There is someone who is clear that China has a very difficult time overtaking the US in the AI ​​race: the Chinese themselves.

China or the US, who will win? the AI ​​race? The US seemed unattainable, but after the launch of DeepSeek a year ago, China became almost at par. Since then, the possibility of China winning the race became very real. Great figures of American AI Several Chinese AI companies have already warned about this situation they are doing very well on the stock market. Despite everything, there are those in China who do not see it at all clearly. Low chances. They count in Bloomberg that Chinese companies have less than 20% probability of being able to advance the OpenAI or Anthropic models in the next 3 or 5 years. Justin Lin, technology manager of the Qwen modelsduring Justin Lin, technology manager of the Qwen models from Alibaba. To the limit. The event was also attended by Tang Jie, founder of Ziphu AI, one of China’s ‘AI tigers’ that last week it had a spectacular IPOincreasing the value of its shares by 36%. Its founder pointed out a somewhat uncomfortable fact for the Chinese AI ecosystem: while companies like OpenAI dedicate “a large part of their computational capacity to next-generation research, we are at the limit of our possibilities. Just meeting delivery demand consumes most of our resources.” In other words: the restrictions on the latest technology are working. The gap is widening. As we said, the launch of DeepSeek R1 a year ago unleashed a wave of optimism among Chinese companies. Since then, a few have launched new LLMs such as Alibaba with Qwen, Ziphu AI or Minimax. However, Tang notes that “some may feel excited, thinking that Chinese models have overtaken American ones, but the real answer is that the gap may be widening.” Restrictions. Speakers blamed the situation on a lack of resources caused by US blockades, especially AI chips and lithography machines. Their chips are not that powerful, so, as Tang says, all their computing power goes into serving their customers. This greatly limits them when it comes to continuing to scale their models. Shunyu Yao, former OpenAI and current chief scientist at Tencentis committed to focusing on solving bottlenecks such as long-term memory and promoting self-learning of future models. Independence. From the government is promoting technological self-sufficiencyprioritizing the use of national chips over American alternatives. The reality is that without access to the most advanced lithography machines, China is lagging far behind. One fact: Huawei and SMIC are ‘tuning’ old ASML machines and making authentic viguerías that have allowed them to obtain chips of 7 and up to 5nm. It’s a technical feat, but its chips are still several years behind the competition. The aces of China. It is clear that China is lagging behind in chips, but there are other areas in which it has an advantage that can be decisive, one of them being electricity. While The Chinese government subsidizes and bets heavily on renewablesin the US electricity has become a bottleneck for its increasingly numerous data centers. Another critical point is that The US has cut funding for academic researchwhile China has done so national priority. And that’s not to mention that they might lose the AI ​​race, but China is winning almost everything else: batteries, robotics, electric cars and especially renewables. Image | Gemini In Xataka | The US believed it had dealt a mortal blow to China when it deprived it of NVIDIA. He only accelerated one plan: ‘Delete America’

the “mobile farms” that operate in Spain to scam you

A single person, operating from Barcelona, ​​and with technological material valued at 400,000 euros, managed an entire infrastructure capable of sending up to 2.5 million fraudulent messages every day. This is just one example of how criminal groups act through these SIM card farms, which they rent to execute massive scams that affect millions of users around the world. What are these farms and how do they operate? These ‘farms’ are basically industrial computer systems designed to exploit thousands of SIM cards simultaneously. The core of the system is the SIMBOX, boxes that house hundreds of professional GSM modems. Each modem functions as an independent mobile phone, capable of sending between 12 and 18 messages per minute. In the last case dismantled by the Civil Guard, the operator had 35 SIMBOX equipped with 865 active modems, controlled by a dozen computers. The result: millions of fraudulent calls and SMS sent daily to previously selected victims. Criminal business. According to explains the Civil Guard, these infrastructures were not necessary until recently. As reported by El País, a government order put into effect last June blocked any calls with Spanish numbers made from computers with IP located abroad to stop spam and fraudulent calls. For this reason, international criminals have been forced to find alternatives. In the case of Spain, they use someone within the country, with technical knowledge and knowledge of the country’s social structures to provide them with active local numbers. This is how this new criminal business niche is born. How the scam works. Just like explained The Civil Guard in the report of the last case dismantled, the operator did not directly execute the scams. Its role was to create and maintain active infrastructure, which it then rented to cybercriminal networks anywhere in the world in exchange for payments in cryptocurrencies. He used a cafeteria in Barcelona as a cover, passing it off as a call center to justify the massive registration of telephone lines with the providers. The SIM cards (more than 60,000 ready-to-use and another 10,000 brand new at the time of the intervention) were purchased from different providers and activated with false identities. Constant rotation. The sending numbers changed very frequently automatically, remaining active only for brief periods after registration to make tracking difficult for telephone companies and security agents. When the operators detected mass shipments from certain numbers, they had already been replaced by others. For specific cases, the operator also had a briefcase with a portable SIMBOX that allowed him to work from any location (even from a moving vehicle) using a Wi-Fi connection or mobile network. Automation. From the Civil Guard they assure that, although the infrastructure could contact thousands of people simultaneously, these were not completely random shipments. The criminal groups that rented the service previously studied the profiles of potential victims and directed the messages and calls toward specific groups. In the case investigated, they mainly targeted Russian and Ukrainian citizens residing in Spain, contacting them in their own languages ​​and posing as the National Police or employees of the Bank of Spain to pressure them and obtain bank details or high-value transfers. According to mention El País, 170,000 euros were stolen from one of the victims. How the network was dismantled. The Civil Guard identified the operator after several complaints filed in Aspe and Novelda (Alicante). The agents traced the telephone lines used in the scams to the Barcelona cafeteria, which they placed under surveillance. A man frequently left the establishment carrying large boxes that he transported to his home. Three searches, in the home, the cafeteria and a storage room, allowed the entire infrastructure to be intervened. The detainee, a 41-year-old Ukrainian computer scientist, was initially released with precautionary measures, but was arrested again when he tried to leave the country through the El Prat airport, according to account the middle Vigo Lighthouse. Third infrastructure of this type in the world. According to Indian the acting head of the Civil Guard Command in Alicante, Francisco Poyato, this is the third farm of its kind dismantled worldwide, the second in Europe and the first in Spain. The investigation remains open. Given the value of the material seized and that it was an infrastructure that provided services to multiple criminal groups, the Civil Guard estimates that the money swindled could amount to several million euros. Cover image | Civil Guard In Xataka | This is the new scam with fake phone numbers that already has victims: Google’s AI results are the ‘culprit’

a JF-17 that threatens the US F-35

After 20 years of research, development and volatilizing banknotes, the United States declared in 2019 that the F-35 fighter was “ready for combat and ready to win“It is the most expensive fighter in history ($100 million per unit, $400,000 just for the pilot’s helmet), but also a very advanced machine. One that is costing the US the combat drone raceone that not liked in Europe and that, as we say, it’s terribly expensive. And, in troubled waters, China has seen an opportunity. That of converting the JF-17 fighters into their “new” electric cars. In short. Following Israel’s attacks on Doha last year, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a mutual defense agreement. Within the agreement, there are billions on the table both to arm itself and to meet certain commitments. And, within that strategy, from Reuters They point to a historic agreement between both countries. The JF-17 is a Chinese-Pakistani development. The program was launched in 1999 and each country contributed 50% to its achievement. It has been demonstrating its versatility in combat for some time and in recent years, different countries have acquired a fleet of fighters. Myanmar was one of the first foreign buyers, followed by Nigeria and Azerbaijan. In recent weeks, it has been Bangladesh that has shown interested in renewing its aging fleet, but its customer base continues to grow. They don’t even play the same sport. In the Reuters report, and as they also point out in South China Morning PostSaudi Arabia would be the next country to acquire the latest version of the JF-17. The sources mention an agreement that would be between 2,000 and 4,000 million dollars, and is point that there would be other nations interested, such as Iraq, Libya or Sri Lanka. The key is the price: a quarter of what the American F-35 costs. In addition, the burden is also shared between China, which manufactures a number of components, and Pakistan, which takes care of the others. That price is the lever for the countries of the Middle East and Africa to modernize their fighter fleet, but it must be taken into account that the JF-17 do not compete in the same league as the F-35. In fact, they don’t even play the same sport. While the Chinese-Pakistani fighter is fourth generation, the American one is fifth, with better features and a minor signature in the airallowing it to be more efficient in stealth operations. It responds to a philosophy of winning combats before the enemy finds out that it has started. The gift of opportunity. However, despite the technological inferiority, the Chinese fighter has the advantage of weapons (more weight to carry more weapons, compromising its signature on radars) and, above all, the price and the costs. The United States is fighting with time when it comes to delivering its F-35s and, furthermore, maintaining them is expensive. The JF-17 is easier to manufacture and maintain, which is a huge advantage for countries. The estimate is that, for the price of two F-35s, you buy a dozen JF-17s. and this is a huge opportunity for African and Eastern countries that want to renew their fleet with current equipment. It is that gift of opportunity from China that we are seeing in other segments, such as the electric car. Frying pan by the handle. This battle to be the supplier of weapons is not only played in the finished and delivered products. It starts much earlier, and China has a say in those F-35 trade delays. The complexity of the fighter implies that its manufacturing is complex, but movements resulting from another war must be added: the commercial. The key components of a fighter depend on materials derived from rare earthand China is the one who has the upper hand in that field. They dominate exploitation and production of metals and elements from rare earths, and in the same way that The US tightened the screws prohibiting China from purchasing Nvidia GPUs and ASML machines to make advanced chips, China activated the lever to regulate the export of magnets and rare earth metals to companies linked to the United States military complex. A J-20 with PL-15 missiles inside the weapons bay Tensions. It is these factors that are turning a less advanced aircraft than the F-35 into an attractive option, but above all practical for the tense times in which we find ourselves. Pakistan and India are in a spiral of geopolitical tensions. India has Russian MIG and French Rafale aircraft, and now the JF-17 has PL-15 missiles Chinese manufacturing. They are China’s most advanced fighter missiles, with an effective range of about 150 km and systems capable of pursuing targets with ease. And, although they were developed for the fighter Fifth generation J-20 (one of the china air banners), can be mounted on the JUF-17. In fact, the current JF-17 is the Block III, considered 4.5 generation. It is the philosophy of the very veteran F-16. If the conflict escalates, there is someone point that a war between India and Pakistan would be a test of Chinese weapons against Western ones. And Europe… what? This is what you may be wondering: what is Europe doing while the others rearm. The old continent has embarked on the path of sovereignty in several fields, being the spaceman and the weapons two important pots of money for the coming years. As for fighters, there are two poles. On the one hand, the FCAS, with French, German and Spanish support. They are three heavyweights in this industry and they have the aim to reach 2040 with a system capable of replacing current fighters. On the other hand, Italy and the United Kingdom (two other powers with companies like Leonardo), as well as Japan, support the GCAP program: a support aircraft that coordinates formations of drones and other fighters. Although before all that, the countries will have to agree, and It’s not something that seems feasible.. Images | Anna Zvereva, emperornie In Xataka | The … Read more

He is the most important programmer in all of history. And he has also ended up using AI to program

Linus Torvalds, Linux kernel creatorhe found himself with some free time this Christmas, so he wanted to dedicate it to a personal project that he had on the shelf: an application capable of generating digital audio effects that he called AudioNoise. The curious thing is not that he started programming on his own, but rather what he ended up doing with part of that application. Linus tries Vibe coding. This project has a description on GitHub that holds a surprise. In the last paragraph of it he indicates that “Also keep in mind that the Python visualization tool was basically written using vibe-coding. I know more about analog filters (which isn’t saying much) than I do Python. I started with my typical “Google it and copy what I see” way of programming, but then I cut out the middleman (myself) and used Google Antigravity to create the audio sample viewer.” The best programmer programs like any other. The statement is surprisingly sincere and honest from the one who He is probably the most important programmer in all of history.. Admitting that your typical way of programming is “search on Google and copy what I see” is already curious, but part of programming precisely consists of looking for solutions from others and copying or adapting them into your own projects. AI can help. The other (big surprise) comes of course when he indicates that the visualization tool for his project was not programmed by him, but rather by the Google tool, Antigravity. This integrated development environment (IDE) allows you to work directly with Gemini 3 in different versions and even with Claude Sonnet and Opus 4.5, and despite having been released a few months ago, it is becoming one of the favorite tools of veteran developers but also of those who are beginning to make their ideas a reality without having too much knowledge. Let them tell it to me. This viewer has been programmed by Linus Torvalds. Or rather, Antigravity controlled by Linus Torvalds. testing. At Xataka we were curious to test what that viewer did, so we cloned the GitHub repositorywe asked Claude Code to explain how the project works and after a couple of quick changes we were able to test it with a small audio file. What the project does is implement digital audio effects (there are ‘phaser’, ‘echo’, ‘flanger’, ‘fm’ and ‘discont’) and then, if one wants, apply visualization. That visualization compares the original audio with the processed audio to see how the effect modifies the waveform. Subsurface Capture Linus’ other projects. Although Linus Torvalds is the person most responsible for the Linux kernel evolutionit is already common to see him develop some parallel and totally independent projects. Last Christmas he already created his own guitar pedal softwareand in 2011 began the development of Subsurfacean application to record and plan scuba dives, an activity to which he is very fond. The current GitHub repository is maintained by various developers among which stands out Dirk Hohndel, who was one of the first developers of the Linux kernel along with Linus Torvalds. AI is a tool. In a recent participation on the Linus Tech Tips YouTube channelLinus Torvalds talked about how he saw the world of AI. In your opinion: “AI will be a tool, and it will make people more productive. I think vibe coding is great for getting people to start programming. I think (the code it generates) is going to be horrible to maintain… so I don’t think programmers will go away. You’ll still want to have people who know how to maintain the output.” And it works for personal projects. That speech precisely aligns with this small “experiment” that he has used in that personal project: at the moment for projects of this type using tools like Antigravity can be a great idea, although it certainly does not seem so for larger projects in production. Thus, it does not seem likely that AI could be used to modify Linux code… at the moment. That, of course, may change in the future, but as Torvalds says, these types of developments will require notable (and probably human) oversight to validate that everything has been done correctly. Image | TED Conference In Xataka | Bill Gates and Linus Torvalds had been rivals for 30 years. The funny thing is that they just met and took a selfie

the new Siri will be based on Gemini AI models

In the midst of the rise of artificial intelligence, with increasingly sophisticated voice assistants like those of ChatGPT either PerplexitySiri begins to show the passage of time too clearly. He doesn’t always understand what we ask of him and often stumbles as soon as we stray from a few predefined patterns. Among promises that have fallen by the wayside, Internal tensions and leadership changesApple seemed to be losing its footing in one of the most decisive technological races of the decade. And, although it is still too early to know if it will be able to reverse this dynamic, the company has just made a move with a major decision: to ally with one of its great rivals. Agreement with Google. The Cupertino company has signed a collaboration multi-year agreement with the search giant by which the next generation of the so-called Apple Foundation Models will be based on the models Gemini and in the search giant’s cloud technology. The next functions of Apple Intelligenceincluding a more personalized Siri whose arrival is “this year.” With privacy at the center. The statement adds that, despite this change, the system will continue to run on the devices and on its platform. Private Cloud Computingfollowing their privacy standards. Apple insists that the operational heart of Apple Intelligence does not leave home. The starting point of everything is at WWDC 2024. There Apple presented Apple Intelligence as its great response to the rise of generative AI and placed Siri at the center of that strategy, promising a much deeper understanding of personal context, the ability to “see” what appears on the screen and to chain actions between applications. In practice, this meant that the assistant had to be able to interpret emails, messages, appointments or files and act on them without the user having to jump from one app to another. It was a leap in ambition much greater than that of traditional Siri. From promises to reality. At the end of 2024, Apple publicly maintained the pace. In a December press release, it reiterated that Siri’s most advanced capabilities would arrive “in the coming months,” while launching other Apple Intelligence pieces such as Image Playground or Genmoji. In that same context, Apple once again spoke of awareness of personal context, vision of what is on the screen and “hundreds of new actions” within and between its own and third-party apps. Three months later, in March 2025, the tone changed. In an official statement to Daring Fireball, the company admitted that some of those features would require more time than expected and went on to talk about a “more personalized” Siri that would be released “over the next year.” June 2025 arrived and, at WWDC that year, Siri did not show a jump equivalent to the one that had been hinted at twelve months earlier. This lack of news ended up pushing Apple to give explanations in public. Craig Federighi, chief software officer, and Greg Joswiak, head of marketing, addressed the issue in interviews after the event. Federighi went on to explain that Apple had had a “version 1” of the new Siri prepared to arrive between December 2024 and spring 2025, but that they decided to stop it after evaluating that it would not meet customer expectations or the company’s internal standards in that period. In the end, everything comes back to the same point. The company now places a more personalized version on its immediate roadmap, after months of back-and-forth with the calendar. The announced alliance changes the technical basis to get there, but it does not eliminate the acid test. It will be actual use, when users start asking complex things from their iPhone or Mac, that will determine whether Apple has managed to catch up in a race that never lets up. Images | Apple | Google In Xataka | Google has found a way to monetize its AI: adding advertising while you shop without leaving it

500-meter ice dome melted 7,000 years ago and is now melting again

When we think of Greenlandthe image that automatically comes to mind is that of a terrain with a large amount of snow and very cold. But science has bad news for this country belonging to Denmark: the Greenland ice sheet It is much more fragile than we could think.. And that is a problem. From the terrestrial bottom. This statement is not something that has been extracted on paper, but rather has been ‘seen’ in the depths of the earth. This way, after drilling more than 500 meters of ice at Prudhoe Domeresearchers have found evidence that this gigantic mass completely disappeared just 7,000 years ago and then resurface. And the worst thing is not that it happened thousands of years ago, but that now the temperatures that caused that collapse are the same ones we hope to reach by the year 2100. The GreenDrill project. The researchers recently published in Nature on this project, which has been made possible thanks to a technical feat. To achieve this, the team drilled about 509 meters to reach the sediments that rest beneath the base of Prudhoe Dome, a 2,500 km² ice dome in northwest Greenland. To find out exactly what happened there, scientists used a technique called cell dating. infrared stimulated luminescence. In this way, what is allowed is to see when was the last time that part of this deep ice was exposed to the radiation of sunlight. The results. They were pretty clear: the sediments beneath Prudhoe Dome saw the sun between 6,000 and 8,200 years ago. This can be translated into a very simple sentence: at that time, there was no 500 meters of ice above, so the dome simply did not exist. And that is now a problem. Because? At that time Greenland ended up melting due to the ‘Holocene Thermal Maximum’. During this period, temperatures in the Arctic were between 3 and 5 °C higher than the pre-industrial era. And this is exactly where the data becomes really worrying. Worrying because precisely those temperatures that thousands of years ago erased entire ice domes from the map are the exact range of heating that climate models predict for the end of this century if emissions are not drastically reduced. This is why the ice we see today is not an eternal relic of the Ice Age; It is a structure that has collapsed before under conditions we are about to replicate. The domino effect. Prudhoe Dome is just one piece of the puzzle, but its past disappearance suggests that much of the northwestern sector of the Greenland Ice Sheet was much reduced during the early Holocene. The conclusion to this is quite clear: if history repeats itself and the Greenland ice sheet completely melts, global sea level it would rise about 7.3 meters. But logically it is not something that will happen tomorrow, but rather the process of fusion of the entire island will still take several centuries. Although if the estimates are met, it may go faster than you think. Change the rules of the game. Until now, the central, thickest areas of Greenland were thought to be almost indestructible. This study demonstrates that even massive domes 500 meters thick can fade in geologically short periods. And this is something that has already happened as science points out. Images | Visit Greenland In Xataka | China has turned the Arctic into its own “Panama Canal.” And that explains the US obsession with Greenland

the changes already approved by the EU for our driving license

Europe approved it and now we have three years to collect the ideas, adapt them to our country and implement them. It was decided in November and should mark the DGT’s agenda until 2028 because the idea of ​​the European Union is that the driving licenses of all the countries that make up it have the same rights and obligations. When and what? November 5, 2025. That was the date on which the European Commission approved Directive (EU) 2025/2205 of the European Parliament and of the Council of October 22, 2025 on driving licenses, which amends Regulation (EU) 2018/1724 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Directive (EU) 2022/2561 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repeals them. Directive 2006/126/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Regulation (EU) No 383/2012. If you have missed this tremendous title, what you should know is that all the changes to be applied are summarized in the first point of the directive, which specifies that common standards are established for the entire European Union for the following points: a) the models, standards and categories of driving licenses b) the issuance, validity, renewal and reciprocal recognition of driving licenses c) certain aspects of the exchange, replacement, cancellation, withdrawal, suspension and restriction of driving licenses d) certain aspects applicable to novice drivers, in particular in relation to the accompanied driving system and the trial period. How does it affect us? It is something that remains to be defined because we already know how the issue of European directives and applications in member countries works. And the fact is that, although a country has the obligation to implement the changes, the truth is that It’s not always done on time.at the risk of a reprimand from Europe or, in the worst case, economic sanctions. That said, the most important points in which we should see changes in the driving license are the following: Same validity in all member countries and communication in the withdrawal of points from the driving license between countries Extension of the validity of permits to 15 years (instead of the current 10 years) on licenses A and B Extension of the trial period (new driver) to two years Access to the B driving license from the age of 17 Access to permit C (trucks) at 18 years old and permit D (buses) at 21 years old all the same. If the European Union is interested in anything, it is in standardizing the validity of driving licenses throughout Europe. Right now, countries do not have clear communication with each other and a driver with a driving license without points can drive without restrictions in another country. Likewise, work is being done to ensure that the withdrawal of points for an infraction in a foreign country impacts the driver’s daily life and has consequences in their country. That is, if we are deducted points for an infraction in Germany, that punishment will be reflected on our license when we drive through Spain. In this homogenization, there has also been debate about the validity of the driving license, the time it can remain active and whether at some point it should be withdrawn. The latter is specified in the directive that it’s discriminatory Therefore, it is left in the hands of the member countries to maintain the relevant physical and psychological tests. In addition, the validity periods should be extended to 15 years as a general rule when, right now, it is 10 years. Two seasons as a beginner and access at 17 years old. Although there are no plans on the table for changes to Spanish regulations, the truth is that the new directive has some changes as far as younger drivers are concerned. Firstly, access to a driving license is reduced to 17 years of age for the B license (which allows driving cars) as long as the driving is accompanied by a co-driver with the following characteristics: Be over 24 years old Have more than five years of experience as a driver Have a valid driving license Comply with alcohol and drug limits In addition, drivers who receive a driving license when these years are implemented will be considered new drivers for two years. That, in Spain, has a direct impact on the limits in current alcohol controls. We need drivers. Furthermore, the European Union is experiencing a drought of truck and bus drivers. Right now it is estimated that the European Union has a deficit of more than 100,000 bus drivers and In Spain alone, 37,000 drivers will be needed this year as those who are now active retire. Let’s not talk about the truckers, with a hole of more than three million. To alleviate this crisis, the European Union wants to lower the limits for driving a truck (C license) to 18 years, something that is already active in Spain. For the D license (buses for the transport of more than eight passengers) you must be 21 years of age. Right now in our country it is necessary to be 24 years old or have, at least, the certificate of professional aptitude (CAP) in the accelerated initial qualification modality to obtain it sooner. The DGT collects all the possibilities here active at this time. Photo | Jack Delulio and Alexander Popov In Xataka | The DGT does not have an “ITV for V-16 beacons”, but the fact that many people believe that it does reveals how confusing everything is being.

There is brutal competition to guard the fortunes of the planet’s millionaires. The same guy as always is winning: Switzerland

The ultra-rich around the world move their millions of dollars in search of the place safer for your fortunes. In recent years, countries in the Middle East and Southeast Asia they have stepped on the accelerator as a destination for the greatest fortunes in the world. However, amid the latest geopolitical tensions, a report from the consulting firm Boston Consulting Group reveals a disturbing fact: Asian millionaires are turning their gaze to the old and reliable Switzerland to protect your wealth. According what was published for him Financial Timesmany Asian millionaires are diversifying the refuge for their assets and, instead of keeping them in their place of residence in Hong Kong, Dubai and Singapore, they prefer to deposit part of their fortune in Swiss banks. Switzerland remains the world’s safe deposit box. According to the report Global Wealth Report 2025 Prepared by Boston Consulting Group, Switzerland managed $2.74 trillion in assets in 2024, which maintains it as the main offshore wealth center in the world. Very close to Switzerland’s management figures are important economic enclaves in Asia such as Hong Kong (which managed 2.65 trillion dollars) and Singapore (with 1.92 trillion dollars in the same year). The study estimates that, by 2029, these three destinations will concentrate almost two thirds of the new cross-border wealth. Boom of the rich in Asia. The study recognizes the enormous growth of Asian and Middle Eastern wealth centers, which have recorded a growth 50% since 2014. However, many of these funds end up in Switzerland, registering a increase in wealth cross-border savings held in the coffers of Swiss banks of 8.7% in 2024, up from 6.3% annually recorded in 2023. That is, although Asia has become a fertile ground for generating wealth, millionaires continue to see Switzerland as a safer place to store it. Geopolitical concerns. One of the main reasons for this behavior of the great fortunes settled in Asia are the political and geopolitical decisions that increase economic uncertainty. An example cited in the report points out that events such as the implementation of the national security law in Hong Kong in 2019 or the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, raised questions about the security of assets in Asia. “Private banking focuses on diversifying geopolitical risk: clients are always looking for safe havens,” declared to Financial Times Giorgio Pradelli, CEO of the Swiss private bank EFG. “Clients increasingly began to feel that, geopolitically, the situation was less predictable and therefore it was important to have assets in different jurisdictions,” says Christian Cappelli, head of Julius Baer’s Asia office in Zurich. Financial Times. That is, they were betting on sending part of their fortune to Switzerland to protect themselves against economic blockades, political changes or war conflicts. London is no longer a refuge. On the other hand, the tax changes that the United Kingdom has implemented have caused London to lose much of your interest for millionaires Asians, putting Zurich back on the map. According to Christian Frie, head of the Asia-Pacific business in Switzerland for LGT Private Banking, the majority of Asian clients managed by his banking entity allocate between 10% and 15% of their assets outside their countries, mainly to Switzerlandaccording to the report The Global Entrepreneurial Wealth Report 2025 prepared by UBS. In Xataka | The rich neighborhoods of Madrid and Barcelona have changed their accent: millionaires from the US and Mexico invest their fortunes in Spain Image | Pexels (Peter Steiner), Unsplash (Chi Lok TSANG)

Europe had few options in the face of the US threat in Greenland. Until Germany has remembered Russia with an unprecedented plan

Growing pressure from the United States to take over Greenland has transformed a hitherto latent issue into a problem political and strategic of the first order for Europe and NATO, by explicitly placing for the first time the risk of an internal clash between allies. It was known that there were a couple of options on the table as a defense. Germany has just presented another unprecedented one. An unprecedented crisis. The insistence of the US administration on presenting control of the island as a necessity of national security, accompanied by rhetoric increasingly harderhas forced European partners to react not only in defense of Denmark’s sovereignty and Greenland’s right to self-determination, but also to protect credibility of an alliance designed precisely to prevent force from prevailing among its members. The problem is not only territorial, but systemicbecause it raises the extent to which NATO can manage a crisis caused from within without eroding its own foundations. Germany and the allied response. Faced with the difficulty of directly confronting Washington, Berlin has emerged as the actor in charge of articulating a solution that combines political firmness and strategic containment. Germany has chosen to channel the response through NATO. As? proposing a joint mission in the Arctic that makes it possible to strengthen regional security without turning the conflict into a bilateral battle between the United States and Denmark. The initiative seeks to save time, reduce tensions and offer an institutional alternative that frames American concerns within a collective logic, while sending a clear signal that Greenlandic sovereignty is non-negotiable. This German role reflects a commitment to multilateral management of the conflict and to prevent the crisis from leading to an open fracture within the alliance. From the Baltic to the Arctic. The German proposal takes as a direct reference the operation Baltic Sentrylaunched to protect critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea from sabotage and covert activities linked to Russia and its ghost fleet. The idea is to replicate this scheme in the Arctic through a hypothetical “Arctic Sentry” missionwhich would include Greenland and allow increased surveillance, naval presence and allied coordination in an increasingly disputed region. This approach has a double function: on the one hand, respond to the security concerns raised by Washington about the Russian and Chinese presence in the Arctic, and on the other, prevent those concerns from being used as a pretext for unilateral action. Turning the Arctic into a space of collective management seeks to deactivate the security vacuum narrative that fuels American aspirations. The shadow of Article 4. Although it has not yet been formally activated, the idea of invoke Article 4 of the NATO treaty, which provides for consultations when an ally perceives a threat to its territorial integrity or security, has gained weight in diplomatic debates. The mere possibility of Denmark resorting to this mechanism reflects the seriousness of the situation and the growing nervousness in European capitals. Invoking Article 4 would not imply an automatic military response, but it would force the alliance to address it head on. an internal crisis that many would prefer to manage in silence. The underlying fear is that, if not managed institutionally, the conflict sets a dangerous precedent that normalize pressure between allies and voids the founding principles of NATO. Diplomacy, deterrence and limits. Beyond the military dimension, the European Union has explored diplomatic and economic options to contain the United States, from the reinforcement of political dialogue to the theoretical threat of instruments commercial pressure. However, Europe’s dependence on the American technology, defense and security umbrella drastically reduces the credibility of these tools. Economic sanctions, although powerful on paper, are perceived as unrealistic in a context marked by the war in Ukraine and the need to keep Washington engaged with European security. This imbalance reinforces the idea that the most viable path is to offer shared security solutions, such as the proposed Arctic mission, rather than a direct confrontation that Europe could hardly sustain. Greenland as autonomy. The economic dimension It adds another layer of complexity to the conflict, as Greenland relies heavily on Danish transfers and warily watches American promises of massive investment. From Brussels we study increase financial support European to prevent the island from being trapped in a relationship of dependency with Washington, especially with the prospect of future independence. This effort not only seeks to counteract American economic influence, but also preserve the social and political model that the Greenlanders might want to keep. In this context, the crisis reveals that the battle for Greenland is not only fought in the military field, but also in that of investment, legitimacy and the projection of soft power. A stress test. Altogether, the American pressure over Greenland has exposed the internal tensions of a NATO designed to deter external threats, not manage territorial ambitions of one of its members. The german initiative of transferring the problem to the field of collective security, inspired by the Baltic model, is an attempt to preserve allied cohesion and avoid an existential crisis. However, the simple fact that mechanisms are being considered like Article 4 It demonstrates the extent to which the alliance faces an unprecedented scenario, one in which unity no longer depends only on stopping external adversaries, but on containing power impulses within its own ranks. Image | Program Executive Office Soldier, pathanMinistry of Defense of the Russian Federation In Xataka | After the Nazi occupation, Denmark signed a pact in 1951. Since then, the US can ask for whatever it wants in Greenland In Xataka | Greenland has become an obsession for the United States for a simple reason: they believe in global warming

inserting advertising while you buy without leaving it

Tech giants are finding a thousand and one ways to monetize their AI tools beyond their payment plans for a reason: in a few years almost everyone will be using AI and not everyone will go through the hoop of paying for a subscription. Hence, Google has made a move in the field of purchasing items through AI. The company has announced recently the incorporation of personalized ads in its purchasing mode through its AI, one more bet to monetize its chatbot and compete directly with OpenAI and the rest of the competitors in the recent open front of AI-assisted commerce. What has changed. The company will allow advertisers to present exclusive offers to users who are about to purchase a product through Google’s AI mode, powered by its model Gemini. Vidhya Srinivasan, vice president of Google Ads and Commerce, counted through an official publication that it is “a new concept that goes beyond our traditional search ad model.” Stores may also offer discounts or free shipping at checkout. The idea is that AI assists the user in the entire purchasing process, without going through the websites. Why it is important. It’s a significant shift from the traditional model of sponsored ads in search results, which generates tens of billions of dollars for Google but has been threatened by the rise of AI chatbots. The company is leveraging its dominance in online search to position its AI model in front of billions of users. Gemini still lags behind ChatGPT in popularity, despite all its advances, so the company is looking for new goals and objectives to make Gemini a more attractive model for users. How it works. The new advertising function will use contextual information from user conversations with the chatbot to activate offers on relevant products. Our conversation with Gemini will be a succulent package of information for the AI ​​to recommend products to us while we use its shopping mode. Retailers will be able to configure the promotions they want to show, and Google will use its AI to determine the optimal time to present each offer. The company notes that it will initially focus on discounts, but plans to expand to other attributes such as bundled packages and free shipping. Its current partners include brands such as Petco, elf Cosmetics and Samsonite. The commercial career of AI. Google is not alone in this battle. Last month, OpenAI stopped press on any advertising-related topics internally after its CEO, Sam Altman, will declare a “code red” about the need to improve ChatGPT, as they mention from Financial Times. However, OpenAI already has an instant purchase feature which allows you to purchase products directly on ChatGPT, charging a commission for sales. Microsoft also presented its Copilot Checkoutstating that purchases through their chatbot generate 53% more sales in the first 30 minutes of interaction. Universal protocol and purchasing agents. In addition to personalized advertising, Google presented what it calls “Universal Commerce Protocol”, developed together with large retailers such as Walmart, Target and Shopify. This open source system aims to become a standard so that AI agents can research products and make purchases without leaving the Google platform. Chains like Kroger, Lowe’s, and Papa Johns are already testing these tools to prepare for everything to come when it comes to AI-assisted commerce. Everyone wants to participate, but not at Google’s expense. There is still the elephant in the room when we talk about buying directly from a chatbot: it is not yet a reliable tool and that can damage the store’s image. That’s why many companies are developing their own AI agents, giving them more control over how their products are displayed and delivered. The analysis firm McKinsey esteem that the AI-powered commerce market could represent a $3-$5 trillion opportunity globally by 2030. Cover image | Google and own assembly In Xataka | OpenAI fully enters health for a simple reason: ChatGPT is already our front-line doctor (although we don’t want to admit it)

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