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FAANG Report: Some Google staff quit over plan to bow to China censorship; Apple Watch could save lives

Last updated: 11:20 14 Sep 2018 EDT, First published: 10:35 14 Sep 2018 EDT

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Google coming under fire from building China search app.

Some staff on Alphabet Inc's Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) have resigned because the company was not honoring its commitment to human rights in designing a search app for China and 16 lawmakers from the US Congress asked if the search giant would comply with China's internet censorship and surveillance policies, a report by Reuters said.

More than 1,000 Google employees, six US senators and at least fourteen human rights groups have written to the company expressing concern about its China ambitions.

Jack Poulson, a research scientist who had worked for Google for more than two years, said he resigned over the issue. Poulson told Reuters that executives would not specify to him where the company would draw the line on agreeing to Chinese demands. 

Google declined to comment directly but described its work for China as exploratory and "not close to launching."

Shares of Google were off 0.01% to US$1,175.19.

FAANG Report: Google employees criticize plans for a 'censored' China search engine

The Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) Watch Series 4 is not likely to be reimbursable on an insurance plan, but maybe it should be because it could very well save lives, a report by CNN said.

With electrodes built into the watch's 'digital crown' and its own electrocardiogram rhythm analyzer, the Apple watch will be able to inform you in real time if your heartbeat warrants medical attention.

Most of the attention will be on atrial fibrillation or Afib, which is common and potentially deadly, the report said.

Apple shares were down 0.2% to US$225.91.

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is ramping up its effort to combat fake images and video that have been uploaded to its platform and flagged posts will be sent to outside fact-checkers for further review, a report in the Boston Globe said.  

Facebook said it is trying to stamp out content which have been doctored, taken out of context or paired with misleading text. 

US lawmakers are already raising the alarm that foreign foes will try to spread misinformation through fake visual content with the mid-term elections in November, the report explained.

Facebook shares added 0.16% to US$161.62.

READ: Amazon.com planning to spend up to US$5bn on second North American HQ

Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) chief Jeff Bezos said the company will choose and start building its second major headquarters before the year ends, a report by Engadget said.

The 20 finalist cities/areas that are in the running are: Atlanta (Georgia), Austin (Texas), Boston (Massachusetts), Chicago (Illinois), Columbus (Ohio), Dallas (Texas), Denver (Colorado), Indianapolis (Indiana), Los Angeles (California), Miami (Florida), Montgomery County (Maryland), Nashville (Tennessee), Newark (New Jersey), New York City, Northern Virginia, Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), Raleigh (North Carolina), Washington DC and Toronto, Canada.

Amazon received 238 applications from the US, Canada and Mexico.

Amazon shares were off by 0.6% to US$1,977.97.

Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) said in a memorandum before a federal court in Missouri that it is not a video service provider in a case where it is trying to avoid paying a portion of subscription fees to Missouri towns, a report by Hollywood Reporter said.

In 2007, Missouri passed the Video Services Providers Act, which allowed municipalities and counties in the state to collect franchise fees from video service providers. Since then, cable operators in the region have obtained video service authorization and remitted fees.

Missourians have shifted to subscription-based streaming services like Netflix and Hulu and those companies aren't paying these fees, the report said.

Netflix stock went up 0.54% to US$370.13.

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