10 things in tech you need to know today

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1. Facebook tracked a rise in violent rhetoric. Signals Facebook flagged ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration included digital flyers promoting future protest, some of them featuring calls to arms or the insignia of militias or hate groups.
2. Intel’s CEO is stepping down. VMWare CEO Pat Gelsinger will take up his role.
3. Signal downloads are skyrocketing. After WhatsApp said it would begin sharing more data with Facebook, the alternative messaging app shot to the top of app stores.
4. GPS data showed the US Capitol mob made it deep into the building. The data, acquired by a hacker, showed rioters near Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s office, congressional chambers and in the hallways.
5. Dropbox is laying off staff. The firm is laying off 315 employees, or 11% of its workforce, the company announced on Wednesday. 
6. TikTok made under-16s’ accounts private. The firm has tightened the privacy settings of tens of millions of children’s accounts in a movemeant to limit the ways groomers can interact with them on the app.
7. Google is blocking all political ads. Google said it will block political ads and those referencing the US Capitol siege until at least the day after inauguration.
   
   
8. Exclusive: Walmart is building a new health venture. The new venture, which has not been previously reported, will build programs that allow shoppers to make healthier choices based on their own shopping data.
9. Exclusive: Some venture capitalists are unhappy Trump got booted from social media. Early Twitter investor Fred Wilson wrote that it was “problematic” Twitter had so much power.
10. Fintech startup Rapyd is now worth $2.5 billion. The company raised $300 million and says it is planning big M&A deals.