Uber and Waymo agree $245m settlement in driverless car row

UBER has settled a bitter Silicon Valley lawsuit with Waymo, the driverless car arm of Google’s parent company Alphabet, over accusations the ride-hailing app stole trade secrets from Google.

The two companies announced that they had reached a settlement just days into a highly anticipated trial. As part of the settlement, Waymo will get a 0.34pc stake in Uber, worth $245m (£178m) at its latest valuation.

Waymo had at one point sought $1bn from Uber, so the final settlement marks a significant climbdown from its previous demands.

The case centred on Anthony Levandowski, a former Google engineer who joined Uber in 2016 when it bought his driverless trucking company. Waymo claimed he had taken trade secrets when he left Google related to the “lidar” detection system used in driverless cars, which had made its way into Uber’s technology.

The court case threatened to unearth uncomfortable details about Uber and its former chief executive Travis Kalanick, who had already spent two days on the stand. After the settlement Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s new chief executive, maintained that “we do not believe that any trade secrets made their way from Waymo to Uber”. However, he said the trial had “raised some hard questions”.