Uber's Lawyers Knew Buying Ottomotto Could Lead to Lawsuits / Ottomotto

Uber Technologies began negotiations with engineer Anthony Levandowski to buy his startup to create self-driving cars on the third day after he was fired from Google, WSJ reports, citing a statement from Google's lawyers made on Wednesday, April 12, in federal court in San Francisco. Levandowski was one of the key developers of Google's project to create self-driving cars, but in late January 2016 he left the company to launch his own startup Ottomotto in Silicon Valley.

According to Google’s new arguments, Levandowski and Uber were in contact at the time of his departure from the internet company. Moreover, Uber was aware of the legal risks associated with buying Levandowski’s startup for months before the deal. On Jan. 29, 2016, two days after Levandowski resigned, Uber’s lawyers were already discussing in emails how to defend against a potential lawsuit that would arise from a potential purchase of Levandowski’s startup, Google’s lawyers said at a court hearing. The startup itself had been incorporated two weeks earlier, they added.

Uber's lawyers did not dispute the existence of the emails. The company's representatives declined to comment, the WSJ reports. Levandowski's lawyers did the same.

In August 2016, almost seven months after his departure from Google, Uber acquired Levandowski's startup for $680 million. A few months later, in February 2017, Google said that before his dismissal, Anthony Levandowski stole the company's developments (about 14,000 confidential files), on the basis of which he subsequently created his own management system Otto. According to Google, before leaving the company, Levandowski secretly created its future competitor for more than three years and eventually sold this business to Uber. Earlier, Uber denied Google's accusations and called its lawsuit "an unfounded attempt to slow down the development of a competitor," Business Insider reported, citing a statement from Uber.

The Otto system, which Ottomotto is developing, allows 18-wheel trucks to travel on high-speed highways without the help of a driver.

Uber was considering buying Anthony Levandowski's startup even before he left Google