(Subscribe to our Today's Cache newsletter for a quick snapshot of top 5 tech stories. Click here to subscribe for free.)
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he had given a full pardon to a former Google engineer sentenced for stealing a trade secret on self-driving cars months before he briefly headed UberTechnologies Inc's rival unit.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
The White House said Levandowski had "paid a significant price for his actions and plans to devote his talents to advance the public good." Alphabet Inc's Waymo, a self-driving auto technology unit spun out of Google, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The pardon was backed by several leaders in the technology industry who have supported Trump, including investors Peter Thiel and Blake Masters and entrepreneur Palmer Luckey, according to the White House.
ADVERTISEMENT
Levandowski transferred more than 14,000 Google files, including development schedules and product designs, to his personal laptop before he left, and while negotiating a new role with Uber.