10 things in tech you need to know today
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 has big 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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