Axios

In an attempt to thwart a preliminary injunction on its self-driving car project, Uber told a magistrate judge on Tuesday that Alphabet's CEO should be asked whether he knew that a top employee had downloaded company files and was considering joining the ride-hailing company, but took no action for months.

Alphabet is suing Uber, and says former employee Anthony Levandowski — now a top Uber exec — downloaded documents before leaving the company. He is pleading the fifth, so Uber's attorney argues that Larry Page, Alphabet's CEO, is the only person who can speak to the conversations they had before he left.

What's next: The parties agreed for Page to be asked one question, under oath (though not an official deposition) on the topic. A hearing in which a judge will rule on the request for the injunction is scheduled for May 3.

Uber has tapped ChargePoint, a company that provides charging stations for electric cars, to design and manufacture chargers for vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircrafts, better known as "flying cars." The goal is for the chargers to be available for use at Uber's Elavate Vertiports (take off and landing pads for flying cars) by 2020.

The companies announced the partnership on Tuesday at Uber's conference focused on aviation in Dallas, Texas.

Bigger picture: While Uber doesn't plan on manufacturing the aircraft itself, it is interested in the technology and plans to operate a VTOL network. Though still in the early days of the technology, there are already several companies building flying cars, including Kitty Hawk (backed by Google co-founder Larry Page), Terrafugia, and Aeromobil, to name a few.

Yahoo's CEO Marissa Mayer is slated to receive a windfall of $186 million when much of the company's assets are sold to Verizon, according to multiple reports. That number is based on the value of equity and options she owns.

Why it matters: Mayer's tenure at Yahoo has been rocky, with the company's sale price ultimately being re-negotiated because of revelations of multiple security breaches.

The tech giant, which owns roughly 80% percent of the U.S. search market and over 40% of the U.S. digital ad market, says it's made updates to its algorithms to surface more "authoritative content."

Why it matters: This is one of the biggest steps Google has taken to combat fake news since the election. Google and Facebook, the two largest platforms and media distributors, have been under intense pressure for years, but more so since the election, to reassure advertisers that their content won't appear next to fake news sites or ads.

A former Lyft driver in California has filed a potential class action lawsuit against Uber over the ride-hailing company's secret program that tracked Lyft drivers. The former driver is seeking compensation for Uber's breach of his privacy, which includes violations of several federal and state laws.

Uber tactics: Uber's ultra-competitive streak is well known, and this isn't the first time the company has used stealth software tools and aggressive tactics to evade regulators or competitors. This lawsuit is also coming at a time when Uber's competitive tactics have come under unusual scrutiny as it's busy fighting off a trade secret theft lawsuit from Alphabet's self-driving car unit, and working to finish a highly anticipated investigation into recent allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination.

Uber declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Most of Yahoo's executives, including CEO Marissa Mayer, won't be with the new company, Oath, once the acquisition is completed in June, according to USA Today. The company is planning to announce a new slate of executives on Tuesday.

New lineup: Oath will be led by AOL CEO Tim Armstrong, who will be joined by two Yahoo executives, senior vice president of communications products Jeff Bonforte, and senior vice president of publisher products Simon Khalaf.

In a permit issued April 14 by the state of California and obtained by the WSJ, Apple lists 6 former NASA employees who will be test driving three autonomous Lexus sport-utility vehicles.

Why this matters: Though the company has been developing its autonomous vehicle technology since 2014 — in an effort known as "Project Titan" — the road tests signal that Apple is focusing on catching up in the race to develop self-driving cars.

Competitors: Apple faces stiff competition. Waymo has used senior engineers to test autonomous vehicles on roads since 2009. Meanwhile, both traditional companies like Ford and General Motors, as well as Silicon Valley companies like Uber and Tesla, are pouring their resources into developing self-driving technology.

Pre-orders of Samsung's Galaxy S8 and S8+ are up 30% year-over-year, beating the record pre-orders for the Galaxy S7 and making the new devices Samsung's best ever in early sales.

"The response is humbling, energizing and points to a great launch week. We aim to push the boundaries of what's possible in the name of a better, smarter, more exciting experience for our consumers." – Tim Baxter, president and chief operating officer of Samsung Electronics America

Why it matters: After the disastrous Note 7 recall, it was unclear how consumers in the U.S. would respond. It seems people in the U.S. are willing to give Samsung another chance — at least for now.

You can check out our review of the Galaxy S8 here.