Google has filed a lawsuit against ride-hailing firm Uber for allegedly stealing trade secrets and technology related to its self-driving car. The lawsuit alleges that Otto’s co-founder Anthony Levandowski had downloaded “14,000 highly confidential and proprietary design files” when he was working with Google. The lawsuit was filed in a San Francisco federal court on Thursday, reported AP.
The company has sought an unspecified amount and demanded a court order prohibiting Uber from using its proprietary information, reported Reuters. “We believe these actions were part of a concerted plan to steal Waymo’s trade secrets and intellectual property,” said officials of Waymo, which was set up by Google’s parent firm Alphabet, according to BBC.
The alleged stolen technology is LiDAR, a laser-based radar system that helps the self-driving cars detect things around it. It is crucial component for autonomous driving systems. While other similar technologies have been very expensive, Waymo’s LiDar is cost effective, reported Reuters.
Waymo executives said that they detected the theft when one of their employees was copied in to an email meant for Otto’s staff. In the mail, there was an attachment that was reportedly the machine drawings of Otto’s LiDAR circuit board. “Its design bore a striking resemblance to Waymo’s unique LiDAR design,” Waymo said, according to BBC. They also alleged that Levandowski had installed a special software to download the confidential files and he formatted the laptop to delete all “forensic fingerprints”.
Uber said that it considered the allegations to be very serious and would “review the matter carefully”. While self-driven Otto was bought by Uber for $680m last year, Alphabet had set up Waymo earlier this year. However, Google claims that it has been developing this technology for almost seven years now.
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