Now, Waymo is trying to thwart that effort by persuading U.S. District Judge William Alsup to block Uber's self-car driving expansion on the grounds that it hinges on a high-tech heist. The case's outcome could alter the race to build self-driving cars that may transform transportation, reduce traffic deaths and launch a huge new industry.

Uber has hit back at claims a key sensor on its self driving car was stolen from arch rival Waymo. It said its self-driving sensor technology was'fundamentally different' from Waymo's, blasting the Alphabet unit's claim that it profited from stolen files in the race to roll out the first driverless car. Uber said in a federal court filing that 14,000 of Waymo's computer files on autonomous technology never ended up on its servers, despite Waymo's claim that its former executive, Anthony Levandowski, stole them before joining Uber. Waymo sued Uber in February, seeking a preliminary injunction to stop it from using trade secrets and other intellectual property at the center of the case. High-profile: Levandowski, a'swaggering' six-foot-seven tech leader, is one of Silicon Valley's most significant figures in the development of self-driving cars In lidar -- or light detection and ranging -- scanning, one or more lasers sends out short pulses, which bounce back when they hit an obstacle, whether clouds, leaves or rocks.

The ride-hailing company says its laser-sensor system is different than Waymo's and it can't find any of the 14,000 files claimed as stolen on its computers.