Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

NewsTimes.co.ukNewsTimes.co.uk

MONEY

Google’s parent company accuses Uber of using stolen Lidar tech to speed up its self-driving car development

The race to bring self-driving cars to the road got uglier this week as the self-driving car company owned by Google parent Alphabet accused Uber of using stolen technology to speed up its autonomous car development.

Waymo filed a lawsuit against Uber on Thursday accusing the ride-hailing company of stealing its trade secrets.

“Competition in the self-driving space is a good thing; it pushes everyone to develop better, safer and more affordable technology. But we believe that competition should be fueled by innovation in the labs and on the roads, not through unlawful actions,” the Waymo team said in a Medium post announcing the suit, which names both Uber and Otto, a startup owned by the ride-hailing company, as defendants.

It alleges Mr Levandowski downloaded over 14,000 highly confidential design files including some relating to what they call a LiDAR system of radar-like technology that allows self-driving cars to map the environment around them – thereby allowing Uber and Otto to fast-track its self-driving technology.

“Misappropriating this technology is akin to stealing a secret recipe from a beverage company,” the company’s spokespeople wrote, adding  “hundreds of Waymo engineers have spent thousands of hours, and our company has invested millions of dollars to design a highly specialized and unique LiDAR system.”

Uber said it took the allegations seriously and would review the matter carefully.

The lawsuit puts both companies in an awkward position as Google Ventures, another Alphabet subsidiary, is also an Uber investor.

“We didn’t make this decision lightly,” wrote Waymo.

“However, given the overwhelming facts that our technology has been stolen, we have no choice but to defend our investment and development of this unique technology.”

Last month, Tesla sued the former head of its autopilot system. It said he tried to recruit Tesla engineers for his new venture with the former head of Google’s self-driving program while still working there, and said he stole proprietary data belonging to Tesla.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Read more at independent.co.uk

You May Also Like

UK NEWS

Professing to be the lead in Thai relationship with over 1.5 million enrolled single people, Cupid Media’s ThaiCupid brings the one in every of...

UK NEWS

Read more about switzerland women here. Swiss ladies and men are not reknown for being the most chatty, outgoing or spontaneous when meeting strangers...

WORLD NEWS

An exclusive article form Orestis Karipis In the 1930’s and 1940’s acid was the weapon of deceived husbands and wives in the Western world...

FOOD TIPS

In food, if there is one thing you can say without fear of contradiction, it is this: Britain loves burgers. The UK market is...

Copyright © 2020 NewsTimes.co.uk All Rights Reserved