Two of the biggest players in self-drive technology are having their day in court today in San Francisco. The case where Uber is being sued by Waymo, the self-driving company spun out of Google, started today.
Uber is accused of stealing and using trade secrets relating to Lidar (light detection and ranging) – one of the technologies that enables an autonomous car to understand what is happening around it.
Waymo is making its case first, and then it will be up to Uber to defend itself.
Emails already shown in court detailed Uber’s ex-chief executive Travis Kalanick demanding “pounds of flesh” from Waymo, while others are said to involve him saying he wanted to “find the cheat codes”.
Waymo’s legal team has compared Mr Kalanick to Rosie Ruiz, a runner who cheated in the 1980 New York Marathon by taking the subway.
The case is expected to last about three weeks.
