Mobile Tech & Gadgets

PLD Space already has a complete Miura 5 rocket ready. to destroy it

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The renders are over. PLD Space has once again demonstrated that it is advancing at a devilish pace by publishing the first photos of the entire Miura 5 rocket. These images are history of the Spanish space industry. With you, the Miura 5. The first complete unit of the Miura 5 is not made to fly, but to suffer. Named QM1 (Qualification Model 1), has been almost completely assembled for integration testing of all subsystems before the final flight model takes off into Earth orbit next year. This is the first orbital launcher from a Spanish company, the same one that successfully launched the Miura 1 suborbital rocket from Huelva in October 2023. It was that milestone that has allowed PLD Space to complete the development of a rocket in record time. No other European company has done it so quickly. Why it is important. At a time when preserving sovereign access to space It has become a geopolitical issueEurope needs to have a strong aerospace industry and cheaper and more versatile rockets than the Ariane 6 and Vega C developed by ESA. The Miura 5 leads the European New Space thanks to its TEPREL-C biokerosene and liquid oxygen engines, more powerful than its competitors and developed internally by PLD Space in its Elche factory. The rocket measures 35.7 meters high, has two stages (the first with five engines, and the second with an engine adapted to the vacuum of space). The next steps. The first stage of the QM1 will perform a full propellant loading test known as “wet dress rehearsal.” They will fill the tanks, pressurize the vehicle as they would before a flight, and replicate all the structural and thermal loads prior to launch, without actually turning on the engines for takeoff. The second stage will be sent to the United States to test the Flight Termination System (FTS). Basically, it will be destroyed to validate that the explosive charges are capable of safely disintegrating the rocket in the event of an in-flight anomaly. PLD Space expects to have the second qualification unit ready in December. The first Miura 5 designed to fly will arrive shortly after. He is scheduled to travel to French Guiana in the first quarter of 2026. Images | PLD Space In Xataka | PLD Space has a detailed plan to become Europe’s rocket factory. And the pieces have started to fit

is where exactly you will do it

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If until a few days ago we looked at the sky with uncertainty, the last few days have dispelled the doubts. According to official notices from the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET), Spain faces a particularly relevant winter episode this weekend. The question, as meteorologists indicate, is no longer whether we are going to see snow, but the precision of “where” and the intensity of “how much.” Where is it going to snow? This weekend’s alert has focused above all on the northern third of the peninsulawhere the orange and yellow alert are the protagonists due to the heavy snowfalls that are expected. Something that is especially worrying due to the implications it may have on road mobility, since as we have seen in the past, Spain is still not fully prepared for heavy snowfalls. The polar air will cause a collapse in the snow levelwhich could drop to 300-400 meters in areas of the eastern Cantabrian Sea and the upper Ebro with an orange alert. This means that the snow will not just stay on the summits, but could affect cities and main communication routes. The most affected areas. There are some areas that are undoubtedly more affected than others. The Picos de Europa and the Cantabrian Mountains stand out above all, with special attention to the provinces of León, Palencia and Burgos. Significant rainfall is also expected in the Pyrenees and Central and Iberian Systems that will affect Navarra, Aragón and La Rioja. In general, the communities that maintain an alert are Asturias, Cantabria, the Basque Country, Castilla y León, and Catalonia, along with inland areas of the eastern peninsula. Chronology of the cold. This episode stands out for its thermal harshness. Falls of up to -5 ºC and widespread frosts are expected in the interior, which will be moderate in mountain areas. The peak of this cold wave is expected especially between Thursday night and Friday morning. Starting on Saturday this will happen a little since although the atmosphere will continue to be wintery, it is expected that the extreme cold and snowfall will begin to subside, being restricted to mountain areas as the air stabilizes. A look into the future. The big question in this case is quite clear: will it be like this all winter? And this blast of polar cold in November could make us think that a Siberian winter awaits us, but the long-term forecasts of the AEMET and international models such as ECMWF suggest a more complex scenario. The general trend is that despite this abrupt start, winter will be warmer than usual, especially in the east of the peninsula and in the Balearic Islands with a probability of 70%. If we look back, we come from a winter that It was the seventh warmest on record.and the underlying trend towards softening temperatures continues. In addition, the average temperature in mainland Spain was also 0.7ºC above the average for this month, making it the eighth warmest December of the 21st century. However, we should not store thick coats at the back of the closet. And although the beginning of winter aims to be mild and dry due to the anticyclonic influence, some experts warn of a possible colder second phase. Factors such as the La Niña phenomenon or possible alterations of the stratospheric polar vortex could generate instability towards the end of the season. This would facilitate new evacuations of cold air towards mid-latitudes, causing late snowy episodes similar to the one we are experiencing this weekend. It is not an exact science. Logically, these are predictive models that are made in the long term and looking at the trends of recent years. Obviously we are going to be cold, but not the cold that could have been thirty years ago if the trend as such is followed. Although this abrupt beginning has undoubtedly given us a very different perception than what may end up happening. Images | Chanan Greenblatt In Xataka | A very deep polar trough is descending towards North Africa and Spain is right in the middle

Three judges gave three different opinions.

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In March 2022, a carpentry worker in Girona suffered a heart attack, and was admitted in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Despite his serious medical situation, the company decided to fire him just two days later, while he was still in the ICU. The dismissal had been carried out alleging disciplinary reasons. The most curious thing about the story is that, being the same case, it went through three legal classifications until it was resolved: disciplinary dismissalinadmissible and, finally, void. A complete circle. A fatal heart attack and an admission to the ICU. As detailed in the sentence From the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia, which has ultimately decided the case, the employee had started working as a laborer in a carpentry shop full-time in August 2021 and his gross monthly salary was 1,730.53 euros. After suffering the heart attack on March 23, 2022, the company notified him of the disciplinary dismissal on March 25, 2022, without assessing his medical condition or hospitalization in the ICU. The company claimed disciplinary dismissal arguing that the employee had not gone to work in the last two days. Obviously, the reason was more than justified given that the employee was still admitted to intensive care when he received the dismissal letter. Can you be fired during a hospital stay? Not currently, but before the 2022 labor reform that materialized with Law 15/2022, a disciplinary dismissal could be argued if it was not directly linked to the fact of hospitalization. In this case, the company did not fire him for being sickbut for not showing up at work. That nuance left the loophole that the company took advantage of to fire him when he had not yet recovered from his pathology or know if it would affect his work performance. The initial judicial process: unfair dismissal. The worker took the case to the Social Court number 1 of Girona. In the first instance, the judge analyzed the situation and decided that the dismissal was not disciplinary, but rather unfair. This means that the dismissal did not meet the legal requirements to be considered justified, and implied compensation. However, the court did not declare it void because, according to the previous legislation, the worker was not permanently disabled and had already been discharged when the sentence was issued, so the link with the heart attack could not be proven. Therefore, at that time, the court did not consider that there was discrimination on the basis of illness. It should be noted that, in July 2022, the latest labor reform came into force, which just changes this assessment regarding dismissals of people with illnesses or health conditions that can be considered disabilities, opening the door to new legal interpretations. A new twist: null dismissal. The worker appealed the first sentence and the case was raised to the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC). In October 2023, with the new labor law already fully established, the TSJC ruled that the dismissal should be considered void. The court indicated that the speed with which the company decided to fire the worker, even while he was in the ICU, showed that the company was aware of his irregular action in dismissal. This means that the dismissal was illegal and should be reversed in its entirety. The court insisted that the true cause of the dismissal was not absence from work (clearly justified), but rather the worker’s serious illness, which is why it was interpreted that direct discrimination on the grounds of health had been committed. The TSJC ordered the reinstatement of the worker in his position and that he be paid all back wages since the first lawsuit was filed. In addition, he ordered the company to pay compensation of 15,000 euros for moral damages to the worker. In Xataka | Fraud in medical leave: the “discharges” are increasing as companies try to combat absenteeism Image | Unsplash, Wikimedia Commons

We know that role-playing video games were born 50 years ago. What we don’t know exactly is which game was the first

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If when they ask you about the first role-playing video game in history, a legendary franchise will undoubtedly come to mind: ‘Dungeons & Dragons‘. The influence of the then newborn board role-playing game was undeniable in the first titles of the genre, but to determine a foundational touchstone we have a serious problem: there are several candidates. The first roles. In 1975, half a century agothe genre of role-playing video games as we know it was born. Just one year after Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson will publish ‘Dungeons & Dragons‘, different American university students They transferred the board game experience to computer systems of the time (huge mainframes or data systems), creating titles like ‘dnd’, ‘pedit5’ and ‘Dungeon’. Those experiments laid the foundations for the industry along with early icons like ‘Spacewar’, but determining which came first is not so easy. Why D&D. Dungeons & Dragons It sold 3,000 copies during its first year.a modest figure but behind which there is a great cultural impact among university students. Some of the concepts that ‘D&D’ introduced in early role-playing games (life points, accumulating experience, progression by levels, character classes, dice system – that is, chance – to resolve combat…) were of a statistical nature. It was ideal to be processed by computerswho calculated probabilities faster than any human game master. The convergence was inevitable: American campuses brought together both programmers with access to computers and players obsessed with Dungeons & Dragons. Sometimes it was the same people. What was PLATO. This proto-internet served as the basis for many of these games to spread: its acronym is equivalent to Programmed Logic for Automatic Teaching Operations, it was developed at the University of Illinois in 1960, and was born as an educational tool, although it ended up going far beyond that initial purpose. Towards the mid-seventies This network connected approximately a dozen mainframes with several thousand terminals distributed globally. The system incorporated revolutionary technologies for the time: plasma screens with a resolution of 512×512 pixels, interfaces 16×16 touch points and transmission speed of 1,200 bits per second. But his true legacy was to become a precursor to the Internet by including discussion forums, email, chat rooms and, at a certain point in its history, real-time multiplayer video games. In this way, and as it could not be otherwise, the university students subverted the initially academic purpose of PLATO: the programmers disguised their games with names that pretended to be educational files to avoid being detected and deleted by university administrators (hence the cryptic titles, almost based on acronyms, of some games). The pioneer dungeon. In this way, and thanks to the possibilities that PLATO offered, during 1975 several programmers worked without knowing each other on the creation of the first RPG for computer. Rusty Rutherford, a 35-year-old doctoral student at the University of Illinois, developed ‘pedit5‘ (also called ‘The Dungeon’). The game featured a fixed 40-50 room dungeon with random monster and treasure encounters, establishing the concept of the “dungeon crawl”. The character combined the three classic ‘D&D’ classes: warrior, wizard and cleric. Players generated attributes such as Strength, Dexterity, Constitution and Intelligence, and had eight different spells at their disposal. The random nature of the encounters made it a direct precursor of the roguelike. The game could only hold 20 simultaneous characters, a limit that became a problem when its popularity exploded. The first final boss in history. Southern Illinois University students Gary Whisenhunt and Ray Wood completed ‘dnd‘ (‘The Game of Dungeons’) after ‘pedit5’ demonstrated the viability of the concept. ‘dnd’ expanded its offering with multiple dungeon levels, a teleporter system, and allowed players to leave the dungeon, recover, and return later, gradually accumulating power over multiple sessions. Its big innovation was a scoring system inspired by pinball machines, which made players collect gold and leave. The solution was to create an ultimate goal, the Orb, guarded by a dragon in the deepest levels. Thus, it was the first video game to feature a “boss fight”, a final climatic encounter. Technical sophistication. In California, meanwhile, Don Daglow was programming his own game, Dungeonfor him mainframe PDP-10 from Claremont University. Daglow implemented sophisticated mechanics: line of sight, fog of war, automapping, and NPCs with rudimentary artificial intelligence. The game required 36K of RAM, a very notable amount at the time. Finally, on November 4, 1975, John Daleske, Gary Fritz and their team released a second game called ‘Dungeon’ on PLATO, considered as one of the first MUDs (Multi-User Dungeons). That same year ‘Moria’ also appeared, by Kevet Duncombe and Jim Battin, allowing up to ten simultaneous players in the same game, which is a direct precedent for future MMORPGs. In Xataka | Virtual dungeons: The successes and failures of bringing ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ to video games

While everything is going through the roof, a product is cheaper than ever in Spain: cocaine

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Those who are dedicated to probing the coca market have encountered a curious phenomenon: while the CPI rises and the prices of products such as the coffee either cocoacocaine undertakes the reverse path. Its cost seems to be in free fall. If a few years ago there was talk of more than 30,000 euros per kilogram of white powder, today there are sources that place it at barely 13,000a collapse that also coincides with an apparent increase of traffic and a high consumption. A difficult equation to solve. What do the figures say? It is not easy to talk about cocaine trafficking and the price. There is data and people dedicated to studying it, but for obvious reasons much of the information available is based on estimates. I shared the last one a few days ago The Catalan Newspaper in an extensive report in which he assures that right now a kilo of cocaine on the black market is around 13,000 euros. The same newspaper recalls that not so long ago a kilo brick was around 20,000 euros, but if you use the newspaper archive you will find information which show that a mere decade ago it was priced at between 27,000 and 29,000 euros in the Rías Baixas or even above 30,000 in Madrid and Valencia. What’s more, just a few months ago The Voice of Galicia assured that the official reference with which the Ministry of the Interior worked when calculating the value of the seized drugs set the value of a kilo at just over 30,500 euros. Is it something new? No. And that’s the curious thing. The media has been reporting on the drop in the price of coca for more than a year, sometimes with slight swings. Now does it The Newspaperbut a year ago I did it the Galician press and in 2023 it had the same message ABCwhich already at that time included the words of Fernando Iglesias, head of the Customs Surveillance Service in Galicia: “Its price has plummeted and that leads to a brutal offer.” “Cocaine prices have been devalued by almost half compared to just a few years ago, and that is a very clear indicator of the current abundance of this drug,” agreed the head of the Galician Foundation against Drug Trafficking. According to the data what he was driving at the time ABCthe kilo of Colombian coca that 20 years ago was paid for 30,000 euros had gone to price 17,000. Prices, however, always refer to a kilo. Curiously, this accelerated cheapening of drugs does not seem to have transferred to the street. Where the gram still costs the same than before: it remains around the 50 and 60 eurosdespite the fact that those who handle large quantities of drugs do so at a much lower cost. Are there more trends? Yes. Again they are based on estimates and indications, but they are just as interesting. The first tells us about the type of drug that is consumed. Not only has a kilo of coca become cheaper, it also seems to be purer. That at least is what emerges from the data from Energy Control, an agency dedicated to analyzing samples delivered by anonymous buyers. Their studies show that, on average, the samples that arrive have a purity that exceeds 70%. Other studies They have also noted an increase in purity. What about consumption? If there is a clear (and relevant) trend, it is the one that tells us about demand, which can be analyzed based on two key clues: studies on consumption and seizures of caches. In the first case (demand), the European Drug Report 2025 stands out, which reveals that Spain is the country with a highest percentage of population that has taken coca at some point in their life. The figure here reaches 13.3%, well above France and Denmark (9.4%). Do we have more clues? Yes. The European study, presented in June, slid that there are indications that consumption is increasing in the EU and even advised administrations to prepare for a rebound in demand for treatments. The percentage of people who admit to having tried the white powder also has been increasing over the last few years. The latest EADES survey (2024) indicates that 13% of individuals from 15 to 64 years old admit having used cocaine at some time, which marks the maximum in the historical series. In 2022 that indicator marked 11.7% and if we go to the early years of the 2000s the data was even lower. The Man Project Observatory also has noted its increase among users seeking to detoxify: in a matter of a decade it has gone from being the main addiction of 27% of users to extending its shadow to reach approximately 41%. What about seizures? They are another thermometer. At the end of the day, whether more or fewer caches are ‘hunted’ depends on the authorities’ aim, but also on the intensity of traffic. The Newspaper remember that the police only manage to seize a relatively low percentage of all the drugs that arrive at the ports. In the absence of more updated data, the 2024 Annual Drug Statistics published in July by the Intelligence Center against Terrorism and Organized Crime (CITCO) shows that last year Interior recorded an increase in cocaine seizures of 5.2%, which places them at approximately 123 tons. “There is more cocaine than ever”recognize police sources to The Newspaper about the situation that exists in cities like Barcelona. The same medium specifies that in 2023 and 2024 Customs Surveillance located just over 60 million tons of coca hidden in containers arriving by sea from South America. The reason for these data? One possibility is a change in routes that reduces the volume traveled through Holland and Belgium and places Spain as a gateway to Europe. What about the prices? If demand does not seem to be suffering… Why are prices falling, at least in the channels where kilos are moved (another … Read more

Satya Nadella made the world love Microsoft again. AI is making people hate it again

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Microsoft wants to turn Windows into an “agent operating system”. That was one of the great advertisements of the Ingnite conferences that were held these days. The proposal involves filling Windows with AI agents so that they are part of the user experience and do things for us. The intention is good. The result is not. what’s happening. Windows celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2025 (and Microsoft, its 50), and it does so with a total commitment to AI that it now wants to transfer to its Windows operating system. At the Microsoft Ignite event, various new features were presented that were precisely aimed at integrating AI agents into the system from the taskbar, but also at supporting the Model Context Protocol, the de facto standard for connecting AI agents with third-party services and applications. The movement is reasonable. Microsoft’s decision is strategically impeccable. AI is everywhere, and what the company intends is for it to be an integral part of its operating system. And by the way, of course, don’t leave its ecosystem to take advantage of it. The intention is good, but Microsoft’s problem is different. You are being tiresome. It is often the case that companies that try to promote their services do so in a particularly tiresome way. Microsoft is certainly known for this, and you only have to remember how it made numerous attempts to force us to upgrade to Windows 10. Then they came similar attempts with the new versions of Windows 11. With AI, it has already shot itself in the foot from time to time, and the best example is Microsoft Recalla striking option that by its design initial ended up being delayed and now it has been completely relegated to the background. Well I install LinuxPavan Davuluri, president of the Windows and devices division, was talking about this integration of AI in Windows a few days ago, but his tweet ended up provoking a string of criticism. One of the first answers indicated that Windows “is evolving into a product that brings people to the Mac and Linux.” Or for that matter, bring back Windows 7. Others went further and they asked that the Windows 7 operating system would return with its “clean user interface, icons, unified control panel, no junk apps, no ads, just a pure, performing operating system.” Microsoft is growing dwarfs. Davuluri ended up closing comments two days later, but yes responded to a tweet from the well-known software engineer Gergely Orosz, who criticized Windows’ erratic strategy and also Microsoft’s commitment to developers. In his response he indicated that “we know that we must continue working on the user experience, both in day-to-day usability and system dialogues inconsistent with the experiences of advanced users.” Be careful with promoting what doesn’t work. The problem with Copilot is that it still has a clearly worse reputation than other AI models despite being entirely based on ChatGPT. At Microsoft they know itbut still They are hiring influencers to promote Copilot to younger consumers. Nadella started well… The arrival of Satya Nadella to Microsoft it was a breath of fresh air. The company was on its way to becoming the new IBMbut its surprising renewal and spirit of openness —GitHub purchaserenovated love for linux— joined the success of reinforcing Azure and turning its cloud platform into a money making machine. threw great projects and thus regained some of the love (and luster) that he had lost in recent years with Ballmer at the helm. …but things are going wrong. However, this (understandable) obsession with AI is contaminating that entire trajectory a bit, and this is evident in the comments and criticisms of users, who do not seem interested in Windows being full of AI even though that could be interesting in the long run. The practical advantages at the moment do not seem to be notable, and forcing them is never a good idea. And in case Nadella reads us, we propose an idea. Let users decide. It’s as simple as that: Microsoft forces things too much by forcing users to accept these system changes without further ado and offering them as options that are activated by default. Users usually don’t like things being changed for the better, and what Microsoft should do is make everything opt-in (and not opt-out). That is to say: offer these options disabled by default, and let the users decide to activate them. If they are really worth it, it is very likely that these options will end up going viral on their own and people will simply enable them. In Xataka | The unexpected return of Windows 7: it reaches almost 10% of the market when Microsoft prepares to retire Windows 10

finally an AI gadget that doesn’t make me wonder why it’s not just an app

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When in Xataka They offered me to try the Plaud Note Promy reaction was predictable: “another AI gadget that can be an app.” For a couple of years we have been seeing technological gadgets that promise to change our lives thanks to AI, sometimes with terrible resultand in general being solutions in search of a problem. But the Note Pro surprised me. Not because he does magic, but precisely because he doesn’t try to do it. This design only makes sense when you have it in your hand The product photos are very deceiving with this device. On the screen it looks like any other piece of junk, just another aluminum rectangle. When you take it out of the box, the reaction is to say “how cool is this.” It is literally the size of a credit card and just 3 millimeters thick.. We are not talking about “fine to be an engraver”, but fine, period. It’s ridiculously fine. Here, next to the AirPods Pro case to size it better. Image: Xataka. The first thing you do is try to fold it, because your brain doesn’t process that something so thin can have four microphones, 64 GB of storage and battery for 30 hours of continuous recording. The brushed aluminum finish is impeccable, with the kind of quality that makes you think of Apple. And I say this as criticism and as a compliment: They are clear about who they are copying, and they do it extraordinarily well. Well, that’s ridiculously fine. And well finished. Image: Xataka. The less than one-inch AMOLED screen is a detail that seems superfluous until you use it. It is not to watch videos, but to confirm at a glance that you are recording, how much battery you have left, and if you have marked any highlight. Nothing more, nothing less. It is design with purpose, not ornamentation. The screen has its purpose beyond being an indicator of the remaining battery. Image: Xataka. The uncomfortable question: why not just use an app? This is where it gets interesting. Because yes, you have options like Otter.ai or the native recorder on your mobile with automatic transcription. They are free, or almost. They already live in your pocket. Why on earth would you want to spend $179 on a separate thing, plus a subscription that ranges from $20 a month to $250 a year? The honest answer is that for most people, it doesn’t make sense. If you record one meeting a month, use your mobile. If you need to transcribe from time to time, Otter is more than enough for you. But if you live in meetings, briefingsinterviews, calls with clients, presentations… the equation begins to change. The Note Pro frees you from cell phone dependenceand that is more valuable than it seems a priori. When you record with your cell phone, that cell phone is busy. On many occasions you cannot consult documents, take notes in parallel or respond to an urgent message. And above all, you can’t let it run out of battery just when you need it most. The Note Pro is a single function deviceand that specialization is its strength. It charges via magnetic pogo-pin connector. Image: Xataka. 🔌 Image: Xataka. The recording quality also makes a difference. The four MEMS microphones pick up voices up to five meters away with remarkable clarity, and the AI ​​processing to separate speakers works surprisingly well. In tests in meeting rooms with six people, it correctly identified each voice without the need for anyone to speak in ordered turns. Otter.ai on my mobile usually works great, but tends to mix voices if two people are talking at similar volumes. But let’s be clear: the gap is not abysmal. Modern apps also work well. The advantage of the Note Pro is cumulative, not punctual: better battery, better audio capture, a device that you can leave on the table without worrying about interrupting notifications, without anxiety in case someone calls in the middle of recording. And also, if you have an iPhone with MagSafe, there is a wallet with which you can stick the Plaud to it and even be able to record calls. The Plaud Note Pro inside your MagSafe wallet. Image: Xataka. Also here. Image: Xataka. The button highlight: small detail, big difference There is a feature that sounds trivial on paper but that in use I have found to be extraordinarily useful: the highlight. During a recording, if someone says something important, you press briefly and the system marks that moment. Not only to locate the fragment later, but for the AI ​​to prioritize that information in the summaries. Bright. I’ve tried this on long presentations and the difference is brutal. Without highlightsthe summary gives you a medley where what is important can be diluted between ramblings. With highlights strategic, the summary goes directly to the decisions, commitments, critical points. It’s an elegant way to guide AI without having to write prompts after. Kudos to whoever had this idea. The AI ​​behind it: powerful but expensive Hardware is only half of the equation. The magic happens in the Plaud app, which processes the recordings using models from Google, OpenAI or Anthropic. You can choose which model to use for each transcriptionwhich is a level of control I wasn’t expecting. When starting a transcription we can choose between automatic and personalized transcription. If we choose the second, we can even choose the model to use. And it already includes the recently released Gemini 3 (although in beta). Image: Xataka. The different views of a transcript: summary, geolocation and recognition of who the key person is (if introduced at the beginning), key points, thematic index and complete transcript. Image: Xataka. The transcription is excellent. Comparatively better than Google Meet or Zoom in my experience, although that may depend on accent and environment. What is really interesting are the summary templates: you have everything from meeting minutes to Q&A format for interviews, to class notes or … Read more

The AI ​​bubble is so obvious that not even Sundar Pichai or Satya Nadella make an effort to deny it

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The thing about bubbles is that we are certain that there is one only when they burst. And with all this artificial intelligence, is talking a lot about whether or not there is one around this technology. Of course there are indicators that set off alarm bells, but the curious thing is that we would not have believed that two of the greatest exponents in contributing to the development of this technology would maintain reservations. And Sundar Pichai, for Google, and Satya Nadella, for Microsoft, have not made much effort to deny the doubts. Irrationality. Pichai declared to the BBC in an interview he noted “elements of irrationality” in the current AI market and warned that no company, including Google, will be immune if the bubble bursts. His words are especially striking because they come at a time when Alphabet shares have doubled in seven months, reaching a market capitalization of $3.5 trillion. The CEO compared the situation with the Internet bubble of the late 90s, recognizing that although there was excessive investment that ended in bankruptcies and layoffs, today no one questions the profound impact of the Internet. “I hope AI is the same. I think it’s both rational and there are elements of irrationality in a time like this,” he explained. When the numbers don’t add up. Skepticism is based on concrete data. OpenAI, Google’s most visible competitor in this field, has committed to spending $1.4 trillion in infrastructure for eight years while it expects to generate just $13 billion in revenue this year. Just like share In the Ars Technica media, Sam Altman himself, CEO of OpenAI, acknowledged to journalists in August that investors are “overly enthusiastic” about AI models and that “someone” will lose an “incredible amount of money.” Microsoft also shows the cards. For his part, Satya Nadella has been equally forthright about the current limitations of the sector. At the beginning of the year already pointed out to claim that a milestone has been achieved in AGI (general artificial intelligence) is “just hacking the tests without meaning”, downplaying the benchmarks that so much marketing generates. According to Nadella, the true metric of AI success should be reflected in countries’ gross domestic product: “When we say ‘this is like the industrial revolution,’ we should have that kind of growth that caused the industrial revolution,” he explained, referring to increases of 5-10% in GDP. That growth has not yet come. Jensen Huang says exactly the opposite. While Pichai and Nadella talk about irrationality, NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang has presented spectacular results in the third quarter and settled the debate in his own way. “There has been a lot of talk about an AI bubble. From our perspective, we see something very different,” he commented. NVIDIA reported revenue of $57 billion in its latest quarter, up 62% from a year earlier, with net profits of $32 billion. Its data center business has generated $51.2 billion, a record boosted by the sale of its Blackwell chips. According to Huang, sales of these GPUs are “skyrocketing” and cloud chips are out of stock. NVIDIA also projects a fourth quarter with revenues of $65 billion. AI still doesn’t make money. NVIDIA does make money, a lot of money, but He does it by selling the shovels during the gold rush. The vast majority of companies that develop large language models are losing money spectacularly. OpenAI is the most obvious examplebut not the only one. Microsoft, Amazon, Meta and Google they are allocating tens of billions of dollars to build data centers dedicated to AI in a colossal bet whose profitability is not guaranteed. For Nadella, what AI needs is something equivalent what Excel and email meant for the PC, that is, an app that makes the majority of users understand how to use AI. At that time we saw that the PC took a long time to find its place, especially until it reached mass adoption that transformed real processes. There are chips but there is no energy to power them. In addition to the profitability problem, there is an immediate physical limitation. Nadella revealed recently that the biggest obstacle is not the lack of chips, but the energy needed to power them. “If you can’t do something like that (supply enough power), you’re going to have a bunch of chips sitting around in inventory that you can’t plug in. In fact, that’s my problem right now: It’s not that I don’t have a sufficient supply of chips: it’s actually the fact that I don’t have places to plug them in,” he admitted. Microsoft, Google and other big technology companies are resorting to drastic solutions such as building their own small nuclear power plants (SMR reactors) to supply their future data centers. ARM CEO Rene Haas noted that energy needs could triplea challenge that calls into question the sustainability of the current expansion. Of course we don’t know how things are going to end, but no one doubts that we’re going to have a good time with it. Cover image | Microsoft and Bloomberg In Xataka | Gemini 3 promises more quality and precision than ever in its responses. The question is whether we will really notice the difference

‘Baby Shark’ is the most successful song in YouTube history. It is also the least profitable of all

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It has already gone somewhat out of fashion, at least in terms of omnipresence at children’s parties, birthdays and meetings with children, but in those transition years between the birth of YouTube and the current flood of children’s content generated by AIs and insane algorithms on the platform, ‘Baby Shark‘It was a monumental success. One that, however, did not make its creators millionaires, unlike what many of us came to believe. Baby Shark, the legend. The infectious original song, since its publication on YouTube in June 2016, has accumulated an average of more than 4.7 million daily views. Now it’s at 16.4 billion views. Success transcends borders: available in 25 different languages, the United States leads as the main market in number of views, while Brazil holds the record in number of “likes.” In 2020, it dethroned ‘Despacito’ as the most viewed content on YouTube. And the distance continues to grow: ‘Despacito’ remains at 8.86 billion views, and ‘Baby Shark’ already doubles it. As The Wall Street Journal saysto get an idea of ​​the dimensions of the achievement: the amount is approximately equivalent to the sum of Taylor Swift’s ten most popular music videos on the platform. There is no money. Despite the records, Pinkfong, the South Korean company that created the song, barely generated $67 million in 2024. The reason: child privacy restrictions drastically limit its advertising monetization. In September 2019, Google agreed to pay 170 million dollars to resolve accusations of systematic violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The US Federal Trade Commission determined that the platform had collected cookies and IP addresses from children under 13 years of age to serve you personalized advertisingwithout obtaining parental consent. The sanction (136 million for the FTC, 34 million for the State of New York) represented the largest fine imposed until then for violations of this type. The investigation revealed that YouTube advertised itself among toy brands such as Mattel and Hasbro as a leader in reaching children ages 6 to 11. Changes for Baby Shark. This fine led to YouTube banning personalized advertising in “Made for Kids” content as of January 2020. Additionally, it disabled features such as comments, subscription notifications, playlists, and live chat. The economic impact was notable: Children’s content creators reduced their production by 18% and views fell by 20%. Profits plummeted between 60% and 90% compared to content with personalized advertising. Others affected. Other big names in children’s entertainment also saw stars with YouTube’s decision. Cocomelonwhich has two of the ten videos confirmed significant revenue losses after the removal of personalized advertising. Chris Williams, co-founder of pocket.watch (a digital studio specialized in children’s content), said that the main channels in the sector, such as the Indian ChuChu TV, had experienced drops between 50% and 60% in their advertising revenue since January 2020. To survive. Faced with monetization restrictions, Pinkfong has built a diversified business model where YouTube advertising represents only a fraction of its revenue. According to data from the first half of 202568% of its sales now come from content distribution (YouTube, but also Netflix and live shows), while merchandising contributes 15%, licensing 10%, and the remaining segment corresponds to video games and other digital products. This allowed the company to achieve a profit of approximately 13 million dollars in 2024 on total revenues of 67 million. Of course, its CEO has already spoken of integrating artificial intelligence and data analysis in content creation. No more viral bombs. In Xataka | Baby Shark (doo doo doo doo doo doo): when a children’s song also sweeps the stock market

Google has managed to integrate Apple’s AirDrop into Android. Without the help or permission of Apple

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Google has announced that Quick Shareyour file transfer system on Android, now also works with Apple’s AirDrop. The users of a Pixel 10 They can send and receive files directly from iPhone, iPad and Mac without intermediaries or servers. Support is two-way and works when the Apple device activates “Everyone for 10 minutes” mode in AirDrop. The Pixel detects the iPhone as an available destination, the user accepts the transfer and the connection is established directly. Ta-da. The turn. Apple has not participated in the development. Google has confirmed that it has implemented this feature on its ownwithout your collaboration. “We have achieved it with our own implementation,” they said from Google. This contrasts with other recent interoperability advances between both platforms—messaging RCS or the unknown tracker alerts— where there was coordination. Between the lines. Google appears to have reverse engineered AWDL technology (Apple Wireless Direct Link) that underpins AirDrop. Although it is proprietary, it relies on open standards such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Direct, which makes it technically possible to implement unauthorized support. The company has developed the feature using Rust, a programming language considered more secure against vulnerabilities. It also hired NetSPI, an independent security firm, to validate the implementation. His assessment: the system is “notably more robust” than other solutions in the sector. The threat. Apple may end up blocking this functionality and in fact it is a very likely scenario given the history. In 2023 closed Beeper accessan app that allowed iMessage to be used on Android through reverse engineering. But the context has changed. Google is much bigger than Beeper. In addition, Apple now has greater regulatory pressure than then around anti-competitive practices, both in Europe and the United States. Yes, but. The current implementation only works in “Everyone for 10 minutes” mode. AirDropless convenient than the “Contacts Only” mode. Google has expressed its willingness to collaborate with Apple to enable that mode. The feature starts exclusively on the Pixel 10, although Google has promised to expand it to more Android devices. At stake. This move attacks one of the elements of Apple’s walled garden that most frustrates cross-platform users. If Google manages to maintain this operational compatibility, it erodes another barrier to change. If Apple takes it down, it reinforces the narrative of monopolistic practices just as regulators take a closer look. In the coming weeks we will surely hear about this case again. In Xataka | Privacy was Apple’s ace in the hole in the age of AI. Google just took it away Featured image | Google

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