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One of President Trump’s latest acts is to pardon a former Google engineer who was convicted of stealing trade secrets. Anthony Levandowski worked for Google’s self-driving car division, now called Waymo, before leaving to found Otto, a self-driving truck company bought by Uber. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison in August, with Judge William Alsup describing the incident as “the greatest trade secret crime I have ever seen”.
It was discovered that Levandowski downloaded thousands of files to his laptop before quitting Google and starting sales talks. Uber ultimately fired him after Google filed a lawsuit, and Levandowski remains in a legal battle with the rideshare company, saying it should be responsible for the $ 179 million he was ordered to pay to Google. In a separate lawsuit, Levandowski argued that Uber owed him billions of dollars in lost value as a result of the Otto deal.
Levandowski never started her sentence, as Alsup allowed her to be delayed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a White House statement, Levandowski’s pardon was backed by figures in the tech industry, including controversial billionaire investor Peter Thiel, Founders Fund partner Trae Stephens and founder of Oculus and Anduril. , Palmer Luckey.
Along with Levandowski, Trump pardoned 72 other people and commuted the prison terms of 70 others. The list includes rappers Lil Wayne, who pleaded guilty to possession of firearms last year, and Kodak Black, who is currently in prison for weapons. Trump also granted a pardon to Steve Bannon, the former Breitbart News boss who served as Trump’s chief strategist until his acrimonious departure in 2017.
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