Uber Fires Former Google Engineer at Heart of Self-Driving Dispute -br By MIKE ISAACMAY 30, 2017br SAN FRANCISCO — Uber has fired Anthony Levandowski, a vice president of technologybr and the star engineer leading the company’s self-driving automobile efforts, according to an internal email sent to employees on Tuesday.br Waymo claims that Uber is using trade secrets stolen from Google to develop Uber’s self-drivingbr vehicles, a plan aided by Mr. Levandowski, a former longtime Google employee.br “Over the last few months Uber has provided significant evidence to the court to demonstratebr that our self-driving technology has been built independently,” Angela Padilla, Uber’s associate general counsel for employment and litigation, wrote in an email to employees.br Mr. Levandowski’s termination, effective immediately, comes as a result of his involvement in a legal battle between Uberbr and Waymo, the self-driving technology unit spun out of Google last year.