Uber's Self-Driving Car Chief Steps Aside During Spat With Alphabet -- Update
April 27 2017 - 7:19PM
Dow Jones News
By Greg Bensinger
Anthony Levandowski, the man at the center of Uber Technologies
Inc.'s legal spat with rival Alphabet Inc. over allegedly stolen
self-driving car technology, is stepping aside as chief of the high
profile Uber project.
Mr. Levandowski said in a note to staff Thursday that while the
lawsuit is under way he is relinquishing his role as head of Uber's
Advanced Technologies Group, which is overseeing development of
autonomous vehicles. He will be replaced by Eric Meyhofer, a lead
engineer in the division in Uber's Pittsburgh office.
As part of the shift, Mr. Levandowski said, he would no longer
report to Uber Chief Executive Travis Kalanick. Instead, he will
report to Mr. Meyhofer. Mr. Levandowski asked staff to leave him
out of discussions about development of sensors for self-driving
vehicles known as lidar, which are a focus of the lawsuit.
"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," said Mr. Levandowski in the email, seen by The Wall Street
Journal. "With this move, I hope to keep the team focused on
achieving the vision that brought us all here."
Uber said it didn't have a statement beyond the email and said
Mr. Levandowski wasn't available for further comment.
Business Insider reported on Mr. Levandowski's email
earlier.
Alphabet sued Uber in February, alleging the ride-hailing firm
is using stolen technology in its development of autonomous
vehicles. Last year, Uber acquired Otto, a self-driving big-rig
firm that Mr. Levandowski founded after he stopped working for
Google's self-driving car program. Alphabet claims it uses
technology he took with him without permission when he left
Alphabet's Google.
Waymo, Alphabet's autonomous vehicles business, has requested
the federal judge halt Uber's development of lidar and block Mr.
Levandowski from continuing to work on the project.
The development of self-driving vehicles is crucial for Uber, as
payments to drivers are one of its chief expenses. As a result, the
case threatens Mr. Kalanick plans to one day have a fleet of
autonomous cars picking up and dropping off passengers around the
clock, a shift he has said is "existential."
Alphabet has accused Mr. Levandowski of conspiring to form Otto
using 14,000 files he took from Google in early 2016 without the
company's permission. And the Mountain View, Calif., company
alleges Uber was complicit in the theft when it acquired Otto last
year for about $680 million.
Alphabet alleges that Mr. Levandowski began preliminary
discussions with Uber as early as 2015 about forming an autonomous
vehicle company that Uber could buy.
Uber has denied wrongdoing and is contesting the lawsuit.
Mr. Levandowski, 37 years old, has sought in court proceedings
to invoke his right against self-incrimination by keeping private
certain documents. Nonetheless, a federal judge this week said
those rights do not preclude the documents' disclosure and that
Uber would be compelled to turn over the evidence.
Write to Greg Bensinger at greg.bensinger@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 27, 2017 19:04 ET (23:04 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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