Technology

Russia warns France over Telegram founder’s detainment, suggests it may be politically motivated

Published

1 year ago

August 27, 2024

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Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov

AOP.Press | Corbis | Getty Images

Russia on Tuesday issued words of caution to France over its detainment of Pavel Durov, the CEO and founder of messaging app Telegram, suggesting the move may be politically motivated.

On Saturday, the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office issued a warrant for Durov’s arrest over an investigation opened on July 8 into organized crime, drug trafficking, fraud, and the distribution of pornographic images of minors on the platform.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on a Tuesday call with journalists urged Paris to provide evidence to support its allegations against Durov, Reuters and Russian state news agency TASS reported.

“The charges are very serious indeed,” Peskov told reporters, according to Reuters-translated comments. “They require a no less serious basis of evidence. Otherwise they will be a direct attempt to limit freedom of communication.”

Peskov suggested that Durov’s arrest could be viewed as both restricting freedom of speech and an act of intimidation if France fails to provide serious evidence of his guilt, Reuters and TASS reported.

Although born in Russia, Durov holds citizenship of France and the UAE. Peskov indicated that Russia still considers him a citizen, however, and that the country stands ready to support him with necessary assistance — although Peskov admitted the situation was complex.

On Tuesday, the UAE said in a statement it had submitted a request to French officials offering Durov diplomatic assistance “in an urgent manner,” and was “closely following the case.”

Durov, 39, is one of Russia’s most prominent technology billionaires. He founded Telegram in 2013, marketing it as an uncensored and neutral platform, accessible to people from all walks of life and views.

Durov is estimated to have a net worth of about $15.5 billion, according to Forbes, making him the world’s 121st wealthiest person.

Russia blocked access to Telegram in 2018 and has fined the company several times for failing to delete allegedly illegal content. In 2020, access to Telegram was restored in Russia, sparking speculation that Telegram could have ties to the Russian government — something that Telegram has denied.

The social media app, which counts 800 million users globally, is widely used in Russia, as well as in Ukraine. The app is used by government officials and the military on both sides of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Before he landed at France’s Le Bourget airport on his private jet, Durov had visited Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, according to several media outlets. CNBC was not able to independently confirm this.

There had been speculation that he was due to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, however Peskov told the BBC that a meeting never took place.

Russia’s warnings to France come as relations between the two nations remain sour amid Putin’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. In April, Macron — a key supporter of Ukraine among Western leaders — said there was a “risk our Europe could die” if it doesn’t make reforms to help it defend Ukraine.

“The principal danger for European security is the war in Ukraine,” Macron said during a speech at the time.

– CNBC’s Ying Shan Lee and Natasha Turak contributed to this report

Technology

Figure AI sued by whistleblower who warned that startup’s robots could ‘fracture a human skull’

Published

7 hours ago

November 21, 2025

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$Figure AI sued by whistleblower who warned that startup's robots could 'fracture a human skull'$

Startup Figure AI is developing general-purpose humanoid robots.

Figure AI

Figure AI, an Nvidia-backed developer of humanoid robots, was sued by the startup’s former head of product safety who alleged that he was wrongfully terminated after warning top executives that the company’s robots “were powerful enough to fracture a human skull.”

Robert Gruendel, a principal robotic safety engineer, is the plaintiff in the suit filed Friday in a federal court in the Northern District of California. Gruendel’s attorneys describe their client as a whistleblower who was fired in September, days after lodging his “most direct and documented safety complaints.”

The suit lands two months after Figure was valued at $39 billion in a funding round led by Parkway Venture Capital. That’s a 15-fold increase in valuation from early 2024, when the company raised a round from investors including Jeff Bezos, Nvidia, and Microsoft.

In the complaint, Gruendel’s lawyers say the plaintiff warned Figure CEO Brett Adcock and Kyle Edelberg, chief engineer, about the robot’s lethal capabilities, and said one “had already carved a ¼-inch gash into a steel refrigerator door during a malfunction.”

The complaint also says Gruendel warned company leaders not to “downgrade” a “safety road map” that he had been asked to present to two prospective investors who ended up funding the company.

Gruendel worried that a “product safety plan which contributed to their decision to invest” had been “gutted” the same month Figure closed the investment round, a move that “could be interpreted as fraudulent,” the suit says.

The plaintiff’s concerns were “treated as obstacles, not obligations,” and the company cited a “vague ‘change in business direction’ as the pretext” for his termination, according to the suit.

Gruendel is seeking economic, compensatory and punitive damages and demanding a jury trial.

Figure didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Nor did attorneys for Gruendel.

The humanoid robot market remains nascent today, with companies like Tesla and Boston Dynamics pursuing futuristic offerings, alongside Figure, while China’s Unitree Robotics is preparing for an IPO. Morgan Stanley said in a report in May that adoption is “likely to accelerate in the 2030s” and could top $5 trillion by 2050.

Read the filing here: