A former Google engineer who pleaded guilty to stealing trade secrets from the tech giant has been pardoned by President Donald Trump.
Anthony Levandowski was due to serve an 18-month prison sentence for downloading documents relating to Google's driverless car startup Waymo in 2016.
Ex-Google engineer gets jail time for trade secrets theft Driverless Cars: Uber car involved in fatal crash had software flaws Ex-Waymo engineer charged with stealing documents
His inclusion among the 130 pardons issued on the last day of Trump's presidency came as a surprise, but it was backed by a number of figures from the tech industry, such as controversial investor Peter Thiel and Oculus founder Palmer Luckey.
"Mr Levandowski pled guilty to a single criminal count arising from civil litigation," the White House notice read. "Notably, his sentencing judge called him a 'brilliant, groundbreaking engineer that our country needs'. Mr Levandowski has paid a significant price for his actions and plans to devote his talents to advance the public good."
"My family and I are grateful for the opportunity to move forward and thankful to the president and others who supported and advocated on my behalf," Levandowski said to TechCrunch.
Levandowski did plead guilty in a federal court to downloading sensitive documents relating to Google's driverless car startup Waymo before leaving to start his own company, Otto in 2016. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison in August, but the ruling judge suspended the sentence due to the pandemic. Levandowski's legal team also argued he was vulnerable to COVID-19 due to having pneumonia.
Otto was acquired by Uber within eight months of Levandowski's departure from Waymo and Google swiftly launched legal action against its former engineer and a separate suit against Uber. The two tech firms settled, with Uber agreeing to not incorporate any information from Waymo and also pay a one-off fee.
Levandowski, however, was made bankrupt by a $179 million award against him. The amount is still subject to another legal dispute in which Levandowski claims Uber is partly responsible for the payment. Levandowski is also seeking damages from Uber for value lost from his Otto startup.
IT Pro has contacted Google and Uber for comment.
-
Should AI PCs be part of your next hardware refresh?AI PCs are fast becoming a business staple and a surefire way to future-proof your business
-
Westcon-Comstor and Vectra AI launch brace of new channel initiativesNews Westcon-Comstor and Vectra AI have announced the launch of two new channel growth initiatives focused on the managed security service provider (MSSP) space and AWS Marketplace.
-
Enterprises are doubling down on IT optimization strategies – and it’s delivering huge financial returnsNews Organizations that have cracked IT cost optimization and innovation reap the rewards both financially and in terms of time to market.
-
Unlock the potential of LATAM’s booming crypto marketwhitepaper Strategic pathways for crypto companies looking to expand into Latin America
-
The online cash revolutionwhitepaper Why adding eCash to the checkout unlocks more growth
-
How payments support the growth of software platformswhitepaper Discover how Paysafe can help drive the growth and success of your software platform
-
How to empower employees to accelerate emissions reductionin depth With ICT accounting for as much as 3% of global carbon emissions, the same as aviation, the industry needs to increase emissions reduction
-
Worldwide IT spending to grow 4.3% in 2023, with no significant AI impactNews Spending patterns have changed as companies take an inward focus
-
Report: Female tech workers disproportionately affected by industry layoffsNews Layoffs continue to strike companies throughout the tech industry, with data showing females in both the UK and US are bearing the brunt of them more so than males
-
How can small businesses cope with inflation?Tutorial With high inflation increasing the cost of doing business, how can small businesses weather the storm?
