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Flexport-Freightmate Dispute Escalates Over Data Preservation in AI Development

A legal dispute between Flexport and freight-tech startup Freightmate is testing the boundaries of intellectual property ownership in logistics technology. The battle has shifted from trade secrets to data and workflow rights. Flexport filed a sanctions motion this month alleging that Freightmate and co-founders Yingwei Zhao and Bryan Lacaillade failed to preserve critical electronic evidence after leaving the company. Court filings indicate the former employees downloaded thousands of shipment-linked documents before establishing Freightmate. Flexport contends that records related to Google Cloud Platform resources, ChatGPT activity, AI prompts and development workflows were inadequately preserved once litigation became foreseeable. The company argues missing documentation could prove whether Flexport information influenced development of Freightmate's Docmate platform, an AI system for automating freight document processing.