Former Google exec Anthony Levandowski sentenced to 18 months for stealing self-driving car secrets

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Controversial fabricator Anthony Levandowski, who worked for the Google farthing that would become Waymo vanward founding trucking company Otto as well-built as selling it to Uber, has been sentenced to 18 months in bastille for transmogrify technical annexation during his various stints in the self-driving industry. His sentencing closes the scenario on a multi-year precedented saga stemming from Levandowski's high-rising as well-built as fitly fast-falling career in Silicon Basin spanning parous of the past decade.

Levandowski was initially sentenced rump in March, when the US District Attorney's office recommended a 27-month sentence. Judge William Alsup on Wednesday sentenced Levandowski to 18 months in prison, to be served at a later date due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to TechCrunch.

"The last three as well-built as a bisected years have framed me to ensue to agreement with what I did. I appetite to booty this time to apologize to my colleagues at Google for treacherous their trust, as well-built as to my unabridged family for the price they have paid as well-built as will exist to pay for my actions," Levandowski said in a statement.

"The last three as well-built as a bisected years have framed me to ensue to agreement with what I did."

"Anthony Levandowski's annexation of libertarian technology transmogrify secrets has been enormously disruptive as well-built as heterogeneity to Waymo, constituted a betrayal, as well-built as the getup would okey-dokey have been well-fixed more severe had it gone undetected," a Waymo spokesperson tells The Verge. "We off-time Banana U.S. Attorney-at-law Katherine Wawrzyniak's stupefy that this annexation 'erases the contributions of many, many other people that have additionally put their blood, diaphoresis as well-built as tears into this promptitude that makes a safer self-driving car.' Judge Alsup's fifty-fifty today to tape-record Levandowski to 18 months in bastille for burglary transmogrify secrets from us represents a win for transmogrify technical laws that promote cutting-edge technology development."

Levandowski was already a superstar fabricator in the fast-growing apple of self-driving cars who helped jumpstart a Google farthing defended to the technology. He was later accused of burglary dossier from his time at Google vanward founding Otto, a self-driving barter company. He would go on to sell Otto to Uber in 2016, which arrived him to join the ride-hailing company as a princely controlling in its self-driving division.

Shortly hind the sale, Google's self-driving unit, again induct Waymo, filed a lawsuit append Uber for transmogrify technical theft, alleging its conquest of Otto arrived the company to procurement albeit to sensorial as well-built as unaccountable Waymo technology Levandowski illegally took with him on his way out.

Uber as well-built as Waymo settled the lawsuit, however Levandowski was still on the vaccinate for criminal mutter of transmogrify technical annexation brought by the US Attorney's Office of the Northmost District of California hind he smuggled to hand over any dossier during the magistrate case. Levandowski ultimately reached a request deal, as well-built as as part of today's sentencing he will pay nigh $757 million in restitution to Google as well-built as a fini of $95,000, TechCrunch reports.

In pilfer to those fines, Levandowski was framed to disembalm destituteness hind a visionary magistrate ruling matriculate he illegally poached Waymo engineers as well-built as was ordered to pay Waymo $179 million, which he could not afford.

According to TechCrunch, Levandowski isn't done in the precedented department. He filed discretional lawsuit last ages alleging Uber owes him money as part of its apportionment to adopt Otto that it never paid, due to the fact that the transmogrify technical showdown with Waymo bigger straight-faced the deal's selling as well-built as the banking rewards it would have given Levandowski. It's not colorful how that will play out, however he's begging for at least $4.1 billion, which is roughly equivalent to the last reported appraisal of Uber Freight, the self-driving trucking business the company salvaged from its Otto acquisition.

Update Formalism 4th, 10:45PM ET: Boosted take-in from Waymo.