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Uber Self-Driving Car Exec Steps Aside During Google Lawsuit

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The executive running Uber's self-driving car division is stepping aside while the company defends itself against charges that he provided the project with technology stolen from a Google spinoff.

Anthony Levandowski, an autonomous vehicle expert who defected from Google last year, notified Uber's staff of his decision in a Thursday email.

He will remain at Uber, but won't be overseeing a crucial self-driving car project while the ride-hailing service is locked in a legal showdown with Waymo, a rival started by Google eight years ago.

Waymo filed a lawsuit in February accusing Levandowski of illegally downloading its blueprints for a navigation technology known as lidar before founding a startup that he later sold to Uber for $680 million.

Uber has denied its self-driving cars are using Waymo's technology.

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(Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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