Former Google Engineer Levandowski to Plead Guilty to Theft
- Google’s relentless legal pursuit preciptated bankruptcy, plea
- Trade-secret claims stemmed from Levandowski’s move to Uber
One of Silicon Valley’s most renowned self-driving engineers agreed to plead guilty to stealing trade secrets from Google.
Anthony Levandowski’s plea agreement with prosecutors, filed Thursday in federal court in San Francisco, comes two weeks after a civil dispute with Google drove him to file for bankruptcy. Google won a $179 million award against Levandowski over his defection to Uber Technologies Inc.
The guilty plea coupled with the bankruptcy filing mark Levandowski’s steep fall from the heights of driverless technology startups and deal-making. Google was relentless in going after its former engineer, strategically pursuing its award in arbitration and pressing for a criminal case against him. The bankruptcy filing that Google precipitated made it difficult, if not impossible, for Levandowkski to afford a defense against the criminal charges.