

on

(Credit: Tesla)

Tesla has gotten perhaps its best analysis from Morgan Stanley in quite some time, as the Wall Street firm claims that “it’s all about to change.”

That phrase could be used for both the company’s status and the world in general.

Analyst Adam Jonas said in a new note on Thursday to investors that Tesla could be one of the major winners in terms of the global transition from what it is now to what it will be.

He describes the global shift that will occur over the next few years:

“Have you interacted with a robot today? Have you even seen a robot today? No? Well, take a mental picture because it’s all about to change. When we meet someone who has never been in a Waymo or a Tesla Cybercab (which is most people), we frequently see a wince and a response such as ‘I’m not sure I’d feel comfortable getting in a car without a driver.’ We imagine going back in time to 1903 and asking people if they’d feel comfortable in an airplane.’”

Advertisement

The same technological revolutions that have occurred over the past 150 years will continue to occur again and again. We are on the verge of another, Jonas believes, as companies like Tesla are working on artificial intelligence tech, which includes changing the way we look at things like transportation and labor.

Jonas includes an interesting tidbit in his note about how humanoid robots could change wages, and how it could work into the advantage of Tesla, especially as it is developing its own Optimus robot:

“We estimate 1 humanoid robot at $5/hour can do the work of 2 humans at $25/hour, generating an NPV of approximately $200k/humanoid. 1 robot shaped car can potentially drive down cost/mile of a ride share vehicle to <$0.20 mile (1/10th human-driven ride-share).”

Jonas sees Tesla as a key player in how AI will impact things like manufacturing and various automotive industries, and he believes there is long-term potential for AI, robomobility, and even autonomous eVTOL platforms.

Tesla stock: Morgan Stanley says eVTOL is calling Elon Musk for new chapter

Advertisement

He maintained its ‘Overweight’ rating and the $410 price target Morgan Stanley had on the stock.

Continue Reading

Elon Musk

Tesla expands Robotaxi program in Austin to new riders

Tesla has been expanding both the rider group and the geofence in Austin slowly, making sure to prioritize safety and avoid any major events with the early rollout.

Published

on

Credit: @TerrapinTerpene/X

Tesla is expanding its Robotaxi program in Austin, Texas, as several people have received invitations to participate and take rides.

Tesla first launched the Robotaxi platform on June 22. It invited a handful of people to participate in the first-ever public rides. We were lucky enough to get an invitation, and our permissions have been expanded in the Bay Area pilot program as well.

The group was small and consisted of big names in the Tesla community. It expanded and is continuing to offer these exclusive invitations to notable members of the Tesla community.

There have been fewer than five subsequent invitations after the first group’s were sent in late June:

Tesla has been expanding both the rider group and the geofence in Austin slowly, making sure to prioritize safety and avoid any major events with the early rollout.

Advertisement

Tesla’s new Robotaxi geofence shape is an FU by Elon Musk to the competition

“We are being very cautious. We do not want to take any chances, so we are going to go cautiously. But the service areas and the number of vehicles in operation will increase at a hyper-exponential rate,” CEO Elon Musk said during the Q2 Earnings Call.

Eventually, the Robotaxi platform will not require an invite, and it will operate without geofences. Musk believes Tesla can get there within three or six months, and plans to have at least half of the U.S. population with access to a Robotaxi by the end of the year:

Advertisement

“I think we will probably have autonomous ride-hailing in probably half the population of the U.S. by the end of the year. That’s at least our goal, subject to regulatory approvals. I think we will technically be able to do it. Assuming we have regulatory approvals, it’s probably addressing half the population of the U.S. by the end of the year.”

Tesla plans to have regulatory approval in Nevada, Arizona, and Florida sooner than in other states.

Continue Reading

Trending