10 things in tech you need to know today (GOOG, AAPL)

Google announces Google Lens and other products at Google/IO, Amazon launches new Fire tablets, and Apple exec Jimmy Levine is bullish about Dr. Dre show.

Good morning! Here is the tech news you need to know this Thursday.

1. Google made a series of product announcements at its annual Google I/O event. There were updates to Android, Google Home, Google Assistant, and YouTube. As well as nifty new services like Google Lens, which uses your smartphone's camera to identify objects in the real world.

2. Amazon has refreshed its most popular Fire tablets. It launched updated versions of the Fire 7 and Fire HD 8.

3. Apple stock was down 3.3% at market close on Wednesday. That's a lot for any company, but Apple is the world's most valuable company by market cap, and the drop wipes out billions in shareholder value.

4. Intel and Salesforce have joined a powerful group set up to ensure that artificial intelligence (AI) benefits people and society. The group is known as the Partnership on AI.

5. Apple executive Jimmy Iovine said Dr. Dre's original show on Apple Music will "move the needle". The hip hop legend has been rumoured to be working on a show, reportedly called "Vital Signs", since last February, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

6. Elon Musk's $1 billion (£771 million) AI startup developed a system that trains robots in virtual reality. OpenAI successfully taught a robot how to stack blocks.

7. Google DeepMind has expanded its public relations and communications team in recent weeks. The expansion comes as data regulators prepare to pass decisions that have the potential to damage the company's image.

8. Facebook's plan to disrupt TV advertising may have hit a wall. It wants to grab a big chunk of the $70 billion-plus (£54 billion-plus) US TV ad market.

9. Crowdstrike, the security startup best known for discovering that Russians were behind the hack of the Democratic National Committee, has raised yet another $100 million (£77 billion). The six-year-old company is valued at just under $1 billion (£771 million), the New York Times reports.

10. Qualcomm has sued the four companies that make most Apple products. It is suing Foxconn and others for not paying royalties.