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Waymo Wants Uber to Pay $2.6 Billion Over Alleged Trade Secret Theft (reuters.com)
Alphabet's Waymo unit is seeking about $2.6 billion from Uber
for the alleged theft of one of several trade secrets in a lawsuit over self-driving cars, a lawyer for Uber said on Wednesday. From a report: Uber attorney Bill Carmody disclosed the figure in a hearing in federal court in San Francisco, where both companies are discussing whether a trial in the case will begin next month. Waymo has asserted claims that Uber stole several of its trade secrets. The total amount of Waymo's damages request was not publicly disclosed at the hearing on Wednesday. Waymo claimed in a lawsuit earlier this year that former engineer Anthony Levandowski downloaded more than 14,000 confidential files before leaving to set up a self-driving truck company, which Uber acquired soon after.
If the documents were actually stolen and the damages can be proven, it's a reasonable amount. We are talking about an entirely new field of commerce, which has yet to produce a single product. At this stage, a theft of self-driving research material could easily be valued in the billions.
Uber's had $11billion worth of funding so far, and they're leaking money like a leaky lawyer, but they should be able to survive with that money lost (of course they are absolutely losing this lawsuit).
Still, waste a billion here and a billion there, pretty soon it adds up to real money. Waymo than I have.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
I'm sure this has nothing to do with the fact that Google is in talks to invest $1 Billion in Lyft. Wouldn't it be convenient if Lyft's primary competitor had a stranglehold put on their capital?
The amount of time and talent required to develop that technology before all of it's competitors is worth far more than $2.6B if Uber can release a product or service within the same year as Waymo. Frankly, this technology is worth hundreds of billions if not trillions of dollars. All of Uber's financing and assets should have been excoriated from them in their entirety. I hope I'm not underselling just how large an impact this technology is going to have. ;)
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At $185K per file, I'm reminded of the Music and Film Industry Associations of America... ;)
Yes, please can we stop participating in this deception that it's not Google? I swear this whole Alphabet thing is nothing more than an attempt to hide the unsavory shit and protect from liabilities. Anyone who plays along is complicit
We are talking about an entirely new field of commerce, which has yet to produce a single product. At this stage, a theft of self-driving research material could easily be valued in the billions.
Or a more cynical person could easily valuate the whole story to exactly ZERO dollars.
(You know, with the entire new field still needing yet to show capability to produce at least one single functional product, one could easily classify the whole thing as "science fiction / fantasy")
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I had to train my replacement from Waymo. He was stupid. Didn't know how to use a toilet.
The problem here is that we even have intellectual "property" and trade secrets. There is certainly value in knowledge, but the idea that one person can have exclusive control or knowledge is just disturbing. A free world is dependent on the free exchange of knowledge and communication. As a business owner I understand everyone’s wants to get an advantage, secure a market for themselves, and gain from returns on investments.
However these things also come at a very high price when you start to consider what all this means. It means reduced competition, increased work for less, a compromised democracy where we're not actually free to communicate for fear of reprisals if we say or communicate the wrong thing. And none of these laws event prevent "trade secrets" from being ferried out. We have serious espionage problems involving other countries we don't even control-like China and Russia.
I think a better way would be to revert to systems dating back to the founding of the United States. Before the United States had practically indefinite copy"right" (limited to 7 years initially and was suppose to be for the benefit of arts and sciences for the people, not private corporations, nor an elite that we have today) and before the United States had a position in the world we had competition. We borrowed what we needed and advanced at breakneck speeds. A world that copies is a world that advances faster. It's a world that isn't stagnant.
I'm not a socialist, but rather a principled libertarian, and think free trade and a free people trumps "security" and boarder walls/guards. America can compete, we have advantages, we can adapt to change, but we need to get rid of the barriers and inefficiencies and implement freedom of travel for EVERYONE (not just corporations) and freedom of communication, not just pretend like we have it. There should be no restrictions on peoples travel (drivers licenses, license plates, vehicular registration, passports, etc) or communications (ie copy"right", patents, etc). The socialist policies are what hold the world back- and what we have today- as much as we want to help the poor doing so on a massive scale via government results in economic collapse of economies and inhibits free trade and reduces competition. You can't let in every poor person and then implement a system that pays them to be there whether they are contributing to society or not. Socialism works when it's charitable and particularly at the smaller scale (families). For everything else there is charity. Something Americans used to be known for.
This is America and suing folks for ludicrous amounts of money is -- along with professional football -- our national sport. So, sure -- $2.6B.
I do wonder where they expect Uber -- which looks to be headed for Chapter 11(?) bankruptcy at flank speed -- would come up with $2.60. Much less $2.6B. But maybe that's the point. Raise Uber to the ground and sow the soil with salt. That'll teach the bastards not to mess with Waymo's IP.
You can't see ANYTHING from a car, You've got to get out of the goddamned contraption and walk...Edward Abbey