Anthony Levandowski
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Uber has fired Anthony Levandowski, the engineer at the center of a self-driving lawsuit from Alphabet's autonomous vehicle unit Waymo, an Uber spoksperson confirmed.
Levandowski's termination, which is effective immediately, was earlier reported by The New York Times.
Levandowski's dismissal comes amid a bitter trade secrets lawsuit from Waymo, where he worked before departing to start his own self-driving truck company called Otto, which Uber acquired last year. Waymo alleges Levandowski downloaded thousands of files related to its self-driving program before departing, and that Uber is now benefitting from that information. Levandowski has pleaded the 5th Amendment and for months was not complying with the company's investigation into Waymo's claims. Uber has maintained in court documents and hearings that Waymo's information has not crossed into its systems.
Uber first demoted Levandowski on April 27, citing the need to remove him from leadership over work involving LiDAR – the technology at hand in the lawsuit – pending a trial. (LiDAR, which stands for light detection and ranging, is a laser system that helps self-driving cars see.) Uber then installed Eric Meyhofer as its self-driving program's leader. With Levandowski now out of the company, his direct reports will also fall under Meyhofer. US District Judge William Alsup told Uber that it had no excuse to "pull any punches" to force Levandowski to comply with a legal investigation into Waymo's claims that he stole its trade secrets on May 15.
The ride-hail company took the court's directive to heart. Earlier this month, legal filings showed that the ride-hail giant threatened to fire Levandowski if he did not cooperate with an investigation into allegations that he stole trade secrets from Alphabet's Waymo, his former employer. An Uber spokesperson said the company for months pressed Levandowski to comply with its internal investigation into the allegations, and set a deadline the engineer failed to meet.
Here's Uber's full termination letter to Levandowski:
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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