Live data from Hacker News

Things learned from Anthony Levandowski's deposition in Waymo vs. Uber

spectrum.ieee.org

1–10 of 71 posts

Re: Things learned from Anthony Levandowski's deposition in Waymo vs. Uber

#2
Waymo's allegations now go much deeper and further back than just Otto:

* "Levandowski was deceiving Google almost from the moment it hired him to work on the Street View maps project back in 2007."

* "Levandowski controlled a company called Dogwood Leasing that hired ex-Google contractor and 510 Systems engineer Asheem Linaval to use Google’s secrets to develop self-driving car technology."

* "Levandowski founded yet another startup, Odin Wave, feeding it confidential lidar technology ... renaming the company Tyto, to hide his involvement."

Re: Things learned from Anthony Levandowski's deposition in Waymo vs. Uber

#5
post #2

Waymo's allegations now go much deeper and further back than just Otto: * "Levandowski was deceiving Google almost from the moment it hired him to work on the Street View maps project back in 2007." * "Levandowski controlled a company called Dogwood Leasing that hired ex-Google contractor and 510 Systems engineer Asheem Linaval to use Google’s secrets to develop self-driving car technology." * "Levandowski founded ye…

How did he have time to do his day job with all this scamming on the side?

Re: Things learned from Anthony Levandowski's deposition in Waymo vs. Uber

#6
The use of OMW Corp, which is just a contract CNC machine shop, indicates the LIDAR in dispute has moving parts. It's probably just another rotating scanner. That approach is just for prototypes. Everybody serious is going with flash LIDAR or MEMS.

If he'd been talking to somebody about custom GaInAs photosensor ICs, that would indicate a more advanced technology.

Re: Things learned from Anthony Levandowski's deposition in Waymo vs. Uber

#7
post #5
post #2

Waymo's allegations now go much deeper and further back than just Otto: * "Levandowski was deceiving Google almost from the moment it hired him to work on the Street View maps project back in 2007." * "Levandowski controlled a company called Dogwood Leasing that hired ex-Google contractor and 510 Systems engineer Asheem Linaval to use Google’s secrets to develop self-driving car technology." * "Levandowski founded ye…

How did he have time to do his day job with all this scamming on the side?

I met him when he was doing a DARPA Grand Challenge vehicle in 2004. He was an undergrad at UC Berkeley then, was doing the self-driving motorcycle, and had a successful startup selling a large folding tablet computer for viewing engineering drawings at construction sites. He does seem to get a lot done.

Re: Things learned from Anthony Levandowski's deposition in Waymo vs. Uber

#8
post #2

Waymo's allegations now go much deeper and further back than just Otto: * "Levandowski was deceiving Google almost from the moment it hired him to work on the Street View maps project back in 2007." * "Levandowski controlled a company called Dogwood Leasing that hired ex-Google contractor and 510 Systems engineer Asheem Linaval to use Google’s secrets to develop self-driving car technology." * "Levandowski founded ye…

How would renaming a company hide your involvement?

Involvement is dealt with in the shareholder registry, not in the company name. Neither 'Odin Wave' nor 'Tyto' have any direct visual resemblance to "Levandowski', the fact that 'Odin Wave' is a partial anagram of "Levandowski" isn't reason enough to suspect involvement by any other person. (Such as Dwain Evo...).

If I were looking at this sort of thing I'd start with the cap table and look for direct or indirect participation.

Re: Things learned from Anthony Levandowski's deposition in Waymo vs. Uber

#9
post #6

The use of OMW Corp, which is just a contract CNC machine shop, indicates the LIDAR in dispute has moving parts. It's probably just another rotating scanner. That approach is just for prototypes. Everybody serious is going with flash LIDAR or MEMS. If he'd been talking to somebody about custom GaInAs photosensor ICs, that would indicate a more advanced technology.

Does MEMS count as solid state or is it also seen as a moving part?

Re: Things learned from Anthony Levandowski's deposition in Waymo vs. Uber

#10
Levandowski has absolutely tarnished his own reputation. Sooner or later he will be abandoned by Uber - how could they possibly trust him if his thieving goes back a decade? - and finding employment or trust in the industry is going to be extremely difficult.
Post reply on HN