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Hes a man that always loved a side project, and is universally enthusiastic about developing autonomous technology.
During his time at university he led a team that developed afully autonomous self-driving motorbikedubbed Ghost Rider.
He and his team entered the bike into a DARPA organized competition, the only two-wheeled vehicle participating.
He described it as the first of its kind, and a frankly crazy idea.
Much of the hardware used in Street View vehicles is very similar to sensors used in autonomous vehicles.
In 2017, Google startedequipping LiDAR sensors to its Street View vehicles.
The outcome was higher resolution images with fewer stitch errors between individual frames.
It helped make using Street View a smoother and more seamless experience.
Just weeks after joining the Big G though, heoperated and registered his own startupcalled 510 Systems.
Initially, Google didnt seem to care much about Levandowskis side project.
If anything, that kind of entrepreneurial spirit is encouraged by it.
If you cant beat them, buy them?
It was listed as being owned by 510 Systems.
In other words, Google had to buy 510 Systems to deliver its self-driving car as its own project.
Nearly half of Ottos initial employees were also from Google.
Sure, Levandowski himself is clearly an expert on the topic.
]As part of the buyout, Uber made Levandowski the head of its self-driving division.
That four-month turnaround seemingly was too good to be true.
The Big G claimed that the pair hadappropriated trade secrets and intellectual property, and infringed patents.
A diagram of what was purported to be one of Ubers LiDAR circuit boards was attached.
It bore a striking resemblance to Waymos unique LiDAR design, the claim reads.
It was certainly suspicious that Uber had designed for such similar technology.
In fact, it all sounds like something out of a poorly imagined heist movie.
InMay 2017, a United States District Judge banned Levandowski from working on Ubers LiDAR tech.
But after just five days, the companiesagreed on a settlement of around $245 million.
The case was dismissed and, as the judge said, was now part of ancient history.
But not for Levandowski.
In Googles original lawsuit against Uber, Levandowski wasnt cited as a defendant.
It indicted Levandowski on 33 counts of theft and attempted theft of trade secrets.
He has agreed to plead guilty to accessing a spreadsheet that tracked Waymos projects whilst he worked at Uber.
Yet to be sentenced, Levandowski could face up to 30 months in prison for his actions.
In other words, he tried to poach Google employees to join him at his new job sound familiar?
It should, because a significant number of Ottos employees were former Googlers.
As a result, Levandowski wasordered to pay Google $179 million.
Levandowski isnt taking the order laying down though.
Levandowski pointed the finger at his former employer saying that itpromised to defend him against Googles lawyers.
However, the allegations relate to activities that predate his employment with the ride-sharing company.
Uber only came by the trade secrets as a result of its acquisition of Otto.
Had it known about Levandowskis nefarious activities, it would never have hired him, the company said.
However, Levandowskis lawyers contest the point effectively saying that Uber was fully aware of who it was hiring.
As it stands, its Uber pointing the finger at Levandowski, and Levandowski pointing right back.
While all this was going on, Uber actually shut down its autonomous trucking business.
Back in July 2018, thecompany announced it was calling time on the projectto focus on self-driving cars instead.
Knowing what we know now, this decision isnt surprising.
Ubers acquisition of Levandowskis Otto caused the company nothing but headaches and financial burden.
Amid legal proceedings,he stepped down from his role as company CEO in August 2019.
Theres no mention of Levandowski anywhere on the companys website either.
Many havecriticized big tech companiesfor their approach to non-compete clauses and suing employees that go to work for competitors.
There are few who can match his CV when it comes to achievements in self-driving tech.
None of us has the right to fill our pockets on the way out the door.
Story byMatthew Beedham
Matthew is the editor of SHIFT.
He likes electric cars, and other things with wheels, wings, or hulls.
