Cummins will have to pay a California artificial intelligence company $23 million in damages after a Delaware court found it misappropriated trade secrets.
The AI company, C3 AI, was originally hired in 2020 to develop a fuel economy solution for the X15 engine. The agreement was renewed for two years before being dropped in 2023.
C3 says it was fired after Cummins secretly hired a team in India to replicate its work. Cummins announced its own AI-driven fuel optimization and prognostic tool in June 2023. C3 filed suit in November 2023.
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"We are grateful to the members of the jury for their service, their attention and their care," says Thomas M. Siebel, chairman and CEO of C3. "We placed our faith in the United States justice system and the justice system worked. This verdict is a rebuke of Cummins' actions that reflect poorly on Cummins' executive management."
Cummins respects the jury's role and the legal process, Director of Global Public Relations and External Communications Melinda Koski says, but it disagrees with the outcome of the case and stands by its commitment to conduct business with integrity and respect of the law.
