Waymo Uber lawsuit update.

What’s happening in the Waymo Uber lawsuit

As you may know, Waymo, Google self-driving car unit is suing Uber for stealing their technology. Currently, the Waymo Uber lawsuit is in the discovery phase. Prior coverage from Rideshare Central since the case was filed:

• Google v. Uber: The lawsuit in a nutshell.
• Google v. Uber: Don’t fuck with Judge Alsup.

Here’s what’s happened in the last few weeks. Most, but not all of it, is bad for Uber.

• On April 14, Anthony Levandowski took the fifth over 400 times during his deposition.
• On April 25, a federal appeals court denied Mr. Levandowski’s attempt to shield certain documents from the case.
• On April 28, Mr. Levandowski stepped down from his position as head of autonomous vehicles at Uber, but still remains at the company.
• On May 3, a hearing was held about Waymo’s request for a restraining order on Uber’s self-driving car project. The judge didn’t issue a ruling on the restraining order, but that should come in the next few days. CNET has coverage of the hearing here.

At this point, Waymo probably needs to show the judge something more if they’re going to get an injunction. Right now, they’ve shown that Mr. Levandowski downloaded confidential files. What they haven’t shown is whether Uber saw or used those files. Uber denies they did, but they haven’t turned over Mr. Levandowski’s laptop or approximately 3,600 other files, citing attorney client privilege. The judge should issue a ruling in the next few days.