SAN FRANCISCO — Hoping to avoid a court order that would hobble its driverless car division, Uber Technologies Inc. on Friday told a federal judge that top engineer Anthony Levandowski is no longer heading that unit.

Uber has recused Levandowski “from all LiDAR development,” the company's lawyers at Morrison & Foerster and Boies Schiller Flexner said in a court filing, referring to a technology that helps detect a car's surroundings. They added that Uber does “not oppose an order to that effect pending trial.”

Levandowski is at the center of a lawsuit filed in February by Waymo, Google's driverless car unit. He managed that division at Google before starting his own company, Ottomotto, which was later acquired by Uber. Google alleges that Levandowski made off with thousands of confidential files before leaving, and that Uber is now using that information for its gain.

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