Uber Demotes Employee at the Core of Self-Driving Technology Lawsuit

by Matt Posky

Published: April 28th, 2017

uber demotes employee at the core of self driving technology lawsuit

Anthony Levandowski, the man at the nucleus of Alphabet Inc.’s intellectual property lawsuit against Uber Technologies, has abandoned his position as the team lead for the firm’s autonomous vehicle development.

Uber explained that Levandowski’s new role is less critical and has no authority over the company’s LIDAR technology, which he is accused of stealing from Alphabet’s Waymo when it was still part of Google. Since the lawsuit, Uber has done everything possible to distance itself from the man without outright firing him.

Levandowski stated that the the decision to remove himself from the light detection and ranging development team was reached after discussions with Uber’s cheif executive, Travis Kalanick. He claimed that that it was best to recuse himself from the LIDAR program for the duration of the lawsuit.

Eric Meyhofer, who worked at Carnegie Mellon’s National Robotics Engineer Center prior to joining Uber, has taken over as head of the company’s Advanced Technologies Group.

“I currently don’t provide input on detailed LIDAR design choices,” Levandowski wrote in an e-mail obtained by Bloomberg. “But making this organizational change means I will have absolutely no oversight over or input into our LIDAR work. Going forward, please make sure not to include me in meetings or email threads related to LIDAR, or ask me for advice on the topic.”

Waymo has repeatedly alleged that Levandowki stole its LIDAR designs when he was employed there and subsequently handed them over to Uber to use in its own autonomous vehicles. Levandowski joined Uber in 2016 when it acquired his autonomous trucking startup Otto.

In the legal battle, he has opted to exercise his Fifth Amendment rights and will not be testifying. The two companies are due back in court on May 3rd to debate a preliminary injunction that would prevent Uber from using any Waymo-derived technologies. Based upon earlier statements made by the judge hearing the trial, it should be quite the show.

[Image: Uber Technologies Inc.]

#AlphabetInc. #AnthonyLevandowski #AutomotiveTechnologies #AutonomousTechnology #EricMeyhofer #Lawsuits #LegalAction #Self-drivingCars #Uber #UberTechnologiesInc. #Waymo

Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

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Tinbad on Apr 28, 2017

Levandowski is a psychopath from all the accounts I've heard and embodies everything that's wrong with Silicon Valley. It seems like he really thought he could get away with conning Google and found a long lost twin in Kalanick. Not that Google or anyone else involved needs any sympathy but its enjoyable to see those two bros go down ;)

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- David C. Holzman on Apr 29, 2017
  
  +10
  
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- Stuki on Apr 29, 2017
  
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Levandowski So this guy is what's "WRONG????" with Silicon Valley???? And the gaggle of semi literate know-nothing-produce-less ambulance chasers trying to stick their useless, grubby fingers into some of the (no doubt by now excessive, but still....) valuations of stuff he has helped spawn, are somehow not? The dude's a bit reckless by contemporary PC standards. Kind of like Musk's public persona, I guess. But not at all by Wright Brothers and Manhattan Project ones. Imagine, an autonomous vehicle engineer busy putting all the knowledge and tech he can muster, into the cars he is in a position to supervise building. Instead of asking a bunch of hardly sentient leeches, for permission to turn around in his office chair.... The horrors, the horrors! If sitting around debating the future, taking everyones inputs in a conference room, and letting everyone have their say, while not hurting anyones feelings, had any merit whatsoever in the company of competent men; Soviet 5 year planners would all have been greater contributors to technology that the above Wrights and Manhattan Projecters. Alas, they were not. And neither will any too-stupid-to-do-the-math-required-for-engineering ambulance chaser ever be.
  
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Carguy67 on Apr 29, 2017

Presumably, he got several hundred million dollars from selling his 'company' to Uber. Wonder if Uber will claw that back if it loses its case?

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