Waymo seeks $2.6 billion in damages from Uber for alleged use of one trade secret

With three weeks to go until the explosive Waymo vs. Uber trial begins, court-watchers got a peek Wednesday at the hefty price tag Uber could face if it loses. Waymo is seeking $2.6 billion in damages for just one of the nine self-driving car trade secrets it claims Uber put to use, lawyers disclosed at a hearing in federal court in San Francisco. It's a number that underscores the importance of the technology that's at the heart of the legal battle, as both rivals race to stake their claim in the burgeoning autonomous vehicle market. The estimated value of the other eight trade secrets hasn't been made public. The damage estimate came out as Waymo's lawyers on Wednesday bolstered their case with new, last-minute evidence showing that thousands of confidential Waymo files ended up on the personal computer of a top-level Uber engineer.