Month: January 2026

After invading the development of video games, AI enters an untouchable area with a Sony patent: the player himself

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Sony has registered a patent that proposes a future where video games can complete themselves. The document, presented in September 2024 and released this weekdescribes a system of “artificial intelligence ghosts” capable of actively intervening in PlayStation games. These virtual agents would go beyond traditional guides: they would not only show how to overcome obstacles, but they could directly take control and solve entire levels while the player watches. How it works. The patent details an assistance system with several levels of intervention. For example, “Guide Mode” would allow the ghost to show the solution to a specific problem, such as solving a puzzle or executing a precise sequence of commands, but it would have to be completed by the player. “Complete Mode”, on the other hand, would hand over total control to the artificial agent, which would overcome the obstacle autonomously. More modes. The registration document describes four modes Selectable additional features: Story Mode, Combat Mode, Exploration Mode and Full Game Mode, suggesting specialization in certain tasks, depending on the type of challenge presented to the player. The system would function as a layer superimposed on the user’s character, visible on the screen as a visual reference. In some cases, this digital ghost could even hold conversations with the player’s avatar to offer contextualized instructions. What does it feed on? The technology would be fueled by recordings of previous games, including content shared on YouTube and social networks. The original patent document justifies the need to access these videos by stating that “players can research the game or search for previous gameplay on Internet sites, but that process is time-consuming.” Help systems. Player aids have come a long way. In the ’90s, players who got stuck called support lines (Nintendo’s being especially popular) or consulted guides in magazines, full of maps and secrets. The web democratized access through databases such as GameFAQs and, later, through audiovisual content on YouTube that allowed step-by-step solutions to be seen. In fact, Playstation 5 already incorporates Game Helpa system that displays clips of other users overcoming specific sections of the game. Its application, however, leaves something to be desired. Microsoft, of course, is betting on Copilot in the form of a conversational assistant that answers questions about the game. The proposal for artificial ghosts goes one step further, going from pre-recorded content to direct intervention in the game. AI in industry. The artificial intelligence integration video game development is accelerating. In 2024Unity revealed that 62% of studios that were using its tools implemented AI in some phase of production, highlighting animation as the main application. A survey from the Game Developers Conference of the same year indicates that approximately a third of professionals in the sector were already using these technologies. Data from the Tokyo Games Show raised the figure to more than half of Japanese companies. The automation of gameplay It’s not new either. Kotaku mentions in its article successful titles such as ‘Vampire Survivors’, with semi-automatic mechanics; ‘Megabonk’, nominated for the Game Awards for its automated design; or, in general, all idle subgenrewhich has such popular examples as ‘Ball X Pit’. The debate. This technology poses a dilemma: on the one hand, it would allow more players to enjoy complex content and prevent abandonment due to frustration. It would be integrated into the accessibility options (difficulty settings, control remapping, color blind modes), without forcing anyone to use it. On the other hand… do we run the risk of losing the “challenge” of games by delegating our participation to AI agents? What’s the point of playing then? And of course, it raises multiple questions in multiplayer environments, where there will be a temptation to take credit for victories achieved by the ghost. In Xataka | The new “test” to discover whether or not an AI model is truly intelligent: play Pokémon

Two scientists tried to publish a paper on why we get belly button lint. And that’s where his problems began

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In 2005, writer Mark Leyner and doctor Billy Goldberg published ‘Why do men have nipples?‘, a hilarious popular science book in which they answered very crazy questions: from the reason why hair comes out of our ears to the physiological reasons why asparagus perfumes our pee. However, they were not able to answer a key question: where did the fluff of the navel? Four years later, Georg Steinhauser wanted share your answer with the world. According to him, navel lint was mainly related to abdominal hair. According to him, the hair collected the fibers from the clothing and directed them to the navel. He did experiments for three years removing breasts to see the differences! But no one wanted to publish it. Nobody? No! A magazine populated by irreducible mad scientists still resists, as always, the most basic control practices of contemporary scientific publication. Welcome to the world of ‘Medical Hypothesis‘. Against the “gentrification” of science In recent years, “evidence-based” things They have enjoyed unprecedented fame. From politics to medicine, thousands of professionals have turned to science in search of solutions to respond to the problems of an increasingly complex society. However, all that glittered was not gold: again and again We have once again reflected on one of the blind spots of the approachthat science is, by nature, conservative. Not in a political sense, but in an epistemological sense. That is, we know better what we have; but when what we have doesn’t work, it’s a problem. A problem because, without resources to investigate new optionsare forced to implement interventions that do not work, leaving many professionals with their hands tied. For good reasons, yes. But with his hands tied. It is not strange, of course, that there are people who want more diversity. This is the case of ‘Medical Hypotheses‘, the most WTF science magazine of the last 40 years. ‘Medical Hypotheses’ was founded by the physiologist David Horrobin who directed it until his death in 2003. Horrobin, who was already himself a controversial figure (the British Medical Journal defined as one of the greatest “snake oil salesmen of his time”), made a magazine in his image and likeness. Fun, refreshing and dangerous In theory, the idea was to build a respectable forum to debate unconventional ideas unconstrained by current scientific publishing standards as a way to boost the diversity threatened by academic monoculture. ‘Medical hypotheses’ wanted to be a place to bring intuitions, extravagant ideas and crazy theories. In a world like the scientific one full of certainties and phrases in the present indicative, Horrobin’s magazine was all the y-sis and conditionals. That makes it a profound magazine. fun and refreshingbut it also does a bomb box. You can also read a study that relates heels with schizophrenia that one about the similarities between people with Down syndrome and Asians. These days, without going any further, a study is circulating in tabloids around the world about If we can abandon ourselves so much that we end up dying due to pure psychology. For years, the world was a party in ‘Medical Hypotheses’. In the first issues, pioneers from some of the most developing fields of the time wrote. But its main asset is also its main problem. It is a magazine that requires a very skilled editor to be able to navigate controversial terrain without publishing malicious and even dangerous work. The end of the party When Horrobin died in 2003, he was replaced by Bruce G. Charlton. Horrobin had written down that he was the only person he truly trusted to continue his work. At the end of 2009, an article in which he stated that “there was no evidence that HIV caused AIDS” was published in the magazine. The party was over. The paper had been rejected in all research area publications until it ended up in ‘Medical Hypotheses’. He scandal It was capital and Elsevier, owner and publisher of the magazine, fired Charlton a few months later. Furthermore, in an attempt to contain the damage, Elsevier introduced a review system halfway between the original system and the peer review of traditional publications. That clearly went against the magazine’s reason for being and Hundreds of researchers protested against the decision. ‘Medical Hypotheses’ is, in some ways, a symbol of the risky, indomitable and (often) reckless science that we still need, but it no longer plays a central role in public debate. Today, the preprints (and the repositories that store these open drafts — with arXiv.org at the head) fulfill that function. A function that, despite making our lives difficult, is best never missed. In Xataka | This frog is so photogenic that it is now on the verge of extinction In Xataka | Spain turns in the opposite direction to the rest of Europe. It is part of a geological plan: close the Mediterranean Image | Pexels

lend money to those who buy them

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The European automobile sector is experiencing its worst crisis in decades as a result of a perfect storm: This alignment has led the six main European manufacturers to project a drop in sales by 2025. But there is a parallel business that is growing: banking. Why is it important. Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes have turned their financial divisions into the engine that is making their profits grow. It is no longer just about selling cars, but about financing their purchase. From there its benefits come to an increasing extent. The figures. As detailed The Economist Based on the financial results of different manufacturers, at Volkswagen financial services have contributed 3,096 million euros of Ebitda in the first nine months of 2024. It is 44% of the total, more than the sale of vehicles to passengers and companies combined. A business that grows 7.9% while the rest contracts. BMW places its financial division at 20% of the total business, with 38,562 million euros invoiced. In the third quarter that weight grew to 29.7%. Mercedes reaches 13.4% of its income through this means. Renault 12.5%, with a growth of 19.8% in the last quarter according to the analysis of results collected by the financial media. Between the lines. Automobile companies have built banks within their structures. The logic is simple: deposits provide cheaper financing than issuing debt in the markets. They offer loans, leasing and vehicle subscriptions with margins that the traditional business no longer provides. Yes, but. This model brings systemic risks. During the 2008 crisis, GMAC (the financial division of General Motors) collapsed due to its exposure to mortgages subprime and needed a bailout of $17.2 billion. Mixing banking and sales multiplies the risk when a recession hits. Furthermore, this is not an exclusively Spanish or European phenomenon. How to collect Washington Postthe US FDIC has received applications from GM, Stellantis and Ford to create industrial banks. Trump promised to relax business restrictions, and approving them would set a precedent for technology companies like Apple, Google or Amazon, which have been rumored to make similar moves for decades. The paradox. Automobile companies are mutating towards a model where the car is the pretext and credit is the business. They sell cars to be able to lend money and thus reverse the logic of an industry that defined the 20th century. The question is whether this shift is going to save them or whether it will end up exposing them to a new financial crisis. In Xataka | The car market in Spain in 2025 confirms the trend: the three winners while electrification gains weight Featured image | Lenny Kuhne

These are not simple collector’s figurines. They are impressive robots worth more than 1,600 euros, and I have tried them

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I’m going to tell you an anecdote. A few weeks ago I received a press release in the mail, one of the hundreds and hundreds that come in a day. This note said something like Robosen arriving in Spain with the Soundwave G1, and of course, my geeky mind clicked. Soundwave is the right hand of Megatron, the bad guy from ‘Transformer’, and I thought “well, another company that makes collector’s figurines.” The thing is that I went to their website and I went completely crazy. I was hoping to find a figure like some I have from ‘One Piece’ and company, but no. What I saw were some animatronics of more than 1,600 euros that take away the hiccups. Not just because of the level of detail, but because of how they move, talk and interact. Then I looked at the spec sheet, saw what they have inside, and thought “why not?” Spoiler: it is not just a figure | Image: Xataka So I wrote to Robosen to ask for the Soundwave, try it and tell Xataka how it is. Hopes? Zero. Not because of them, but because I understand that sending a 1,600 euro robot by courier in the middle of Christmas is something you want, which is something you want, you don’t want it. Well, not one, not two. But three. Robosen gave me not only Soundwave, but Megatron and a limited edition Buzz Lightyear. Like a little child, I spent Christmas trying them and teaching them to every living being that entered the house. Because yes, they are one of those products that you don’t have the opportunity to try every day and that are capable of making you say “wow!”. I’ll tell you how it is. There are figures and FIGURES The Buzz Box is a resounding yes | Image: Xataka The animatronics come packaged with exquisite taste. A product of this type and price must convey premium aroma right out of the box and Robosen has certainly nailed it. Special mention deserves the Buzz Lightyear box, which is the same as the original ‘Toy Story’ box. What I want to get at is that everything comes very well packaged, with its rigid foam and closures to prevent falls during transport. No complaints. “I am Megatron, leader of the Decepticons!” Megatron | Image: Xataka I think the easiest thing is to show the robots one by one, so let’s start with the most impressive one: Megatron. This beast, whose price amounts to 1,612.33 euros At the time I write these lines, he was the one that convinced me to order the robots and try them out. It is inspired, like Soundwave, by the design of 80s cartoons and the attention to detail is spectacular. Megatron in his tank form | Image: Xataka Image | Xataka Image | Xataka Megatron, as every Transformer fan will know, takes the form of a tank, and here it could not be any less. The animatronic features 112 LED lights with red and purple accents, wheels inspired by real tanks, and a shiny metallic finish. That’s on the outside, but Inside it has 118 microchips and 36 high-precision servomotors that make it not only move, because it moves, but also transform. I think a video does it more justice than photos. In both tank mode and robot mode we can interact with the device, either by voice or through the mobile application. These are the only three “buts” that I can say not only to Megatron, but to all the others I have tried: Voice commands only work in English and are predefined. If you don’t know English or your pronunciation is average, it is quite likely that the robots will not understand the command. The application is unique for each robot. It is not like the Xiaomi app, to which you can connect all the company’s devices, but Megatron has its app, Buzz Lightyear has his, etc. You cannot navigate the app if you do not have the robot connected. Image | Xataka For the rest, and removing that, the interaction with the robot is great. You can move it, talk to it to make it say phrases, start little theaters like the one you can see below these lines and, if someone is encouraged and has the patience and, above all, the art that I don’t have for it, program actions to share them with the rest of the world. I had to lower him to the floor because he moves a lot during the scene and the platform reaches as far as it goes. The robot’s movement is extremely precise. The engines make some noise, but nothing out of the ordinary. The voice is heard loud and clear and, when the movement is fast, the effect is very, very successful. By the way, programming can be done either on a PC, or by putting the robot in a position and recording the posture in the app. That’s easy to do. Image | Xataka Natural movement, that is, walking forward or backward, is brutal. Slow, but very, very precise and stable. The first time you move it it seems like real magic. That a robot this size remains this stable while standing and moving is impressive. In tank mode, movement is much more fluid. Those nostalgic for ‘Transformers’ will surely like to know that the phrases have not been generated with AI, but have been recorded by original voice actor, Frank Welkerwho also voiced Soundwave. There are more than 270 original voice lines and you can generally interact with the robot with more than 50 voice commands. Megatron | Image: Xataka Something that has me completely fascinated is that the robot feels alive. If you leave it on stand-by you will see it “breathe” and make small gestures and movements to give a more realistic impression. This is regardless of whether it is in tank mode or robot mode, and yes, in case you were wondering, yes, … Read more

While France freezes, Greece is at 27ºC in the middle of January

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While Spain was preparing to live the coldest Twelfth Night in 40 years and Western Europe collapsed in the face of a cold and snow stormthere are parts of Europe and the Mediterranean basin that They are practically in summer. And no, it is not a figure of speech: during last nightthere were people on the Greek island of Crete sleeping with air conditioning. What has happened? “35 degrees in Algeria, 20 in Russia, tropical nights in Greece, records throughout the central and eastern Mediterranean from Algeria to Turkey (with the only exception of Italy)”, said M. Herrerameteorologist specialized in extreme events. But what is striking is not the description, what is striking is what it means. Because the map that heads this article is not one of absolute temperatures, but of anomalies. And that can obviously distort the matter a bit. However, the absolutes (with data from the Greek National Observatory in Athens in hand) are amazing: we are talking about 27.5 degrees last night in Falasarma and 25.3 in Neapolis. At night. That is, we are talking about temperatures similar to those of August. Or worse because, indeed, we are in January (as the rest of Europe is suffering) The warmest night in Europe while part of the continent remains isolated under snow? It seems so. And not only because of the specific data (it is possible that the record for the warmest night in Greece will not be surpassed: Falasarna suffered one night at 28.3 in 2021), but because but because the heat is as widespread as snow in the West. We have seen night temperatures of 16 °C in Sevastopol (Crimea) and 13 in Tuapse (Russia). Furthermore, if everything continues as expected, there will be nights at 20°C in the Russian Caucasus and above 25°C in Turkmenistan and the Caspian coast. A real madness that, If Herrera is rightwill go down in the climatic annals of the continent. The image of a Europe divided in two is tremendous. But the question is why. And the answer is simple: an extremely wavy ‘jet stream’. We already know that the jet ripples, but rarely can you see an ‘S’ of this size. While in the west the atmospheric circulation introduces arctic air; In the east, a gigantic ridge favors south-southwest winds. The wavy structure of the jet is pumping polar air into France and Saharan air into Greece. Then local effects exaggerate the anomaly. In Spain, for example, thermal inversions place us at -14 degrees, while in Crete the subsidence causes extremely hot and dry air. Image | Tropical TidBits In Xataka | Neither another Filomena nor a miscalculation: the “apocalypse” of snow and cold that awaited us for Reyes is going to be much less so

he left everything agreed after the Second World War

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Of all the possibilities that are being heard about “the Greenland thing”one, possibly the most plausible, is getting lost in the conversations. No money, no political pressure, not even the “military option”. If the United States wants something in the Arctic, it only has to turn to an old and little-known Cold War pact. There is no need to buy what you control. The Donald Trump’s obsession “buying” or even “taking” Greenland is actually based on a false premise, because for more than seven decades the United States has already had a freedom of military action extraordinary without the need for formal sovereignty, something that turns his recent threats more into a political gesture than a real strategic necessity, despite the fact that he justifies them in terms of national security and the presence of Chinese and Russian actors in the Arctic. The 1951 agreement. The core of this situation is in the defense agreement signed in 1951 between the United States and Denmark, which gives Washington the right to build, operate and maintain military bases throughout Greenland, deploy personnel and control air and maritime operations, a scope so wide that Danish experts recognize that, in practicethe United States can get almost anything it wants simply by asking for it, without resorting to annexations or impossible purchases. From WW2 to the Cold War. The origin of the agreement dates back to Nazi occupation of Denmark during World War II, when fear that Germany would use Greenland as a platform to America led to a defensive pact which allowed the United States to expel the Germans and build more than a dozen bases on the island. That presence that remained during the cold war through radars and early warning systems and which today focuses on strategic Pittufik Space Basekey to tracking missiles over the North Pole. Headquarters of the Schalburg Corps, a unit of the Danish SS, after 1943. The building occupied was the lodge of the Danish Order of Freemasons located on Blegdamsvej, Copenhagen. Why buying is impossible. Beyond the military, the idea of ​​buying Greenland collides with a clear political and legal reality: Denmark cannot sell it and the Greenlanders themselves, who today have the right to decide their future through referendumthey overwhelmingly reject any US takeovera position reaffirmed by his prime minister and backed by polls showing massive opposition to a Washington takeover. The 2004 amendment. The defense agreement was updated in 2004 to explicitly recognize Greenland as an equal part of the Kingdom of Denmark and force the United States to consult on any significant changes to its military operations, a requirement that, according to Danish analystsworks more as a diplomatic courtesy than as a real brake, since if Washington wanted to expand its presence it could do so immediately without violating the existing framework. Trump, Venezuela and escalation. The recent American coup in Venezuela and the capture of Nicolás Maduro seem to have emboldened Trump and his entourage, who talk about Greenland as if it were an inevitable lootprovoking an angry reaction in Copenhagen and Nuuk, where it is warned that any attempt at occupation rempire the international orderwhile European leaders remember that the legal framework already gives the United States everything it needs without resorting to threats. It’s all about minerals and the Arctic. It we counted yesterday. Beyond military geopolitics, Greenland attracts for its enormous reserves of critical minerals and, very importantly, for your key position in an increasingly navigable Arctic, although even here experts agree that the United States does not need to control the territory to access those resources. The reason is simple: Greenlanders are open to doing business with anyone… as long as their sovereignty and right to decide are respected. Image | Defense Visual Information Distribution Service In Xataka | The gold of the 21st century is not in Venezuela: China and Russia know it and that is why the US wants Greenland no matter what In Xataka | If the question is “what is the next country on the US list” the answer has been on the table for months

Samsung has tripled its profits

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The madness with the RAM memory prices is conditioning how the PCs that are sold are assembledthreatens with increase in the price of mobile phones and there is even talk that Mobile phones with 4GB of RAM are coming back. But what is bad news for the vast majority is excellent news for a few, and there is a clear winner. Samsung is getting rich. Samsung has published the fourth quarter 2025 results and the figures make it clear that if there is a winner in the problem of RAM prices, it is them: Operating profit for the quarter was $14 billion, a year-on-year increase of 208%. Compared to the previous quarter, operating profit has increased by 64.3% and revenue has increased by 8.1%. It sells more, but above all it sells more expensively. If we look at the photo of the full year, Samsung has earned 33% more than in 2024. Why it is important. Samsung consolidates itself as a leader in the memory sector and enters a phase of extraordinary profits. Is the technology company that has appreciated the most in 2025, with a growth of 123.11%, all driven by the very high demand for memory to meet the needs of AI. The best option. Samsung shares They have risen almost 30% in the last month and 1.8% after the results were announced. The excellent results and valuation place Samsung in a very advantageous position in the market. According to Macquarie analysts “We did not find a better option than Samsung in the entire AI supply chain.” HBM. Seizing the moment, Jun Young-hyun, head of the semiconductor division, has assured that they hope to catch up with SK Hynix in advanced HBM chips, which are a key component in data centers. Samsung already announced its HBM4 chip a few days ago and its objective is clear: to once again be NVIDIA’s number one supplier. Unstoppable escalation. According to the latest report of Counterpointthe memory market is in a hyper-bullish phase. At the end of 2025, prices rose by 40-50% and another similar increase is expected in the first quarter of 2026. For the third quarter, they talk about 20% more. In other words, a 64GB RDIMM module (used in servers) cost $255 in September 2025, rose to $450 at the end of the year, and will cost $700 in March of this year. 1,000 dollars. The border of $1,000 is not that far away and reaching it seems feasible given that analysts predict that the situation It will continue throughout 2026some even point out that extends until 2028. If reached, it would be almost double what it rose in 2018 when another price peak occurred. No low prices, thank you. The insatiable demand for AI is causing shortages, which in turn are causing prices to rise. A possible solution would be to increase production, but Samsung and SK Hynix flatly refused arguing that there is a risk of overproduction. Currently, Samsung is only managing to fulfill 70% of DRAM orders. Looking at the numbers, it is clear that it is profitable for them. Image | Samsung In Xataka | The US is beginning to realize something worrying: AI data centers are skyrocketing its electricity bill

Ouigo and Renfe unleash a price war like we have not seen in a long time

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Who was going to tell us 20 years ago that we would change the traditional races at the doors of El Corte Inglés on January 7 to burn the F5 on the Renfe website. Or, much more inconceivable, that of another French company that was going to compete with the public company to take us on high-speed trains through our country. However, this is how we are. January sales. Since yesterday, January 7, Ouigo has put it up for sale train tickets at reduced prices. So reduced that it is possible to find options for nine euros because 80% of the available tickets are discounted. The maximum price of these tickets is 33 euros. The offer will last until next January 14th… as long as there are tickets available. An almost carbon copy maneuver Renfe has undertaken. Since January 8, the Spanish company has opened juicy discounts on its train tickets. In this case, the offer extends until January 18 on AVE, Avlo, Alvia, Intercity, Euromed and AVE Internacional tickets, but it is not specified how many tickets are available with discounts that offer AVLO tickets at seven euros and AVE tickets at 15 euros. CNMC source: https://www.cnmc.es/sites/default/files/6291881.pdf New year, cheap trains. It has been a constant since competition entered the Spanish railways. Train prices in our country plummet every beginning of the year, as shown in the graph above referring to the Madrid-Barcelona corridor from the Railway Traveler Report presented by the CNMC every quarter. The image above refers to the most used broker in our country and, therefore, the least susceptible to price changes. Obviously, the image is repeated on trips to Andalusia or the Levant. Thus, all companies lower prices with juicy discounts at the beginning of the year. Then they rise due to Easter and the arrival of summer and suffer a small drop again in the third quarter before picking up again at the end of the year. It repeats. If we take a look at the report that collects data from just one year ago, we see how the number of passengers has been increasing in recent years but that prices had to drop to transport a passenger with fewer incentives to move in a quarter without major holidays and worse weather prospects. That made it so that in 2025, according to data from the CNMCin the first quarter of the year, AVE prices fell by 9.2%, Iryo prices by 11.2%, Ouigo prices by 16.1% and AVLO prices by 19.5% compared to the previous quarter in the Madrid-Barcelona corridor. And December is one of the most expensive months of the year to buy tickets and this is repeated in all corridors. With leaden feet. Although the offers are attractive, we must not lose sight of the fact that it is a specific ticket sale and that what sets the trend is the average price at which most tickets are sold. And the last few months tell us that ticket prices are going up. This quarter’s performance is something we will have to wait to find out but if we look at last year’s data from the same Madrid-Barcelona corridor, only Iryo lowered prices in a representative manner when compared to the previous year. It did so by 5.4%, followed by AVLO which lowered prices by 3.9%. However, the AVE only fell by 0.9% and Ouigo raised prices by 5.6%. On average, the price only fell by 0.9%. It is true that in the Andalusian corridors and in Madrid-Valencia, prices fell significantly last year, with drops in the average ticket price of between 10 and 17%. Of course, it must be taken into account that these are destinations where the seasonal influence is more pronounced than in Madrid-Barcelona, ​​a more stable corridor in passenger volume. Fewer offers and more profitability. We give this notice because in recent times we have seen how the prices of Spanish trains have been rising. According to the latest report from the CNMCwhich refers to the third quarter of 2025, the average interannual price of this period increased by more than 25% in Madrid-Barcelona and remained more or less stable in all corridors except Madrid-Málaga, which Until last year it did not have the Ouigo factor. However, from all companies they have paved the way so that we get the idea that the price is going to rise. So much Iryo as Ouigo They have announced that they are ending losing money to enter a new market. Both have made changes in management and from Renfe they have warned that If the competition raises prices they will follow. Photo | Xataka In Xataka | When Iryo and Ouigo began to compete with Renfe they did so by lowering prices. Those days are not coming back

The V16 beacon sold by Carrefour drops even further in price. It is made in Spain and comes with its own app

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Although there are many V16 beacons that allow us to comply with DGT regulations, personally there are only two that I would buy for what they offer: the Help Flash IoT+ and the LEDOne. In both cases because of their number in candles and because they connect to their respective apps. Of course, the latter is now more attractive to me than the first, since Carrefour has lowered its price to 29.99 euros. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links A beacon with a good number of candles This LEDOne brand beacon We have been able to find it on sale in recent months in stores like Amazon, Carrefour or PcComponentes. We saw one of its highest prices before the end of 2025 and it reached 49.95 euros, so if you still do not have one of these beacons or are looking for an additional one, it may be interesting. The LEDOne is a connected V16 beacon that visually stands out for its format, very different from what we usually see in other brands. Includes a base that raises the beacon itselfa point that may be interesting when placing it in different vehicles. Regarding its technical sheet, the LEDOne offers, according to the brand itself, 120 effective candleswhich is interesting in order to have better visibility than with the minimum required by the DGT itself. Besides, has its own app to call emergency services and insurance, something that not all beacons offer. You may also be interested Xiaomi Portable Electric Air Compressor 2 – Portable air compressor (0.2 10.3 bar/3-150 psi, 6 modes, 2000mAh battery, 14.4Wh, USB-C charging, LED display), black (ES Version) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links OTTOCAST Mini Pot 2026, 2 in 1 wireless adapter for CarPlay and Android Auto, Compatible iOS 10+/Android 11+ and Cars with Carplay Since 2016, Plug & Play, USB-A/Type C, OTA Update, Black The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Image | LEDOne In Xataka | Safety, organization and entertainment gadgets and accessories for cars on long trips In Xataka | Clarifying all the mess that the DGT has on its hands: the V-16 light, the V-27 signal and the emergency triangles

It has become a bottomless pit of people stripping women with AI

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Since AI Grok has conquered what was once Twitter, the social network has become an infinite well of content generated by artificial intelligence. The problem is when that content is used to misinform or ends up harming other people. And today, Grok has become one of the main sources of sexualized images created without consent. Just like they count According to Bloomberg, the chatbot generated approximately 6,700 such images per hour during a 24-hour period in early January. The magnitude of the problem. On X there are many users who spend their time using Grok to modify photos that other people publish on the social network, generating versions in which they appear scantily clad or in sexualized situations. The middle appointment the findings of independent researcher Genevieve Oh, who identified that during the analysis carried out between January 5 and 6, Grok produced these images at a rate 84 times higher than the other five websites most active in this type of content. Oh estimated that 85% of the total images produced by Grok have been generated to sexualize. What’s special about Grok. Unlike other chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude either GeminiGrok doesn’t impose many limits on generating sexualized content from real people. Users can tag Grok’s account in replies to other people’s posts and request that he modify the original images. The most common requests include phrases such as “put her in a bikini,” “take off her clothes,” or “change her clothes to a see-through bikini.” The chatbot generates these images in a matter of seconds and publishes them automatically, linking them to the victim’s original publication. Victims without response. Maddie, a 23-year-old medical student cited per Bloomberg, woke up on New Year’s Day to discover that several strangers had altered a photo of her and her boyfriend using Grok. First they removed their partner from the image and put her in a bikini, then another user asked Grok to replace the bikini with dental floss. “My heart sank. I felt hopeless, helpless and just disgusted,” she said. When she and her friends reported the images through X’s moderation systems, they never received a response. In a different case, X determined that there were no “rule violations” in the reported content. According to the mediumthe images were still on the social network at the time of the publication of the report. Cases media. The problem has even reached public figures. And as they say from Guardianmultiple users asked Grok to alter an image of Sweden’s Deputy Prime Minister, Ebba Busch, to show her in a bikini. In addition to this, two British government ministers have also been victims of these manipulations. Eliot Higgins, founder of Bellingcat, a group specialized in investigative journalism, counted to the outlet how Grok responded to instructions such as “bikini now” or “put a bikini with the Confederate flag on her” over the photo of Busch in Parliament. Musk and X’s response. In the face of recent criticism, Elon Musk claimed in X that “anyone who uses Grok to create illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they uploaded illegal content.” However, this strategy of punishing users instead of preventing the chatbot from generating the content appears to have proven ineffective. Just like they count From Bloomberg, when someone requests to remove those images in the comments, Grok often apologizes and says he will take them down, but in many cases the images remain and the system continues to generate new ones. Legality. Carrie Goldberg, attorney specializing in online sexual crimes, explained to the outlet that the scale of deepfakes on X is “unprecedented” and noted that the platform “is not acting as a passive editor. It is actually generating and creating the image.” In this sense, the Law Take It Downapproved in the United States in 2025, holds platforms responsible for the production and distribution of this type of content. Brandie Nonnecke, of Americans for Responsible Innovation, counted Bloomberg that platforms have until May 2026 to establish the required removal process. Increasingly widespread use. Although the technology to create sexual deepfakes is not new, as there are dozens of websites and Telegram bots dedicated to undressing people, the fact that this capacity is hosted by a social network as well-known as X marks a turning point. And unlike specific image manipulation services, Grok is free, produces results in seconds and is available to millions of users on X. Sloan Thompson, of the EndTAB organization, pointed out Wired said that “when a company offers generative AI tools on their platform, it is their responsibility to minimize the risk of image-based abuse. The alarming thing here is that X has done the opposite. They have integrated AI-enabled image abuse directly into a mainstream platform, making sexual violence easier and scalable.” Cover image | Tamara Bellis and Antonio Vallejo In Xataka | We are entering a new era of robotics driven by AI and Disney is its perfect showcase

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