(Adds details on court testimony, context)
By Dan Levine
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Former Uber Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick testified at a trial over technology trade secrets on Tuesday that delays in Uber's self-driving car development led him to hire a star engineer from rival Waymo as part of attempts to catch up with competitors.
Kalanick, known to be hard-charging and combative in his work, spoke softly on the witness stand in San Francisco federal court and avoided becoming argumentative in front of the jury in what were his first public comments on allegations by Waymo that Uber stole its self-driving car technology.
The ride-hailing firm's co-founder, Kalanick testified for less than an hour and will be questioned further on Wednesday by lawyers for Waymo, which sued Uber a year ago saying a Waymo engineer downloaded confidential documents in December 2015 before Kalanick hired him at Uber in 2016.
The 10 jurors will have to decide whether the documents were indeed trade secrets and not common knowledge, and whether Uber Technologies Inc improperly acquired them, used them and benefited from them. Their decision will influence one of the biggest technology races in Silicon Valley.
Kalanick testified that in 2015 he became unhappy with the pace of development at Uber's Advanced Technologies Center, the hub of its self-driving car operations. He said he began negotiations with Anthony Levandowski, regarded as a visionary in autonomous technology, while Levandowski still worked for Waymo, Alphabet Inc's self-driving car unit.
On the witness stand, Kalanick acknowledged that he was a "big fan" of Levandowski's.
"Look, I wanted to hire Anthony and he wanted to start a company. So I wanted to come up with a situation where he could feel like he started a company and I could feel like I hired him," said Kalanick, who appeared in court in a business suit and tie, a departure from the usual Silicon Valley casual.
How he presents himself and the company to the jury is crucial, legal experts said.
Despite Kalanick's plan, Uber still lags in the competitive field of autonomous vehicles.
When Waymo attorney Charles Verhoeven asked Kalanick if he agreed Google is the industry leader for self-driving cars, the former top Uber executive said: "I think that's the general perception right now."
Levandowski is not a defendant in the case but is on Waymo's witness list. He declined to answer questions at a pretrial deposition last year, citing his constitutional rights against self incrimination, and lawyers for both Waymo and Uber have said they expect him to do the same if called at trial.