Uber-Waymo Dispute: Alleged Stolen Self-Driving Technology To Undergo Exam; Uber Prepares To Hit Back

After the court Thursday called Waymo’s allegations against Uber “pretty convincing,” a federal judge said an expert will examine Uber’s self-driving technology, which was allegedly stolen.

Uber is all set to hit back and will lay out its response in the case in the court Friday morning. According to a report published Thursday by Business Insider, Uber will argue that the alleged 14,000 stolen files were never made a part of Uber’s self-driving technology. It will further claim that its “Lidar unit, a laser-based sensor that's a key component of self-driving cars, is nothing like what the Google spin-out believes.”

The case seems to have been gaining a lot of attention with two of the most powerful tech companies pressing charges against each other.

"This is an extraordinary case," U.S. District Judge William Alsup said during a hearing Wednesday, according to the Insider.

"I've never seen a record this strong in 42 years. And you are up against it," Alsup told Uber's attorneys. "And you are looking at a preliminary injunction even if it's true. You just can't escape this by saying we've been working hard and we can't find any hits."

To put things into perspective, the Uber and Google-owned Waymo's legal battle has been heating up after the latter alleged that two former senior Waymo engineers — Anthony Levandowski and Lior Ron — stole its self-driving technology and highly confidential documents to use it in Uber’s favor.

Levandowski and Ron quit Waymo to start their own self-driving car company, Otto, which was acquired by Uber for $680 million in August 2016, just three months after it began operations.

Uber has called the allegations baseless and said Google should settle its complaints in its arbitration proceedings and not take it to court, according to reports. Uber initiated arbitration proceedings against Waymo last week.