Uber Refusing To Release Documents About Otto Acquisition To Waymo

In the ongoing court case between Uber and Waymo, it has been revealed that the ride-hailing service is refusing to release some 3,500 documents detaining its acquisition of Otto.

According to Federal Judge William Alsup, these documents could offer all the details that are needed in the case where Waymo claims former employee Anthony Levandowski downloaded 14,000 classified documents and colluded to use them for Uber’s self-driving car program.

“To me that’s a treasure trove that would say what really happened in this case,” Alsup said of the documents.

CNET reports that in court, Judge Alsup specifically requested Uber’s acquisition agreement for Otto, stating “You better hurry up, because a judge is asking for it. That’s a key document in the case.”

Waymo asserts that Levandowski used stolen technology from Google in his autonomous truck startup Otto, which was purchased by Uber for $680 million six months after launching. According to Waymo, Otto may have been a shell company that Levandowski used to provide Uber an unfair advantage in the self-driving vehicle market, reports The Verge.

During the ongoing court case, Uber has confirmed that Levandowski was awarded 5 million shares of company stock, worth $250 million, the day after he quit Waymo.

Jude Alsup is convinced that Levandowski did indeed download 14,000 files from Waymo but says Google’s self-driving division has yet to show any evidence that Uber used these files.

“All that has been proven is that he downloaded 14,000 documents … You don’t have a smoking gun,” he said.

The court case continues.