Waymo seeks $2.6B from Uber for trade secret theft

Alphabet-owned Waymo is seeking $2.6 billion from Uber for allegedly stealing a single trade secret from the self-driving car company.

Uber's attorney Bill Carmody revealed the figure in a hearing in federal court in San Francisco, where both companies are discussing whether a trial in the case will begin next month. Waymo, on its part, asserted that the number is based on Waymo and Uber documents and while the ride-hailing company allegedly stole several trade secrets, this amount is in relation to one specific secret.

Waymo sued Uber in February, accusing Uber of using its trade secrets in its self-driving car technology. According to the Alphabet owned company, their former engineer Anthony Levandowski downloaded over 14,000 confidential files from Waymo before leaving to start his own company. Uber later acquired the company Levandowski started.

The two companies met in federal court in San Francisco on Wednesday primarily to discuss whether Waymo should be granted a Motion to Continue that would delay the trial.

The extra time would give Waymo time to explore new evidence, which in the case is the due diligence report from cybersecurity firm Stroz Friedberg, which Uber had hired to vet Otto before the acquisition.

The trial is currently slated to begin on October 10th and last for three weeks. Waymo’s lawyers proposed a new trial date of December 5 that could be concluded in two weeks.