Anthony Levandowski, head of Uber's self-driving program, will remain at Uber, but won't oversee a crucial self-driving project targeted in lawsuit.

SAN FRANCISCO — The executive running Uber’s self-driving car division is stepping aside while the company defends itself against charges that he provided the project with technology stolen from a Google spinoff.

Anthony Levandowski, an autonomous vehicle expert who defected from Google last year, notified Uber’s staff of his decision in a Thursday email. The change was made in tandem with Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, according to the email.

Although Levandowski will remain at Uber, he won’t be overseeing a crucial autonomous-car project while the ride-hailing service is locked in a legal showdown with Waymo, a rival started by Google eight years ago. Instead of reporting directly to Kalanick, Levandowski now will be under the supervision of a former subordinate, Eric Meyhofer.