Month: February 2026

Getting it right this Valentine’s Day is easier if your partner likes video games with these controllers, retro consoles, steering wheels and more

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There is very little left until the arrival of Valentine’s Day, so if you still don’t have the gift or you don’t know very well what to buy for a video game lover, in this article we are going to review the best ideas we can find in stores like Amazon, PcComponentes or Xtralife. Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda by 49.99 eurosa retro console with three iconic video games from the Nintendo saga. Xbox Series Controller by 54.99 eurosa tighter price for an excellent controller. Switch Pro Controller by 64.95 eurosthe controller for the first Nintendo Switch, which is also compatible with the Switch 2. ‘Animal Crossing. New Horizons‘ by 54.99 eurosa video game to spend many hours on. Blade BR5 Wheel by 89.99 eurosa good price considering that it includes pedals and gearbox. Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda If your partner is a fan of The Legend of Zelda saga and loves everything retro-related, Xtralife right now has 49.99 euros the iconic Game & Watch. The design is completely customized for the specific saga and includes three The Legend of Zelda video games. Of course, they are in English and Japanese: ‘The Legend of Zelda’. ‘Zelda II: The Adventure of Link’. ‘The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening’. Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Xbox Series Controller If we talk about controls, the Xbox Controller for Xbox Series and One consoles is one of the best. Not only because of its ergonomics (that too), but because of the distribution of the joysticks and for the quality of the materials. PcComponentes right now has it in blue for a price of 54.99 eurosalthough there are other colors almost at the same price. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Switch Pro Controller The controller for the Nintendo Switch is expensive, but it is also one of the few (along with the official ones) that allows you to turn on the console from the controller itself, without having to do it from the console. He Switch Pro Controller It is also quite ergonomic, has a good battery and comes with the same layout of joysticks that we find on the Xbox controller. Its price in Xtralife is 64.95 euros. Switch Pro Controller The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Animal Crossing. New Horizons ‘Animal Crossing: New Horizons‘ arrived very recently in its edition for Nintendo Switch 2. It is a perfect video game for lovers of life simulators, especially if we want to give it a try. hours and hours creating our own space on Desert Islands. Its official price is 69.99 euros, but PcComponentes right now has it for 54.99 euros. Other video games that are on sale: ‘Hyrule Warriors: Age of Banishment’ (Switch 2 Edition) by 52.99 euros. ‘Pokémon ZA Legends’ (Switch 2 Edition) by 56.99 euros. Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Switch 2 Edition) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Blade BR5 Wheel On the other hand, if your partner loves driving video games and is looking to have a much more complete experience than what can be had with a controller, the Blade BR5 Wheel It is a steering wheel compatible with PlayStation 5 which not only incorporates a good assortment of buttons, but also includes a pedal with accelerator and brake and a gear lever. All this for 89.99 euros. Furthermore, for complete the giftit can also be very attractive to accompany the steering wheel with the ‘Gran Turismo 7‘, one of the best driving simulators for the PlayStation 5. Its price in this case is 54.99 euros. 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. Images | freepikNintendo, Microsoft, Blade In Xataka | PlayStation 5 Pro vs PlayStation 5: these are all the differences between the two Sony consoles In Xataka | Two years ago I bought a PS5. I wish someone had told me I needed these plugins too.

Sydney Sweeney or Justin Bieber’s infallible business is selling underwear

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For more than a decade, Hollywood stars have competed to dominate the premium spirits market, from George Clooney to Dwayne Johnson. That same entrepreneurial impulse now seems to have shifted into more intimate territory: lingerie and underpants. Justin Bieber and Sydney Sweeney are the latest stars to propose that our intimacy comes with their brand. Behind this, a change in the income diversification strategies of celebrities, where art is no longer the main objective. Justin. Last Sunday, Justin Bieber took the stage at the Grammy Awards to perform a minimalist version of his ‘Yukon’ dressed only in a guitar and some striking baggy boxers. It was not just any artistic statement: the Canadian singer was promoting his Skylrk accessories line to millions of viewers, launching in 2024 with a minimalist selection of socks, sandals, sunglasses and boxers. The briefs sold out within hours of the Grammys performance. Sydney. Just a week earlier, Sydney Sweeney had announced the release of Syrn (pronounced “siren”), her own lingerie brand, through an act of calculated civil disobedience: hang bras on the iconic Hollywood sign. The technically illegal advertising strategy generated exactly the media coverage the actress was looking for. Their proposal also points to a specific niche: bodies traditionally neglected by the industry. His first collection, Seductressoffers underwear in 44 sizes (from 30B to 42DDD) with prices under $100. The precedent of tequila. Before the celebrity craze for underwear, there was another one that was even more graduation. George Clooney and his friend Rande Gerber decided to create their own tequila for private consumption. For two years they worked with a master distiller in Jalisco perfecting the formula, and called it Casamigos. It soon went on the market and they produced more than a thousand bottles per year. Four years later, Diageo acquired the company for $700 million. The impact was immediate. Dwayne Johnson launched Teremana in 2020. Kendall Jenner introduced 818 Tequila that same year. Michael Jordan and a group of NBA team owners founded Cincoro in 2019. The list multiplies with other famous and drunk people: Sean “Diddy” Combs with DeLeón, Nick Jonas with Villa One, Rita Ora with Próspero, and even the band AC/DC with Thunderstruck. But As experts point outbusiness imposes a change: Generation Z shows less inclination towards alcohol consumption compared to previous generations, suggesting that the tequila boom celebrity could have reached its peak. The new boom: underwear. Now that the tequila market shows signs of exhaustion, underwear is emerging as the new expansion territory for famous entrepreneurs. Rihanna started the path in 2018 with Savage X Fenty, a lingerie line that broke with traditional industry standards by offering up to 44 sizes and prioritizing racial diversity in its visual proposal. A very profitable strategy: in 2021, the brand reached a valuation of one billion dollars after raising 115 million in a financing round. Kim Kardashian was another: she created Skims in 2019 as an extension of her growing media empire, and she was not averse to controversy. In October 2024, she launched micro-thongs with synthetic pubic hair available in different colors and textures. Names more linked to fashion like Heidi Klum already have experience: she has had a luxury lingerie line since 2015, and the burlesque artist Dita Von Teese since 2012. Why underwear? Easy: the global underwear sector moved 187.61 billion dollars in 2025 and is projected to reach 314,442 million by 2035, with an annual growth rate of 5.3%. It is a well-rounded business that leads famous men and women to become aspirational models even in their most intimate aspects. The photos of Sweeney posing in her underwear look like something out of a ‘Playboy’ shoot. And now her fans can look like her. Less art. What many of these artists do agree on is that their creative production slows down when they discover that these businesses are more profitable. Rihanna hasn’t released an album since 2016. Ryan Reynolds invests in football clubs, Formula 1 teams and gin brands and only shoots movies occasionally. George Clooney is practically retired. Some analysts have already described it as a sign of modern fame: sell before creating. For some, at the moment, it is working very well. In Xataka | When they want to sell us smart underwear, the world of technology has a problem.

Dates, time and how to watch the semifinals of the Spanish music festival online

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Let’s tell you when and how you can watch the semi-finals of Benidorm Fest 2026, the popular annual music competition. Until now, this contest was used to decide who would go to Eurovision, but even though they will not attend in 2026, the contest continues, and this week the semifinals are held. In each of these two semi-finals, after the performance of the artists, the vote of the public and the jury of experts will arrive, and with the sum of all The artists who go to the final will be decided. Each semi-final is on a different day, and we are going to explain how you can watch them. Dates and times of the Benidorm Fest semi-finals There are two semi-finals of the Benidorm Fest 2026, and they will be held on February 10 and 12. Therefore, as usual, the first will be on Tuesday and the second on Thursday of this week. Then, The final will be on Saturday February 14. Each of the programs will be held at the Palau d’Esports l’Illa in Benidorm. The two semi-finals They will start at 11:00 p.m.right after the program “The Revolt”and will last until 1:20. On both days, the contest will begin at the same time. In each of the semi-finals there will be a group of eight aspiring artists who will perform their songs for the first time. These are the participants of the first semi-final: KITAI – Love scares you María León ft. Julia Medina – Ladies and the Tramp Luna Ki – Love Bomb Greg Taro – Velita Izan Llunas – What are you going to do? Dora & Marlon Collins – Rakata Tony Grox & LUCYCALYS – T AMARÉT AMARÉ Mikel Herzog Jr. – My half Kenneth – Eyes don’t lie These are the participants of the second semi-final: ASHA – Tourist KU Minerva – I will not cry again Tightrope walker – SOBRAN GILIPO**AS Dani J – Dancing you The Quinquis – You don’t love me Atyat – Dopamine Rosalinda Galán – Mataora MAY – Touch me Miranda! & bailamamá – I wake up loving you How to watch the Benidorm Fest semi-finals The semi-finals of this new edition of the Benidorm Fest will be broadcast by Spanish Television La1. This means that you will be able to watch it for free on any television where you have this channel, whether it is DTT or streaming services with access to television channels. You will also be able to watch the semifinals through the Internet, specifically through the the RTVE Play website or mobile applicationwhich is available in rtve.es/play. There, at the time the broadcast begins, you will have the option to watch the semifinals live. Another option available is to see them from apps for smart devices. You can do this with the official RTVE Play app on Google Play for Android, and in the App Store for iOS. These applications are also available on all Android and iOS-based platforms, including devices with Android TV or Apple TVs. There are also official applications for Smart TVs from the main manufacturers. And as an alternative, you can also use applications that allow you watch DTT live online on any device, such as TiViFy, DTT Channels and other similar alternatives. In Xataka Basics | Free TV and DTT channels for your TV: guide with 26 services and apps with hundreds of channels without having to pay

A third of the planet’s ships depend on a single Norwegian company. And they have chosen Alicante for their global expansion

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In the world of shipping, there is a silent giant whose technology is responsible for ensuring that a third of the world’s fleet is not lost at ocean or collided in port. This is Kongsberg, the Norwegian conglomerate controlled mostly by its State, which has turned the province of Alicante into an indispensable piece of its global chess board. Today, more than 30,000 ships they are capable of plowing the seas thanks to systems that are managed, maintained and repaired from offices located between La Vila Joiosa and the NOBO business center in the capital of Alicante. A strategic divorce to conquer the stock market. The news that has shaken the foundations of the industry this year is the segregation of the matrix. According to the company itselfKongsberg Gruppen ASA has decided to split into two independent entities to gain agility: on the one hand, the Defense and “Discovery” division (fishing and research); and on the other, Kongsberg Maritime, the jewel in the crown dedicated to navigation systems, which will begin trading separately on the Oslo Stock Exchange on April 23, 2026. This financial independence is backed by solid figures on Spanish soil. According to the newspaper The Informationthe Spanish subsidiary invoiced a total of 31.7 million euros in 2024, with a profit of more than five million. It is not surprising that Lisa Edvardsen Haugan, future CEO of the new independent company, claim that they are “unitarily positioned for value creation in the global maritime sector.” Why Alicante and not Vigo or Algeciras? The story of how a Nordic power ended up installing its nerve center in the province of Alicante has a component that is as human as it is strategic. In 1995, the company was looking for a headquarters in Spain. Although ports like Vigo or Barcelona seemed logical options, the executive in charge of the expansion opted for the coast of Alicante. The reason was the existence of a historical and consolidated colony of Norwegians in municipalities such as La Vila Joiosa or Altea. However, what began as a small delegation for the fishing sector—under the name Simrad Spain— has mutated into something much more ambitious. After the purchase of the maritime division of Rolls-Royce, the structure became too small. Today, the move of Kongsberg Maritime to the NOBO business center in the capital of Alicante responds to a need to attract talent. Miguel Ángel González, general director in Spain, points out that this change seeks to increase the attractiveness of the firm to retain engineers and software developers, in addition to reducing emissions due to staff travel by 30%. The brain of the autonomous boat. Alicante is not a simple administrative office; It is one of the only three resource hubs that the group has on the planet, along with Poland and Norway itself, capable of serving ships around the world thanks to its strategic position between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. As explained by the company itselfnaval autonomy is not new — they have been developing Dynamic Positioning Systems (DPS) for 40 years that allow a ship to remain stationary at an exact point in the ocean without using anchors — but now the technology has reached a “critical mass.” Yara Birkeland: The world now look in amazement to the world’s first fully electric, autonomous and zero-emission container ship, developed by Kongsberg together with YARA. Reach Remote: This is a series of unmanned surface vessels (USV) that are controlled from a remote center. According to senior designer Erik Leendersthis allows a single captain to control several ships at once from dry land. The “Jewel in the Crown”: The DPS system is what allows that Sasemar (Maritime Rescue) oil platforms or rescue ships operate with extreme safety on the high seas. The horizon. The future of navigation involves electric motors that generate your own energy with the rotation of the propellers. To manage this complex flow of data, the firm Kognifai has launchedan Artificial Intelligence platform that optimizes ship operations. Although the technology is ready, the company’s technical report warns that the biggest current challenge is not engineering, but legislation. As the firm warnswe are in “uncharted territory” and the IMO still needs to define the rules for these ships without humans. What was born in 1995 as a fishing office in La Vila has become in 2026 the command post from which Norway and Alicante dictate the rules of the future of global trade by sea. Image | Kongsberg Xataka | The ships of the oil “ghost fleet” turn off their GPS to avoid being detected. Malaysia is going to hunt them with drones

China has just crossed a red line in Taiwan. They are no longer drones, they are their fighters shooting “attached” to the Taiwanese F-16s

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China has been tightening the siege on Taiwan for years with pressure constant and calculated: increasingly frequent air raids, naval exercises large scalesymbolic crosses of the midline of the strait and military deployments designed to rememberwithout firing a single shot, that the island lives under permanent surveillance. This strategy of attrition, made of demonstrations of force and controlled ambiguity, has marked the relationship between Beijing and Taipei long before the current pulse reached disturbing levels. One (another) red line. If a few weeks ago we said that China had taken a qualitative step in its military pressure on Taiwan by crossing the island’s airspace with a military dronehas now redoubled its efforts, going from intimidating maneuvers to direct aerial encounters with manned fighters flying meters away and firing flares near Taiwanese planes, an escalation that multiplies the risk of accident and turns intimidation into something much closer to a deliberate clash. during exercises “Justice Mission”J-16 planes of the People’s Liberation Army not only came dangerously close to Taiwanese F-16s when they came to intercept them near the middle line of the strait, but they also arrived to launch flares at close range, a maneuver considered unsafe even by demanding military standards and that marks a before and after in the face of previous, more indirect provocations. From symbolic pressure to physical risk. In just 24 hours, dozens of Chinese aircraft crossed the midline of the strait and penetrated the airspace controlled by Taiwan, showing a pattern of behavior that no longer seems to seek only to saturate radars or send political messages, but rather to put enemy pilots in extreme situations. Unlike radar jamming or the presence of military drones, these encounters centimeters away introduce a human and physical factor. much more dangerouswhere a mistake, turbulence, or knee-jerk reaction can trigger an immediate crisis between China and Taiwan. One of the Chinese J-16 fighters photographed during Chinese People’s Liberation Army military exercises while being monitored by a Taiwanese F-16V aircraft Intimidating maneuvers. The actions were not limited to direct harassment: Chinese fighters used concealment tactics flying close to H-6K bombers to evade radars, revealing itself, according to local Taiwanese media, “ostentatiously” by displaying missiles at close range, in maneuvers compared by observers to historical tricks of military infiltration. They remembered in the Financial Times That this behavior, described by some sources as more typical of a “thug” than a professional pilot, reinforces the feeling that Beijing is testing new risk thresholds to measure the Taiwanese and allied response. A regional pattern. What happened around Taiwan is not an isolated event, but part of a incident sequence in which the Chinese air force has raised the tone towards neighbors like Japan and the Philippinesincluding blocking radar and firing flares against patrol aircraft. In fact, analysts warn that the next logical step in this escalation could be to operate regularly within the 12 nautical miles of Taiwanese territorial airspace, a scenario that would then exponentially increase the risk of collision or armed confrontation. Political pressure and risk of lack of control. If you like, this increase in boldness coincides with those publicized changes in the chain of command China and with political pressure from Xi Jinping for the armed forces to demonstrate their preparation for an eventual conflict, which could be pushing pilots and commanders to take risks that were previously avoided. Under that prism, Beijing would not only have crossed another red line against Taiwan, but would have entered a phase in which aerial intimidation ceases to be a calculated game and becomes a much more dangerous gamble, one with potentially explosive consequences for regional stability and security. appearance of “third parties” on the board. Image | 日本防衛省・統合幕僚監部, Ministry of National Defense In Xataka | China already has drones capable of shooting with surgical precision at 100 meters. Not good news for Taiwan In Xataka | The biggest geopolitical risk on the planet is not Greenland. It’s a smaller island with a disturbing neighbor: Taiwan

more and more states are opposed to building them

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The US is finding increasing resistance ahead of the construction of new data centers to feed AI, and New York has been the last state in joining it. Two Democratic legislators have presented a bill that would suspend the construction of new facilities in the state for three years, becoming the sixth territory to consider this type of measure in just a few weeks. Why is this happening? The bipartisan rejection of data centers has spread like wildfire across the country. In December, Bernie Sanders became the first national politician to ask for a general moratoriumarguing that it was necessary to “ensure that the benefits of technology work for everyone, not just the 1%.” Now, from Florida to Vermont, lawmakers from both parties are pushing for temporary pauses. According to Wired, more than 200 environmental organizations they signed a letter calling data center expansion “one of the biggest environmental and social threats of our generation.” In detail. The proposal, introduced by state Sen. Liz Krueger and Assemblywoman Anna Kelles, establishes a minimum three-year moratorium on issuing construction permits. During that period, the Department of Environmental Conservation and the Public Utilities Commission would evaluate the impact of these infrastructures to suggest new regulations. Just like share In the middle, the state currently has more than 130 data centers, and electricity demand linked to new projects has reached 10 gigawatts, triple what it was just a year ago. Among the developments underway is a 450-megawatt center built on a former coal plant. Where else is it happening. Georgia, Maryland, Oklahoma, Vermont and Virginia have also introduced bills this year to temporarily pause data center development. Although Georgia, Vermont and Virginia are Democratic initiatives, in Oklahoma and Maryland they have been led by Republicans. According to share Wired, as of late December at least 14 states had cities or counties that had suspended building permits. And Virginia, with more than 60 related bills introduced this year, has become the legislative epicenter of this battle. The hidden cost. data centers consume massive amounts of energy and waterand local communities fear an increase in your electric bills greater than what they have had to face until now. Just like account In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul last month launched an initiative to force data centers to “pay their fair share.” “I don’t think there are many people who want to have higher energy bills just so some chatbot can corrupt a 13-year-old boy online,” declared Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Resistance from below. Beyond the legislators, there is also citizen opposition that is pausing multimillion-dollar projects. According to Data Center Watch, between March and June 2025 they were delayed or canceled developments valued at 98 billion dollars. In Monterey Park, California, a six week campaign has achieved a 45-day moratorium and a commitment from the city council to explore a permanent ban. Between the lines. What is happening in the United States with data centers is a reflection of the problem that the evolution of AI brings with it: that it is generating a physical infrastructure the costs of which the communities where it is installed are not willing to assume. Many companies promise jobs with their construction, but once operational they hardly require personnel. They promise fiscal investment, but they skyrocket energy consumption and pollute with noise and emissions. A Morning Consult survey revealed that a majority of voters support banning the construction of data centers near where they live and believe they are partially responsible for rising electricity prices. And now what. The industry has begun to react. Just like share Wired, Microsoft presented last month, with support from the White House, a series of commitments to be a “good neighbor” in the communities where it builds. Dan Diorio, vice president of state policy for the Data Center Coalition, assured the outlet that the industry “recognizes the importance of continued efforts to better educate and inform the public about the industry.” The needs of Big Tech to advance their operations collide more than ever with public opinion, and it does not look like the gap is going to narrow anytime soon. Cover image | Tim Mossholder and Kevin Ache In Xataka | Something is changing in the markets and AI: Amazon’s exaggerated spending announcement has been followed by a stock market crash

Something dark keeps growing in the Greenland ice. And it’s melting the frozen mass at an unexpected speed

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Greenland was for centuries synonymous with immobility, a territory that seemed oblivious to the passage of time, protected by an ice sheet so vast that even polar explorers could see it. like something eternal. From the first Inuit settlements to the European expeditions of the 19th century, the island was more a symbol of resistance than change, a place where the landscape imposed its own rules. Precisely for that reason, any alteration On its surface today it has a historical weight that goes far beyond what appears at first glance. A dark spot on the ice. Something seemingly insignificant is growing on the immense Greenland ice sheet, but with a disproportionate effect: microscopic algae that dye the snow green, red or grayish brown and reduce its ability to reflect solar radiation. In a warming Arctic up to four times more faster than the rest of the planet, this so-called “dark zone” accelerates the loss of hundreds of billions of tons of ice each year, directly contributing to sea level rise and adding a new layer of complexity to an already destabilized climate system. Dust, nutrients and a cycle. counted the new york times last week that much of the latest research shows that the wind blows phosphorus-rich dust from the rocky fringes discovered on the margins of Greenland into the ice, fueling algal blooms. Here’s the crux of it all, because as the ice melts, also releases trapped nutrients for decades or centuries in its deep layers, creating a kind of vicious cycle: one where more melting releases more food, algae proliferate, the ice darkens and melts even faster. This mechanism, time and time again, turns warming into a self-accelerating process that is difficult to stop once it has started. The measurable impact of a microscopic phenomenon. In southwest Greenland, one of the fastest melting regions, algae already explain about 13% of runoff water generated by summer thaw. In fact, studies published in journals such as Environmental Science and Technology and Nature Communications have shown that even minute amounts of phosphorus and nitrogen, released from the ice or transported through the air, are enough to sustain these biological communities, suggesting that the phenomenon could extend to areas much wider of the cap. A climate problem. Plus: ice darkening does not occur in a political or economic vacuum. The retreat of sea ice around Greenland is opening new sea routes and facilitating access to mineral, oil and gas resources, increasing the strategic interest for the region. Any additional industrial activity could release, for example, soot and particles that further aggravate the darkening of the ice, accelerating a process that, in the worst case scenario, could contribute to a global rise in sea level of up to seven meters if the ice sheet completely disappeared. What is known… and what is not yet. The scientists match in which algae are not the cause of global warming, but rather a consequence which amplifies its effects, while underlining that the root of the problem continues to be the burning of fossil fuels on the planet. However, it is still unknown precisely to what extent this “dark spot” can expand and how to integrate your impact in sea level rise models. Meanwhile, Greenland seems to offer us a most ominous warning (another one): that even the smallest changes, those invisible to the naked eye, can tip the balance of one of the largest and most fragile systems on the planet. Image | Jenine McCutcheon/University of Waterloo In Xataka | Why we find 50,000 meteorites in Antarctica if they fall the same all over the planet: ice has the answer In Xataka | Antarctica launches its “Doomsday Vault”: a sanctuary at -50 °C to save the memory of the glaciers

the new promise that a Singapore company proves

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There are short journeys that, even today, continue to depend on slow ships or air infrastructure that does not always make sense. In that middle space, a Singapore-based company has started to test a different alternative: a vehicle capable of moving at high speed without completely taking off from the water and without needing an airport. This is not an experimental concept, but rather an industrial program with a calendar, partners and routes being studied for 2026. What type of vehicle is it exactly? The proposal is specified in the AirFish Voyagera device developed by the Singaporean company ST Engineering AirX that does not quite fit into either the boat or airplane categories. It is a type vehicle wing-in-ground (WIG) that moves just a few meters above the surface thanks to the so-called ground effect, an aerodynamic phenomenon that compresses the air between the wing and the water, generating additional lift and reducing resistance. This principle promises to reach speeds of around 185km/h, and reduce resistance compared to conventional maritime options. The project advances. The public presentation took place at Singapore Airshow. According to the company, the vehicle is in the process of classification with Bureau Veritas since 2024, an international classification and certification society that must validate its safety before any regular operation, and whose resolution is expected in mid-2026. In parallel, the company has closed agreements with maritime transport operators to start services from the second half of that same year, always conditional on regulatory approvals. The first specific route on the map. The most immediate agreement places the operational debut on the route between Singapore and Batam, in Indonesia, where the operator BatamFast plans to use a unit of the AirFish Voyager. ST Engineering places this start in the second half of 2026. It is estimated that the vehicle could complete this journey in around 25 minutes thanks to speeds, well above the usual times of conventional ferries. If this schedule is confirmed, the connection would become the first commercial route in the world operated with WIG technology. The next deployment front is in India, where the operator Wings Over Water Ferries has announced its intention to lease and commission up to four units of the AirFish Voyager from the end of 2026. The initial strategy targets coastal states with strong tourism and regional transport demand, including Andaman and Nicobar, Lakshadweep, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. In addition to the operation, the agreement contemplates exploring local assembly, manufacturing, training and maintenance capabilities, in line with the industrial initiatives promoted by the program. Make in India. The regulatory and technical barrier. Beyond speed or agreements with operators, the determining factor continues to be the certification framework. The company proposes that the AirFish Voyager be governed by maritime standards, a decision that would reduce infrastructure requirements and facilitate its integration into existing coastal routes using conventional port facilities. However, as we say, you still need to complete your certification process, an essential step to start providing any commercial service. Images | ST Engineering AirX In Xataka | The Strait of Malacca is not enough: China’s new obsession is to prevent the US from confiscating its ships

There are those who claim that AI is going to kill software. Most likely, just the opposite will happen.

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It was 1993 and a young man named Marc Andreessenstill with his hair intact and a lot of ambition, set out to create a web browser with a colleague who worked with him at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois. They called it Mosaic. That browser allowed you to explore the newborn World Wide Web with the click of a mouse, something amazing because to date the browsers that had been developed were in text mode and were used with the keyboard. Suddenly the web could include images and even multimedia content. A little later Andreessen met Jim Clark, founder of the legendary Silicon Graphics, and he encouraged him to embark on an adventure with his web browser, so together they decided to set up their own startup and that led to the creation of one of the mythical browsers in history: Netscape. Marc Andreessen. Source: Wikimedia. That made Andreessen a multimillionaire, and from 2005 his interest changed. I no longer wanted to start a business, but rather help others start a business. He ended up founding the venture capital firm Andreessen Howoritz and became richer and richer (while losing more and more hair). His successes and bets in the technology industry are notable, but also he left some famous phrases. The most notable is probably the one delivered in 2011 when saying “Software is eating the world.” His argument was compelling: the companies that were growing the most were software or had software as one of their key pillars. He was not wrong—today these companies are absolute technological giants—and that quote became one of those seemingly immutable laws. And then AI arrived. Is AI eating software? The appearance in November 2022 of ChatGPT caused an extraordinary impact, although it had been clear for a year and a half that something was changing in the software world. In July 2021 we talked about GitHub Copilot when the conversation around generative AI was still awakening. That project allowed machines to program for us. This concept has become over the years the clearest example that AI can change things– Developers have embraced this tool like no other industry, but they know that they cannot trust her 100%. Still, we are living in an exciting time for software. One in which the rise of vibe coding is absolute. Andrej Karphaty I thought about it these days and explained that when coined the term A year ago maybe he was wrong with that way of calling it. Now he proposed changing it to “agent engineering” to reflect the type of tool it has ended up being. Be that as it may, the vibe coding/agent engineering has sparked a fever for software development. In many ways it has democratized it and turned us all into potential developers. I am experimenting myself with Open Source tools that I am modifying to my liking, and others are doing exactly the same in this era of “custom micro-applications”. But in recent days we have also experienced a disturbing phenomenon. The threat of the “SaaSpocalypse” The generative AI models and AI agents that have appeared in recent months have ended up having an extraordinary impact on the software world. In fact we are not referring to vibe coding as suchmore aimed at occasional programmers or users without knowledge who are encouraged to create their own apps. We are referring to what has happened to the large software companies that for years have controlled the market with the SaaS (Software as a Service) philosophy. This model has made it possible to convert, for example, Photoshop or Office no longer into software that was sold in boxes and you installed on your PC, but into applications that run in the cloud and that you can use from a browser. Applications are no longer applications, they are services. And you don’t pay for them by buying them at once: you subscribe to them. But AI appears to threaten that model. Last week, software companies lost a total of $300 billion on the stock market overnight. The shares of MongoDB, Salesforce, Shopify or Atlassian lost between 15 and 20% in value in a few hours, and talk of the “SaaS apocalypse” began (“SaaSpocalypse“). Source: Perplexity These falls are obvious if you take a look at Google Finance or any monitoring platform for these companies. Or if you ask Perplexity like I did, which creates a nice (and worrying) graph about some of the companies consulted: the collapse in the last month is really terrible, although it seems that the trend seems to have stopped. Be that as it may, this “SaaS apocalypse”, whether it exists or not, raises a question that is precisely in line with what Andreessen said. If software ended up eating the world, Will AI eat software? Will it kill him? Software is not going to die. Just the opposite What is happening at the corporate level with these falls has of course to do with AI, but also with the model and philosophy of these companies themselves. Those SaaS platforms that dominate the world They have not stopped abusing their dominant position for years with aggressive price increases and rigid contracts. We have seen it with companies like Salesforce, whose customers have seen prices rise 35% in the last two years, or the mind-blowing case of Broadcom, whose customers in Europe were facing price increases of 1,500% in your VMware virtualization software licenses. This has created an ideal breeding ground for clients of these and many other companies with SaaS platforms to look for alternatives, and also look for them in AI. Artificial intelligence is not only offering efficiency, but is giving many customers that “key to the cell” that allows them to escape from their suppliers, who treated them like hostages. In fact, the current correction in stock market valuations can also be understood as a post-bubble hangover from 2021, when the pandemic boosted all these companies. We saw it with … Read more

This year more will be invested in data centers than what the US spent to reach the Moon

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We are witnessing live a technological race that is no longer measured only in announcements or demonstrations, but in tangible investments that grow at a speed that is difficult to ignore. In the United States, and also in other regions, large companies are allocating increasing amounts of money to build and expand the infrastructure that supports the current deployment of artificial intelligence services and the expansion of computing capacity that these companies pursue. Some speak of excessive enthusiasm and even a possible bubblebut the money already invested is part of the economic reality of the sector, while the projected figures point to an even larger scale. The question, therefore, is not whether the bet exists, but how big it really is. The numbers. If the first step is to assume that the investment exists, the second is to quantify it precisely. Data collected by The Wall Street Journal They suggest that Meta, Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet (Google) could concentrate a joint expenditure of up to $670 billion in 2026 aimed at artificial intelligence infrastructure. We are talking about capital outlays associated with data centers, hardware and capacity expansion, not just “brick”. When a single annuity reaches that order of magnitude, the conversation shifts from expectations to measurable economic consequences. Dollars are not compared. What the analysis proposes is not a direct equivalence between amounts spent in different times, but rather a way of measuring the economic weight of each effort in its own historical context. Instead of adjusting old figures to current prices for inflation, the article uses the percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) as a common reference for separate projects over time. That shift in focus shifts the conversation from absolute money to relative magnitude within the U.S. economy. And it is precisely there where the investment associated with artificial intelligence acquires a historical dimension that is difficult to ignore. The investments. Among the great economic milestones that are often used as historical references in the United States, there are episodes as different as the Louisiana Purchase, the railroad expansion of the 19th century or the construction of the interstate highway system, all of them with different relative weights within the economy of their time. Using that same metric, this effort has been estimated around the following magnitudes: Louisiana Purchase: 3% of GDP Railway expansion: 2% of GDP Interstate highways: 0.4% of GDP Apollo Program: 0.2% of GDP As we can see, the planned investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure is around 2.1% of GDP. It’s not the same, but. Historical parallelism functions as a scaling tool, not as institutional equivalence. The large projects with which the current moment is compared were, in many cases, public initiatives financed directly or indirectly by the federal State, while investment in AI infrastructure corresponds mainly to corporate spending. That distinction is important, however, from a strictly economic perspective, the relative size of the effort remains comparable. The State does not pay the main bill. That the bulk of investment is private does not mean that the public sector remains on the sidelines. It’s no secret that the U.S. government influences the pace and shape of deployment through regulatory decisions, permitting, energy planning, and federal land use for new data center infrastructure. This set of levers is not a substitute for corporate capital, and at the same time it fits with a broader strategy aimed at preserving American leadership in the global race for AI. Historical comparison. This ends up pointing out something deeper than a simple number: it indicates the type of priority that a society decides to give to certain technologies at a specific time. When investment in AI infrastructure reaches a relative weight comparable to that of major American economic milestones, reading transcends the technology sector and enters the strategic realm. Images | POT | freepik In Xataka | Daniela Amodei, co-founder of Anthropic: “studying humanities will be more important than ever”

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