10 things in tech you need to know today

Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Tuesday. Sign up here to get this email in your inbox every morning.

1. A graphic video showing an apparent suicide circulated on TikTok, and users warned each other not to watch it. TikTok said the app’s systems are “detecting and flagging” clips of the video, and the team is banning users who “repeatedly” try to upload the video to the platform.
2. Epic Games said ‘Fortnite’ users on iPhone have plummeted 60%, and it’s trying to force Apple to reinstate the game to the App Store. Epic is still trying to restore the game to the App Store while the two companies duke it out over whether Apple’s rules on in-app purchases are legal.
3. Samsung has sealed a $6.6 billion deal with Verizon to build 5G networks in the US. The deal comes as the US government continues to impose sanctions on Chinese telecoms giant Huawei.
4. ‘Fall Guys’ is having such a big problem with cheaters it’s having to deploy the same anti-cheating tech used by ‘Fortnite’. The firm promised fans it was strengthening its cheating-detection systems this week.
5. Experts dissected TikTok’s algorithm and say a US buyer will struggle to replicate its magic. TikTok is thought to be wrangling over whether it can sell its recommendation algorithms to a US buyer as part of a wider deal.
6. ‘Nasdaq whale’ SoftBank is said to have scored a $4 billion gain by betting big on tech stocks. The Japanese conglomerate was revealed last week to be the “Nasdaq whale” responsible for snapping up vast amounts of options tied to US tech stocks recently.
7. China has criticized by what it describes as ‘naked bullying’ of its tech firms by the US. State councillor Wang Yi said that “some individual countries are … conducting global hunts on leading companies of other countries under the pretext of security.”
8. A Utah company raised $40 million for commercial production of robotic exoskeletons that help wearers lift up to 200 pounds. The firm says the exoskeletons could be used in industries such as manufacturing, military and defense, construction, and more.
9. Amazon is hiring engineers in the UK to develop its Scout delivery robots, Sky News reported. The new hires could bring Amazon delivery robots closer to reality in the UK.
10. Netflix chairman Reed Hastings says working from home has no positive effects. “Not being able to get together in person, particularly internationally, is a pure negative,” Hastings told the Wall Street Journal. 

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