Judge: Google Self-driving Tech Appears To Be In Uber Designs

A U.S. Judge found "striking evidence suggesting" technology from Google's Waymo LLC did find its way into Uber's own self-driving car designs. Waymo has sued Uber claiming that its employee Anthony Levandowski, who previously worked at Waymo and then had his startup Otto acquired by Uber, took 14,000 files containing "trade secrets" on Lidar, technology used for self-driving cars, which he took with him to Uber. In the filing released Monday, the judge found evidence that "at least some information from Waymo's files has already found its way into Uber's Lidar designs." The judge ordered that Levandowski can no longer lead Uber's self-driving technology efforts, though he had already reportedly stepped down from Lidar-related work. Additionally, Waymo's counsel can inspect all of Uber's work involving Lidar. Uber is still allowed to work on its self-driving technology, despite Waymo's request that it be stopped.