Shifting Gears: Uber's safety report is finally here, Elon Musk takes the stand, and a shakeup at United

Tesla's chief executive was back in court this week, this time for a defamation lawsuit brought by the British cave explorer he called a "pedo guy" on Twitter back in 2018 after the dramatic rescue of a Thai soccer team trapped in a flooded cave.

During an explosive two days on the witness stand, Musk defended his tweet, saying it wasn't intended in the literal sense of "pedophile."

Vernon Unsworth, the target of the attack, said the sting of the ordeal remained with him. "Feels very raw," he said in his first day of testimony. "Feel humiliated, ashamed, dirtied."

"I feel very vulnerable," he added. "It hurts to talk about it."

Oscar Munoz will step down as chief executive of United Airlines in May, the airline said this week. He'll transition to chairman of the board and Scott Kirby, the company's president who was recruited from American Airlines in 2016, will take over as CEO.

United has seen strong performance this year under Munoz's leadership, despite strong industry headwinds. Still, the 2017 scandal in which police dragged a doctor off of an oversold flight — and the airlines' response — is likely to be another hallmark of his time at the helm.

General Motors and LG Chem said this week that they'll form a joint-venture to build a new battery factory in Ohio. The 50-50 collaboration is expected to total as much as $2.3 billion in investment from the US' top automaker and the South Korean energy company.

The new plant is anticipated to create 1,100 jobs and break ground in 2020.

We're beginning to cull the list of rising stars of autonomous driving. Is there anyone in the self-driving field we should consider? Now is your last chance to make sure they're nominated. Details can be found here.

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