Silicon Valley billionaire Thomas Siebel has accused the Italian energy company Enel SpA of copying the mental property of the software company C3.ai, which he runs.
C3, based in Redwood City and known for its data management and analytics software, accused Enel of misuse of trade secrets and breach of contract in an Italian civil case. C3 says it’s owed 2.1 billion euros ($2.3 billion).
“This is an unfortunate situation,” Siebel said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Thursday. “Enel was a valued customer who accessed many of our technologies. It appears that they copied thousands of lines of our source code.”
Enel declined to comment on the lawsuit or the interview.
However, relations between the 2 corporations deteriorated, and now C3 accuses Enel of stealing its mental property. According to a regulatory notice, C3 turned to Italian courts in February to file suit.
“We have to protect our intellectual property rights for the benefit of our shareholders, and that is what we are doing,” Siebel said within the interview.
The company has also filed a criminal grievance with Italian law enforcement authorities and is “considering” doing the identical with U.S. federal law enforcement authorities, the filing said.
In an interview with Bloomberg in May 2023, Siebel discussed the deteriorating relationship. “Enel has been enormously successful,” he said when asked in regards to the status of his dealings with the Italian energy giant.
“For some reason they decided they wanted to own their own platform and they're trying to build it themselves – we'll see how that goes,” he said on the time.
With a ticker symbol that literally means “AI,” C3 has been a serious subject of investor interest throughout 2023, with its shares doubling in value this 12 months. It was also a heavily shorted name, with sellers expressing skepticism about its technology.
– With support from Ed Ludlow.
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