Asian Tech Press (Oct 11) -- Tesla Inc. issued its latest response to an earlier lawsuit against a firm backed by Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi, according to several Chinese media reports on Tuesday.

Tesla said Gu, a former Tesla R&D staff member, took advantage of his position to illegally download a large number of technical secrets of Tesla vehicles and privately provided technical services to Bingling Intelligent Technology (Changzhou) Co. while in office, allegedly leaking Tesla's technical secrets.

The U.S. automaker said, "After investigation, Tesla dismissed Gu in September 2022 and decided to file a lawsuit against Gu and Bingling Intelligent Technology."

The case is currently under trial, according to Tesla on Tuesday.

Tesla Shanghai Co. Ltd. sued Bingling Intelligent Technology (Changzhou) Co. in the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court over infringement of technical secrets and unfair competition disputes, according to information exposed in early September by Tianyancha, an online platform providing Chinese enterprise information.

Founded in May 2022, Bingling Intelligent Technology is now an emerging player in the field of new energy vehicle sensors in China.

In March this year, Bingling Intelligent Technology introduced Beijing Xiaomi Zhizao Equity Investment Fund Partnership, a Xiaomi shareholding firm, as its second largest shareholder, with a stake of 11.86%.