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Autonomous driving company Waymo alleged today in court that the formation of rival Otto was a ruse concocted between its founder Anthony Levandowski and eventual acquirer Uber to hide the fact that he immediately went to work for the ride-hailing company after leaving Waymo\u2019s parent company, Google.<\/p>\n
To prove its case, Waymo points to a stock grant with a vesting date of January 28, 2016 \u2014 the day after<\/em> Levandowski resigned without notice \u2014 that grants Levandowski more than 5 million shares in Uber. The shares are estimated to be worth more than $250 million.<\/p>\n Uber and Waymo are facing off in court today in their ongoing lawsuit over trade secret and patent infringement, where Waymo is seeking an injunction against Uber that would stop it from using Waymo\u2019s trade secrets in its self-driving car technology.<\/p>\n Waymo claims that a former engineer, Anthony Levandowski, stole 14,000 confidential files before leaving the company to start an autonomous truck company, Otto. Uber later acquired Otto<\/a> in a deal worth about $680 million.<\/p>\n An Uber spokesperson said that the stock grant was issued around the time of the Otto acquisition in August 2016, and that it is common for vesting deals to back-date to the formation of an acquired startup. Levandowski\u2019s stock grant is conditional, based on technical milestones \u2014 so he would have to deliver technology in exchange for stock. So far, none of his shares have vested.<\/p>\n While Waymo says the date of the agreement shows that Uber planned to acquire Otto much earlier than originally disclosed, Uber says the actual date of the agreement was much later. This point will likely be a pivotal one in the case ahead.<\/p>\n Waymo also displayed emails in court today sent between Uber executives. The emails showed discussions about meeting with Levandowski and the formation of a new company, referred to as \u201cNewCo.\u201d<\/p>\n One email showed Brian McClendon, an executive who formerly worked on Google Maps before joining Uber, discussing a meeting with Levandowski about LiDAR that allegedly took place January 13, 2016. Waymo has previously alleged that Levandowski met with Uber execs before his departure from Google. Another email on which McClendon was cc\u2019ed contained an attachment labeled \u201cNewCo_Milestones_v5\u201d and noted, \u201cThis list of deliverables is a high bar for sure. But then again so is what [Levandowski] is asking for in $$.\u201d (McClendon resigned from Uber in March<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Waymo also showed notes created by Scott Boehmke, a LiDAR expert Uber hired from Carnegie Mellon, that referenced \u201cNewCo\u201d as early as October 2015.<\/p>\n Despite this new evidence, Judge William Alsup appeared skeptical that Waymo could prove Uber is using its trade secrets and justify a preliminary injunction. \u201cYou didn\u2019t sue [Levandowski], you sued Uber,\u201d Alsup said. \u201cWhat if it turns out that Uber is totally innocent? Let\u2019s say they are totally innocent and the worst thing they did was pay a lot of money to hire a brilliant guy away from a competitor without realizing that he was downloading all this information?\u201d<\/p>\n Developing\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n Featured Image: ANGELO MERENDINO\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"\"](\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/04\/gettyimages-605519778.jpg?w=680\")
Autonomous driving company Waymo alleged today in court that the formation of rival Otto was a ruse concocted between its founder Anthony Levandowski and eventual acquirer Uber to hide the fact that he immediately went to work for the ride-hailing company after leaving Waymo’s parent company, Google. Read More<\/a><\/p>\n\n<\/img><\/a>
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