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Alphabet's Waymo Alleges Uber Stole Self-Driving Secrets

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Re: Alphabet's Waymo Alleges Uber Stole Self-Driving Secrets

#121

Post by w00tw00tw00t »

andreyf wrote: post #114
rajathagasthya wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They could easily bypass Macbook security with a USB device Isn't this only possible if the laptop is unlocked?

It's not possible unless you have zero-days against the USB drivers or firmware on your laptop, in which case being logged in or not doesn't really matter.

Proof I'm paranoid. My greater point, however, is that they have done some really shady stuff, and stealing competitor's IP is part of their culture, so their behavior itself promotes and justifies paranoia on my part and on the part of anyone looking to work for or do business with Uber.

Reputation is everything.

Re: Alphabet's Waymo Alleges Uber Stole Self-Driving Secrets

#122

Post by kartickv »

w00tw00tw00t wrote: post #69

I had an interview there where the manager asked me to leave my laptop behind and go for a walk. I was hesitant after hearing stories of Uber conducting electronic espionage against its competitors. They could easily bypass Macbook security with a USB device (I had heard of that on HN too) so I was very nervous to leave my laptop behind and noted its exact orientation and position on the table. Sure enough when I ret…

You didn't ask why?

Re: Alphabet's Waymo Alleges Uber Stole Self-Driving Secrets

#123

Post by guelo »

xt00 wrote: post #24
smilekzs wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There however could be custom-ordered parts on the BOM, documentation of which might be under NDA.

Yes good point. That would be super obvious that they stole it then.. "yea, could I order the BA33525 part that you custom built for somebody else.. yea I know its undocumented, but I know you have it somehow...."

From the medium post "downloaded additional highly confidential information pertaining to our custom-built LiDAR including supplier lists, manufacturing details and statements of work with highly technical information."

Re: Alphabet's Waymo Alleges Uber Stole Self-Driving Secrets

#124

Post by dba7dba »

guelo wrote: post #120
dba7dba wrote: post #117

So a junior engineer took the files, left Waymo to join Uber and tried to pass off the files? Correction. So he's not really a junior engineer. But how can he not think that everything he access on the Google's network is monitored?

"now serves as a top ranking Uber executive"

Lol, yeah my bad. My God. What a waste of talent of him, and waste of time/energy for everyone involved.

I wonder if Uber accepted the stolen files from Google knowing they were stolen.

Re: Alphabet's Waymo Alleges Uber Stole Self-Driving Secrets

#125

Post by corvus_sapiens »

startupdiscuss wrote: post #70
tajen wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does Google build such forsenics? Do they have spyware monitoring all their company laptops?

This was the noteworthy part for me as well. They had to know that he: 1. modified the software on his laptop 2. logged into an area he should not have had access to (this is probably standard) 3. attached an external drive (possible, but standard?) 4. and they got all this info after he deleted the drive, which means they either went in and found remaining data on the drive or else they captured the info in real tim…

1) makes sense if Levandowski did it over the company internet connection. There could be a record of his unusual requests (software download, software update).

> they can infer that he wiped it

For 4), Levandowski reformatted the hard drive before returning it, so there's no inference there.

Re: Alphabet's Waymo Alleges Uber Stole Self-Driving Secrets

#126

Post by CardenB »

jplayer01 wrote: post #12

I always was incredibly surprised at how quickly Uber had working self-driving cars (with the required, highly specialized hardware). Guess this explains it.

Uber launched their beta in Pittsburgh just before Otto acquisition. This doesn't explain it. It explains how they quickly wanted to build their own lidar.

Re: Alphabet's Waymo Alleges Uber Stole Self-Driving Secrets

#127

Post by CardenB »

giis wrote: post #97

Interesting questions for google employees: Does Google force you to use specific version of OS? Do they have pre-installed software? Is it not-okay to format and install any OS you want? I work in startups, they provide only laptops and doesnt care about OS or software. There is no mandatory software requirement from company side.

Yes, they have Goobuntu.

Believe so.

No it isn't.

Lastly, you have to ssh into a workstation to access any files and you aren't allowed to have files downloaded locally for this exact reason. He would have had to have gone through some trouble to even obtain these files locally I would imagine.

Re: Alphabet's Waymo Alleges Uber Stole Self-Driving Secrets

#128

Post by dba7dba »

twblalock wrote: post #7
donjh wrote: post #2

And Google Ventures is an Uber investor... so Google is effectively suing one of their own portfolio companies.

Companies sue other companies they have relationships with fairly often. For example, Samsung is still a hardware supplier to Apple, so Apple is suing its own supplier in the Apple v. Samsung case.

And not to mention other Samsung subsidiaries (that make display, RAM, CPU) were probably crying bloody murder to Samsung Handphone division...

Re: Alphabet's Waymo Alleges Uber Stole Self-Driving Secrets

#129

Post by morecoffee »

bitL wrote: post #112

This is going to be interesting to watch. Alphabet just: - went nuclear on Uber/Otto - revealed what they track internally to all their employees

Google employees are probably aware they are being tracked. Keeping such a thing a secret would likely result in more leaks, not fewer.

Re: Alphabet's Waymo Alleges Uber Stole Self-Driving Secrets

#130

Post by hluska »

dba7dba wrote: post #117

So a junior engineer took the files, left Waymo to join Uber and tried to pass off the files? Correction. So he's not really a junior engineer. But how can he not think that everything he access on the Google's network is monitored?

Not quite...

First, Levandowski is far from a junior engineer. He's been described as the tech lead at Waymo and worked on Google Maps and Streetview.

Second, he left Waymo to co-found Otto, a startup which existed for six months before Uber acquired it for several hundred million dollars.

Third, he's now described as a senior executive at Uber.

I'm not sure where Facebook comes from here. Did I miss something??

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