LiDAR is the piece of technology that allows the car to “see” its surroundings and what lies ahead on the roads. It is proving a lucrative industry as many companies are developing their own in-house systems.
Today’s hearing will see both companies, for the first time, lay out their cases in front of Judge William Alsup, who presided over the Oracle v Google case in 2012. Waymo has requested an injunction against Uber to stop them from using the disputed tech, while Uber has denied all allegations.
The case centres around Anthony Levandowski, who formerly worked for Google, but then left to found a self-driving truck startup called Otto, which was then acquired by Uber only six months later. Levandowski was head of Uber’s self-driving department until the trial caused him to step aside.
Waymo asserts that Levandowski downloaded more than 14,000 files relating to the self-driving technology in his time at the company before taking them to his new venture. A case of a mistaken email, sent from one Uber’s suppliers for LiDAR equipment to Waymo, is what sparked it all off, as it was seen that the technology bore a strong resemblance to its own design.
Despite not being named directly in the lawsuit, Levandowski has already plead the Fifth Amendment more than 400 times in 6 hours when Waymo attempted to depose him. Uber’s claim is that the 14,000 files in question never made their way to Uber’s servers.
References: BBC Business Insider
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