SELF-DRIVING CARS
Uber and Waymo court battle starts
San Francisco — A billion-dollar trial pitting Alphabet-owned autonomous driving unit Waymo against Uber starts on Monday in what could be a blockbuster case over alleged theft of trade secrets. The San Francisco courtroom battle will take place as Waymo and Uber race to perfect self-driving cars people could summon for rides in a turn away from car ownership. The list of witnesses who might be called to testify includes ousted Uber chief Travis Kalanick as well as Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page. The trial stems from a lawsuit filed in 2017 by Waymo — formerly the Google car unit — claiming former manager Anthony Levandowski left with technical data to launch competing venture Otto, later acquired by Uber. Levandowski is expected to appear before federal judge William Alsup. Uber confirmed in 2017 that it fired Levandowski just ahead of a date set by a judge for the San Francisco-based ridesharing group to return files taken from Waymo. Waymo’s lawsuit contends that in D...
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