In a setback to Uber, a federal judge has recommended that federal prosecutors begin a criminal investigation into the possibility of the theft of Waymo’s self-driving technology.
The theft allegations date back to February when Waymo, owned by Google parent company Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), sued Uber in February of this year after they said they believed Uber had carried out a “calculated theft” of its new self-driving technology.
This dispute is centred around former Google employee around Anthony Levandowski, who left Google to start his own autonomous vehicle company which was then later purchased by Uber. Levandowski is now the head of Uber’s self-driving car.
The team behind Waymo are arguing that before leaving Google, Levandowski downloaded 14,000 documents from Waymo servers in order to start his own company.
Levandowski is refusing to answer questions about the theft of the 14,000 documents or submit his personal computer for a search for the documents.
“Waymo has honored its obligation to arbitrate against Levandowski by arbitrating its claims (concerning employee poaching) against Levandowski. Its decision to bring separate claims against defendants in court was not only reasonable but also the only course available, since Waymo had no arbitration agreement with defendants.” Wrote Judge William Alsup.
Even though he is not a defendant here, moreover, Levandowski’s assertion of his Fifth Amendment privilege has obstructed and continues to obstruct both discovery and defendants’ ability to construct a complete narrative as to the fate of Waymo’s purloined files. As a practical matter, it is hard to imagine how consolidating proceedings as to Levandowski and defendants, whether here or in arbitration, could alleviate these difficulties,” he added.
Uber have said that Levandowski will temporarily step down from working on their self-driving vehicle while the case is being carried out.
Brian Horne, an intellectual property attorney at Knobbe Martens, said: “Certainly if you’re a defendant and your case gets sent to the US attorney, that’s probably not a good sign. I don’t think you want to be in that position.”