Former Uber Self-driving Head Declares Bankruptcy

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

The former leader of Uber Technologies’ self-driving unit, Anthony Levandowski, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Wednesday, and it looks to have something to do with the $179 million he’s legally obliged to pay Google. A San Francisco County court decreed the same day that Anthony needs to pay out in order to settle his contract dispute.

In December, it was ruled that Levandowski and Lior Ron violated their agreement with Google when they left the company to start Otto — a rival autonomous vehicle company focused primarily on commercial trucking. Uber purchased Otto in 2017 but Google’s self-driving arm (which evolved into Waymo) claimed Levandowski violated intellectual property laws by stealing trade secrets it owned for Uber. While Ron decided to pay $9.7 million to settle with the tech firm, Anthony held out. He also faces a federal indictment over the alleged intellectual property violation.

According to Reuters, Mr. Levandowski is estimated to have between $50 million to $100 million in assets, compared with $100 million to $500 million in liabilities. The Chapter 11 filing should give him some amount of protection. He also might not be legally liable for entire sum. Uber may also be forced to help out, depending on what his contract says.

Regardless, the saga seems to have worked out rather well for Google/Waymo. Uber settled way back in 2018, offering 0.34 percent of its equity while agreeing never to use Waymo’s confidential information in its autonomous vehicle technology — though some of the items originally deemed “trade secrets” were dropped. It was an odd situation, as Google’s legal team initially seemed to have serious problems proving that Uber had done wrong and the case was stymied by both parties not wanting any technological details leaked to the public. The settlement came as a big surprise, though it was likely preferable to the complications that would arise from a prolonged legal battle.

[Image: Uber]

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

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  • Jvossman Jvossman on Mar 05, 2020

    Hi, aside from the bias ttac has regarding car sharing progams how does a person's personal bankruptcy have anything to do with the truth about cars. I did enjoy the ace of base on the ford e-350 cutaway. I wish they still made the van. Thanks!

    • PeriSoft PeriSoft on Mar 05, 2020

      Levandowski has been a key figure in autonomy for years, and his personal bankruptcy is a small part of a bigger puzzle involving important players in the business. He might not be quite as important to the automotive industry writ large as Barra or Ghosn, but he *is* relevant.

  • Imagefont Imagefont on Mar 06, 2020

    Deleted

  • Slavuta Nissan + profitability = cheap crap
  • ToolGuy Why would they change the grille?
  • Oberkanone Nissan proved it can skillfully put new frosting on an old cake with Frontier and Z. Yet, Nissan dealers are so broken they are not good at selling the Frontier. Z production is so minimal I've yet to see one. Could Nissan boost sales? Sure. I've heard Nissan plans to regain share at the low end of the market. Kicks, Versa and lower priced trims of their mainstream SUV's. I just don't see dealerships being motivated to support this effort. Nissan is just about as exciting and compelling as a CVT.
  • ToolGuy Anyone who knows, is this the (preliminary) work of the Ford Skunk Works?
  • Kwik_Shift_Pro4X I will drive my Frontier into the ground, but for a daily, I'd go with a perfectly fine Versa SR or Mazda3.
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