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Uber Fires Executive Accused of Stealing Google's Self-Driving Car Secrets (techcrunch.com)
According to The New York Times, Uber has fired Anthony Levandowski, the former head of its self-driving car project who is accused of stealing some 14,000 documents from Google's Waymo and using that information as the technological basis for Uber's self-driving cars. TechCrunch reports: During the court proceedings, Levandowski exercised his Fifth Amendment rights to avoid providing testimony or handing over evidence regarding his use of proprietary data from his time at Google. Uber had previously warned that Levandowski could face consequences for his lack of compliance with his employment requirements at the company. Uber confirmed via a spokesperson that Levandowski was terminated following months of the company attempting to have him comply with and assist its own internal investigation into the matter, and had set a clear deadline for him to do so. Uber also noted that Eric Meyhofer, who stepped in when Levandowski was removed from his role leading ATG in April, will continue to lead the team and take over Levandowski's direct reports.
Would that mean Waymo would be free to pursue criminal charges against Levandowski? How does this substantively change how the litigation moves forward? Seems more like Stall Theater to me. We fired that guy for not cooperating in a lawsuit we didn't want him to cooperate with in the first place.
That makes no sense.
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
I've been wondering about that. Nobody ever mentions the $680 Million that Uber paid for Otto.
Considering the short amount of time from Levandowski leaving Google, starting Otto and selling Otto to Uber, there wasn't enough time for him to actually build Otto into any sort of substantial company, so what exactly did Uber pay $680 Million for? The answer seems fairly obvious.