Uber's lawyers have a big question in the self-driving car case: What did Larry Page know? (GOOG, GOOGL)

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April 25, 2017 11:51 PM

Uber wants to depose Larry Page, but the judge isn't letting them get that far yet.

Google cofounder Larry Page

Alphabet CEO Larry Page was thrust into the center of the high-profile legal drama involving Google, Uber and self-driving cars on Tuesday.

At issue is a conversation that Page may, or may not, have had with Anthony Levandowski, the self-driving car pioneer who is accused of taking technology he worked on while at Google and bringing it to Uber.

Lawyers for Uber say they need to talk to Page, to ask him about his conversations with his former employee.

Page was aware thatYet, Uber argues, Page never brought it up in conversations with Levandowski or when he met with Uber's CEO Travis Kalanick in October.

"What you just heard your honor is something that was made up in the mind of Mr. Gonzalez," Waymo's lawyers said in court on Tuesday.

The next week will be crucial for the two parties involved in the trade secrets case that's pitting two of Silicon Valley's giants against each other. On Wednesday, the two will have a settlement conference followed by a hearing about Uber's motion to compel arbitration on Thursday. The following week will be the hearing over the preliminary injunction.

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