Ever hear of Waymo? Waymo is a child company of Google. Also, Waymo dedicates itself to the Google self-driving car. Waymo has also been in a lawsuit with Uber. Waymo sues Uber: Who is right?
So, Waymo sues Uber as of February 23, 2017. Waymo claims Uber stole secrets about their self-driving car moves. Then the suit focused on Anthony?Levandowski, a former Google employee. He now works for Otto, a trucking company Uber bought. The lawsuit claims he downloaded Waymo’s confidential info, then sent it to Otto/Uber. It sounds like a soap opera, doesn’t it? But the plot gets better. Google used to invest in Uber, back during the ride sharing company’s early days in 2013. Uber went on it’s own. This strained their relationship. The strain remains to this day.
Hence, according to the lawsuit, Levandowski got ‘special software’ to get access to the secret file. He downloaded 9.7 GB of it. Then, he transferred it to an external hard drive that got in Uber/Otto’s hands. Furthermore, he allegedly used operating systems to erase his traces. Consequently, a Waymo spokesperson stands by this lawsuit. In a blog, they acknowledged the former alliance between Google and Uber. But they also said Google has to defend itself. An Uber spokesperson answered back. She said Uber takes such lawsuits seriously and will review the matter.
So Waymo sues Uber. I doubt this lawsuit will go quietly or peacefully. You see, self-driving technology is the next big thing in computer technology, IT service and IT support. You have the biggest tech companies racing to be the first to put self-driving cars on the street. The race has been going on for years. We can compare it to the space race of the 1960s, when nations raced to put a man on the moon. So Waymo sues Uber. Did Levandowski really give Waymo’s secrets to Uber? Was Uber involved? Is Waymo justified in filing this lawsuit? Or is this lawsuit Google’s tactic to gain an advantage in the self-driving car race?