Month: April 2026

The age verification thing is nothing. Greece wants to completely eliminate anonymity on the internet

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Greece will hold elections in early 2027 and its rulers have had a unique idea to avoid (or mitigate) deepfakesthe disinformation and the toxic speechesespecially in relation to that electoral process, but also in other scenarios. What they want is nothing less than eradicate anonymity of the internet and that you have to reveal your identity on platforms to be able to use them. Remembering democracy. Dimirtis Papastergiou, minister of digital governance in Greece, remembered in Euractiv how democracy was born in his country with a clear objective. “In ancient Greece, everyone could express their opinion openly and by name. They raised their hands and shared their perspective. This should inspire us as we seek to shape a new digital democracy.” Goodbye to anonymity on networks. That reflection is the argument behind a controversial measure: Greece has a plan to try to prohibit anonymity on social networks. This will make it possible to minimize the growing toxicity in these networks, says the minister, who is promoting an idea that is already being debated in the presidential office of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Greek prime minister. Pseudonyms yes, but always associated with your real identity. The measure does not seek to prohibit the avatars and pseudonyms that users use in their profiles. Instead what you want is to guarantee that the system knows exactly which citizen is behind that label. As the ministry states, any opinion is valid as long as the person expressing it can be traced by the authorities in the event of a legal infraction. Against harassment and defamation. Papastergiou highlights how anonymity has become the perfect shield to attack reputations or harass in a coordinated way. These situations have attempted to be investigated by the Greek police without success due to the opacity of the platforms. If age verification is required link an account with a personthe government may apply measures so that the social cost of defamation is the same in real life as on the screen. The 2027 elections as a catalyst for the decision. Greece’s political calendar has caused this regulatory urgency, because the Greek country will hold general elections early next year. According to the prime minister’s cabinet, the national political debate has become a chaos of fake news and threats orchestrated by both anonymous users and coordinated bot attacks. The electoral campaign has already begun unofficially, and this ban on anonymity is presented as a “hygienic” measure to avoid or at least mitigate disinformation and hate speech that, according to the government, contaminate the coexistence of Greek society. Bad business for Facebook, X or TikTok. Prohibiting anonymity would have a clear impact on the platforms, which since their inception have built their user base assuming that a large portion of them used an anonymous profile. This has favored an extraordinary growth in the number of users, although it is clear that some of them are duplicates or are bots. Papastergiou accuses companies of maintaining this business model for pure economic benefit, prioritizing that over toxicity problems, for example. The confrontation is served: on the one hand, the state demands the ability to identify its citizens, and on the other, companies protect anonymity because that favors the advertising business model. Also in digital press. Pavlos Marinakis, vice president of the government, has gone further and points out that this measure may not be limited to social networks. Their idea is to demand that all articles and comments in digital press are signed by real people, thus eliminating pseudonyms and spaces for collective opinion. This has set off even more alarms, this time among those who defend digital rights, who see here a potential tool to silence criticism and complaints that are made with anonymity as the only shield against retaliation. A European precedent. Greece is the most vocal country in proposing this measure and activating it unilaterally if the European Union does not move. Greece already has been added to this trend of imposing age verification to prohibit the use of social networks by those under 15 years of age. A piecemeal approach poses problems and is even questionable under the DSA framework. In fact, it is to be expected that the EU will rule on the matter, and the approval of such a measure at a pan-European level faces extraordinary obstacles. In Spain has also been considered that possibility, but It’s much easier said than done.. Very dangerous. Dismantling anonymity on the internet undoubtedly has its advantages when it comes to mitigating all the toxic, hateful and misinformation speeches that abound on the internet, but the disadvantages are even greater. The Greek plan assumes that the State will always be a benevolent actor and that this user identification will only be used to prosecute real crimes. However, we are in an era of extreme polarization and such a measure would allow, among other things, to create a gigantic database in which each real DNI would be associated—among other things—with a political opinion. It is the seed of a massive surveillance system that could be more toxic than what it precisely wants to combat. Image | Chaozzy Lin | dole777 In Xataka | You’ve been ‘user84721’ for years. A study just showed that AI can know who you are in minutes

There are thousands of scientific articles that ask you to pay to read them. Sci-Bot has arrived to access them for free

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Scientific knowledge is supposedly something that nourishes all human beings to continue advancing, but the problem is that in many cases the articles that contain this knowledge are in tools that require a subscription to read them. This limitation in access to universal knowledge has led to the emergence of different platforms that bring together all these articles, such as Sci-Hubwhich now improves with his AI called Sci-Bot which promises to put an end to ChatGPT’s “hallucinations” in the scientific field. How it started. At the end of this same month of April, a message on networks published by Mushtaq Bilal began to go viral, and no wonder, since it gave a notice in which, ironically, it invited us to use a new Sci-Hub tool that allowed access to scientific advances for free. Something they do through the back door and that already it almost cost them closure forced by the famous ‘Pirate Bay’ But logically this publication had the opposite effect, going viral, and also revived the eternal debate about the paywalls in science they can block access to this knowledge. But now Sci-Hub’s new tool has arrived to change this (partly). A great library. To understand the magnitude of Sci-Bot, you must first look at the size of its brain, since since Elbakyan founded the web in 2011, Sci-Bot has become in a headache for scientific dissemination giants such as Elsevier or Springer, which are behind the publication of thousands of top-level articles. Here, according to the official data of the platform itselfSci-Hub hosts 88,343,822 research documents and books, so we are talking about 100 TB of human knowledge covering more than 95% of the publications of the main scientific publishers. And with free access and without going through the checkout, as happens on the websites of some of these publishers. The jewel in the crown. As Sci-Hub’s own page reveals, Sci-Bot is an AI that is designed to be able to search within the titanic database to select the most relevant studies and compose articulated responses. Its main attraction is that compared to generalist AIs like ChatGPT or Claude there are hardly any hallucinations, such as its creators pointed out in a scientific article in which tests were carried out in this sense. And this is something very important because I have been able to experience with my own eyes how AI invents bibliographical references or assigns research to authors who have nothing to do with it. But Sci-Bot, being anchored to a real database from which it draws the information, means that there are direct references to the original papers, allowing users to jump over the hated paywalls to access scientific evidence. Still needs improvement. At the moment it is starting in its alpha phase and that is why it has different limitations, such as that it can only answer one question at a time and does not maintain the thread of chained queries, even if they are on the same topic. But the truth is that it is quite promising to have access to the vast majority of human knowledge. They put obstacles in his way. Here, logically, the magazines have a lot to say, since they do not like having the articles freely available when they request a subscription to access them. This means that right now Sci-Bot has the most recent scientific articles as its blind spot, since due to the new and aggressive security measures implemented by large publishers in recent years to avoid scrapingthe database has some gaps in articles published in the most recent months. This makes the AI ​​unable to respond regarding the most recent evidence. But without a doubt we are facing an advance that began with the arrival of Sci-Hub with the promise of democratizing science, although through the back door by freely publishing articles that are actually ‘private’. And the only thing this will do is create a new front between open access and large publishers seeking financial returns. In Xataka | More and more media outlets are going over the paywall in Spain, the big question is whether there will be subscribers for everyone

Huesca and Lleida were separated by 110 kilometers. It has taken Spain 25 years to connect them by highway

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Spain has a maxim that is repeated when we talk about roads: things go slowly. Pretty slowly, in fact. You just have to see that the A-11, one of the great Castilian-Leonese highways has been in operation since 1995. Or the almost 30 years since the A-60 has been planned without having been completed. Andalusia is not spared either, with roads that They are beginning to approach two decades before finishing. And a halfway case is that of the A-22 between Huesca and Lleida. Barely 110 kilometers separate these two cities in northeastern Spain and, however, it has taken more than a quarter of a century for a highway to be completed between them. The culmination for the luck of the Aragonese and Catalans took place last October. That month, the section between Huesca-Siétamo was finally inaugurated. Just 12.6 kilometers for which seven years of work have been needed but which should have been resolved in 2021. Perhaps that is why the celebration was bitter. 25 years for an hour’s drive They counted on Aragon Digital that the completion of the highway between Huesca and Lleida only had Minister Óscar Puente as a political representative. None of the Aragonese officials made an appearance (autonomous community, provincial council or city council). And it is that the last bypass next to the city (it connected with the A-22 but also gave an exit to the N-240 known as Ronda Norte de Huesca) has been full of controversy. With it, the last of the 11 sections into which the construction of the A-22 has been divided has been completed. Those 12.6 kilometers mentioned above began operating in 2018 and the forecast is that they will be ready in 2021. The investment was 61.5 million euros but citizens have had to wait another four years before being able to enjoy the entire road. The Ministry of Transport explained With the inauguration, eight of the kilometers of the new link have been newly built, leaving the old national N-240 as a service road. In addition to the connection with this road that acts as a ring road, it has also joined the A-23. A road, the latter, that will finally be linked to the A-21 since the tender has been awarded to resolve the link between both roads and resolve the bottleneck that was generated in Jaca. But returning to the case of the A-22, the issue is that the highway was designed in the Transportation Infrastructure Plan 2000-2007. However, in 2004 no relevant step had yet been taken in the construction of the new highway and the work became part of the state promises again in 2005 with the Strategic Infrastructure and Transportation Plan. By then, the intention is for the highway to be fully operational in 2012. The A-22 was one of those infrastructures that was affected by the 2008 crisis. However, despite the adjustments in 2010, the times and investments were not extended excessively. And before that year, the highway had less than 30 kilometers in operation but little by little the sections were advancing and the vast majority of the work was ready between 2010 and 2012. It was, therefore, the section between Huesca and Siétamo that has lengthened the completion of the road. In Herald They covered the news of the awarding of this last section in 2018 but already pointed out at that time that a situation that had been completely stopped for five years before was being unblocked. The promise, as we said, is that it would be ready in 2021. Thus, the A-22 highway has accumulated years and years of delay despite being practically finished. The little more than 10 kilometers that were necessary to close the work have taken 12 years to carry out, the same as it took to have the remaining hundred kilometers ready. Now, at least, Aragonese and Catalans can breathe a sigh of relief and finally have a fully modern road to connect Huesca with Lleida. Photos | Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility In Xataka | Spanish roads have a problem in 2026: repairing a kilometer of asphalt is more expensive than ever

the price will be a victim of RAMageddon

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Steam Machine, Valve’s new machine, should already be on the market. However, a few weeks ago something curious happened: Valve appeared at GDC asking for ‘help’ to be able to buy RAM memory. Because not even the company that dominates PC gaming is safe from the component crisis. Meanwhile, Microsoft is preparing the new Xbox, the one known as Project Helixand the CEO of Microsoft Gaming is already heating up the ground. It’s going to be expensive. Project Helix. It’s not a secret that Xbox is quite out of the competition hardware at the moment. With Xbox Series they jumped into the pool with two models (Series X for enthusiasts and S Series for those who didn’t need so much) and the strategy has not worked (added to other decisions of the company in which everything is an Xbox, so… why buy an Xbox?). With Project Helix they want to target another user: the one who wants a consolidated PC. Steam Deck has paved the way for many and the Steam Machine is still that: a PC, but in console format. Nothing is officially known about the machine, but it will be “a console for playing great games, including PC games,” in the words of the new CEO, Asha Sharma. There are rumors of all kinds such as the opening to Steam to be able to use third-party stores and even that they will not use a custom APU, but rather one from AMD available to anyone who wants to buy a PC. And the price, obviously, is something that is on the table. The notice. At Xataka we have not echoed the rumors in this regard for two reasons. The first is because you have to wait for confirmation. The second is because the rumors can come to nothing considering how the component crisis is going. In fact, the fork that is being shuffling It is between 1,200 and 3,000 dollars, clearly excessive and, as we say, without official basis. But what we can do is pay attention to what Sharma said in a podcast recorded with Game File. When asked about the current memory shortage situation, the board commented: “All of those things are in the equation. Memory prices will affect the price of the machine, but also availability. We’re looking at where we need to be, but we’re not ready to share a roadmap for the launch of Project Helix yet. My approach is to focus on what’s within our control: building a great console to play great games, including PC games.” No one escapes RAMageddon. Since Helix began to be talked about as a premium product, expectations about the price began to fly. There was hope, that a company with the potential of Microsoft would cushion the blow (I had that hope in the Steam Machine and Everything indicates that it will not be). However, the fact that Asha confirms so boldly that the current situation will affect both price and availability does not advance a situation in which we have a price more similar to that of a console than that of a PC. As always, we will have to wait because everything is in the very early stages of the conversation, but it is evident that the situation of the RAM and the data centers is disrupting the plans of companies like Valve, Microsoft and even Sony with its PlayStation 6. In fact, it is already disrupting the current stock. There are the Steam Deck as an example, with a Valve alluding to stock outages for the current situation. Very active. Before we mentioned the “everything is an Xbox” strategy that the company pushed for a time. The result was a loss of identity that, now, they seem to want to recover. Sharma is pushing for a new emblem”We are Xbox“, wallpapering the office walls with the “return of Xbox” and taking some measures like the price drop for Game Pass Ultimate (leaving ‘Call of Duty’ out, yes). Although was put under the magnifying glass Coming from one of Microsoft’s AI divisions, the new CEO has not taken long to begin to show that she has different ideas for the brand and undertaking different actions to win back her audience. The problem is that it will have to deal with a diffuse hardware launch that points to a price to which the console market is not accustomed. They are expected to begin shipping development kits to developers early next year and Project Helix will go on sale by the end of 2027. A lot can change in a year, but Nobody knows very well if something is better or worse.. In Xataka | A few days ago a man bought an Xbox 360 for five euros at a flea market. Inside was a treasure called ‘GTA IV Beta’

Amancio Ortega has become the largest investor in the Ibex35 with only three investments

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Amancio Ortega is not only the richest man in Spainthanks to having founded the financial empires of Inditex and Pontegadeabut has also turned out to be the largest private shareholder in the Spanish stock market. And, furthermore, it is with an enormous distance compared to the second classified. To put it in context, Ortega’s investment in the Ibex35 far exceeds the State’s participation in this index. According to recent data published by EuropaPress Based on the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), Ortega sweeps into first place, followed by the American giant BlackRock and the Spanish State, which slips into third position. Between the three of them they accumulate stakes that exceed 176,000 million euros in different companies listed on the Ibex 35. Ortega’s portfolio: only three companies, but almost 100,000 million. The key to Amancio Ortega’s dominant position is, of course, in the giant Inditex. The lion millionaire settled in La Coruñachannels its investments through its companies Pontegadea Inversiones and Partler Participaciones, with which controls 59.294% of the capital of the textile group that owns brands such as Zara, Massimo Dutti or Pull&Bear. Ortega’s participation, alone, already represents practically all of the 97,733 million euros that his investments in the selective total. The other two pieces of your stock market portfolio in the Ibex35 are the energy sector holdingswith 5% in both Redeia (owner of Red Eléctrica de España) and Enagás, the managing company of the national gas system. Although the investment weight in energy companies is significantly lower than in Inditex, both fit into Ortega’s investment strategy, which is committed to assets with stable income and regulated that they generate dividends on a recurring basis. BlackRock, the American giant that tries everything. The second investor in the Ibex35 by investment volume is BlackRock, the largest fund manager of the world. As and how to publish The Economistits commitment to the Spanish stock market extends to a total of 20 companies in the Spanish selective, with stakes greater than 1% in each of them, which together reach 41,308 million euros, which is equivalent to 3.7% of the entire capitalization of the Ibex. Its presence is especially relevant in large Spanish banks, with notable stakes in the capital of Banco Sabadell (with 8,199%), BBVA (7,158%), Banco Santander (6,861%), Bankinter (5,910%) and CaixaBank (4,980%). Its assets in Santander alone are already estimated to be worth more than 10,277 million euros. However, like Ortega, BlackRock is committed to diversifying its investments, with a notable presence in the shareholding of energy companies such as Iberdrola (6,254%) and Enagás (7,427%). The State, third shareholder of the Spanish stock market. The public presence in the Ibex35 is channeled through several instruments. The State Society of Industrial Participations (SEPI), Enaire and the Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring (FROB) are the main investment vehicles that the Spanish Government uses to participate in large companies listed companies, especially those with strategic interest such as energy, communications or banking. In total, the State’s investments in the selective are valued at around 37,147 million euros. Among its most relevant positions, SEPI owns 10% at Telefónica20% in Redeia, 27.99% in Indra and 5% in Enagás, while the FROB controls 16.177% of CaixaBank and Enaire holds 51% of Aena. The latter, the stake in the airport manager, is one of the most valuable in the public portfolio, given the strong Aena stock market performance in recent years. In Xataka | With his profits from Inditex, Amancio Ortega has become something: the biggest real estate magnate on the planet Image | GTRES, Unsplash (Jakub Zerdzicki)

Six reasons why I didn’t buy a Kindle and won’t regret it in 2026

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Almost four years ago I made the leap to eReaders (electronic book readers) to, in a way, force myself to read a little. At that time I hadn’t gotten into reading for quite some time and I wanted to buy a reader. But there were many to choose from. Kindle was my first choice because they are the best known, but after a lot of reading, especially analysis, and watching a few videos of use experiences, I opted for the Kobo Clara 2Ethe previous generation of the current Kobo Clara BW (129 euros) and is also available in a version with a color screen called Kobo Clara Color (169 euros). Now, Why did I finally choose this eReader and not a Kindle? These are all the reasons that led me to it, and those that keep me “stuck” to the brand. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links First eReader or casual readers To anyone who makes the jump to an eReader for the first time or who simply reads from time to time, I recommend that Don’t spend too much money on a reader. The experience is different from reading physically and if you haven’t tried an eReader for a few hours it is better to go for a model with a good quality-price ratio than to buy something that you don’t end up liking. Here we can find the basic Kindle (119 euros), but it has certain shortcomings compared to the Kobo Clara 2E or the Kobo Clara BW, such as water resistance. I was looking for a model with which I would have a very good experience so that it would be attractive for me to read, always taking into account the price. The Kobo Clara BW currently sits between the basic Kindle and the Kindle Paperwhite (169 euros), but it costs little more than the first. Unless we are looking for a much cheaper model (maximum about 80 euros), I would bet on Rakuten first. Amazon Kindle (latest generation) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links How difficult it was to pass books from the computer Amazon has made it a lot simpler over the years, but Before it was not so easy to transfer books from the computer to the reader. I don’t like shopping on my mobile at all and I do everything from my PC, so the “odyssey” that I was at that time set me back a lot. Yes I know that Caliber It has always been there and is one of the best digital book organizers we can have. But I’ve always preferred not having to install anything to do something as basic as transferring a file to a device. Water resistance, audiobooks and more When I bought the eReader I did so with one goal in mind: to read all the published novels of A Song of Ice and Fire, those of ‘Game of Thrones‘ by George R.R. Martin. Although it is true that I did not get to read them all because I have been delving into other literary works, I wanted to do it with a compact device that would allow me to read anywhere. And when I say anywhere, I mean anywhere. By this I mean that I enjoy reading on the train, on the terrace of a cafe and even in the pool. If there is something that has seemed essential to me, it is the water resistance from Rakuten Kobo. We don’t see it on the basic Kindle and over the years it has become an increasingly important feature to me. After all, they are devices that are oriented towards portability because you can carry thousands of books in a single reader. There are also other functions that I find especially interesting, although these can also be found in Amazon eReaders. A good example is that of the audiobook playback. It is not something that I have used personally, but I do find it very practical to continue enjoying literature in certain scenarios, such as when driving. Origami covers It may seem silly, but when buying the Kobo Clara 2E I also did so thinking about the origami case that I also bought that same day (it is also available for the Kobo Clara Color / BW and for him Kobo Libra Color). It is a folding case that allows you to support the reader on a surface to act as a support. And I find it especially interesting for several reasons. The first is that you can fold the case to better grip the reader. But above all, I found this cover practical because for some time now I have been using a treadmill next to a lift-up desk. Sometimes I watch a series on the computer, but other times I delve into reading. And I can do it without having to pick up the eReader; I put it on the table and that’s it. SleepCover for Kobo Clara Color/BW The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Amazon support What makes me not want to get into Kindle? While it is true that some eReaders seem very attractive to me (Paperwhite and Colorsoft Signature Edition mainly), news like that Amazon will stop supporting some of its models…they pull me very far back. It’s not the end of the world, but eReaders are very durable devices. And the fact that the Kindle that you bought in 2011 continues to work as it did on the first day and that you lose access to the Amazon store through the reader… is not something that particularly attracts me. Readers with color screen The Kobo Clara 2E has its limitations when it comes to reading manga, and especially comics and magazines. In any case, the six-inch screen is fine for reading only text because it doesn’t matter if the page is cut, you will have a good experience. But of course, it can’t be cut into manga, comics … Read more

fill their residences with MMA fighters

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In 1964, during the Tokyo Olympics, Japan deployed thousands of young volunteers to assist foreign visitors with tasks as basic as finding their way or moving around the city, in a coordinated effort that surprised his discipline and efficiency. Decades later, that idea of ​​mobilizing unexpected profiles to cover social needs reappears, although in a very different context. Unexpected solutions to aging. Japan has been facing for years a demographic pressure increasingly intense, with an aging population that grows at high speed and a care system that fails to meet demand. He told in a report the new york times that the figures indicate that one in six Japanese is now over 75 years oldand the residences are overwhelmed due to the lack of staff, aggravated by immigration restrictions and the low attractiveness of a demanding job traditionally focused on women. In this context, the country has begun to explore very unconventional formulas to sustain its healthcare system, opening the door to profiles that until recently seemed completely alien to this world. Muscle as a response to the crisis. But not financial, but literal. Yes, the solution that is beginning to take shape in some centers breaks with any preconceived idea: incorporating bodybuilders, MMA fighters and exsumos as caregivers. Apparently, The Times explained that specialized companies have seen in these profiles a useful combination of physical strength, discipline and work availability, offering stable jobs for athletes with short careers and few economic outlets. In fact, what began as an experiment is being consolidated as a real strategy to alleviate the lack of labor, while introducing an element of renewal in a sector that had been operating for decades under the same schemes. Everyday life in residences. In practice, these new caregivers perform the same tasks as the rest of the staff, but with an obvious advantage in physically demanding jobs such as moving patients or assisting in their daily hygiene. Thus, in centers such as those in Ichinomiya, Kochi or Tokyo, residents live with muscular figures who help them get up, cook or accompany them in daily activities, generating unusual but increasingly normalized scenes. Furthermore, these workers They combine their shifts with trainingwhich allows them to maintain their sports career while developing a second professional path. Change the perception of a forgotten sector. Beyond functionality, the initiative seeks transform the image of elder care, attracting male profiles who have historically avoided this type of employment. Plus: the presence of athletes introduces dynamism to the residences and breaks stereotypes, showing that healthcare work can also be associated with strength, energy and commitment. In some cases, the residents themselves perceive these caregivers as close, almost family figures, which contributes to improving the emotional environment in the centers. Between hardness and its impact. They remembered in the report that, over time, many of these athletes discover that the real challenge is not physical, that is, but emotional, when facing illness, dependency and the death of patients. This experience transforms their relationship with work and daily life, providing a dimension that goes beyond employment or training. Thus, what began as a pragmatic solution to a labor crisis is becoming a deeper shift in the way we understand care in Japan, one where muscle has gone from being a sporting symbol to a key tool to literally support everyone. an aging generation. Image | PicrylOneFC In Xataka | The Yakuza is no longer the criminal force it once was in Japan. The reason is very simple: aging In Xataka | While half the planet aspires to retire, in Japan the opposite is true: 100-year-olds who only want to work

For generations, we Spaniards embraced the three-course menu. Now that model has entered into crisis

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Christianity has its holy trinity. The theater has its classic structure in three acts, just like the traditional novel. Even life itself can be divided into three blocks: youth, adulthood and old age. For a while (centuries, actually) food also participated in this obsession with triads. When you sat down to eat, whether in your own home, that of a family member or in a bar, you expected to be served three courses: something light to start, like a soup or a salad, a heartier second and dessert to finish the job. Now that model has gone into a spin. Goodbye to three dishes? That is the reflection that left bouncing a few days ago The Country in its section on food: after generations and generations settled in homes and hospitality, meals structured in three courses (first, second and dessert) are in decline. He is not the first to point it out. More than a decade ago it already launched a similar warning Adam Liaw, a chef, presenter and author of gastronomic books who in 2015 warned in Guardian about the gradual “disappearance” of three-course menus. Even Dr. Nicolás Romero issued a warning in 2019, in an interview with The Basque Journal: “We should start by recovering a custom that we are abandoning in Spain, that of three dishes on the menu.” He was so convinced of this that he even encouraged transferring the same formula to dinner, “as the Mediterranean diet dictates”, opening the menu with vegetables and closing it with fruit. Is it really in crisis? It is difficult to find studies that confirm this, but, as Liaw signalif we do not look at our surroundings we will realize that the meal in ‘three acts’ seems to have “fallen from favor”. And that is something that can be transferred both to our homes and to restaurants. In fact there are those who now slide that menus with starters, main courses and desserts risk becoming something extraordinary, a luxury reserved for weddings, New Year’s Eve or other special occasions. Just like silverware or old wine. And why this change? The explanation varies a little depending on whether we are talking about what we do at home or what happens in the hospitality industry, although in both cases a common denominator can be seen: a change in consumer habits. In an increasingly busy society we are less willing to spend hours between the stoves, selecting fresh food…or even sitting in front of a plate, which explains the growing success of snacks. Cooked less? It seems so. In 2003, experts were already warning that, in a matter of a few years, we Spaniards had reduced three hours a week the time we spend cooking. Other surveys most recent show that 48% spend about 90 minutes cooking and 41% barely spend more than 60. There are still the majority of those who prepare their own food, but the Spaniards who barely set foot in the kitchen They are counted in millions. With less (or no) time between pots and pans, it is difficult to prepare meals divided into several dishes. Does everyone lose? “Households are spending less and less time cooking, reducing processes and complexity to optimize the time spent cooking. This implies that people are increasingly opting for single-course occasions, which are 71.3% of the time at dinner and 55.7% at lunchtime,” commented recently Eduardo Vieira, from Worldpanel by Numerator (Kantar), who pointed out that this represents an “opportunity” for the industry. Our tendency to spend fewer hours in the kitchen is giving wings to a business that has been growing for years: that of pre-cooked and ready-to-eat foods. The Spanish Association of Prepared Meal Manufacturers (Asefapre) estimates that in 2025 the consumption of precooked meals in the country’s homes grew by 3.8% and that sales exceeded 4.3 billion, with a growth of 5%. What happens in restaurants? There another extra factor comes into play: the economy. Although the menu of the day has been implemented for decades in Spain, where it is quite an ‘institution’, the formula is in crisis. And not only because of cultural changes or the snackficationa trend that leads us to spend less and less time on food. In recent years it has come under cost pressure. The rising cost of raw materials, energy, labor… has forced hoteliers to review their rates, increasing them by 19.5% between 2016 and 2024. The problem is that the sector assures that this increase is lower than the CPI, which makes it difficult for them to make their menus profitable. “It is in danger, fortunately because it is not a sustainable model,” recognize to The Country Paco Cruz, The Food Manager. Given this situation, it is necessary ‘reinvent’ the menucutting costs. As? Exactly: putting the scissors in and leaving it on a single plate. Do more factors influence? Yes. As if the above were not enough, the hoteliers have to deal with a new rival: the merchantssupermarkets that, like Mercadona, have a wide range of ready-to-eat dishes and spaces in which to consume them. Customers can often choose dishes and devour them in just a few minutes, putting pressure on traditional menus where a waiter serves starters, mains and dessert. Images Michael Clarke Stuff (Flickr), Diogo Brandao (Unsplash)F.arhad Ibrahimzade (Unsplash) In Xataka More and more Spanish bars refuse to let you pay at the table. Its objective is very simple: greater rotation

It’s about whether a company can change its mission

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Elon Musk and Sam Altman They have stood before a court in Oakland to settle the future of OpenAIwith a lawsuit claiming more than $130 billion and calling for the removal of Sam Altman as CEO. The hearing started this Tuesday with opening statements that have revealed the real dimension of the case: it is not just a fight between two billionaires, but a very basic question that still does not have a clear answer. Why is it important. The underlying question is not whether Musk, as it is colloquially said, ‘was messed up’. It is whether an organization founded as an NGO can pivot towards profit after having attracted donations, talent and credibility under another model. If the answer is ‘no’ (or if it can at least be judicially challenged), there are a few technology companies in a similar situation: Mozilla, Anthropic or Wikipedia / Wikimedia Foundation live in similar realities. The precedent that this trial sets may be a blow to other groups. The context: OpenAI was born in 2015 with a mission: to develop AI for the benefit of humanity, as a wise man said“non-profit”. Musk contributed about $38 million in his first years. In 2019, the company launched a for-profit subsidiary to raise capital at scale. In 2023, it signed a 10 billion agreement with Microsoft that, according to the accusation, was the point of no return: from then on, OpenAI no longer operated for humanity but for its shareholders. Today, the lucrative subsidiary is valued at $852 billion and could go public before the end of 2026, although There are some cracks in that plan.. Between the lines. Musk’s legal thesis depends on proving that there was fraud at the time of the donation, not simply that he doesn’t like where the company has gone. According to Sam Brunson, professor of nonprofit law at Loyola University in Chicago, cited by Fortunethe general principle of law is that whoever donates to an organization has given that money and has no recourse if they later do not like its decisions. The only way out is to prove that there was fraud, that they lied to you at the time of donating. And that proof is very difficult to obtain. What comes closest to that proof are the private notes of Greg Brockman, co-founder of OpenAI. In September 2017, Brockman wrote that this was “the only opportunity to get out from under Elon” and that accepting his conditions would destroy his decision-making capacity and his economic side. After a meeting in November of that year in which Musk was assured that OpenAI would remain an NGO, Brockman noted that if they converted the company to a for-profit entity three months later, “it would have been a lie.” The judge who sent the case to trial cited these notes directly in his January ruling. Yes, but. The fact that there are compromising notes does not mean that Musk’s legal theory is solid. The original NGO still exists. Its technology was licensed to the for-profit subsidiary, but the nonprofit foundation maintains nominal control of the company and retains the economic appreciation of that subsidiary. NGOs can generate profits, they simply cannot distribute them among shareholders. If OpenAI did not make an explicit and documented promise to never create a for-profit subsidiary, the fraud argument has very little meaning. Most of the experts consulted by the Anglo-Saxon press these days believe that Musk has little chance of winning in the responsibility phase. Marking agenda. On Sunday, less than 48 hours before the trial began, OpenAI published its new framework of five principles for AGI: democratization, empowerment, universal prosperity, resilience and adaptability. The 2018 document mentioned AGI twelve times. The new one, only two. He timing It is no coincidence: Altman publishes a manifesto that portrays him as the guardian responsible for the development of AI just when a court is going to judge whether he betrayed the company’s original mission or not. The big question. The trial will last, in principle, about three weeks. But the question it raises goes beyond the verdict: can a company that started as a non-profit organization (attracting donations, talent and legitimacy under that banner) freely pivot towards profit without anyone having the right to complain? If the answer ends up being ‘yes’, without much nuance, there will be something wrong. Not because Musk is right about everything, but because the underlying argument makes sense: if you benefit from tax favors and an altruistic reputation to boot, then you can’t pivot just like that without distorting competition. The question does not have an easy answer. That a jury in Oakland is answering it says a lot about how much the law lacks to keep up with the speed with which the technology industry moves. In Xataka | OpenAI is already worth $852 billion: never has a company been so valuable while burning so much money Featured image | Xataka

Someone has calculated which countries in the world have increased their military spending the most and there is a surprise: Spain is in the lead

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With the beating of war drums in the background, the invasion of Ukraine encystedthe tension climbing in the Middle East and Donald Trump feinting with removing the US from NATO at the same time required more investment military to its partners, in 2025 the world has chosen a clear path: spend more money on defense. Quite a bit more. SIPRI calculations show that global military spending increased by 2.9% last year to almost 2.9 trillion dollars. This increase is largely explained by the effort made in Asia, Russia and Europe, where an unexpected protagonist stands out: Spain. Despite the differences With the leadership of NATO and the loud friction with Trump, the reality is that Spain is one of the countries that has increased its investment most clearly and is already in the “Top 15” in volume of war spending. What has happened? Which the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has just published a study on military spending in 2025. It is a valuable tool because it helps us understand two things: how much the planet is investing in strengthening its war capacity and, more importantly, how that flow of money is distributed geographically. Reading it is particularly interesting in Spain for another reason: it shows that, despite the friction that Madrid has had with the White House and the address of NATO on account of military spending, Spain has made a notable investment effort. In fact, on the SIPRI list it stands out as one of the countries that has increased its defense spending the most, surpassing other European partners. Click on the image to go to the tweet. How much does Spain invest? If we base ourselves on the SIPRI data, 34,256 million of euros. The figure is important because of its scope, but above all because of the trend it shows: it shows that last year military spending increased by 50% in Spain. If we look back even further, to 2016, the increase is 122%. It is also the first time Since the mid-90s, the allocation for weapons exceeds 2% of GDP. If these data were not sufficient in themselves, they stand out even more when compared with the rest of the countries analyzed. Although the US, China and Russia lead the investment effort in terms of spending volume, when we look at the increase in spending there is only one nation that exceeds 50% of Spain. Which? Belgium, with an increase of 59%, although its level of spending is much lower than that of Spain (14.5 billion dollars). In fact, the increase in investment has allowed our country to position itself in the global “TOP 15”, behind Poland or South Korea and ahead of Canada. How is it possible? That jump is largely due to Industrial and Technological Plan for Security and Defense approved a year ago and that, according to the ministrycontemplated an initial investment of 10,471 million already in 2025. However, the SIPRI tables reflect that Spain continues to dedicate much fewer resources to defense than other EU (and NATO) partners, such as Germany, France, Italy or Poland, which in the last decade has skyrocketed its spending. Why is it important? For what we mentioned before: 2025 will be remembered for many debates, but there was one in particular that grabbed headlines for months and made Spain stand out worldwide. Despite Trump’s pressure for NATO partners to increase their defense spending from 2% to 5% of GDP, Madrid claimed that it could meet its commitments with an investment of ‘only’ 2.1%. His position was not liked in the White House, but it ended up leading to a pact with those responsible for the Atlantic Alliance. How much does the rest spend? That is another of the readings that leaves the study of SIPRI. In general, its technicians estimate that military spending increased by 2.9% worldwide in 2025, to around $2.9 million. It is the eleventh consecutive year in which the amount of resources that the planet allocates to the war machine has increased and explains that today the “global military burden” (its weight with respect to GDP) reaches 2.5%, marking its highest level since 2009. Are there differences? Yes. That increase was not distributed equally throughout the world. While in the US military spending suffered an annual contraction of 7.5%, in Europe military spending grew by 14% to reach 864,000 million of dollars. The same trend continued in Russia (+5.9%) and Ukraine (+20%), immersed in a war since 2022, or China (+7.4%) and Japan (+9.7%). That the US distances itself from this trend is something purely circumstantial. If its war expenditure decreased in 2025, it was due to the change in policy regarding the military support offered by Ukraine. In fact, SIPRI recalls that the US Congress has already given the green light to a considerable increase in military spending for this year and it is not unreasonable that something similar could happen in 2027. Image | Ministry of Defense In Xataka | Nobody saw it coming: Ukraine’s scariest drone doesn’t move, just waits for a Russian soldier to appear

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