Waymo settles dispute with Uber

SAN FRANCISCO: Uber Technologies Inc will pay $245 million worth of its own shares to Alphabet Inc´s Waymo self-driving vehicle unit to settle a legal dispute over trade secrets, allowing Uber´s new chief executive to move past one of the company´s most bruising public controversies.

The settlement was announced on Friday just before the fifth day of testimony was about to begin at a jury trial in San Francisco federal court.

Waymo sued Uber last year, saying that one of its former engineers who became chief of Uber´s self-driving car project took with him thousands of confidential documents. The lawsuit cost Uber precious time in its self-driving car ambitions, a key to its long-term profitability. Uber fired its self-driving chief after Waymo sued, and it is well behind on its plans to deploy fleets of autonomous cars in one of the most lucrative races in Silicon Valley. The settlement now allows Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi to put another scandal behind the company and move ahead with development of self-driving technology after the tumultuous leadership of the firm by former CEO Travis Kalanick, who testified at the trial on Tuesday and Wednesday. As part of the deal, Waymo gets a 0.34 percent stake in Uber, worth about $245 million based on Uber´s current $72 billion valuation, a Waymo representative said.