10 things in tech you need to know today, August 17

Tesla CEO Elon
Musk.
AP

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

1. Elon Musk has described
2018 as the “most difficult and painful year” of his
career. In an interview with The New York Times, the
Tesla CEO opened up about the turmoil surrounding him and his
company, including the revelation that he is massively sleep
deprived.

2. More than 1,400 Google
staff have signed a letter to top execs demanding a say on
ethical issues. The letter calls for the creation of
an “ethics review structure” after news leaked that Google plans
to build a censored search engine in China.

3. A Tesla whistleblower
says the electric car maker’s security team is staffed with
former members of a notorious group from Uber that allegedly
spied on rivals. They include Nick Gicinto, who
allegedly led a team of former CIA case officers who hacked into
rivals’ computers and secretly recorded their conversations.

4. Vitalik Buterin, the
multi-millionaire founder of Ethereum, says that Google tried to
hire him on an intern’s salary. Buterin tweeted out
a photo of what appeared to be a job offer from Google,
potentially for a secret cryptocurrency project.

5. The 26-year-old wife
and manager of the most popular video-game player in the world
hasbig plans for her
husband. Jessica Blevins told Business Insider that
she wants to turn Tyler “Ninja” Blevins into a household name
around the globe.

6. A Tinder executive wrote a
heartfelt email to staff before being put on leave for filing a
$2 billion lawsuit against the dating app’s owners.
Rosette Pambakian said it was important to “shine a light on the
terrible practices I have witnessed” from InterActiveCorp and
Match Group.

7. Jack Dorsey doubled
down on his criticism of Facebook and YouTube while defending
Alex Jones’ right to keep tweeting. The Twitter CEO
said his peers had been “inconsistent” in their handling of
Infowars host Jones.

8. Tim Cook posted a gif
of Apple Park’s spectacular sliding doors. The
footage shows the doors opening wide to allow Apple staff to
spill out into the sun and have their lunch.

9. People are roasting
Motorola’s new phone for looking like an exact copy of the iPhone
X. Motorola launched a new phone this week, the P30,
and promotional images make it look nearly identical to Apple’s
marketing.

10. Instagram and YouTube
stars are being investigated for not declaring when they’re paid
to promote brands. The UK’s Competition and Markets
Authority has written to a number of stars it suspects of
wrongdoing and could name and shame them before the end of the
year.

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