(Original title: Alphabet Driverless Ambitions Looked Stalled. Then It Sued Uber) Netease Technology News June 2 news, according to Bloomberg reported that not long ago, Alphabet’s ambition of driverless cars seem to lose momentum, although it is the earliest on the road to test driverless cars. It does not have a business plan and faces the danger that the first-mover advantage will be wiped out by traditional automakers and Silicon Valley startups such as Uber. It seems to have started another "moon landing" project. After that, Alphabet seriously and seriously. At the end of last year, the company split the driverless car division into an independent entity called Waymo. This month, Waymo began deploying vans equipped with various internal technologies in Phoenix to test driverless taxi services. Waymo also launched a lawsuits war and accused Uber of stealing Waymo's trade secrets when he acquired a driverless car startup founded by former Google engineer Anthony Levandowski. Lewandowski led Google’s driverless car division. Uber dismissed him on Tuesday because he refused to submit confidential documents that were allegedly stolen to court. Waymo let a major competitor separate from his star engineers. Just a few months ago, critics said that Alphabet wasted its first-mover advantage in driverless technology. Waymo loses several engineers - including the original technical director Chris Urmson and Lewandowski recruited several people - and only reached a cooperation agreement with a car manufacturer (Fiat Chrysler) . The automotive industry and many start-up companies are aggressively involved in driverless technology. Tesla is also advocating its Autopilot autopilot technology. Behind the scenes But behind the scenes, Waymo strengthened its engineering capabilities and made technical improvements. According to informed sources, since the spin-off of Alphabet X's lab in December last year, the department has been in full swing to recruit talent, including several engineers recruited from Terra Bella, the division that Google sold earlier this year. Waymo also designed new hardware to help the car better observe the surrounding environment. At the same time, it is negotiating with Honda to negotiate for a car manufacturing cooperation agreement. Earlier this month, Waymo also announced that Lyft, Uber’s biggest competitor in the taxi service market, is cooperating in the United States. At the same time, Uber suffered a series of troubles. After alleged widespread sexual harassment within the accused, the company was plunged into a rather serious cultural crisis and several senior executives left the company one after another. Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder will issue an internal report to the company this week. Executives who have left Uber include Sheriff Marakby, who has been recruited from Detroit, who previously worked in Uber's driverless car division with automakers. Earlier this month, he returned to Ford. Uber's driverless car project also left several engineers recently. From their LinkedIn sources, they all went to drone technology companies founded by robotics experts who had worked for Uber or Waymo. Although the first group of driverless cars is expected to be officially on the road in the United States after 5 to 10 years, the competition in this emerging industry has become fierce. Allowing Uber to stand aside, or at least make it difficult, will give Waymo a valuable time to consolidate his position. But Uber CEO Travis Kalanick is notoriously tough and aggressive. He believes that the company’s survival will depend on whether it can master unmanned technology. Uber may collaborate with other companies to develop this type of technology. It already has a large global driving network - this is crucial for collecting driverless car data. At the same time, the legal war between Waymo and Uber is far from over. The dismissal of Lewandowski could support Uber’s claim that it had never been in contact with the trade secrets allegedly downloaded before he left Alphabet. Uber also said that the development of its laser radar technology did not involve Lewandowski. From a legal perspective, Uber has no choice but to expel him from the company. Doing so also shows that the company complied with court orders and did not attempt to assault the executive accused of stealing thousands of trade secret documents. The move may also indicate that Uber will seek a lawsuit settlement plan. The case is still likely to be transferred to the criminal court; as Lewandowski is no longer employed by Uber and is no longer subject to it, he may cooperate with the prosecutor in exchange for immunity – this change in attitude may be possible It will be bad for Uber. “As Waymo improved Uber’s dismissal of Lewandowski by forcing him to improve his situation, Uber also improved his situation by staying away from him.†Jim Pooley, a Silicon Valley intellectual property attorney who did not participate in the case. Pointed out, "This is all to reduce risk for yourself." (Lebang)