Tech titans thwart former workers’ autonomous startup dreams

A roof mounted camera and radar system is shown on Uber's Ford Fusion self driving car during a demonstration of self-driving automotive technology in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. September 13, 2016. REUTERS/Aaron Josefczyk

The biggest players in Silicon Valley’s burgeoning autonomous car industry have a warning for their top engineers: if you quit to set up your own company, tread carefully. 

Anthony Levandowski, a pioneering self-driving car engineer, became the highest-profile casualty of this increasingly litigious approach after Uber Technologies Inc fired him in the midst of a contentious legal fight. Alphabet Inc’s autonomous car project, now called Waymo, sued Uber alleging Levandowski stole some of its core technology and took it to the ride-hailing company when it acquired his startup. Levandowski has refused to testify in the case.