The case against Google for infringement will be heard in Boston today, with the plaintiff Single Computing seeking financial compensation of up to US$7 billion. SingleComputing was founded by Massachusetts computer scientist Joseph Bates. The company claimed that Google's Tensor processor copied its technology and used it to power the AI functions of Google Search, Google Mail, Google Translate and other Google services.
A court document filed by Google shows that Single Computing is seeking up to $7 billion in monetary damages. The amount is more than double the highest patent infringement award in U.S. history.
Google spokesman Jose Castaneda said that SingleComputing's patents are still questionable, and Google's processors are the result of independent research and development over the years. "We look forward to clarifying the facts in court," Castaneda said.
A lawyer for SingleComputing declined to comment on the case. The trial is expected to last two to three weeks.
SingleComputing said in its 2019 indictment that Bates shared his computer processing innovations with Google between 2010 and 2014. SingleComputing said that Google's Tensor processor copied Bates' technology and infringed on two patents.
Google launched the Tensor processor in 2016 to support AI for speech recognition, content generation, ad recommendations and other functions. SingleComputing claimed that versions 2 and 3 launched by Google in 2017 and 2018 infringed its patent rights.
In December last year, Google told the court that its Tensor processor worked differently from SingleComputing’s patented technology.