Uber Technologies Inc 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 property.
The admission, contained in a court filing made on Thursday, is the latest twist in a 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 Anthony Levandowski, the former Google engineer at the crux of the case, stole its trade secrets before departing in January last year to found a robotic vehicle start-up that Uber acquired seven months later.
The lawsuit maintains that Uber then transplanted the intellectual property allegedly stolen by Levandowski into its own fleet of self-driving vehicles — a charge that Uber has adamantly denied since Waymo filed its complaint in US Federal Court four months ago.
Last month, US District Judge William Alsup ordered Uber to return the stolen files, writing that evidence indicated the company “knew or should have known that he possessed over 14,000 confidential Waymo files.”
Now, Uber has for the first time has acknowledged that Levandowski five months before joining Uber informed its now-departed CEO Travis Kalanick that Levandowski had five disks filled with Google’s information.
The disclosure, made in March last year, lends credence to Waymo’s allegation that Levandowski downloaded 14,000 documents onto a computer before leaving Google.
Uber said that Kalanick told Levandowski not to bring any of the Google information with him to Uber.
At that time, a deal had been reached for Uber to buy Levandowski’s start-up, Otto, for US$680 million, although the acquisition was not completed until August last year.
The filing asserts that Levandowski destroyed the disks containing Google’s material not long after Kalanick told him that Uber did not want it.
Levandowski’s lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
They have been advising Levandowski to assert his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination since Waymo filed its lawsuit.
Based on the evidence he has seen so far, Alsup has referred the case to the US Department of Justice for a potential criminal probe.
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