Former Google and Uber engineer Anthony Levandowski leaves the federal court after his arraignment hearing in San Jose, California, US August 27, 2019 REUTERSProsecutors sought a 27-month prison sentenceA US judge on Tuesday sentenced former Google engineer Anthony Levandowski to 18 months in prison for stealing a trade secret from Google related to self-driving cars months before becoming the head of Uber Technologies Inc’s rival unit. US District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco said Levandowski, who was convicted on Tuesday following a March plea agreement, said Levandowski could enter custody once the Covid-19 pandemic has subsided. Also read: Google, Facebook accused of crushing rivals to boost profitsUber fired Levandowski in 2017 and then settled a lawsuit from Alphabet over the misuse of trade secrets, setting back the ride-hailing company’s self-driving project. Levandowski filed for bankruptcy in March because he owes $179 million to Alphabet Inc’s Google for his actions before resigning in January 2016. Levandowski, who now runs self-driving truck company Pronto, apologized to Google and said he plans to share his story of regret with others in the tech industry.

Source: Dhaka Tribune August 04, 2020 23:15 UTC