Information is Wealth.

Alphabet thinks Uber should pay $2.6 billion for allegedly stealing a single trade secret. Alphabet was in court with Uber to convince a judge to delay the Oct. 10 trial in its self-driving lawsuit against the ride-hail company. But during the hearing, an Uber attorney said that Alphabet is seeking $2.6 billion in damages for just one of the nine trade secrets the company is claiming a former Uber executive stole. Before today's hearing, the amount of damages Alphabet wanted a court to award them was not public and had been redacted from court filings. In its opposition to Alphabet's request for a trial delay, Uber claims Alphabet is simply asking for a "do-over" because its allegations that an executive stole files and brought them to Uber has weakened. Alphabet is suing Uber for trade secret misappropriation, alleging one of its former executives, Anthony Levandowski, downloaded 14,000 files and took them to Uber after it acquired his self-driving startup Otto. U...

Roads where artificial intelligence rules In the back of a Waymo self-driving Chrysler Pacifica, on the side of a road inside Castle, a former air force base in central California which was leased in 2012 Google. Behind the traditional driver’s seat, is a black rectangular panel and a series of four uniform buttons. My attention is drawn to the only bright blue button on the far right labeled “start ride.” I, pushing it, and a few seconds later the the minivan pulls out onto the road. The minivan is programmed by Waymo to operate at low speeds, but it’s moving at a pace that is more than a slow movement. We maneuver around cyclists, a couple of pedestrians, and a crestfallen man standing next to a broken-down Hyundai, all of whom are among the cast of actors contracted by Waymo to simulate the real world at its 91-acre test facility. It’s a smooth, yet totally unremarkable ride. Only there’s no one behind the wheel. There’s not even anyone in the passenger seat. And I feel comple...