Mobile Tech & Gadgets

Two men thought it was a good idea to lend their houses to a North Korean laptop farm. It went wrong

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Teleworking has accustomed us to a very comfortable idea: if someone delivers work, attends meetings and responds to messages, perhaps it doesn’t matter too much where they do it from. The problem appears when that distance becomes an advantage to hide identities, move money and enter companies that believe they are hiring a legitimate professional. North Korea has been exploiting precisely that rift. And the case of two men convicted of hosting laptops in their homes shows the extent to which the plot could rely on domestic infrastructure. Two men condemned. Matthew Isaac Knoot, of Nashville, Tennessee, and Erick Ntekereze Prince, of New York, have been sentenced in the US to 18 months each in prison for their role in fraudulent schemes involving remote IT workers linked to North Korea. according to the Department of Justice. The house as a piece of the plot. The mechanism was more domestic than one might imagine. Companies shipped corporate laptops to American addresses because they believed the contracted workers were there. Once received, the computers were housed in those homes and configured with remote desktop applications installed without authorization. This allowed the fake workers to operate from abroad while, to the companies, the connection appeared to come from an address within the United States. What did each one do?. Prince, according to official information, facilitated at least three North Korean IT workers to obtain remote employment in US companies between June 2020 and August 2024, and used his company Taggcar Inc. to fraudulently supply “certified” workers, despite knowing that they were outside the US and using false or stolen identities. Knoot, for his part, operated a laptop farm from his Nashville residences between July 2022 and August 2023. Money, companies and damages. The Justice Department maintains that the two schemes together generated more than $1.2 million for North Korea and affected nearly 70 U.S. companies. In the Prince case, the companies paid more than $943,069 in salaries to IT workers linked to the file. In Knoot’s case, the payments exceeded $250,000. More than labor fraud. The US justice system presents the sentences as part of a specific line of action against facilitators located in the US. The note itself highlights that these are the seventh and eighth convictions of “laptop farmers” obtained in the last five months within their efforts to interrupt North Korea’s illicit generation of income. It is an important nuance: the focus is not only on those who connect from abroad, but also on the local network that makes the operation viable. Expansion into Europe. As we have seen in the pastthese cases are also present outside the United States. The Record discovered in April 2025 an investigation by Google Threat Intelligence Group according to which North Korean operatives had increased their activity in Europe following US police actions against laptop farms and financial networks. At the center were job searches linked to the United Kingdom, Germany and Portugal, in addition to the use of local facilitators to support the alibi of a work presence in the corresponding country. AI and fake identities. One of the most current layers of this story is not only in the laptops, but in the ease of building increasingly credible profiles. BISI points out that North Korean operations combine stolen identities, manipulated professional profiles and AI tools capable of writing localized CVs and cover letters. In the Old Continent, platforms such as Upwork and Freelancer are usually used, in addition to Telegram. The consequence is obvious: detecting the fake candidate can become much more difficult before the company even ships the equipment. What started with laptops housed in private homes ends up having something much bigger than a criminal conviction. The companies were not attacked from outside in the classic sense, but ended up opening the door to workers they believed to be legitimate. So everything seems to indicate that in these times it is no longer enough to protect servers, credentials or repositories, but rather to review the processes that we consider normal, such as the hiring of personnel. Images | Xataka with Grok In Xataka | The ‘vibe coding’ promised to democratize software. Your first gift is 5,000 apps with open sensitive data

Big tech had ambitious climate goals. Then the AI ​​came and started devouring them

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There was a time when technology seemed to have found a comfortable way to tell its climate future. The big companies talked about “clean energy”net zero emissions, increasingly efficient operations and commitments dated to 2030 or 2040. It was an attractive story because it coexisted with our daily use of the internet, services and applications. Generative AI, however, has complicated that picture: not only does it bring more smart services, it also requires more infrastructure, more electricity, and climate pressure that is much more difficult to square with the promises those same companies made just a few years ago. The most recent movement comes from Microsoft. Bloomberg has published that the company would be considering delaying or even abandoning one of its most ambitious energy goals, at a time when the race for AI requires increasingly more computing capacity. Tell OpenAI or Anthropic. This case does not appear in a vacuum: other large technology companies are also facing increasingly visible challenges to fit their climate commitments with the expansion of their data centers. The question is no longer just what they promised, but what happens when those promises collide with the actual scale of AI. The companies did not reach these commitments in a single way nor did they promise exactly the same thing. Some focused on the purchase of renewable energy, others on zero-carbon electricity, others on net-zero emissions, and others on eliminating more carbon than they generate. There were also different reasons for doing so: regulatory pressure, investor expectations, reputation and a fairly widespread conviction that digital infrastructure could grow. without triggering its climate impact. What interests us here is not to review all those promises, but to follow some of the most ambitious ones and see how they are holding up to the AI ​​race that is unfolding before our eyes. Climate promises in the face of expanding data centers As we say, the fundamental change is that many of these commitments were formulated before generative AI became an absolute priority for the industry. Until then, the growth of data centers was already a challenge, but it could be projected with a more gradual logic. The new race has altered that pace: training models, deploying them in massive products, and answering large-scale queries requires computing power that grows very quickly. What once seemed like a difficult but manageable roadmap now faces a different dynamic. Microsoft was one of the companies that formulated one of the most demanding goals. In July 2021 he announced his 100/100/0 commitment, a way of saying that by 2030 he wanted match 100% of your electricity consumption100% of the time, with zero-carbon energy purchases. The nuance matters: it was not just about offsetting annual consumption with renewables, but about getting closer to an hour-by-hour correspondence. Furthermore, the company proposed doing so in the same electrical networks from which it took that energy. Now that commitment is under obvious pressure. The aforementioned economic media indicated that the Redmond company is studying delaying or even abandoning it, according to anonymous sources with knowledge of the matter, while seeking to clear obstacles to powering its data centers. Microsoft has not confirmed that change and its director of sustainability, Melanie Nakagawa, maintained that the company remains committed to its environmental goals. He also left an insight that sets the tone for the official response: any adjustment would be part of a review of approach, not a change in long-term ambition. Google also set a powerful goal. In 2021, the Mountain View company set the goal to achieve net zero emissions across its operations and value chain by 2030, including its consumer hardware products. To achieve this, he proposed reduce 50% its absolute emissions compared to 2019, not only those generated directly by the company, but also those linked to its activity and its supply chain. What it could not reduce, according to its roadmap, it would compensate by removing carbon from the atmosphere through natural and technological solutions. The current situation shows how difficult it is to put this roadmap into practice. In its 2025 environmental reportGoogle points out that in 2024 its emissions were 11.5 million tons of CO2 equivalent. That is 11% more than the previous year and 51% above its 2019 base. The nuance is important: they did not increase 51% in one year, but rather compared to the starting point chosen by the company. The report itself also recognizes that integrating more AI into its products can complicate the reduction of emissions due to the greater demand for computing and technical infrastructure. Amazon also presented a high-ambition climate pledge. In September 2019the e-commerce giant announced together with Global Optimism The Climate Pledge, a commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040ten years before the horizon set by the Paris Agreement. The company founded by Jeff Bezos became the first signatory of that initiative, which called for measuring and reporting emissions on a regular basis, applying decarbonization strategies and neutralizing remaining emissions with additional, quantifiable, real, permanent and socially beneficial compensations. Amazon’s situation shows that these promises already had gray areas even before AI was at the center of the debate. In September 2023, Data Center Dynamics published that the Science Based Targets initiative had removed the Amazon commitment from its panel and placed it in the “expired commitment” category. The reason, according to the media, was that both parties were unable to agree on a sufficiently significant emissions target. Amazon responded that the requirements had changed and that it would continue to look for credible third-party validators. In this sense, general photography goes in the same direction. The US Department of Energy estimates that the Data centers consumed around 4.4% of the country’s electricity in 2023 and could be between 6.7% and 12% in 2028. The International Energy Agency also projects a relevant leap on a global scale: from about 415 TWh in 2024 to about 945 TWh in 2030. Not all of this growth can be attributed solely to AI, … Read more

Vivo X300 Ultra vs Xiaomi 17 Ultra, we put two of the best phones of 2026 in photography face to face

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If you value the photographic section of a mobile phone above the rest, this year we are seeing very good proposals. Therefore, now that we have a greater variety of phones, we are going to take the opportunity to put two of the most notable of this year face to face: the Xiaomi 17 Ultra and Vivo X300 Ultra. Vivo X300 Ultra (1 TB) – Photography kit The price could vary. We earn commission from these links The price could vary. We earn commission from these links The differences between the Vivo X300 Ultra and the Xiaomi 17 Ultra Camera configurations Before getting into the matter, it is advisable that we take into account which sensors come in each of the mobile phones. Furthermore, it may not be the biggest claim, but we will also mention the front sensor in each case. Vivo X300 Ultra 50 MP front camera, f/2.45. Rear camera module: 200 MP main sensor, f/1.85, OIS. 200 MP telephoto, f/2.67, OIS. 50 MP wide angle, f/2.0, FOV 123.4º, OIS. Xiaomi 17 Ultra 50 MP front camera, f/2.2. Rear camera module: 50 MP main sensor, f/1.7, OIS. 200 MP telephoto, f/2.4 – 3.0, 3.2x to 4.3x, OIS. 50 MP wide angle, f/2.2. main sensor Perhaps the most attractive thing about this section is the difference in megapixels in both main sensors. The Vivo X300 Ultra has 200 MP and the Xiaomi 17 Ultra with 50 MP. Is one better than the other? Well the truth is that no. To give you an idea, having more megapixels is relevant especially when we want to crop an image, since what we want is to be able to enlarge it without losing too much detail. But it is not the only thing we should focus on, because megapixels do not really equal image quality. The Xiaomi 17 Ultra has a one-inch sensor, being the largest on the current mobile market. This means it can capture much more light, offer truer colors and a much more natural blur effect. In this way, the Vivo It is also especially relevant to stop at the focal aperturebecause it is different in both cases. The Vivo mobile phone offers an f/1.85 aperture while the Xiaomi phone has an f/1.67 aperture. The lower the number, the more light enters through the lens, which makes for better photos in low-light conditions. Telephoto lens In the telephoto sensor there are many points to discuss. First of all, both brands are betting on 200 MP sensors, which, as we have already mentioned, serves above all to not lose so much detail when enlarging an image to crop it. In the focal aperture of this sensor we do find differences and some other peculiarities. The aperture of the Vivo is f/2.67 while that of the Xiaomi is f/2.4 – 3.0. And… what does this mean? The Xiaomi 17 Ultra can vary its focal aperture between f/2.4 and f/3.0, which allows it to adapt to different light conditions automatically. We must also point out something important and that is that the Xiaomi 17 Ultra allows you to vary between 75 and 100 mm through zoom, which allows you to change between 3.2x and 4.3x. This previously had an impact on the image quality, but the mobile processing works very well, so it is practically not so noticeable. In addition, we also have a 200 mm, which is a sensor cutout, which approaches optical quality. ultra wide angle camera In both cases we find two 50 MP ultra-wide-angle sensors, so they offer the same detail. What does vary is the focal aperture: the Vivo’s (f/2.0) is more open than the Xiaomi’s (f/2.2), so more light will enter and it can perform better in difficult conditions. The attractive thing about the Xiaomi 17 Ultra is that it offers a 115º field of viewwhich means you can capture more information in a single photo. However, our recommendation is that to take close-up photos, we move away a little and take them at 100 mm and crop the image. The result is much better. The accessories Both phones have their respective photographic kits; However, they are very different. Xiaomi is betting on an accessory that, in general terms, is a case with a battery and physical controls to take photographs. There are two with different prices, with the most expensive being the one with the most controls. On the other hand, the Vivo X300 Ultra comes with a much more attractive photographic kit, since in this comparison it is the only one that has a teleconverter. In this case, it is 400 millimeters and, although it works well for photographing at long distances, we loved the quality it offers in portraits. Prices Price is a key factor when choosing a mobile phone and here we are going to find a big difference. The Xiaomi 17 Ultra (512 GB) is on sale right now for a price of 1,249 euroswithout the photographic kit. On the other hand, the Vivo X300 Ultra (1 TB) can currently only be purchased with the photographic kit, so the price shoots up to 2,399 euros. To understand the price difference between both phonesthe Xiaomi is located by 1,249 euros without kit. If we wanted the photographic kit, we would have to pay additionally 280 euros for Photography Kit Pro or 116 euros for the Photography Kit. The first has more buttons and a larger battery to function as a powerbank. On the other hand, the Vivo X300 Ultra comes with the photography kit included in the price of 2,399 euros. That is, in addition to the mobile phone we find a Vivo ZEISS Gen 2 Ultra teleconverter with an equivalent focal length of 400 mm, a grip with an integrated battery to function as a powerbank and an adapter ring for a tripod. In summary: In any case, we are talking about two mobile phones with very powerful photographic sections. It is difficult to assess which is better and which … Read more

Today the latest from a master of horror arrives on Disney+, a survival show that was about to end up in a drawer

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The last time before this year that Sam Raimi directed a horror film was in 2009, with ‘Drag Me to Hell’, a return to his roots after the ‘Spider-Man’ trilogy and which remains, perhaps, his best film along with ‘Darkman’ and the ‘Evil Dead’ trilogy. After extensive work in the ‘Oz’ franchises and Marvel, he returns to the humor, suspense and violence of that marvel with this fantastic ‘Send Help‘you just landed on Disney+. In it we will meet a shy and lonely woman (Rachel McAdams) who travels with her arrogant and insufferable boss on a flight that ends up having an accident and leaving them on a desert island in the Pacific. What begins as a survival story becomes an inversion of the work hierarchy: the person who knows how to survive in nature is not the same person who rules in the office. From there, a strange and hilarious mix of ‘Cast Away’ and ‘Misery’ that doesn’t cut corners either in the intensity of its most violent scenes or in the grotesque humor with which it portrays its protagonists. The original idea for the film dates back to before the pandemic, when Raimi came across this script from the authors of ‘Freddy vs. Jason’. When COVID happened, cuts came to the industry, and the studio tried convince the director to reduce the budget and release it on platforms. Raimi wanted the production to reach theaters, so the project was presented to the former Fox, now owned by Disney. In an especially profitable year for traditional horror films like ‘Sinners’ or ‘Weapons’, and for thrillers with a twist like the hit ‘The assistant‘, ‘Send Help’ is placed, as is usual for Raimi, in an intermediate and unclassifiable terrain. Extremely dark humor, a description of characters between social caricature and classic horror comics and a load of impossible plot twists for the enjoyment of those who think that plot coherence is for the weak when there is emotion and narrative pulse. In Xataka | Netflix premieres today the dystopian series that has risen to the throne of the best in history in six seasons

This is the 100% carnivorous movement that has conquered US healthcare

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The steak has ceased to be a simple gastronomic whim and has become the banner of an ideological, health and almost religious movement. The materialization of this phenomenon took place recently in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, during the celebration of Meatstocka three-day convention that brought together more than 1,400 devotees of the carnivore diet. This event has been much more than a gastronomic fair. As detailed in a report by The New York Timesattendees could be seen consuming glasses of raw milk and dipping pieces of beef brisket in butter. During the event, attendees did not share recipes, but rather “testimonies”, exchanging stories about how eliminating any trace of vegetables from their dishes and living exclusively on meat had cured them from arthritis to diabetes or mental health disorders. Far from being a simple internet eccentricity, this group continues to grow, driven by a very effective glue: the frontal rejection of traditional doctors. And they are serious. The official website of Meatstock 2027 is already warming up for its next convention in Nashville with a slogan that does not hide his political ambitions: “Make America Meaty Again” (Make America Carnivorous Again). The rebellion against broccoli In the conference rooms of Meatstockthe atmosphere resembles that of a rally. The attendees idolize influencers with nicknames like Steak and Butter Gal and listen to testimonials from content creators like Serena Musick. When the latter is asked if she doesn’t miss “being normal” and eating something other than meat, her response, cited by him New York Timesis revealing of the general feeling: “If being normal means that you can’t exercise, and (…) that you can’t get up without your knees or back hurting, then I don’t want to be normal.” The ecosystem that surrounds this community borders on the margins of what is established. At the convention, they sell everything from raw cheeses and butters—labeled “for pets” to circumvent legal prohibitions on sales for human consumption—to bovine tallow lotions that young people like Verónica Eggleston, 24, use to replace traditional sunscreens. Even side businesses are popping up, like carnivore-only matchmaking services, created by people who refuse to date partners who believe in “conventional medicine.” This frontal rejection of science has powerful speakers on social networks. According to MIT Technology Reviewdoctors like Anthony Chaffee accumulate hundreds of thousands of followers promoting that the key to health is “eliminate everything except fatty meat and lard”, while other doctors unabashedly affirm that the vegetable contains “antinutrients”. But the movement’s definitive leap has occurred in the upper echelons. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health of the US government, has admitted to following this pattern: “I only eat meat or fermented foods,” declaredclaiming that it helped him lose 40% of visceral fat in one month. Your circle of trust supports this vision; FDA Commissioner Martin Makary has defended “clean meats” as “biblical” and sharply criticized government recommendations on limiting saturated fats. The coup d’état to the nutritional pyramid This cocktail of ideology and activism has caused an unprecedented institutional earthquake. Just a few years ago, the world seemed to be rowing in the opposite direction. As I analyzed in an article for Xatakasociety was in the midst of the era of “Protein Chic”where vegetable protein (lentils, beans, peas) was positioned at the top of official recommendations to prevent cancer and promote healthy aging, supported by institutions such as Stanford University. However, the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans (GDA) 2025-2030 they have dynamited four decades of consensus. A critical analysis in The Conversation reveals how the US government has established a controversial “inverted pyramid” that crowns red meat, beef fat and full-fat dairy products as priority foods, while legumes disappear from the graphic representation and cereals fall to the bottom. The seriousness of the matter, according to complaint The Conversationlies in the procedure. The government ignored the original 421-page report prepared in a transparent manner by an independent Advisory Committee. Instead, it imposed an express six-month review led by a panel with clear links to the livestock and dairy industry. This parallel committee discarded most scientific recommendations under the false premise that previous guidelines (which the population barely followed) were to blame for the obesity epidemic, and even included ideological mentions of the promotion of male “testosterone.” From carnivorous babies to scientific clamor The ramifications of this narrative turn are already palpable in the sectors most vulnerable. In forums like Carnivore Motherhoodmothers feed their six-month-old babies raw yolks, pureed liver and marrow, eliminating any trace of fruit or vegetables. The American Academy of Pediatrics recognizes meat as a great source of iron and zinc in complementary foods, but pediatrician Mark Corkins is strict about exclusivity: “Without vitamin C and fiber, the development of connective tissue and the intestinal microbiome is potentially irreversibly compromised.” The stupefaction at this institutional drift has been global and has not taken long to be articulated across multiple fronts. In the scientific field, the rejection is frontal: more than two hundred doctors and researchers They have sent an urgent letter to the US government demanding that scientific sanity be restored. The prestigious medical journal adds to this complaint The Lancet, who has not hesitated to qualify the new US guidelines as “a recipe for worse health”, defining the model as contradictory, anti-scientific and totally unsustainable on an environmental level. This intense debate has also reached popular publications. Nutritionist Marc Vergés defends in the magazine Body and Mind the increase in protein consumption proposed by the guidelines to stop the loss of muscle mass in the population. However, in the same publication, Dr. Odile Fernández is blunt in her reply: she warns that an excess of animal protein in those under 65 years of age increases mortality. Furthermore, the doctor points out that equating beef fat with unsaturated fats lacks any scientific support and puts citizens’ cardiovascular health at serious risk. But the danger of these new guidelines goes beyond the purely physiological and has a full impact on mental health. From clinical practice, nutritionist Laura Jorge … Read more

Madrid is going to sacrifice one of its busiest tunnels for months. The reason: a new exchanger

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Madrid has several gigantic projects underway. In this house we have talked about the work of the Mayritt tunnel boring machineof the burial of the A-5the improvements and transformation of Metro Madrid, the Sales Parkand countless urban works that they barely give the capital a break. On this occasion, its residents will have another area blocked for a time, as the busiest underpass in the southern area of ​​Madrid will close for ten months to allow progress in another of those great transformations: the new interchange. Why is this happening now? Madrid City Council announced A few hours ago, the Conde de Casal road tunnel would close to traffic in both directions starting at 6:00 a.m. this Friday, and will not reopen until February 2027. The delegate of Urban Planning, Environment and Mobility, Borja Carabante, confirmed it on Thursday at a press conference after the Government Meeting, explaining that the closure is necessary to continue with the works on the new transport interchange and to execute the connection between the lines 6 and 11 Metro. This is a particularly delicate blockade, since according to data consulted by El Diario, 39,000 vehicles pass through this tunnel every day, with greater intensity in the center-outskirts direction and in the afternoon time slot, especially between 3:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. What changes on the road. During the ten months of closure, traffic will be redistributed for the surface. Two entry lanes will be enabled from the A-3 towards the Plaza de Conde de Casal and one exit lane from the Plaza de Conde de Casal towards the A-3 Valencia and the M-30 North. Just before the M-30 bridge, the section entering Madrid from the A-3 will go from two lanes to one. On the other hand, the outbound link branch from the M-30 towards Conde de Casal will remain open. In addition, two turns will be prohibited in the square itself: the turn to the left towards O’Donnell towards Doctor Esquerdo, and the turn to the left from Doctor Esquerdo towards Avenida del Mediterráneo and Glorieta Mariano de Cavia. Starting in September, the council plans to progressively expand the number of surface lanes. Where to go if you want to avoid the area. The Town Hall has published Alternative routes both to enter and leave Madrid. to enter: A-3 – Plaza Conde de Casal – Glorieta Mariano de Cavia; A-3 – Plaza Conde de Casal – Doctor Esquerdo – O’Donnell; or the M-40 for long-distance routes. to leave: Glorieta Mariano de Cavia – Cavanilles – Doctor Esquerdo – surface branch A-3 towards Valencia; Doctor Esquerdo – Plaza Conde de Casal – surface branch A-3 towards Valencia; or O’Donnell – M-30 southbound – A-3. What changes in public transport. The Madrid Regional Transport Consortium (CRTM) has activated several adjustments to the EMT urban bus network. Line E recovers stops 2125 and 2126 near the square, although it stops stopping at 2127 and 2128. Line 32 deviates through Cavanilles towards Conde de Casal. Lines 63, 143 and N9 recover stops near the square. The headers of lines 20, 30 and 140 are still located in the Pavones intermodal area. The Town Hall recommended in its publication the use of public transport to reduce pressure on an area that has already been accumulating traffic restrictions since works began in August 2023. The project behind the chaos. As we have said on several occasions, the objective is to extend Metro line 11 from Plaza Elíptica to Conde de Casal, a 6.9 kilometer route that will include two new stations, in Parque de Comillas and Madrid Río, and three interconnection nodes: Palos de la Frontera with line 3, Atocha with line 1, Cercanías and AVE, and Conde de Casal with line 6. Precisely this last connection will allow, according to Carabantedecongest line 6, which moves a million passengers a day and is the most saturated on the network. In parallel, the transport interchange is being built, which will integrate the buses that currently operate on the surface underground. When it comes into operation, scheduled for the first half of 2027, it will benefit more than 65,000 daily travelers, according to data of the consistory. And meanwhile. The special mobility device activated by the City Council includes the deployment of Municipal Police officers and mobility in the surroundings during the entire works phase. Working hours are limited to between 7:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m., a limit that the delegate recalled in response to neighborhood complaints about noise and dust. Carabant recognized that the council is “aware” of the inconvenience, but insisted that the works “are necessary to continue.” Cover image | Madrid City Council In Xataka | The Madrid Cercanías have become a nest of problems and delays: their solution is new “megatrains”

All the founders of OpenAI have become billionaires with ChatGPT. Everyone except Sam Altman, who has no shares

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Sam Altman is the most recognizable face of the AI ​​industry in the world. He directs OpenAI, the company that created ChatGPT and is today valued at 852,000 million of dollars. However, a leaked document during the ongoing trial between Altman and Elon Musk Due to the change in status from an NGO to a for-profit entity, it has revealed who the true investors of OpenAI are and how much their participation in the company amounts to. In the box next to his name, only three letters appear: TBD, which in English means “to be determined.” The man who leads the biggest technological revolution in recent years does not own a single share of his own company. Sam Altman works for the love of art. OpenAI was born in 2015 as non-profit organization with an ambitious mission: to develop AI safely and for the good of humanity. That Altman did not take stock then made some sense since his role was presented as the neutral guardian, the leader whose decisions were not tainted by money. A noble mission, without a doubt. But that It is not the scenario in 2026. In 2019, OpenAI’s charity structure began to become too small to compete in the AI ​​race. OpenAI created a for-profit subsidiary under the so-called “capped-profit” model, in which investors they could make profits limited. That opened the door for capital and also for executives and co-founders to secure huge stakes in OpenAI. Altman’s name, paradoxically, remained blank. Those who did get rich, and a lot. As and how I collected Forbes, Greg Brockman, co-founder and former president of OpenAI, admitted during the trial that he owns a stake worth about $30 billion for which he paid nothing. Ilya Sutskever, former scientific director, has a participation between 30,000 and 35,000 million dollars. Figures very far from the annual compensation of $76,001 that its CEO receives, according to the tax form from OpenAI. The other major beneficiary is the Sound Ventures fund, linked to actor Ashton Kutcherinvested 30 million dollars in an early phase and that bet is now worth 1.3 billion, a return of 43 times the investment. In total, current and former employees control about $165 billion in company shares. The distribution among the greats. The block of corporate investors formed by Microsoft, SoftBank, Amazon and NVIDIA, together control 46.58% of OpenAI, with a stake valued at $396.9 billion against a combined investment of $122.7 billion. Microsoft leads that group with 26.79% of the company, a position valued at $228.3 billion built from an initial investment of 13,000 million. SoftBank occupies second place with 11.66% of OpenAI, valued at 99.3 billion compared to an initial payment of 64.6 billion, which represents a profitability of 1.5 times. amazon It has 4.66% of the company, valued at 39.7 billion dollars with an investment of 15 billion and a profitability of 2.6 times. At the top of the table is the OpenAI Foundation, the original non-profit entity, with 25.80% of the company and a stake valued at $219.8 billion which, having been formed with contributions without financial compensation, technically has an infinite return. Here may lie the key to the mystery of Altman’s retribution. A calculated move. The most widespread theory is that Altman and the board of directors, which he has firmly controlled since surviving the 2023 impeachment attempt, They are simply biding their time. Once the dispute with Musk concludes, the OpenAI board is likely to retroactively determine that Altman deserves participation commensurate with his responsibility. It is likely that, as is the case with other CEOs, This remuneration is linked to milestones like taking the company public with a valuation of more than a billion dollars. Perhaps this retribution will arise from that reserved fund now controlled by the OpenAI Foundation. Meanwhile, Altman is not exactly in trouble and your personal assets exceeds 2 billion dollars thanks to investments in companies that, curiously, are very well positioned to benefit from the growth of OpenAI. Without being a shareholder in his own company, he has built a personal business ecosystem that prospers directly thanks to his success. In Xataka | “The problem is Sam Altman”: more and more voices within the AI ​​industry are beginning to question the CEO of OpenAI Image | Flikr (TechCrunch)

an all-stars of engineers from Porsche, BMW and Lamborghini

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It is not easy to build a car brand from scratch. In fact, if you appreciate advice on how to go broke, put all your money into trying to build one. Over the decades, the number of companies that have succeeded in the automotive industry from nothing, completely from scratch, are absolutely exceptional. The electric car has been a breakthrough which has facilitated the entry of new players, such as Tesla, and despite everything, many have failed along the way. Let’s think about Fisker, Dyson, Apple… All of them were projects that were developed with more or less effort but that they have not finished curdling. And to start a new company you need a lot of money. You have to design a car, have access to the factory and the corresponding machinery, distribute the cars and offer after-sales service. And, above all, gaining the trust of the general public, key when it comes to trusting a brand without references, without a story behind it and a brand that has to prove to be solvent enough to get ahead. That opportunity offered by the electric car, as we said, has been taken advantage of by China. For years they have built a supply chain and invested huge amounts of money in researching how to get the best out of this technology. And to do this they have not hesitated to absorb the knowledge of European manufacturers. He all-stars from Xiaomi is a good example. Learning from the classics In its learning to position itself as the market leader in electric cars, China has not hesitated to rely on European knowledge. In the early 2000s, European manufacturers thought that the Chinese state was laying out a red carpet for them to produce their cars on its soil. They did it with one condition: that manufacturers ally with a local company. In this way, the engineers assimilated the knowledge coming from outside and were able to apply it in entirely Chinese companies, already outside the European orbit. He result We have seen it years later. The Chinese customer now prefers the purchase of a locally developed car because it better adapts to their demands and they consider them more advanced than Western ones. The gap, even, has forced Volkswagen to look for engineers in China in order to better understand the market and produce specific vehicles for said market. In the opposite direction, Chinese firms have armed themselves with Western talent to bring their cars closer to the European and American aesthetic standards. We have seen historical designers like Wolfgang Egger, who designed the beautiful Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione, carry out the Yangwang U9, BYD’s supercar. Or Walter de Silva, who built his career in the arms of the Volkswagen Group, designing cars for the BAIC group. But design has not been the only rock on which Chinese manufacturers are building their new house. And Xiaomi is an example of this. Just as Volkswagen has hired Chinese engineers to be able to approach the Asian market, Xiaomi is aware that it has to adapt to European tastes so that their cars find sufficient support outside their borders. A decision that is summarized in a photograph. In it we find the design and research and development team that will lay the foundations of the product that we will see in Europe. Click on the image to go to the original tweet As seen in the image in the post, Xiaomi has built a kind of all-stars of German engineering. And there are such relevant figures in his team that they have directed the teams that have produced cars of the caliber of the Porsche 911 GT3 RS, the Mercedes S-Class or the BMW i8, among others. Where Xiaomi Much emphasis has been placed on design. Jean-Arthur Madelaine He was part of the team that created the Mercedes-Benz Vision GT Concept, a prototype created for the Gran Turismo 6, but his most relevant positions have been as head of interiors for Citroën first and Polestar later. He now heads the Xiaomi electric design team in the plant that the company opened in Germany last year. Julien Cueffwho is in charge of the interiors, worked for Mercedes but has been in the orbit of Chinese manufacturers such as Nio or Lotus for years. Fabian Schmölz-Obermeierdedicated to the exterior appearance of cars, has worked for Porsche and Lamborghini. In this last company he was the person most responsible for the exterior design of a car like the Temerario. But beyond the design, the company has looked for prominent heads in the market to guarantee the good performance of its cars. Simon Schmitt is an engineer specialized in aerodynamics who has been part of the BMW racing team. From the same company they have arrived Claus-Dieter Grollfor the development of the dynamics of their cars, and Kai Langerwho worked for 22 years at BMW and was design director of the Bavarian company’s electric range to lead the team focused on user experience. These names are just a handful of examples. The company seems aware that it needs to get closer to the European public in its expansion strategy outside of China. And in recent years we have seen very good competitors arrive from China but also how some of these cars had not adapted to the tastes and demands of the European public. In Xataka we have counted the case of firms like Omoda/Jaecoo, which have tweaked their cars in record time to make them harder and leave aside dynamics supported by suspensions that are too soft. A good part of the Chinese market needs to delve deeper, for example, into driving assistance systems, which are clearly not tuned for European roads and our way of driving, with narrower lanes. But Chinese manufacturers are demonstrating enormous adaptability. Stellantis assures that Leapmotor vehicles are tuned in Italy To suit our tastes, BYD aims to produce a purely European vehicle with its Hungarian factory. At Ebro they assure … Read more

This is how stars in birth shape the destiny of their neighbors

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An international team of scientists has studied the clusters in which stars are born with both the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb and has discovered very useful data to understand how galaxies form. Both telescopes are very good separately, but the combination of both has been the key to reaching this information. Two giants of space. The Hubble Space Telescope takes many years studying the clusters in which stars are born. It is very good at reaching far and capturing high resolution images. However, the gas clouds resist it. For this reason, James Webb has used its infrared radiation detection instruments to lift the gaseous veil that covers stars in their earliest stages of formation. Together They have discovered something interesting. That the most massive star clusters finish forming stars more quickly. It may seem banal, but it has very important implications. From cloud to star. Stars are born in star clusters that form when a cloud of gas collapses under the effect of high pressure and gravity. Therefore, we have the gas cloud, then the star cluster, and then the stars that are being born. Stellar feedback. In turn, stars can influence the birth of other stars through a process known as stellar feedback. Two things can happen. Violent processes, such as a supernova explosion in massive stars, cause gas clouds to collapse, promoting the formation of more stars. On the other hand, younger stars release a lot of ultraviolet radiation during their birth. This radiation, together with the stellar winds, causes the gas clouds to disperse, so that no more stars can continue to form. beyond the veil. Thanks to James Webb’s ability to go beyond the gas cloudsit has been possible to reach the interior of 9,000 star clusters, located in 4 different nearby galaxies. Thus, it has been possible to analyze the spectrum of light emitted by each of them. This information is used to know their mass and age. For this reason, it has been proven that the most massive clusters disperse the gas clouds in 5 million years, while those with less mass can take up to 8 million years to do the same. Okay, so what? We already have this information, but why is it so useful? The truth is that it is very interesting information, because it helps us understand how galaxies are formed. Depending on the location of the most massive star clusters, the formation of new stars will be shaped differently. As soon as the gas clouds disperse, stars can no longer continue to form, so at points where there are massive clusters there is less time for this to occur. We also learn about planets. On the other hand, as explained in a statement from the European Space Agencythis information also helps us understand how planets form. And we must not forget that around the stars are the protoplanetary disks in which the planets are born. The faster gas is removed within a star cluster, the sooner protoplanetary disks around the stars will be exposed to intense ultraviolet radiation from other stars. That means they will have less opportunity to attract gas and accumulate dust to create new planets. Everything is connected. Thanks to the team formed by James Webb and Hubble, we now know much better how it happens. Image | THAT In Xataka | We have been studying the planets of TRAPPIST-1 for years with great hope. James Webb just knocked it down

the search against time to locate the “loose ends” of the hantavirus cruise

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Although how much the experts insist In which the risk for the populations is very low, the fear of the hantavirus continues to travel through each of the countries through which the passengers of the MV Hondius have circulated. Actually, it’s normal. Fear is a very human emotion, which helps us be alert in situations as new as this one. There is considerable uncertainty in this situation, especially in relation to passengers who got off the ship before the hantavirus outbreak was confirmed. However, little by little this uncertainty is fading as information about their countries of origin arrives. Saint Helena, April 24, 2026. On April 24, 13 days after the death of the first infected passenger with hantavirus, the ship made a stop on the British island of Saint Helena. He took the opportunity to lower the body and prepare it for repatriation. His wife traveled with him, who became the second victim, after traveling to South Africa. In addition to the two deceased, it is known that on the island another 28 people got off. It was not yet known that the first victim had a contagious virusso no passenger control was carried out. Then what? Since it became known that there was a hantavirus outbreak on the ship, attempts have been made to locate those 28 people and their close contacts. It is known that among them there were passengers of at least 12 different nationalities. There were mainly British and Americans, but also people from other countries such as Singapore, Canada or Germany, among others. The countries of origin or residence of each of them have also been taking charge. Thus, some have already achieved the goal of finding them and putting them in quarantine. From the United States to Singapore. In the United States there are five people in quarantinespread across Texas, California, Arizona and Georgia. In Singapore too have been quarantined and to the two passengers who got off in Santa Elena. France had no citizens among that group of passengers, but has quarantined eight citizens who were in contact with one of those people on a flight from Saint Helena to Johannesburg. In short, many of these people are already under observation, although it is true that there are others to be identified and monitored. Many of the passengers who got off in Santa Elena have already been identified. It is not very contagious. The positive part of all this is that hantavirus is not as contagious as other pathogens with pandemic potential such as the COVID-19 coronavirus. In general, contagion between people, which only occurs with Andes variant (that of the boat), requires very close contacts. It is possible that he was a super-spreader on board the cruise ship. That is, a person from whose body a virus is transmitted exceptionally well. We saw some cases with COVID-19, for example. However, it is normal that the rest of those infected are not super-spreaders. Furthermore, it cannot be ruled out that there were several simultaneous infections when coming into contact with mice on an excursion. It would not be a patient who is super contagious, but there could have been an initial event that caused a good part of the cases. In both scenarios, the contagion capacity would decrease over time. dead end. Another positive point about hantavirus is that has what is known as a dead end. It cannot be contagious continuously. It is known that, at most, it usually reaches three links. That is, one person infects another, that second infected person passes the disease to a third and that’s it. The chain cuts itself. For this reason, even if some of the people who got off in Santa Elena could continue to be contagious, they would not infect many people beyond their closest contacts. And what about those who are still on the boat? Spain is prepared to repatriate all passengers, with or without symptoms, or treat whoever is necessary. In that case, the transfer will be carried out with the necessary safety conditions so that there are no more infections. Therefore, from now on, the important thing is that these people undergo the necessary quarantines. Each country will decide how long they will be, but always taking into account that the incubation time in the most extreme cases can exceed 40 days. Easy to detect. The genome of this virus is very well known. For this reason, the diagnosis is simple through PCR. This test will be carried out on passengers on several occasions during the quarantine, to check their evolution. They cannot be discharged without repeating it once again. That said, although it is logical that uncertainty worries us, it is important that we keep in mind the limited pandemic potential of this virus. There is a lot of work to be done to ensure that the situation does not get worse, but there are already many people working on it. Image | CDC/Magnific | Fdesroches In Xataka | We believed that hantavirus did not jump between humans. Until someone went to a birthday party in Argentina

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