Summary: Waymo sues state DMV to keep robotaxi safety details secret

Before releasing the material, the DMV invited Waymo to censor sections the company believed would reveal trade secrets.

Redacted documents A selection of Waymo permit application documents in publicly available format

Punting to the courts is understandable, said Sharon Sandeen, a law professor and director of the Intellectual Property Institute at Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul, Minn.

For government agencies subject to public records laws, “the default rule is supposed to be to disclose, unless there’s a clear exception,” said Sandeen, who researches the intersection of AI and trade secrets.

Potential market participants interested in deploying autonomous vehicles in California will be dissuaded from investing valuable time and resources developing this technology if there is a demonstrated track record of their trade secrets being released.”

Sandeen said, “The goal of having cars moving around publicly funded streets without a driver is a real important public interest, and they shouldn’t be allowed to hide behind trade secrets to avoid scrutiny.”

In this case, a judge will decide.

In its lawsuit, Waymo says revelation of the safety information at issue would cause “a chilling effect across the industry….

In effect, the DMV is shifting responsibility to the court to determine what’s a trade secret, what’s not, and what balance should be struck between corporate claims and public interest.

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