Anthony Levandowski quits as Uber's self-driving unit's head amid legal battle with Waymo

Anthony Levandowski, the head of Uber's self-driving unit- Advanced Technologies Group (ATG) is stepping aside from his role “through the remainder of the Waymo litigation,” according to a letter that he sent to staff.

According to a report from Business Insider, Levandowski won’t be working on “all LiDAR-related work and management” at the company and Eric Meyhofer, an engineering lead and the co-founder of Carnegie Robotics will now be the head of the department. Levandowski will now be reporting to Meyhofer.

The move comes as Uber continues to lock horns with Waymo in a legal fight, which began as Waymo accused Levandowski of stealing 14,000 documents related to trade secrets before leaving to start Otto. Alphabet's self-driving car unit claims the design for the radar were among those documents.

Levandowski reportedly sent an email to employees, asking them not to include him in meetings or emails related to LiDAR. “Please make sure not to include me in meetings or email threads related to LiDAR, or ask me for advice on the topic,” the email read.

Meanwhile, next week, the court is set to decide whether to issue a preliminary injunction that could prevent Levandowski from working on Uber’s self-driving car unit or even shut down Uber’s lidar development altogether.