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Hayden AI accuses ex-chief Christopher Carson of forging documents, secretly selling shares, and misusing company data to launch a rival firm
A high-profile artificial intelligence startup has filed a lawsuit against its former chief executive, accusing him of forging corporate documents, secretly selling company shares, and misusing confidential data before launching a competing business.
The company, Hayden AI, claims that its former co-founder and CEO Christopher Carson carried out a series of fraudulent actions while leading the firm. The allegations were detailed in a lawsuit filed in California state court in San Francisco.
The legal action also includes a surprising claim: after he was removed from the company, Carson allegedly threatened to escalate the dispute by contacting former Eric Adams, the mayor of New York City, over what he described as wrongful termination.
According to court filings, Hayden AI alleges that Carson secretly sold $1.2 million worth of company shares in January 2024 without approval from the company’s board.
To facilitate the sale, the lawsuit claims Carson forged board members’ signatures, copying them from an unrelated company document to create a fake resolution that appeared to authorize the transaction.
Hayden AI — a San Francisco-based artificial intelligence company valued at approximately $464 million — said the unauthorized sale caused discrepancies in its capitalization table maintained through Carta financial management platform, a financial management software widely used by startups.
The irregularities were eventually traced back to Carson, according to the complaint.
The company claims that around the same time as the alleged stock sale, Carson made a series of extravagant purchases.
Court documents state that he bought and renovated a $2.7 million waterfront home in Boca Raton, Florida, and spent heavily on luxury goods including designer watches and handbags.
The lawsuit also alleges that Carson purchased several high-end vehicles, including:
These purchases were allegedly funded using proceeds from the unauthorized share sale.
Hayden AI also claims that after the company removed Carson as CEO in September 2024, he attempted to pressure leadership by threatening to involve New York’s mayor.
“For now I am raising these concerns privately,” Carson allegedly wrote at the time. “But if they go unaddressed, I will escalate this matter — including through direct discussions with Mayor Eric Adams of New York City, with whom I’ve already had preliminary conversations.”
A spokesperson for Adams dismissed the claim.
“Mayor Adams would never get in the middle of a dispute between an employer and employee,” said Todd Shapiro, a spokesperson for the mayor. “If I had a quarter for every time someone said they were going to call the mayor, I’d be a rich man.”
Hayden AI has attracted significant financial backing, with approximately $177 million in investments from firms including TPG, Mitsubishi, and several venture capital investors.
The company also employs prominent industry figures, including former Microsoft executive Stuart McKee and former Anthony Foxx, who served as United States Secretary of Transportation and previously sat on Hayden AI’s board.
The startup’s technology installs AI-powered cameras on public buses in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., helping detect vehicles illegally parked in bus or bike lanes. Among its clients is the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Hayden AI’s lawsuit also claims Carson attempted to take proprietary information when the company began investigating him.
According to the complaint, Carson instructed an IT employee who was unaware of the internal probe to copy large amounts of company data onto a USB drive.
The company alleges that Carson later used 41 gigabytes of confidential information, including trade secrets and his entire email archive, to launch a competing company called EchoTwin AI, based in Boca Raton.
In September, EchoTwin AI reportedly raised $8 million in seed funding led by Metis Ventures, a venture capital firm based in Turkey. At least nine Hayden AI employees have since joined the new company, according to LinkedIn profiles.
Neither EchoTwin AI nor Metis Ventures responded to requests for comment.
The lawsuit also challenges Carson’s professional background.
According to the complaint, Carson claimed on his LinkedIn profile and resume that he earned a PhD from a Japanese university in 2007.
“That is a lie,” the lawsuit alleges, claiming that at the time Carson was instead operating “Splat Action Sports,” a paintball equipment business in a Florida strip mall.
The company further alleges that Carson misrepresented his military service, claiming he was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served during the first Gulf War.
The lawsuit states that Carson actually served only two years before being discharged, and that photographs he shared online in military uniform were allegedly from a Myanmar militia involved in the country’s civil conflict, not the U.S. Marines.
Hayden AI says it pursued private discussions with Carson for months before ultimately filing the lawsuit.
“We spent months attempting to resolve this privately, but it became clear that legal action was needed to protect our team, our customers and fair competition in our industry,” a company spokesperson said.
Carson has not publicly responded to the allegations or requests for comment.
As the legal dispute unfolds, the case could have significant implications for one of the fast-growing AI companies working at the intersection of transportation technology and urban infrastructure.
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