Tech
The SEC drops its four-year-old investigation into EV startup Faraday Future
The Securities and Exchange Commission has closed its investigation into electric vehicle startup Faraday Future, despite SEC staff on the case recommending an enforcement action last year, TechCrunch has learned.
Four sources familiar with the investigation, who were granted anonymity to speak about the government case, told TechCrunch that the SEC informed the company and people involved in the probe about the closure this past week.
The dismissal of the case comes amid a historic drop in enforcement actions by the SEC, which only initiated four cases against publicly-traded companies in its 2025 fiscal year, a recent report shows. The SEC did not respond to an after-hours request for comment.
The investigation into Faraday Future lasted for nearly four years. The SEC was looking at whether the EV startup made “false and misleading statements” when it went public in a 2021 merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), and was also probing whether Faraday Future faked the sales of its first electric vehicles in 2023 — a claim that’s been made by at least three former employee whistleblowers.
The financial regulator sent the startup multiple subpoenas, regulatory filings from Faraday Future show. The SEC also took depositions of multiple former employees and executives in 2024 and 2025, three of the people familiar with the case have told TechCrunch.
In July 2025, Faraday Future revealed the SEC had sent the company and multiple executives — including founder Jia Yueting — letters known as “Wells Notices.” The SEC sends Wells Notices when staff working a case have decided to recommend the agency take enforcement action.
“We can now put all our energy into strategy execution. Over the past five years, we had to spend a great deal of time, effort, and money on cooperating with the investigation,” Jia said in a statement Sunday. Faraday Future said the SEC informed the company that it won’t take action against any of its executives, either.
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It’s not clear if Faraday Future ever responded to the Wells Notices sent last year. As recently as February, the company disclosed in regulatory filings that it had not. “The Company and executives plan to engage with the SEC to explain why enforcement action is not warranted,” Faraday Future wrote in such a filing last month.
The Department of Justice also sent Faraday Future requests for information after the SEC opened its investigation in 2022. Faraday Future has referred to this as an “investigation” in regulatory filings; the DOJ has never confirmed if it opened a full probe, and it did not respond to an after-hours request for comment.
It is rare for the SEC to not pursue an enforcement action after sending a Wells Notice. One study done at the Wharton School in 2020 showed that around 85% of targets who receive a Wells Notice wind up in court with the SEC.
The SEC investigated nearly every electric vehicle startup that went public in a SPAC merger over the last six years. In almost all of those cases, the agency reached a settlement with the startups. It dismissed an investigation into Lucid Motors in 2023, and as TechCrunch first reported in February, the SEC ended a probe into bankrupt EV startup Fisker late last year.
Origins of the investigation
Faraday Future was founded in California in 2014 by Jia, a businessman who at the time was running a booming tech conglomerate in China known as LeEco. It was one of many new companies trying to become the “next Tesla” or, optimistically, a “Tesla killer.”
Faraday snapped up talent from Tesla, other automakers, and also tech companies like Apple, and at one point employed as many as around 1,400 employees. But things got bumpy quickly. The company turned heads, in both good and bad ways, at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show, with a flashy concept car and the lofty goal of being as disruptive as the iPhone.
The company revealed its first vehicle the following year: a luxury electric SUV called the FF91. By the end of 2017, though the company was nearly out of cash and had laid off or furloughed hundreds of workers. Jia’s company in China had collapsed, and he self-exiled to California as the government in his home country placed him on a debtor blacklist. (It was at this time that a close business associate to Jeffrey Epstein pitched the sex criminal on investing in Faraday Future, as well as other EV startups, as TechCrunch recently revealed. Epstein never invested.)
Faraday Future was rescued by an investment from major Chinese real estate conglomerate Evergrande. But that relationship fell apart quickly, too, with Evergrande walking away by the end of 2018 and Faraday Future laying off even more employees.
Jia nominally stepped aside as CEO in 2019 and also filed for personal bankruptcy to settle billions of dollars of LeEco debt he had personally guaranteed. But behind the scenes, he was still largely in charge of the company.
This became an issue when Faraday Future went public in 2021 and raised about $1 billion. Members of the newly-appointed public company board believed that Faraday’s executives had misrepresented Jia’s control over the day-to-day operations — especially after a short seller report was published that scrutinized Faraday Future — and formed a special committee to investigate.
That committee hired an outside law firm and a forensic accounting firm, and within the first few months it started reporting its findings directly to the SEC, the three people familiar with the investigation told TechCrunch.
Between January and April 2022, Jia was sidelined as a result of the board’s investigation, a senior VP named Matthias Aydt (who is now co-CEO with Jia) was placed on probation for six months, and another VP named Jerry Wang (who is Jia’s nephew) was suspended. (Wang ultimately resigned after “failure to cooperate with the investigation,” according to company filings, but is now back with Faraday Future.)
The committee’s work also showed that Faraday Future had, in the two years before it went public, survived in part on multi-million-dollar loans made to the company by low-level employees with connections to Jia — known as “related party transactions” in legal parlance.
On March 31, 2022, Faraday Future disclosed that the SEC had opened its investigation. The startup revealed the requests for information from the DOJ in June.
Dodging another bullet
Through the rest of 2022, and amid the early stages of the SEC investigation, employees and people close to Jia waged a campaign to regain control of the board and his company. This eventually resulted in death threats against some directors, who ultimately resigned, paving the way for people close to Jia to run the company once more.
Faraday Future finally delivered the first few FF91 SUVs in early 2023. Former employees have sued the company alleging that these were not true sales, and that the company had misled investors. The SEC investigators working the case subpoenaed Faraday Future about issues related to these sales, filings show.
Former executives and employees were initially deposed by the SEC in 2024, according to the people familiar with the investigation. The SEC sat some of them for longer depositions in the first half of 2025, the people said.
The Wells Notice sent in July 2025 said SEC staff had made “a preliminary determination to recommend that the Commission file an enforcement action against the Company alleging violations of various anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws.”
Specifically, the Wells Notice referenced “purported false or misleading statements” made during the SPAC merger process about “related party transactions” and Jia’s “role in the Company.” Jia, his nephew Wang, and two other unnamed employees also received Wells Notices.
Faraday Future is still trying to sell the FF91, but it has also recently changed its business in a few ways. The company is importing more affordable hybrid and electric vans from China. It also appears to be selling re-badged versions of Chinese robots, and turned a publicly-traded biotechnology company into a firm focused on crypto.
Those efforts have not stopped the company’s struggles. On Friday, the company announced it had received a warning from the Nasdaq that its stock price was under the minimum of $1, which could eventually lead to the company being de-listed.
This story has been updated with a statement from Faraday Future.
Tech
Sam Altman-backed fusion startup Helion in talks to sell power to OpenAI
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is stepping down as board chair of the Helion — the fusion startup he backs — amid reported talks between the two companies.
The deal, which was reported by Axios, is in early stages, and it could guarantee OpenAI 12.5% of Helion’s production — five gigawatts by 2030 and 50 gigawatts by 2035. OpenAI partner Microsoft signed a similar deal with Helion in 2023 to buy power starting in 2028.
If the figures in Axios’ report prove to be accurate, it suggests that Helion expects to be able to rapidly scale production of its fusion power plant. The startup has said that each of its reactors will generate 50 megawatts of electricity, meaning it will need to build and install 800 reactors by 2030 and an additional 7,200 by 2035.
Helion wouldn’t confirm if talks with OpenAI were underway. A spokesman told TechCrunch the company has not announced any new customer agreements beyond those it already has with Microsoft and Nucor. However, the company did confirm to TechCrunch that Altman is leaving the board chair of Helion, suggesting that the two companies may eventually work together.
“Sam is stepping down from Helion’s Board of Directors after more than a decade. This decision enables Helion and OpenAI to partner on future opportunities to bring zero-carbon, safe electricity to the world,” David Kirtley, co-founder and CEO of the company, told TechCrunch in statement. “We look forward to continuing to work with him in this new capacity.”
Helion is racing to build its first commercial-scale reactor by that time. If the startup is successful, it would place it years ahead of the competition, which is mostly targeting early 2030s for commercial operations.
The startup raised $425 million last year from investors, including Altman as well as firms Mithril, Lightspeed, and SoftBank.
Most fusion startups are pursuing one of two approaches — harvesting heat from the fusion reactions and using a steam turbine to turn it into electricity. Helion is taking a different tack, developing a reactor design that would use magnets to convert fusion energy into electricity.
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Inside the hourglass-shaped reactor, fusion fuel is first turned into plasma at either end and then shot toward each other using magnetic fields. When they collide in the middle, another set of magnets compresses the merged plasma ball until fusion occurs. The reaction pushes back on the magnets, which can convert that energy directly into electricity.
Helion is currently operating its Polaris prototype in advance of its push to commercial power. In February, the company generated plasmas inside the reactor that hit 150 million degrees Celsius, almost to the 200 million degrees Celsius the company thinks will be required for commercial operations.
Though Altman has stepped down from his position as chair of Helion’s board and reportedly recused himself from the discussions, his fingerprints are all over the matchmaking.
Last year, Altman stepped down as board chair of Oklo, a small modular nuclear reactor startup that had merged with his acquisition company, AltC. The move was intended to allow Oklo to explore strategic partnerships with leading AI companies, including potentially with OpenAI,” Caroline Cochran, Oklo’s co-founder and chief operating officer, said in a statement given to CNBC at the time.
Update 1:30 pm ET: Added confirmation from Helion regarding Altman stepping down as board chair.
Tech
FBI says Iranian hackers are using Telegram to steal data in malware attacks
Iranian government hackers are using Telegram as a way to steal data from hacked dissidents, opposition groups, and journalists who oppose the regime around the world, according to an FBI alert published on Friday.
In the first stage of the attack, the hackers contact their targets and pretend to be a known contact or tech support, and are tricked into accepting a link to a malicious file masquerading as legitimate apps, such as Telegram and WhatsApp. Once the target installs the malware, the second stage of the attack connects the infected victim with Telegram bots that allow the hackers to remotely command and control the victim’s computer. This allows the hackers to gain remote control of victims’ devices to steal files, take screenshots, and record Zoom calls, according to the FBI.
Using Telegram as a way to remotely control a victim’s device is a common technique by hackers to hide malicious activity among legitimate network traffic, which makes it harder for cybersecurity defenders and anti-malware products to identify.
According to the FBI, the hackers responsible for these attacks are allegedly working for Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS). The FBI said these attacks are an example of Iranian government hackers’ attempts to push the regime’s “geopolitical agenda.”
Contact Us
Do you have more information about Handala, or other Iran-linked hacking operations? From a non-work device, you can contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai securely on Signal at +1 917 257 1382, or via Telegram, Keybase and Wire @lorenzofb, or by email.
In the alert, the FBI mentioned the pro-Iranian and pro-Palestinian fake hacktivist group Handala, although it’s not clear if the attacks referenced in the alert were carried out by this group.
Earlier this month, Handala claimed responsibility for an attack on medical tech giant Stryker, which resulted in wiping tens of thousands of employee devices.
In an 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, Stryker said it is still recovering from the hack.
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Last week, the U.S. Justice Department accused Handala of being a front for Iran’s government, specifically the MOIS, and for being behind the Stryker hack. At the same time, the FBI took down and seized two websites linked to Handala, and two other sites linked to another Iranian hacktivist group called “Homeland Justice.” In the recent FBI alert, the bureau said the two groups are linked and controlled by the MOIS.
An FBI spokesperson said in an email that the bureau “has nothing additional to add.”
Telegram’s spokesperson Remi Vaughn said that the platform’s “moderators routinely remove any accounts found to be involved with malware.”
Updated to include the FBI’s and Telegram’s response.
Tech
Elizabeth Warren calls Pentagon’s decision to bar Anthropic ‘retaliation’
Anthropic is attracting an increasing number of supporters in its fight against the U.S. Department of Defense, which last month designated the AI lab as a supply-chain risk after it refused to make concessions on how its AI could be used by the military.
In a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) equated the DOD’s decision with “retaliation,” arguing that the Pentagon could simply have terminated its contract with the AI lab, CNBC reports.
“I am particularly concerned that the DoD is trying to strong-arm American companies into providing the Department with the tools to spy on American citizens and deploy fully autonomous weapons without adequate safeguards,” Warren wrote, per the report, adding that the barring of Anthropic “appears to be retaliation.”
Warren’s words echo many other organizations that have spoken out against the Defense Department’s treatment of Anthropic. Several tech companies and employees — including from OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft — as well as legal rights groups, have filed amicus briefs in support of Anthropic and denouncing the designation, which is usually applied to foreign adversaries and not U.S. firms.
The dispute arose after Anthropic told the Pentagon that it did not want its AI systems to be used for mass surveillance of Americans and that the technology wasn’t ready for use in targeting or firing decisions of lethal autonomous weapons without human intervention. The Pentagon contested that a private company shouldn’t dictate how the military uses technology, and soon after designated the company as a “supply-chain risk.” The label requires any company or agency that does work with the Pentagon to certify that it doesn’t use the designated company’s products or services — effectively barring Anthropic from working with any company that also works with the U.S. government.
The letter from Warren comes a day before a hearing in San Francisco on Tuesday, when District Judge Rita Lin will decide whether to grant Anthropic a preliminary injunction that seeks to preserve the status quo while its case against the DOD is litigated.
While Anthropic is suing the DOD for infringing on its First Amendment rights and for punishing the company based on ideological grounds, the Defense Department has maintained that Anthropic’s refusal to allow all lawful military uses of its technology was a business decision, not protected speech, and that the designation was a straightforward national security call and not punishment for the company’s views.
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The AI lab last week submitted two declarations to the court that claim the government’s logic is flawed as they depend on technical misunderstandings as well as points of concern that were not raised during the company’s negotiations with the DOD.
Warren has also written to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, asking for details of the company’s agreement with the DOD, which came just a day after the Pentagon blacklisted Anthropic.
Anthropic and the Defense Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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