Judge Wants Investigation into Uber’s Alleged Theft of Waymo Technology

This week a US judge requested an investigation into the claim that Uber stole trade secrets from Waymo relating to autonomous driving technology.

District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco believes there is merit to Waymo’s lawsuit alleging that Uber leveraged the Google spinoff’s tech for its own self-driving vehicles. If true, this legal battle could have major implications on Uber’s autonomous driving division.

Quoth Reuters:

The case hinges on over 14,000 confidential files that Waymo, formerly Google’s self-driving car program, alleges were stolen by former Waymo employee Anthony Levandowski before he left the company. The acrimonious trade secrets battle could determine the future of Uber’s self-driving car operations and the strength of Waymo’s toehold in the sector.

Alsup did not take a side in court but admitted there is “ample evidence” that Uber did use patened Waymo technology in secret.

Uber says it remains confident the case will work out in its favor. Waymo, however, says Uber has grown “desperate.”