Alphabet-owned Waymo has been embroiled in a legal battle with cab-hailing service Uber for quite some time. Waymo claimed that Uber had acquired confidential information regarding the self-driving technology that belonged to the former. However, Uber has consistently denied that it had any intentions of stealing Waymo's autonomous car technology data. However, now Alphabet seems to be trying to delay its October 11 court date by saying that it requires more time to analyze new evidence that the company has acquired.
What is the delay about?
The initial charge that Waymo filed against Uber was that the cab-hailing company acquired the secret documents through a former Alphabet employee named Anthony Levandowski.
Waymo said that Levandowski stole the data while he worked for the company. After leaving Waymo, Levandowski started his own autonomous truck company, Otto. Uber acquired Otto, and through this acquisition, Levandowski's stolen Waymo documents also reached Uber.
The court announced on September 13 that Uber must hand over the stolen documents to Waymo in the form of a due diligence report. A Reuters report claimed that Uber has admitted to having more than 14,000 files that Levandowski took from Waymo, but the company has also maintained that it never intended to use any of these data to produce their own technologies. Instead, Uber has maintained that Levandowski downloaded the files in question so that he could use it as leverage to secure the bonus payments that Alphabet owed him.
A hearing for the case was scheduled to be held on October 11. However, the Alphabet-owned company claims that it requires additional time to go through the additional evidence that Uber was ordered to hand over recently. The company contends that it would be unfairly prejudiced if the case proceeded to court on the date above.
Why Waymo need the additional time
Some people feel that Waymo is now trying to delay the court date in order to approach an out-of-court settlement with Uber. While this is certainly possible, it could be what the company is saying. In the light of the new evidence that the due diligence report has revealed, Waymo investigators may require the additional time to go through the data.
A Waymo spokesperson revealed that the company is currently trying to collect expert opinions, depositions, and other testimonies regarding the new evidence.
New Uber CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi has recently taken up the mantle from former CEO Travis Kalanick. Kalanick was forced to resign in light of charges that he allowed the culture of sexual harassment in the company to continue. Waymo's lawsuit against Uber was filed when Kalanick still headed the company.
