DOJ confirms criminal investigation into Uber

The Justice Department is conducting at least one criminal investigation into ride-hailing company Uber, according to a letter made public Wednesday.

The Nov. 22 letter from the U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of California does not specify exactly what is being investigated, but said that a former Uber employee revealed in an interview that the company had failed to disclose additional evidence to investigators.

“In the course of a United States’ pending criminal investigation, the government interviewed a former Uber employee named Richard Jacobs,” the letter said.

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The letter to U.S. District Judge William Alsup is the government’s first public acknowledgement that it is conducting a criminal probe of Uber.

The letter was released as part of a legal dispute between Uber and Waymo, a self-driving car developer owned by Google’s parent company. In that case, Waymo alleges that Uber stole trade secrets by hiring one of its former employees.