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SAN JOSE — Anthony Levandowski, the former Google engineer at the center of the battle between Uber and Waymo over self-driving technology, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to federal criminal charges of trade-secrets theft.
Levandowski, a founding member of Google’s self-driving project, downloaded files related to Google’s custom lidar and self-driving car technology, according to an indictment unsealed Monday.
He then founded Otto, a San Francisco-based self-driving truck startup, and sold it to Uber for $680 million in 2016. Google self-driving spinoff Waymo sued Uber, and the two companies settled in February 2018 for a stake in Uber worth about $245 million at the time.
“Silicon Valley is not the Wild West,” John Bennett, the FBI special agent in charge of the case, said Tuesday during a news conference announcing the charges. “A fast-paced and competitive environment does not mean federal laws don’t apply or that they can be ignored.”
Levandowski, 39, appeared Tuesday in U.S. District Court in San Jose, wearing a dark suit, white patterned shirt and no tie. He spoke little except to say good afternoon, state his name and say he understood the conditions of his release.
He left the courthouse Tuesday around 5 p.m. after posting bail of $300,000. His father, stepmother and a family friend — who all were present in the courtroom — also agreed to put up their homes as part of the $2 million bond prosecutors sought. Levandowski did not respond to questions from reporters as he walked with his attorney to a gray BMW SUV driven by his brother.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Wawrzyniak described the bail as “an appropriate starting point,” saying prosecutors will seek to increase the amount when Levandowski returns to court for a hearing next Wednesday.
Citing Levandowski’s wealth and dual citizenship in the United States and France, Wawrzyniak said authorities are concerned about a scenario in which Levandowski “charters a private plane and jets off” as the case against him progresses. Court filings show he received a $120 million payout when he left Google.
Defense attorney Ismail Ramsey pointed out Levandowski has known of the criminal investigation for more than two years and agreed to surrender his passport before criminal charges were filed.
Levandowski will be barred from leaving the country and going to any airports, though he will be allowed to travel domestically. He will have to wear an ankle monitor.
His attorneys, who entered the plea on his behalf, say the files their client downloaded did not go to Uber.
“The evidence in this case is going to show conclusively that Anthony did not steal anything,” Miles Ehrlich, one of his attorneys, said Tuesday during a news conference. “The allegations in this case are basically a rehash of claims that were already discredited in a civil lawsuit between Waymo and Uber that settled more than a year and a half ago.”
It is unclear why the charges are being brought against Levandowski at this time.
“We charged this case when we felt it was ready to be charged,” said U.S. Attorney David Anderson in response to a question during Tuesday’s news conference.
Levandowski is charged with 33 counts of theft and attempted theft of trade secrets; he faces up to 10 years in prison and can be fined $250,000 for each count if convicted.
He was in charge of the lidar division at Google’s self-driving project, which built its own lidar systems. Lidar uses laser beams to help vehicles measure distance and return 3D images that autonomous vehicles use for mapping.
In addition to ride-hailing, Uber has set its sights on self-driving vehicles, delivery services such as Uber Eats and more.
Uber fired Levandowski in 2017 after the company — which was trying to prove it did not use stolen technology — reportedly asked him to hand over information relating to the Waymo lawsuit, but he refused. He has since co-founded and was CEO of another self-driving truck company, Pronto.ai, in San Francisco.
Pronto said Tuesday that Levandowski has stepped down and it has appointed a new chief executive, Robbie Miller, “as a result of today’s events.” Miller had been the company’s chief safety officer.
“The criminal charges filed against Anthony relate exclusively to lidar and do not in any way involve Pronto’s ground-breaking technology,” a company spokesman said. “Of course, we are fully supportive of Anthony and his family during this period.”
An Uber spokesman said Tuesday that the company is continuing to cooperate with the government.
A Waymo spokeswoman said Tuesday: “We have always believed competition should be fueled by innovation, and we appreciate the work of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI on this case.”
