According to The Loadstar, freight-tech start-up Freightmate has acknowledged acquiring and using approximately 2,000 confidential Flexport shipping documents, as a California federal court approved a settlement ending a high-profile AI trade secrets dispute on 9 October 2026.
Settlement resolves evidence-preservation dispute
The stipulated judgment followed a court ruling that Freightmate and its co-founders—Bryan Lacaillade and Yingwei (Jason) Zhao—failed to preserve electronic evidence relevant to Flexport’s claims, prejudicing the plaintiff’s ability to pursue its case. However, the judge found Flexport had not proved the defendants deliberately destroyed evidence with intent to obstruct litigation.
The settlement prohibits Freightmate from possessing or using any Flexport confidential data. An independent forensic examiner will inspect specified repositories by 30 January 2027 and oversee deletion or return of any remaining Flexport shipping documents—including those tied to approximately 70 shipments—and assess whether remediation of Freightmate products is required.
Freightmate will bear examination costs capped at $25,000, plus all necessary remediation expenses. The financial terms of the settlement remain confidential, and both parties will bear their own legal costs.
Timeline of document acquisition and deletion
Agreed facts filed ahead of a scheduled trial on 19 October detail how the documents moved between companies. In May 2024, while still employed by Flexport, Mr Zhao downloaded roughly 2,000 shipping documents—including bills of lading, packing lists, and arrival notices—from Flexport’s internal freight forwarding system and uploaded them to Freightmate’s Google Drive.
Small samples—approximately five to ten documents—were used to test ChatGPT’s ability to extract standard shipping information. The agreed facts do not establish that the documents were used to train Freightmate’s AI models or incorporated into finished products.
At 1 July 2024, at Mr Lacaillade’s direction, Flexport shipping documents were deleted from Freightmate’s Google Drive, email accounts, and personal devices—a step Freightmate described as part of a ‘clean room’ development process for its Docmate platform. The court ruled those deletions did not breach evidence-preservation obligations because litigation was not yet reasonably foreseeable.
Funding, intent, and competitive continuity
In May 2024, Freightmate secured a $650,000 investment while Mr Zhao remained employed by Flexport and had already become a Freightmate shareholder, director, and officer. Internal messages reveal early caution: in December 2023, Mr Lacaillade warned colleagues, “We cannot use Flexport resources for anything as we build this out based on our offer letter”, urging legal review of employment contracts.
Yet by March 2024, Mr Lacaillade told Mr Zhao: “Man it’s tough to focus on Flexport work when I’m so much more excited about the Freightmate work.” The judgment expressly allows Freightmate to continue competing with Flexport and independently developing and selling freight forwarding software.
“We’re glad to have this resolved. I’m incredibly grateful to our team, customers, and partners for their support throughout this journey, and we’re excited about what’s ahead for Freightmate.”
— Bryan Lacaillade, co-founder of Freightmate
Source: The Loadstar
Compiled from international media by the SCI.AI editorial team.
