A former Google engineer was hit with criminal charges Tuesday alleging he stole trade secrets from the technology giant's self-driving car project before he went to work at Uber.
If convicted on the charges, Anthony Levandowski faces up to 10 years in prison and a penalty of USD 250,000 per violation, according federal prosecutors who announced the criminal indictment.
"All of us have the right to change jobs, none of us has the right to fill our pockets on the way out the door," US Attorney David Anderson said in a release announcing 33 counts of theft and attempted theft of trade secrets. "Theft is not innovation."
Before the civil trial was cut short by the settlement, jurors saw evidence which was embarrassing for Uber, including a text message in which former Uber chief executive Travis Kalanick told Levandowski to "burn the village."
After the settlement, the newly named Uber CEO said that "we do not believe that any trade secrets made their way from Waymo to Uber."
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