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TECHNOLOGY Monday 26 June 2017

Uber knew fired exec had info at center of Google theft case

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE
AP Technology Writer
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) —
Uber acknowledged hiring
a former Google engineer
— now accused of stealing
self-driving car technology
— despite having received
warnings that he was still
carrying around some of
his former employer’s prop-
erty.
The admission, contained
in a Thursday court filing,
is the latest twist in a high-
profile legal fight between
the ride-hailing company
and a Google spin-off,
Waymo. Both companies
are battling to build self-
driving cars that could
reshape the way people
travel.
Waymo alleges that An-
thony Levandowski, the
former Google engineer at
the crux of the case, ripped
off its trade secrets before
departing in January 2016
to found a robotic vehicle
startup that Uber acquired
seven months later.
The lawsuit maintains that
Uber then transplanted the In this Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016, file photo, then-Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, left, and Anthony Levandowski, co-founder of Otto, pose
intellectual property alleg- for a photo in the lobby of Uber headquarters, in San Francisco.
edly stolen by Levandowski Associated Press
into its own fleet of self-driv-
ing vehicles — a charge Now, Uber has for the first ments on to a computer The filing asserts that Levan- Uber comes a few weeks
that Uber has adamantly time has acknowledged before leaving Google. dowski destroyed the disks after the company fired
denied since Waymo filed that Levandowski informed Uber, though, says Kalanick containing Google’s mate- Levandowski for refusing to
its complaint in federal its now-departed CEO , told Levandowski not to rial not long after Kalanick relinquish his Fifth Amend-
court four months ago. Travis Kalanick, that he bring any of the Google told him that Uber didn’t ment rights and cooperate
In May, U.S. District Judge had five disks filled with information with him to want the information on with its efforts to defend it-
William Alsup ordered Uber Google’s information five Uber. At that time, a deal them. self against Waymo’s suit.
to return the stolen files, months before joining had been reached for Levandowski’s lawyers Kalanick resigned as Uber’s
writing that evidence indi- Uber. The disclosure, made Uber to buy Levandowski’s didn’t immediately re- CEO Tuesday week after
cated the company “knew in March 2016, lends cre- startup, Otto, for $680 mil- spond to requests for com- investors demanded he
or should have known that dence to Waymo’s alle- lion, though the acquisition ment. They have been step down. The investors
he possessed over 14,000 gation that Levandowski wasn’t completed until Au- advising Levandowski to who have financed Uber’s
confidential Waymo files.” downloaded 14,000 docu- gust 2016. assert his Fifth Amendment growth had concluded Ka-
right against self-incrimina- lanick had to go following
tion since Waymo filed its revelations of sexual ha-
lawsuit. rassment in the company’s
Based on the evidence he office, a federal investiga-
has seen so far, Alsup has tion into company tactics
already referred the case used to thwart regulators,
to the Justice Department and the threat of even
for a potential criminal in- more trouble posed by the
vestigation. Waymo lawsuit.q
The scenario sketched by