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Google’s gravest threat is probably a regulatory crackdown on its lucrative search engine, and there’s a resurgent drumbeat about its size and power in Washington. If the company’s worried, that’s not showing up in its lobbying activity.

It’s a paradox: How can paying a quarter of a billion dollars to a rival and issuing an apology be considered a win?

Uber Technologies Inc. settled the high-stakes trade-secret theft lawsuit brought by Waymo, resolving a conflict that already cost the ride-hailing giant its top driverless car engineer and threatened to further embarrass the company.

Subdued. Calm. Compliant. Agreeable. Those adjectives aren’t typically associated with Travis Kalanick, Uber’s combative co-founder. But during 50 minutes on the witness stand in the Waymo vs. Uber trial on Feb. 6, a suit-and-tie-clad Kalanick kept his cool, meekly agreeing with most questions posed to him by Charles Verhoeven, Waymo’s lead attorney.

At some point this year, Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo plans to roll out a ride-hailing service using driverless cars. It just bought more vehicles to make that happen.

An Uber Technologies Inc. security manager who was paid $4.5 million over his termination was derided by one of the company’s top internal lawyers as a thief and “extortionist” who made “fantastical” allegations of unethical conduct inside the company.

An Uber Technologies Inc. whistleblower made explosive allegations that a company team stole trade secrets to gain an edge over rivals, prompting a judge to further delay the ride-hailing company’s trial with Waymo.

What is a trade secret? That seemingly simple question dominated discussions Nov. 14 during a federal court hearing on Waymo vs. Uber, one of the last pretrial sessions before the case, which could shape the future of autonomous vehicles, heads to a jury on Dec 4.

For almost a decade, self-driving cars have graced public roads — but always with a person behind the wheel. Now Waymo is yanking the driver.