Here are the 9 most ridiculous moments from the $245 million Uber versus Waymo legal battle
- Uber and Waymo have settled their epic legal battle over self-driving car tech.
- It was like a Hollywood drama, often veering from the deadly serious to the ridiculous.
- Here are the craziest moments, from lawyers squabbling over Michael Douglas' performance in "Wall Street" to debate over a "pound of flesh."
Uber and Waymo have reached a settlement in their Hollywood-worthy legal battle over self-driving car technology.
Uber, accused of stealing trade secrets from Google sister company Alphabet, agreed to pay $245 million worth of equity on Friday — abruptly halting the proceedings that had been scheduled to go on for at least another week.
The stakes were high, with Waymo initially seeking as much as $1.8 billion in damages. But over the four days of the trial before the settlement, matters veered wildly from the serious to the surreal.
One moment, presiding judge William Alsup was outlining trade secret law to the jurors; the next, lawyers were bickering over whether they could show the legendary "greed is good" scene from the Michael Dogulas film "Wall Street" in court, or debating the philosophical nature of "cheat codes" with ousted Uber CEO Travis Kalanick.
The case revolved around Anthony Levandowski, a former Google engineer, later with Waymo, who left to form a self-driving car startup called Ottomotto that was subsequently acquired by Uber. Levandowski was accused of purloining Waymo's trade secrets, but the settlement meant he never had a chance to take the stand, where he had been expected to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
In fact, the alleged trade secrets weren't even discussed all that much before the proceedings were halted. The majority of the case was held open to the public, with the focus more on allegations of conspiracy between Kalanick and Levandowski than the technical details of the LiDAR self-driving car sensors at issue in the case.
Here are nine of the weirdest and most unusual moments in the dramatic legal battle — along with some of the key points in the transcripts.
http://uk.businessinsider.com/uber-waymo-most-ridiculous-moments-laser-is-the-sauce-2018-2