Uber knew fired executive had information at center of self-driving Google theft case

SAN FRANCISCO — Uber acknowledged hiring a former Google engineer — now accused of stealing self-driving car technology — despite having received warnings that he was still carrying around some of his former employer’s property.

The admission, contained in a Thursday court filing, is the latest twist in a legal fight between the ride-hailing company and a Google spinoff, Waymo. Both companies are battling to build self-driving cars that could reshape the way people travel.

Waymo alleges that Anthony Levandowski, the former Google engineer at the crux of the case, ripped off its trade secrets before departing in January 2016 to found a robotic vehicle startup that Uber acquired seven months later.

The lawsuit maintains that Uber then transplanted the intellectual property allegedly stolen by Levandowski into its own fleet of self-driving vehicles — a charge that Uber has adamantly denied since Waymo filed its complaint in federal court four months ago.

In May, U.S. District Judge William Alsup ordered Uber to return the stolen files, writing that evidence indicated the company “knew or should have known that he possessed over 14,000 confidential Waymo files.”

Now, Uber has for the first time has acknowl- edged that Levandowski informed its now-departed CEO, Travis Kalanick, that he had five disks filled with Google’s information five months before joining Uber. The disclosure, made in March 2016, lends credence to Waymo’s allegation that Levandowski downloaded 14,000 documents on to a computer before leaving Google.

Uber, though, says Kalanick told Levandowski not to bring any of the Google information with him to Uber. At that time, a deal had been reached for Uber to buy Levandowski’s startup, Otto, for $680 million, though the acquisition wasn’t completed until August 2016.

The filing asserts that Levandowski destroyed the disks containing Google’s material not long after Kalanick told him that Uber didn’t want the information on them.

Levandowski’s lawyers didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. They have been advising Levandowski to assert his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination since Waymo filed its lawsuit.