时间:2025-09-16 16:31:11 来源:网络整理编辑:焦點
If you thought the Waymo v. Uber trial wrapped up when the companies settled early last year ... wel
If you thought the Waymo v. Uber trial wrapped up when the companies settled early last year ... well, nope.
An unsealed federal indictment Tuesday revealed 33 charges against engineer-turned-executive Anthony Levandowski, whose arraignment is set for this afternoon in San Jose. If convicted, Levandowski faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Levandowski was an engineer at what was then called Project Chauffeur at Google (it later became Waymo) before he started his own autonomous truck company, Otto, in 2015. That business was quickly snatched up for $680 million by Uber, which was starting to develop its own self-driving car program.
The indictment states that Levandowski took 14,000 files related to light sensors, or LiDAR, from Google, put them on his personal laptop, and brought them to Uber.
The indictment is already affecting the self-driving industry. Last year, Levandowski launched a new driver assistance company called Pronto focused on truck drivers. When the charges were unsealed Tuesday, the company announced that Levandowski was no longer the CEO and Pronto's chief safety officer would take on the role.
"The criminal charges filed against Anthony relate exclusively to [LiDAR] and do not in any way involve Pronto’s ground-breaking technology," the statement read. "Of course, we are fully supportive of Anthony and his family during this period."
When Pronto first launched, Levandowski wrote a blog post that included the line, "Yes, I'm back."
Waymo's response to the indictment over its stolen materials was measured, calling Levandowski a "former Project Chauffeur employee." A spokesperson said in an email, "We have always believed competition should be fueled by innovation, and we appreciate the work of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI on this case.”
Uber fired Levandowski in 2017. In response to the charges, a spokesperson said, "We’ve cooperated with the government throughout their investigation and will continue to do so.”
Back in February 2018, after four days of testimony (we heard nothing from Levandowski, who invoked the Fifth Amendment), Waymo and Uber settled, with Uber agreeing to give Google parent company Alphabet .34 percent equity, worth $245 million.
UPDATE: Aug. 27, 2019, 4:40 p.m. PDT A statement from Uber was added above.
TopicsSelf-Driving CarsUber
Hiddleswift finally followed each other on Instagram after 3 excruciating days2025-09-16 16:31
Mark Zuckerberg posts Oculus VR film profiling prison inmates changing their lives2025-09-16 16:29
Tim Cook will take his Apple Watch secret to the grave2025-09-16 16:08
Margot Robbie slapped Leonardo DiCaprio at the 'The Wolf of Wall Street' audition2025-09-16 15:50
Honda's all2025-09-16 15:28
Forget scissors and combs—get your hair cut by an ax, if you're brave enough2025-09-16 15:27
An Instagram bug is preventing users from temporarily disabling their accounts2025-09-16 15:07
Tim Cook just announced $1 billion Apple fund to advance U.S. manufacturing jobs2025-09-16 15:05
Katy Perry talks 'Rise,' her next batch of songs, and how to survive Twitter2025-09-16 14:02
WhatsApp's Snapchat Stories clone now has more users than Snapchat2025-09-16 13:50
Early Apple2025-09-16 16:24
Daughter tweets her mom's brilliant plan to screw over a Trump rally2025-09-16 16:20
I tried an Instagram caption generator and the results were hilarious2025-09-16 16:17
WhatsApp's Snapchat Stories clone now has more users than Snapchat2025-09-16 16:10
The Weeknd teases new music in Instagram post2025-09-16 16:10
Facebook tries to pop your media bubble with new related articles feature2025-09-16 15:50
Google Home update allows Assistant to access 5 million new recipes2025-09-16 14:37
Finally, the VR esports tournament Oculus gamers have been waiting for2025-09-16 14:35
5 people Tim Cook calls for advice on running the biggest company in the world2025-09-16 14:12
Bill Gates blogs about why he is 'impressed' with the Indian PM2025-09-16 13:48