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According to Uber, the engineer who was the target of the lawsuit developed a self-driving motorcycle way before he ever worked at Google.

So while Google/Waymo probably have a case, it's not black and white. A lot of techniques developed over years of research was probably stolen from Google, but the truth is Google does not have a monopoly on using LIDAR sensors to train self-driving cars.

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> Google does not have a monopoly on using LIDAR sensors to train self-driving cars.

True. But they do have a LIDAR that's an order of magnitude cheaper than the competition -- which makes LIDAR practical as a use-phase sensor (not just a training sensor), as well as a patent on "zoomable" LIDAR with Levandowski listed as one of the inventors.

Interesting, but I thought the best LIDAR sensors were being built primarily by 3rd party vendors? These vendors are working very hard to make a powerful under thousand dollar LIDAR sensor possible, so I wouldn't say that LIDAR sensor pricing is Uber's achilles heel.

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