Month: March 2026

Xiaomi is testing the mother of AIs for its cars, mobile phones and home. And there is no trace of Google or OpenAI

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Xiaomi long ago stopped being simply a mobile brand and became one of the giants of the Chinese technology ecosystem. The company It no longer goes to volume, it goes to aspirationand to achieve this they want a remarkable user experience. A deep integration of artificial intelligence is inevitable to achieve this, and that is where MiClaw comes to life. Mike? Xiaomi has published on its website the details about MiClaw, your next step in exploring AI agents. It begins as a small-scale closed test, but it represents the pillars of what we will see in the near future on the company’s devices. What is. Xiaomi is testing with MiClaw the execution capabilities of its large AI models (MiMo) within the mobile-car-home ecosystem, both at the conversational level and in terms of execution capacity. It is a deep model, one with full access to every single event on the device, and able to reason for itself what action needs to be taken. What are you doing. The agentic AI prepared by Xiaomi follows a four-step model: Perception Association Decision Action In the text itself, Xiaomi gives us some examples of how its agent can make our lives easier. A refrigerator that can automatically check which consumables are missing at home, connect to our calendar and create a reminder that we have to make the purchase. You buy a train ticket, the agent reads the confirmation SMS, consults our calendar, and automatically prepares and schedules the trip. Why is it important. That Xiaomi is redoubling its efforts in AI is no coincidence. The company wants to be a benchmark in the ecosystem and conquer regions like Europe. Leading in artificial intelligence will be key for any of its product pillars: cars, home devices and mobile phones. Xiaomi wants to move away from the current interpretation-execution proposal, to integrate an agent capable of carrying out up to 20 consecutive and independently executed actions. At the moment, MiClaw works under closed beta on devices like the Xiaomi 17 Ultrabut Xiaomi’s idea is to develop an agent capable of working on any of its devices. Image | Xataka In Xataka | Is the newest the best for you? We compare the Xiaomi 17 Ultra against the Xiaomi 15 Ultra to see which is a better buy in 2026

keep all the gasoline you produce

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The news of the week has been, without a doubt, the conflict between the United States and Israel against Iran, which has led to the Strait of Hormuz It will be practically sealed. According to a monitoring report of Morgan Stanleytraffic in the strait has plummeted by more than 95%, with only one oil tanker managing to cross on March 3. Given this scenario, the shock wave has not taken long to reach Asia, and the first major domino effect is already here. As he advanced BloombergChina’s government has ordered its largest oil refineries to immediately suspend gasoline and diesel exports. It is not a minor decision. Although the immense Chinese refining machinery produces mainly for its voracious domestic marketthe country It is the third largest fuel exporter by sea from Asia, only behind South Korea and Singapore. Suddenly withdrawing your product from the international market means, by pure law of supply and demand, less fuel available and rising prices for everyone. The execution of this measure has been as lightning-fast as it is opaque. According to industry sources cited by Reutersthere was no official public decree. Officials from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) — the country’s top economic planning body — met with executives from state-owned giants such as PetroChina, Sinopec, CNOOC and Sinochem, as well as private refiner Zhejiang Petrochemical. The demand was verbal and clear: immediately suspend shipments, stop signing new contracts and negotiate the cancellation of those already agreed upon. In fact, Chinese diplomacy has played the distraction. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied having knowledge of this suspension when asked at a press conference. as reported Euractiv. However, there is small print in this export blackout. According to Business Standardrefueling of aviation fuel (kerosene) for international flights will be maintained, marine fuel stored in customs warehouses is exempt, and vital supplies to the Hong Kong and Macau regions will not be affected. As for deadlines, the international market will feel the real blow starting in April. As pointed out LiveMintmost March exports (estimated at a combined 3.8 million tons) were already closed and shipments are difficult to remove at the last minute. The reason for this drastic measure? Pure national survival. Although China has been trying to diversify for years, 57% of its direct imports of crude oil by sea come from the Middle East, according to the analysis firm Kpler. If the Persian Gulf tap is closed, Beijing prioritizes ensuring that its internal tanks do not empty. Asia in panic and runaway prices The consequences of China’s move are already shaking the global economy, hitting its neighbors first. Financial Times details how the great Asian technological powers They are activating emergency protocols. Taiwan, South Korea and Japan – highly dependent on Middle Eastern crude – are desperately seeking to secure alternative routes and coordinate mutual supplies due to fear of being left in the dark. In financial markets, panic translates into money. With less Chinese fuel available, refining margins in Asia have hit three-year highs. According to LSEG pricing data collected by APA Newsthe diesel margin has touched $49 per barrel, while that of aviation fuel (jet fuel) has shot up above $55. Paradoxically, Beijing’s order has also heated up its domestic market. Chinese wholesalers, anticipating shortages, have started hoarding product. Business Standard explains that the price of diesel wholesale jumped 13.5% and 92 octane gasoline jumped 11% in just one week. In this troubled river, independent refiners (known as “teapots” in Shandong province) are taking advantage to squeeze margins. “We are busy raising prices, hoping to maximize our profits,” one trader told the financial publication. Even so, the physical lack of raw materials is undeniable. At least two large plants—Zhejiang Petrochemical and the Sinopec refinery in Fujian—already have begun to reduce their volume processing this month. Beijing’s masterstroke To understand China’s position of strength today, we must look to the recent past. As we analyze in Xatakathe Asian giant is not improvising. In 2025, while the world feared an oversupply, Beijing spent $10 billion buying heavily sanctioned and cheap oil (Russian, Venezuelan and Iranian) that it did not immediately need. Thanks to this, its Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) are estimated between 1,100 and 1,400 million barrels, enough to cover about 140 days of internal demand. Furthermore, the closure of Hormuz will force a new geopolitical realignment. According to Financial TimesXi Jinping’s government will rely even more on Vladimir Putin’s Russia. There are already increases in shipments of Russian crude oil, and Beijing plans to revive refineries in the northeast (such as Dalian) to process it, in addition to accelerating the construction of the gas pipeline. Siberia power 2. On the other hand, the real Chinese insurance policy is not fossil, but renewable. As analyzed by Professor Hussein Dia in The Conversationthe country’s massive commitment to electric vehicles (which accounted for 50% of new car sales last year) and solar energy is, at its core, a national security strategy. Meanwhile, in the rest of the world, physical collapse is a reality. The increase in logistics costs is wild. The charter of a supertanker on the route to China has risen 600%touching $200,000 a day, and insurers have raised war risk premiums by up to 50%. And the problem with ships not sailing is that oil accumulates at source. Iraq has already been forced to cut its production by 1.2 million barrels a day simply because its inventories have reached a critical level and it has nowhere to store the crude. In this context, OPEC+’s promises to inject 206,000 additional barrels per day are, as the expert John Kemp describes in the Financial Timesa mirage: that excess capacity is within the Persian Gulf; If the ships do not leave, that oil does not exist for the rest of the planet. While the West hyperventilates at the possibility of a barrel at 100 dollars and looks into the atavistic terror of reliving the inflationary crisis of 1973reality shows that interdependence … Read more

In 1832 Britain realized that it didn’t have much sun. Since then, a law requires that houses have good light

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If there is something that the United Kingdom could blame for its geography and climate, it is the gray days. Rare is the moment when the sun is not covered by clouds in Mary Poppins’ country, where natural light has become a scarce commodity to fight for. So much so, that there is a “right to light” by which homeowners can legally prevent new construction that obstructs natural light rays into their homes. This law is actually an easement established in 1832 by which the owner of a building with windows that have received natural light for more than 20 years has the right to prohibit adjacent constructions that limit it. That is, historically, a person was entitled to this if natural light and air had passed freely through their windows during that time and been enjoyed without disturbance. And these homes protected by the ordinance were marked with the “Ancient Lights” sign. Therefore, if a neighbor tried to violate this by building a structure or planting trees, the owner had the power to sue him for the “nuisance”. Of course, it is important to note that these do not only affect direct sunlight. But it gives the right to a minimum level of natural lighting, not direct rays of the sun. Although this urban planning law has undergone quite a few changes since its inception, the power of property owners to demand natural light continues to be debated in British cities. Nowadays, These “Ancient Lights” signs are still found on buildings around London and other counties such as Dorset and Kent. And the law, more than 100 years later, continues to be the protagonist of all types of litigation, becoming a headache for judges, lawyers and construction companies. The idea of ​​”having the right to light” Let’s go into more detail. A question that arises from this concept is: how much natural light does a person have the right to? And that is precisely where this law has several legal loopholes. Because a building owner’s windows don’t even have to be completely blocked by a neighboring obstruction for that right to be invoked. You simply have to maintain the same level of lighting that the owner has experienced for twenty years, something that is quite diffuse. In the 1920s, Percy Waldram, an expert in this law, proposed a system to standardize the sufficient amount of light that people could claim. He suggested that “common people” required at least one foot-candle (a measure of light intensity) for reading and other work. If the builder, including a homeowner planning an extension, identifies a risk affecting light rights, they must notify the affected homeowner and engage with them to reach an amicable agreement. This could be as compensation or a redesign to rectify or mitigate the problem. However, if there is a dispute, There are two ways to take legal action: damages and/or a court order. The first consists of granting a sum of money to compensate for the loss. The second may require demolition of part or all of the new building unless some other structural change can remedy the problem. The latter is usually too expensive. The idea for many years was that if a property owner did not take immediate steps to obtain a court order, the only remedy available to them was damages. However, a 2010 case left builders stunnedas the court held that it was possible to obtain an injunction even after the completion of the new building. In another more recent case from 2020the court granted an injunction to a property owner two years after the completion of the infringing work. The court found that the builder had proceeded with full knowledge of the risk he was taking. Is there a similar law in Spain? The easements They also exist in Spain. It is the right that the owner of a property has over the adjoining property that limits the proprietary powers of the owner thereof. In fact, it is not so uncommon to find cases in our country (especially in individual homes), in which Your neighbor has one or more windows that face directly onto your property. Is it legal? As regulated by the Civil Code in article 580no party wall can, without the consent of the other, open any window or opening in a party wall. Otherwise, the owner of a wall that is not a party wall and that is adjacent to the back of another owner may open windows or openings in the same wall. to receive lightsas long as it complies with the premises established in article 581 of the Civil Code. Furthermore, as stipulated in the article 582 of the Civil Code: “You cannot open windows with straight views, nor balconies or other similar overhangs, over the neighbor’s property, if there is not two meters of distance between the wall on which they are built and said property. Nor can you have side or oblique views over the same property, if there is not 60 cm of distance.” In Xataka | If your renovation is a pain, think about the house that cost 120 times more than its original cost: a masterpiece In Xataka | If the question is whether they forgot the elevator shaft in the tallest residential skyscraper in Spain, the answer is simple: it was much worse Image | Chris Flexen

that of buying a plane ticket before it costs an arm and a leg

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If you were planning to buy a plane ticket, we have a warning: it is better that you do it as soon as possible. That’s what the price of jet fuel indicates. The cost of oil for this type of use has skyrocketed since a new war broke out in the Middle East. Following the US and Israeli attacks and Iran’s response, the supply chain has become so stressed and strained that it does not bode well for the future. 2$25.44. It is the figure that has set the record and that tells us about the nervousness that is beginning to be experienced with the supply of fuel for airplanes. Those $225.44 was the price that barrels of jet fuel reached last Wednesday in Asia, they point out in Reuters. That figure was an anomaly that ended up rebounding but it gives an idea of ​​how the market is working. “It’s absolute chaos,” June Goh, an oil market analyst at commodities company Sparta, told Reuters. Financial Times. “We never expected that jet fuel could be twice the price of crude oil,” he explained. years ago. Specifically, four. Since 2022, the price of jet fuel has not been so expensive in the case of Europe and two years if we talk about Asia and the United States. The problem is not so much that “equality” in price. The problem is that it seems that we have already put on the tie and now it is time to tighten the knot. Because it is calculated that 40% of jet fuel that reaches Europe does so through the Strait of Hormuz, currently collapsed between vessels seeking to avoid an enclave over which missiles, drones and fighters fly over in search of targets to bomb. Why is this happening? Jet fuel is more delicate than fuel intended for passenger cars, so it can only be processed in refineries. Europe has reduced its refineries in recent years, something that It already affected the rise in diesel prices in the early stages of the Ukrainian War. And Asian refiners are seeing crude oil supplies disrupted by fighting in Iran and nearby countries. In Saudi Arabia, some refineries have had to suspend operations due to the attacks, according to Barron’s. From China, furthermore, They are already limiting fuel exports outside the country to prioritize the internal market. And it is calculated that 13% of the oil that China buys abroad comes from Iran. That is to say, there is less oil reaching the refineries and some oil companies are considering taking enormous detours to avoid the dangers of Hormuz. Right now, it’s not just that oil is having more trouble getting there. The thing is there are deposits closing because there are no means to transport them to the refineries. In OilPrice They point out that Iran has already had to stop deposits because there is no outlet for its production. And Kuwait could be the next to enter the same situation, according to Financial Times. And most of the oil to be refined in Europe comes from Kuwait. And dwarf tanks. Another pressing problem is that the tanks that hold airplane fuel are small because they require very specific conditions, according to Goh of Sparta. This causes the need for replacement to be high and, therefore, the price of fuel affects this market more. Therefore, the perfect storm is forming. There is oil that does not leave the fields, countries limiting exports, companies looking for solutions to save the Strait of Hormuz and a storage space sensitive to any break in the supply chain. There are already notices. To all of the above we must add that part of this fuel is staying in the Middle East to try to provide service to all the planes that are looking for a space to take off from airports that, right now, are chaos. According to Financial Timesqueues to refuel are causing delays and some companies are choosing to refuel before reaching their destination so as not to do so in the busiest places. The most affected in Europe, everything indicates, will be the low-cost companies, which are the ones that play the hardest with their profit margins. In Bloomberg They report that WizzAir already points out that this increase in prices will make it lose 50 million euros. This means that in their forecasts for 2026 they would go from earning 25 million euros at the end of the year to losing it. Photo | Nicholas Susilo In Xataka | An airline has completed the first transatlantic flight using sustainable fuel. The problem: there is not enough

this is the good and the bad of each one

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We are not even three months into 2026 and we already have four on stage compact mobiles who promise to give a lot of war. Because yes, not everything is Ultra or Pro Max phones: There are still users who prefer to have something small and manageable. Let’s put it face to face and point by point, to see what the compact bets of Xiaomi, Samsung, Google and Apple are like for 2026 (at least, so far). The differences between the best compact phones of 2026 Screens almost the same in size, but with important differences Ironically, inches are going to be the least important thing here. All four phones are small and their screens, very similar in size: they range from 6.1 inches of the iPhone 17e to 6.3 inches of the Xiaomi 17 and the Pixel 10staying the Samsung S26 right in the middle. With these sizes, it is clear that they are going to be phones that are going to be great to handle with one hand. In resolution, things don’t change much either, since everyone is betting on Full HD+ except for Xiaomi, which goes up a little to 1.5K resolution. Now let’s move on to where we can notice the most difference. While almost all of these phones opt for 120 Hz, the iPhone 17e stays at 60 Hzsince Apple continues to reserve the highest figure for its other iPhones (remember that the iPhone 17 is the first base iPhone to go above 60 Hz). This, phone in hand, implies that the fluidity between apps, when scrolling through text or when playing games, will be better on other devices. We can also find differences in the maximum brightness. Here the crown goes to the Xiaomi 17 (3,500 nits) followed by the Pixel 10 (3,000 nits). This tells us that outdoors, in those moments when the light shines directly, we will be able to see its screens very well. We don’t have data on the Galaxy S26 yet, but it should be around the 2,600 nits of the Galaxy S25. He iPhone 17e It is the one that is the lowest here with 1,200 peak nits. Four mobiles, four processors As far as memory is concerned, there is not much surprise: they all come with 12 GB of RAM except for the Apple mobile, which stays at 8 GB. They all also have two storage configurations, although here it would be time to give Google a little slap on the wrist: The Pixel 10 is the only one of the four that starts at 128 GB. At this point and being a high-end mobile, it falls short. Now, let’s move on to the nougat: the processors. The four phones have a different chip. The drawing would look like this: Xiaomi 17: Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Galaxy S26: Exynos 2600 Pixel 10: Google Tensor G5 iPhone 17e: Apple A19 It is still early to talk about performance, but we already know that the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is the best Android processor out there right now. Samsung’s Exynos 2600, the first 2nm chip, is a mystery, although the previous Exynos was a very battery-consuming chip with some overheating problems. Google’s Tensor G5 makes a leap in performance compared to the Tensor G4, but it falls far short of the Qualcomm processor. And, the Apple A19, the same processor that it already has the iPhone 17has top performance. The Xiaomi battery, a step above the others Xiaomi is committed to silicon-carbon, something that the rest of the manufacturers in this comparison do not do (at the moment). What does that imply? That its battery has the most mAh: specifically, 6,330 mAh. This figure places it well above other compact phones, although, as we always say, other factors such as efficiency or optimization later come into play. Apple is the only one that has not given information about the size of its battery, although it is true that its phones usually have very good autonomy. The differences also extend to fast charging, where the Xiaomi 17 once again has a big difference thanks to its 100 W per cable. We don’t have data on the iPhone 17e either, but we do have data on the Galaxy S26 (which stays at 25 W) and the Pixel 10, which has 30 W fast charging. Here the difference could be very big: with 100 W, you could charge your battery in about 30 minutes; with 25 W, in 70 or 80 minutes. There is also a difference in wireless charging, where Xiaomi stands out again with its 50 W. Three cameras on three phones, one on the iPhone The three Android phones in this comparison have a triple camera system (you can check their specifications in the table below). All three have small improvements with respect to their predecessors, which already tells us that we are going to obtain results with them very much in line with the Galaxy S25, Xiaomi 15 and Pixel 9. In other words: photographs and videos at a very good level. Here the biggest difference is found in the iPhone 17e, since it repeats with a single rear camera. It is not that it is bad (which it is not), but that the problem is again the same as with the iPhone 16e: gives you fewer options when taking photos. The front cameras of all four are similar, although Xiaomi is betting this year on a 50 megapixel sensor. AI and the operating system can tip the balance We come to another of the most important differentiating points: the software. We must place the Apple iPhone, which arrives with iOS 26, on a separate side from the rest. The phone will continue to be updated until 2032so it has a parato chord. Now, loses (for now) in the field of AIsince Apple Intelligence still has a way to go. On the other hand, Android devices. Obviously, Google’s Pixel 10 is the one that is … Read more

If an all-out war breaks out between the US and Iran, the ultimate weapon will be desalination plants

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The whole world holds its breath looking at the same point on the map: the Strait of Hormuz. With markets trembling at the possibility of a barrel of oil breaking the $100 barrier and exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) paralyzing, the global narrative has turned this conflict into a purely energy crisis. But the reality is much more primary and terrifying. As the analyst Javier Blas warns in a forceful report for Bloombergthe real threat in the military escalation between the coalition led by the United States and Israel against Iran lies not in the oil wells, but in thirst. Oil, Blas points out, is essential for the global economy, but water is simply irreplaceable. If total war breaks out, the definitive weapon will not be energy, but biological survival. This vulnerability is not a secret. As the analyst himself revealsthe American CIA has been warning its policymakers about this matter for decades. In a secret evaluation in the early 1980s —now declassified—, the intelligence agency made it clear that the true “strategic product” (strategic commodity) of the Middle East is not black gold, but drinking water. Unable to engage in a head-on, symmetrical clash with the combined war machine of the United States and Israel, Iran has adopted a survival strategy based on attacking what are known in military jargon as “soft targets.” And they have already started. As detailed in another report by BloombergIran recently attacked a power plant in Fujairah, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is responsible for keeping one of the largest desalination plants in the world in operation. In neighboring Kuwait, debris from an intercepted drone caused a fire at another of its water facilities in Doha West. The offense doesn’t stop there. As we have explained in Xatakathe Saudi Ras Tanura refinery was hit by Iranian drones twice in a single week. The truly alarming thing is that this refinery is only 80 kilometers from Ras Al Khairthe largest hybrid desalination complex on the planet. The risk is physical and mathematical: attacks on the port of Jebel Ali in Dubai fell just 20 kilometers from a critical complex with 43 desalination units, according to Michael Christopher Low in The Conversation. The level of aggressiveness is overwhelming the region. The UAE have already faced more than 800 missile and drone attacks (exceeding in volume those received by Israel). Although most are intercepted, the impacts have caused fires in the Burj Al Arab and have damaged data centers of Amazon Web Services (AWS) in UAE and Bahrain. This last point is critical: As experts warn Chosun Dailythese data centers digitally manage the energy and water distribution network; A digital blackout is equivalent to a physical power outage. Survival hangs by a thread for 72 hours The region’s monarchies are “saltwater kingdoms,” How do you define them? The Conversation. Eight of the ten largest desalination plants in the world are in the Arabian Peninsula, concentrating 60% of global capacity. The population’s dependence on this technology, according to data from W.G.I. Worldis absolute: Kuwait: 90% of its drinking water comes from desalination. Oman: 86%. Saudi Arabia: 70%. United Arab Emirates: 42% (almost 100% in metropolises like Dubai). If Iran decides to target these plants, human collapse would be devastating. A great report of House of Saudbased on a 2008 US diplomatic cable leaked by WikiLeaksreveals a terrifying scenario about Riyadh. The Saudi capital, with more than 8 million inhabitants, receives more than 90% of its drinking water from the Jubail plant through a single 500 kilometer pipeline. The report is blunt: if the plant or its pipeline were destroyed, “Riyadh would have to be evacuated within a week.” There is not even room to improvise. As an analysis in Iran InternationalQatar admitted that, in a scenario of massive water pollution, the country estimated to run out of drinking water in just three days, which forced them to build 15 giant emergency reservoirs. However, as researcher Bailey Schwab points out in WGI Worldwater cannot be politically rationed for long in cities that depend on the State to survive extreme temperatures. The energy-water nexus: the asymmetric calculation The system’s vulnerability is asymmetric and deeply technical. As explained by the analysis of House of Sauddesalination plants consume massive amounts of electricity (they represent almost 6% of total consumption in Saudi Arabia) and are co-located with mega power plants. If a missile takes down the power plant, the water supply dies instantly with it. Additionally, there is an unsustainable gap in recovery times. While an oil refinery can restore part of its production in a couple of weeks (as happened after the attack on Abqaiq in 2019), as Bailey Schwab warns, the components of a reverse osmosis plant are extremely high-precision parts that, if destroyed, would take months to replace. And defending this is economically unsustainable. Iran is using Shahed-136 droneswhich cost between $15,000 and $50,000 per unit. Opposite, the monumental Ras Al Khair plant cost 7.2 billion dollars and sits just 250 kilometers from the Iranian coast. It is a trivial flight for drones that have a range of 2,500 kilometers. As if that were not enough, this vulnerability drags food security down with it. There is one fact that goes unnoticed in the economic press: 70% of food imports of the GCC transits through the Strait of Hormuz. Saudi Arabia imports almost 80% of its food (wheat, corn and barley) by sea. With marine insurers canceling war risk policies for merchant ships, Gulf countries not only face dying of thirst, but also food isolation. The paradox: Iran, a country drowned by its own drought If the situation in the Gulf is critical, that of the aggressor country is equally desperate, although for different reasons. An analysis by Fred Pearce in Yale Environment 360 (Yale E360) details that Iran faces its own “water bankruptcy.” The crisis has reached such a point that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned last November that the country “has no choice” but to … Read more

Get four months free of one of the best VPNs on the market just for being part of Xataka Xtra

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At Xataka we are not only passionate about technology: we are obsessed with understanding how it impacts us on a daily basis. That is why we have launched Xataka Xtraour community for readers who want to go one step further. And since we want to make being part of this worthwhile from minute one, we will tell you one of the advantages you get with Xtra: four free months of NordVPN for all subscribers on one- or two-year plans. We don’t want this to be a discount code and that’s it. We want to take the opportunity to explain to you why in 2026 a VPN is no longer a mere addition for people jealous of their privacy, but rather a basic tool for anyone who uses the internet. It’s not just hiding your IP (that’s the least of it) You probably associate using VPN to bypass geoblocks for certain services and applications. NordVPN has more than 9,000 servers in 111 countriesso this does it very well, but it does much more: Malware Protection: NordVPN is not just a VPN. Its function Threat Protection Pro It analyzes the files you download and the websites you visit in real time. Not only does it protect you from viruses, it blocks intrusive trackers and ads before they load. Post-quantum security: We already know that quantum computers will have the ability to break any encryption that exists to date, present and past. NordVPN already implements post-quantum encryption for when that time comes. This is important because it provides protection so that your current data cannot be decrypted even with the technologies that are to come. Extra layer against phishing: Many security breaches occur due to theft of credentials or phishingso having extra protection against these types of attacks comes in handy. Compatible with 10 devices: With a single account you can protect your mobile phone, your laptop, your partner’s and even your Smart TV, as it allows up to 10 devices to be connected simultaneously. NordVPN 76% discount on NordVPN (this offer does not include the 4 months of Xataka Xtra) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Why we choose NordVPN At Xataka we try to avoid marketing promises and always look for support in data. And in that NordVPN gives us a lot of confidence: they have just overcome your sixth independent “zero records” audit (no-logs) conducted by Deloitte. This implies that one of the world’s largest auditing firms has gone into the kitchen of its systems—interviewing employees and analyzing each server—to confirm that NordVPN does not track, collect or store anything you do online. Whether you choose NordVPN or any other VPN service, we highly recommend making this one of the basic requirements you ask for. It is important because in this sector there are many companies that claim to protect your privacy but then end up selling your data. With this independent audit, NordVPN opens its doors to demonstrate that they deliver what they promise. It is a transparency that gives us a lot of peace of mind. We are waiting for you at Xataka Xtra In Xataka Xtra We want to build something different: more closeness, exclusive content and advantages that really add to your digital life. This collaboration with NordVPN is just the beginning. Yeah You join today with an annual or two-year planyou take those four extra months as a gift to start browsing as you should: quickly, safely and without anyone tracking your steps. In Xataka | What is a VPN connection, what is it for and what advantages does it have?

Your employees pay that bill every morning

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For decades, commuting to work in large Spanish cities had a clear logic: workers lived on the outskirts of large cities and They traveled every morning towards the center to their jobs. It was a fairly stable urban model, reinforced by transportation networks designed to take workers to the large office districts of the urban area. However, in recent years this pattern has been changing as the price of land in the center has skyrocketed and companies have also had to move to the periphery. As and as it portrays The Countrythe problem is that cities are not designed to move from periphery to periphery, and that movement has become in a daily mousetrap for millions of employees. Not even the companies can bear the prices of the center. In recent years, many companies have chosen to move their offices to peripheral areas where land is cheaper and there is space to build. large office complexes. This movement has made it possible to build huge business campuses that would be unviable in the urban centers of large cities with high demand for land such as Madrid or Barcelona. In Madrid, the north of the city has become one of the main destinations for this type of projects. An example is the Telephone Districtlocated in Las Tablas, which occupies about 22 hectares and concentrates more than 12,000 workers in a single business complex. The records of the Residence-Work Mobility Atlas of the Community of Madrid show that districts such as Fuencarral-El Pardo (where the Telefónica District is located) are already among the areas with the highest concentration of employment in the region. Barcelona experienced a similar process with the development of 22@ technological district in Poblenou, where numerous technology companies and corporate headquarters have been setting up shop in the last two decades. The transformation of this old industrial neighborhood created a new employment center outside the historic center of the city. Employment is moving, but so are prices. The problem with this migration of companies to the periphery of urban centers is that when thousands of workers begin to concentrate in a specific area, the real estate market usually reacts quickly. Proximity to work centers increases the value of nearby neighborhoods, which ends up raising rental and housing prices. This increase, in turn, forces employees to move to municipalities even further away from the city center and the offices where they work. The result is a constant increase in daily trips within the metropolitan area. In Madrid this phenomenon is reflected in the labor mobility figures. According to the recorded data According to the Mobility Atlas of the Community of Madrid, every day 1.2 million people enter the capital from other municipalities to work, compared to the 790,000 who did so in 2016. Something similar is happening in the city of Barcelona, which after the growth of 22@ has attracted workers from numerous municipalities in the metropolitan area, congesting the northern and southern access roads and the city’s ring roads due to the traffic generated by these employees at peak times, such as and how collect traffic congestion report of Inrix of 2025. Transportation takes you to the center, not to the periphery. All these congestion problems have their origin in the fact that the large transport infrastructures (metros, trams, Cercanías, bus lines, etc.) of the large Spanish cities have been designed for decades with a radial structure. They were planned to connect the peripheral neighborhoods with the city center, which was where most of the employment was concentrated. When new business centers began to grow outside the center, that structure began to show its limitations. Many workers no longer need to go to the urban area, but rather travel between peripheral areas that are not directly connected by public transport. This requires long journeys or several transfers, something that often makes the car faster. Even if it means getting stuck every day on the way to work. Furthermore, public transportation in many cities has become a lottery with constant delays and breakdownswhich generates uncertainty when considering alternatives to the private car. The price: hundreds of hours lost. The increase in long trips to work and dependence on the car is clearly reflected in traffic data. According to the TomTom Traffic IndexMadrid registered an average congestion level of 38% in 2025, which is 3.6 percentage points more than the previous year. That level of traffic means that traveling 10 kilometers during rush hour can take about 34 and a half minutes, with average speeds close to 17.5 km/h. The report also estimates that Madrid drivers lose around 98 hours a year in traffic jams during rush hour. When daily journeys are long, the accumulated time can multiply and reach up to 500 hours per year per person lost in traffic jams. Barcelona faces a similar situationwith a level of congestion in its urban center and access roads of 41.1%, which is one of the highest figures in Europe. In Xataka | The worst traffic jam in history: two weeks, more than 100 kilometers and thousands of cars detained in China Image | Unsplash (Kathy)

The US has decided to shoot itself in the foot and destroy one of the best AI companies in the country

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Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, published a few hours ago a statement in which he announced something unusual: the Department of Defense (DoD) has confirmed that “we have been designated as a risk to the national security supply chain” of the United States. This agency thus fulfills the threat it posed a few days ago and automatically turns Anthropic, one of the best AI companies in the country (if not the best) into a pariah company. What implications does that have? Many and all of them huge. I veto Anthropic. This designation prohibits Anthropic from doing business or developing projects for the US military. That is already serious, but it is not just the Pentagon, for example, that will not do it: any company that works with the Pentagon is also prohibited from using Anthropic’s AI services for any government project. We are facing a decision whose collateral effects could be terrible for Anthropic. The loss of revenue could be massive, and if other federal agencies follow the Pentagon’s lead, Anthropic could have a hard time defending its viability against its competitors. That designation is not immediate, and there will be a transition period six months for DoD to migrate to other vendors (like OpenAI). It had never been done with a national company. The ban on Anthropic is absolutely extraordinary, and that designation as a “supply chain risk” was a measure historically reserved for foreign adversaries like Huawei. By applying this label to an American company, the DoD severs its commercial ties and marks the company with a stigma, a kind of “scarlet letter” that could scare away global investors and partners. ethical shock. The core of the conflict is not technical, but moral. Anthropic was born as a spin-off from OpenAI with the aim of avoid existential risks in the development of AI models, and the company has always positioned itself as a great defender of alignment with human values. Its CEO, Dario Amodei, insisted that its AI could not be used for mass surveillance or for the development of lethal autonomous weaponsbut that has collided head-on with the US government and military establishments, which wanted practically total access without restrictions, except those imposed by the US Constitution and laws. to the courts. Amodei has explained in its statement that it will fight the decision in court. His argument, he explains, is that statute 10 USC 3252 It is a tool of protection, not punishment. The defense will need to focus on showing that the Department of Defense did not use the least restrictive means to ensure security. If they succeed, they could invalidate the designation, although the reputational damage has already been done. The dilemma of sovereignty. Can a private company be above the Government? The Pentagon argues that no supplier can slip through the chain of command, and one thing is certain here: for an AI to have usage clauses that limit military operations is to cede national sovereignty to a private algorithm and the terms of service of a board of directors and a CEO who have not been democratically elected. The threat of extreme interventionism. This unusual measure could end up setting a precedent. If the government punishes companies that ask uncomfortable questions or place limits on the use of their technology, AI innovation could change its philosophy. Companies that want to survive would have to do so without questioning the orders out of pure fear of bankruptcy and bankruptcy. Transition period. There is, however, a period of six months granted for the transition and that seems to make it clear that the Pentagon still depends on Anthropic technology for current operations, as demonstrated by the kidnapping of Nicolás Maduro or the current intelligence analysis of the conflict in Iran. It remains to be seen how events will evolve, but the outlook for Anthropic is certainly worrying. And for the rest of the companies too, if indeed justice rules in favor of the Department of Defense. Image | Anthropic | Xataka with Freepik In Xataka | Anthropic has become the Apple of our era and OpenAI our Microsoft: a story of love and hate

the theory that explains why the rise in gasoline is here to stay

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Gasoline skyrockets. It is the consequence of the attacks on Iran and the country’s responses to the United States and Israel. In an enclave very exposed to any type of crisis, the Strait of Hormuz, oil transit is suffering harsh consequences. China already warns that it will not export its fuel. And, meanwhile, gasoline is rising at a dizzying pace. 20 cents. Tomorrow, Saturday, March 7, marks one week since the United States and Israel attacked Iran. Since then, hostilities in the Middle East have continued, with a response from Iran in which its neighboring countries and even the European Union have been involved. It was February 28 and gasoline was moving below 1.50 euros/liter on average. When we write these lines, March 6, the portal dieselgasolina.com which monitors the price of Spanish service stations offers a very different image: So far this month, prices have skyrocketed: Gasoline 95: from 1,495 euros/liter to 1,608 euros/liter. +11 cents/liter Gasoline 98: from 1,687 euros/liter to 1,766 euros/liter. +8 cents/liter Diesel A: from 1,447 euros/liter to 1,643 euros/liter. +20 cents/liter Diesel A+: from 1,549 euros/liter to 1,734 euros/liter. +19 cents/liter A week. Barely a week has been enough for the price of gasoline and diesel to skyrocket and, above all… there is no prospect of their ceiling. And the oil companies and service stations are already beginning to notify the Government that they are not willing to support a new gasoline subsidy, as would happen in 2022. This means that the prospects are not at all promising and the truth is that if we look at the progress of the conflict, everything indicates that we can expect the worst. Right now: Sign of the increase in price in a few days like a rocket. What we are witnessing, again, is the theory of the rocket and the pen. When the supply chain falters, the price of gasoline skyrockets. However, its descent lasts for weeks or months, reproducing the effect of a feather. And, as soon as the last war in the Middle East began, gas stations have already started raising prices. It doesn’t matter that the impact of a rise in the barrel of Brent is not immediate on the prices at which they buy oil, the truth is that there are gas stations where prices have increased by more than 10% in the first days of the conflict, as you can see in the image above. The diesel. Although the price of gasoline is rising, without a doubt the biggest loser is the diesel customer. Spain continues to be a country whose automobile fleet is made up mostly for this type of fuel and seeing an increase of 20 cents/liter, on average, in just one week is hard. Its price is already higher than gasoline. What was once a historical raritytoday it has become a certain normality. As we already observed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the war in this territory, diesel became more expensive because Russia was a big exporter of the same and European refineries had been reduced. That is to say, we had less fuel available on the market and for what there was we had two options: buy it at a high price or wait for the European funnel to ease. And the room for maneuver is small. But, in addition, since the War in Ukraine the State has been applying some measures that reduce the room for maneuver to try to patch the situation. Public transport is now much cheaper that then and gas stations and oil companies have already raised the hatchet against possible subsidies. A tax cut seems complicated. The State would be shooting itself in the foot, reducing revenue that also goes up when fuel prices rise. AND The European Union has been pressing for years so that diesel bonuses are eliminated and, therefore, taxes are equal to gasoline. Photo | Hamza Şamil Yavuz In Xataka | Europe has been demanding that Spain increase diesel prices for five years. And Spain is playing at being Spain

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