Tesla did not say whether he believed Khatilov had coordinated with others. However, he warned that he “did not discover” all of Khatilov’s actions and that he could still be sharing Tesla’s files. The employee had to work remotely due to the pandemic, making it difficult to check whether the files were deleted.
The automaker has been highly protective of its technology in the past, having sued Rivian and Zoox for allegedly hiring recruits who brought Tesla secrets with them. This is in addition to prosecuting individuals like Martin Tripp, who Elon Musk called a “saboteur”. Khatilov’s case, if true, is likely to only increase Tesla’s concerns about stealing trade secrets – if people sign up just to steal automation tools, Tesla may feel justified in jealously protecting its motor vehicle technology and self-directed very important.