10 things in tech you need to know today

Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Tuesday.

1. Google is to shut down its failed social network, Google+, after The Wall Street Journal reported that the firm covered up a major security breach. Google discovered in March that it had exposed personal profile data of hundreds of thousands of Google+ users, but chose not to go public with that information.
2. Facebook launched its video-chat and smart speaker device, Portal, on Monday and reactions have been largely skeptical. The launch comes less than two weeks after Facebook reported the biggest data breach in its history, and months after its Cambridge Analytica data scandal. 
3. Google has successfully seen off a UK class-action lawsuit claiming it had collected 4 million iPhone users’ data through Safari. A London court blocked the lawsuit on Monday.
4. Microsoft announced it would invest an undisclosed amount in the Singapore-based ride-hailing service, Grab. The Financial Times reported Microsoft’s investment would total around $200 million and put Grab’s valuation “closer to $12 billion.”
5. Google has dropped out of a bidding war with Amazon and other cloud computing companies for a Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) $10 billion contract from the Pentagon. Google chose to withdraw because the contract may conflict with its corporate values, and its principles over the ethical use of AI.
6. A British startup, Medopad, has teamed up with Tencent to speed up the diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. A camera looks at the way patients move their heads to determine how the disease has progressed.
7. Car firm Faraday Future is trying to cancel a $2 billion investment from a Chinese healthcare firm, Evergrande, after disagreements over advance payments. Faraday has struggled to build its planned FF91 electric SUV amid financial concerns.
8. LinkedIn announced its intent to buy the employee survey software company Glint in a deal said to be valued at more than $400 million. Glint specializes in employee surveys measuring satisfaction with management, compensation, and other internal issues.
9. Google released a video to address all of the leaks for its new Pixel 3 after a reporter managed to get their hands on one before the phone was even announced. Images and videos of the new device have been leaking non-stop.
10. Amazon facilitated charity donations to Islamic extremists through its Amazon Smile donation scheme. Among Amazon’s listed charities were two backed by Haitham al-Haddad, an Islamic scholar described as a “hardcore Islamist” by thinktank Quilliam and identified by the UK government as an Islamist speaker.

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