10 things in tech you need to know today, September 10

Tesla’s stock tanked on
Friday.
The Joe Rogan
Podcast/YouTube

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

1.
Tesla had a turbulent weekend after its CEO Elon Musk smoked weed
while recording a podcast late on Thursday. The
firm’s stock dived after his podcast appearance and after Tesla’s
chief accounting officer, Dave Morton, announced that he was
leaving one month into the job.

2.
Alibaba announced that its founder Jack Ma will be stepping down
from the CEO role, and taking an executive chairman
position. New CEO Daniel Zhang will take over in
September 2019, according to CNBC.

3.
Google removed a YouTube advert by Russian opposition leader
Alexei Navalny after authorities
complained
. The series
of YouTube videos featured Navalny inviting Russians to join
demonstrations on Sunday, ahead of a vote for regional
governors.

4.
Reddit’s CEO Steve Huffman has said it has been hard to hire
engineers for the firm in recent years because its reputation was
“in the dumps.” To solve the problem, Huffman
said he began recruiting from more diverse places and the firm
focused on ridding the site of abuse and harassment.

5.
Artificial intelligence will widen the chasm that already
separates the rich and the poor, a former Microsoft and Google
executive has warned. 

6.
Verizon’s ad and media chief Tim Armstrong is in talks to leave
the firm, a year after the telco acquired Oath.
Armstrong helped drive the acquisition,
which sources say has been dysfunctional.

7.
Citigroup has created at direct way to invest in cryptocurrencies
without owning them. The structure, called
a Digital Asset Receipt, would place cryptocurrencies
within existing regulatory regimes and give big Wall Street
investors like asset managers and hedge funds a less risky way of
investing in the fledgling asset class.

8.
WhatsApp is hugely popular in India, but there’s evidence to
suggest that people’s reliance on the service for news is
resulting in major problems. There have been several
cases of fake rumours starting on WhatsApp accusing people of
being child kidnappers, leading to lynch mobs.

9.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk railed against fossil fuel during his podcast
appearance on Thursday. He called human use of
fossil fuels “the dumbest experiment in human history.”

10.
Certain Mac apps have been found to steal and upload users’
browser history, according to 9to5Mac. Apps such
as Dr. Unarchiver and Dr. Cleaner scanned for users’ Safari,
Chrome, and Firefox histories, as well as their Google searches.

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