What you need to know
- Uber has said that it may have to sign a licensing deal with Waymo or make changes to its autonomous vehicle technology after it was found to have used the Alphabet subsidiary's technology by an expert.
- The disclosure was made in the ride-hailing company's quarterly securities filing earlier this week.
- Uber had paid Waymo $245 million last year as part of a 'settlement.'
Uber and Waymo's legal battle came to a halt last year after the companies reached a settlement. However, in addition to the $245 million that Uber paid to Waymo as part of the settlement, an independent software expert was also hired to find out whether or not Uber had misappropriated Waymo's software intellectual property.
Reuters now reports that Uber revealed in a quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this week that the independent software expert that was brought in to review Uber's autonomous vehicle software recently "made adverse findings" and it "will likely" have to pay Waymo a license fee or spend money on making some big changes to its software.
Commenting on the independent software expert's finding, Waymo told Reuters that the findings "further confirm Waymo's allegations that Uber misappropriated our software intellectual property. We will continue to take the necessary steps to ensure our confidential information is not being used by Uber." Uber, on the other hand, declined to provide any comment.
Waymo had accused Uber of stealing at least two of its trade secrets in 2017, shortly after Uber acquired Otto, a self-driving startup founded by former Waymo employee Anthony Levandowski.
Waymo's self-driving taxis are ready to pick up passengers in Arizona
