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Google Spinoff Waymo, Uber Trade Jabs In Court

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Lawyers for Google spin-off Waymo are depicting Uber as a conniving company that relied on stolen trade secrets to catch up in the race to build self-driving cars. Uber's attorneys are brushing off the allegations as trumped-up claims designed to thwart a rival.

The dueling arguments were presented Monday in the opening statements of a high-profile court fight between the two companies.

Waymo sued Uber nearly a year ago, charging it with building a fleet of self-driving cars with technology stolen by former Google engineer Anthony Levandowski, who joined Uber in 2016.

Waymo lawyer Charles Verhoeven likens Uber and its former CEO, Travis Kalanick, to Rosie Ruiz, a runner who cheated to win the women's Boston Marathon in 1980.

Uber lawyer William Carmody highlights internal documents showing that Google hoped to use its self-driving cars to lure business away from Uber.

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