The founder of OTTO, the company behind the autonomous beer delivery in Colorado last year, has stepped aside as head of Uber’s self-driving group while a lawsuit moves forward.
Uber confirmed to media outlets that Anthony Levandowski is taking another position within the company.
Levandowski worked at Google, prior to launching OTTO. Uber then purchased OTTO for $680 million in August and gave Levandowski a leadership role.
Several months after OTTO’s beer run, Waymo, the self-driving car unit spun-off from Google, initiated court action against Uber and Levandowski.
He is accused of stealing confidential documents related to LiDAR, short for 'light detection and ranging,' which are specialized radar sensors that map their surroundings. Eric Meyhofer has been named as Levandowski’s replacement.
At an industry conference last fall, Levandowski presented an ambitious vision for the future, where autonomous trucks allowing for around-the-clock trucking.
