Google has plenty of chips to sell. He prefers to keep them so as not to be left behind in the AGI race.

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reach the AGI (General Artificial Intelligence) is one of the great goals of Big Tech at the moment. Although expectations have been lowered regarding this concept of governing AI that does everything, Alphabet, Google’s parent company, does not want to be left behind in this race, and therefore has made the decision to reserve the computing power of its TPUs (Tensor Processing Units) to achieve this goal. The clasee is in a term medio. For years, the cloud business has been measured by the ability to sell infrastructure to third parties. Now, with the AI ​​race fueling demand for specialized chips, Google has opted to serve itself first, according to they count from The Register. And this is a sign of the extent to which Big Tech considers AGI a strategic objective and not just a marketing label. In detail. The confirmation came during the presentation of results of Alphabet’s second quarter, according to the media. Goldman Sachs analyst Eric Sheridan I asked directly how the company distributed its TPUs among the customers who want to buy them and its own internal needs. “Our first priority is to ensure that we are allocating what we need to compete on the frontier of AGI development,” responded Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google. “That is the basis of everything we do,” he continued. Asked again by another analyst, Mark Shmulik, of Bernstein, about how computing capacity is distributed between search engine, cloud and model training, Pichai insisted in the same idea of ​​prioritizing this goal and, then, distributing it between Search, YouTube, its corporate cloud (Vertex), and other areas such as data analysis or cybersecurity. The cloud business. That Google reserves chips for itself does not mean that the business of selling cloud is limping. Quite the opposite. Google Cloud billed $24.75 billion in the quarter, 82% more than a year before, with a profit of $8.8 billion (a growth of 214%). The company attributes this push to the strong demand for infrastructure and AI solutions, and still has a pending order book of $514 billion, that is, contracts already signed that its clients have not yet consumed. Nor has the search engine been harmed by the emergence of generative AI, as some analysts feared. Search revenue has grown by 17% and YouTube advertising revenue has grown by 13%. Pichai defended that he AI Modede Search is, in fact, generating “more searches”, and thanks to technical improvements the company has managed to “reduce the cost of each response generated with AI” to its lowest level since that tool was launched. And now what. Google’s appetite for chips is such that its own is not enough. And the financial director, Anat Ashkenazi, explained that the company will raise its investment forecast in AI infrastructure for this year to a range of between 195,000 and 205,000 million dollars, above the previous range of 180,000 to 190,000 million. The reason is what Ashkenazi herself described as a “supply-constrained environment,” which will force Google to turn to third-party capacity during the third quarter as a bridging solution while it expands its own infrastructure. Pichai justified this additional expense as a long-term bet to not lose its large cloud clients, even if it means assuming specific losses for a few months in exchange for multi-year contracts that are very profitable in the long run. However, not even these record figures have prevented a fairly significant setback. And Alphabet’s free cash flow has closed the quarter in negative, -5.9 billion dollars, something that has not happened since 2004. As expected, investors have not received this news with enthusiasm, so the company’s shares fell 4% at the close of the market. In Xataka | When Google looked into the abyss of AI, the abyss looked back: today its search engine is more addictive than ever

Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra and Galaxy Z Fold7, head to head

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The arrival of the new flagship Samsung foldable raises again the key question when renewing a device: “Is it a big enough jump to justify its starting price or is the previous model still the smartest purchase?” We analyze point by point all the innovations introduced by the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra regarding the Galaxy Z Fold7 to find out what really changes and which one best suits your needs. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra, 256 GB, Mobile Phone, Graphite The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 8” 256GB/12GB The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Main characteristics of both models SAMSUNG GALAXY Z fold8 ultra samsung galaxy z fold7 Dimensions and weight Folded: 72.8 x 158.4 x 8.9 mm Unfolded: 143.2 x 158.4 x 4.1 mm 215 grams Folded: 158.4 x 72.8 x 8.9 mm Unfolded: 158.4 x 143.2 x 4.2 mm 215 grams folding screen 8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X QXGA+ resolution (2,504 x 2,256 pixels) 422 pixels per inch 3,000 nits Refresh rate: 1-120Hz Vision Booster 8 inches QXGA+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X (2184 x 1968), 368ppi 120Hz adaptive refresh rate main screen 6.5-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X FullHD+ resolution (1,080 x 2,520 pixels) 422 dpi Refresh rate: 1-120Hz Vision Booster 6.5-inch FHD+ screen Dynamic AMOLED 2X Display (2520 x 1080, 21:9), 422 ppi 120Hz adaptive refresh rate processor Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy Ram memory and storage 12/256GB 12/512GB 16GB/1TB 12GB/256GB 12GB/512GB 16GB / 1TB main camera 200 MP wide angle, quad pixel AF, OIS, f/1.7, FOV 85º 50 MP wide angle, OIS, f/1.7, FOV 120º 10 MP telephoto (3x), PDAF, OIS, f/2.4, 36º FOV 200 MP, Quad Pixel AF, OIS, F1. 7, 0.6μm, FOV: 85˚ 12 MP Dual Pixel AF, F2.2, 1.4μm, FOV: 120˚ 10 MP, PDAF, OIS, F2.4, 1.0μm, FOV: 36˚, 3X optical zoom front camera Main screen: 10 MP, f/2.2, FOV 85º Folding screen: 10 MP, f/2.2, FOV 100º 10 MP, f/2.2, 1.12μm, FOV: 85˚ (outdoor screen) 10MP, f/2.2, 1.12μm, FOV: 100˚ (indoor screen) battery Dual 5,000 mAh (typical) 45W fast charging 20W wireless charging PowerShare Reverse Wireless Charging Dual 4,400 mAh (typical) 25W fast charging 15W wireless charging PowerShare Reverse Wireless Charging connectivity 5G NSA/SA LTE Wi-Fi 7 Bluetooth 6 NFC GPS 5G LTE Wi-Fi 7 Bluetooth 5.4 operating system Android 17 One UI 9 Android 16 One UI 8 others IP48 resistance Galaxy AI Knox Now Brief Now Nudge IP48 resistance price From 2,199 euros From 1,444 euros The design continues in a continuous line On an aesthetic level, Samsung already did a good job with the Z Fold7 by reducing the thickness to 8.9 mm folded and 4.2 mm when open and also lightened the weight to 215 grams compared to 239 grams of the Z Fold6. The new Z Fold8 Ultra follows a continuous line, maintaining the same folded thickness and weightalthough it has dropped to 4.1 mm when deployed. The difference in this aspect, therefore, is quite subtle. Hardware: higher power and better cooling As for its brain, the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra has taken a step forward and brings the processor Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, optimized for maximum performance. Of course, the new model from the Korean firm goes on sale with the same configurations as its predecessor: 12 or 16 GB of RAM (LPDDR5X) and 256, 512 or 1 TB of UFS 4.0 storage. Although in terms of power, the Fold8 Ultra improves compared to the previous generation, the evolution does not only have to do with the chip. It also comes with a expanded graphite cooling structure. This means that it is capable of dissipating heat much better, thus avoiding the heating that could appear in the Fold7 after using it for heavy tasks or prolonged gaming sessions. Software with AI as the protagonist He Z Fold7 It was released on the market under the Android 16 operating system (with One UI 8 customization layer, which can now be updated to version 8.5). The new Z Fold8 Ultra comes to the market, for its part, with Android 17 and One UI 9 out of the box and with a variety of advanced AI features and seven years of guaranteed system and security updates. Screen: same size but higher resolution It is in this section that we find some interesting news. The Z Fold7, when unfolded, showed a screen 8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2x with resolution of 2,376 x 968 pixels. The size of the new generation screen is the same, although it offers higher resolution (2,504 x 2,256 pixels) and reaches 3,000 nits of maximum brightness. He also releases a movie Flex Titaniumwhich improves resistance and makes the crease less visible. Regarding the external screen, the dimensions are the same (6.5-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X with a resolution of 2,376 x 968 pixels), but in the case of the Fold8 Ultra, the resolution rises to 2,520 x 1,080 pixels. Both models also present a thandle adaptive refresh rate from 1 to 120 Hzso fluidity is assured in both. A new leap in the photographic section Although the Z Fold7 already featured a top-notch photography system, the Fold8 Ultra improves it by far. The rear continues to consist of a triple camera with 200 MP main sensor (f/1.7) with improved HDR and the new model adds an ultra wide angle that grows to 50 MP (f/1.9) and a 10 MP telephoto lens (f/2.4) with three-fold optical zoom. The front cameras remain two 10 MP lenses. Another notable thing about the new Z Fold8 Ultra is that it is compatible with Dual Recording (to record both sides at the same time) and with MyFanCam (which automatically tracks the subject we want). The technology Nightography It has also been renewed in this new 2026 model and records in 8K. Autonomy and charging: greater capacity and faster charging This section is where one of the perhaps most anticipated changes comes. The … Read more

close its beaches due to the thermal blowout

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heat waves are changing the behavior of tourists in Spainbut we cannot forget the people who live 365 days a year in tourist cities. Those who travel there can avoid doing so during the hottest times, but when it comes to your place of residence it is not so easy. Beach baths can be quick solutions to beat the heat. However, when this is too extreme, anything out of the water can be very dangerous. For this reason, the Alicante city council will close the beaches today starting at 5 p.m. due to the red alert declared in this third heat wave of the summer. No beaches, no parks. This decision affects both to the beaches, as well as to the parks and gardens. And, in reality, it is not only due to the heat wave. In fact, if that were the only reason, perhaps the beach closure would have been set in the middle of the day, when temperatures are higher. It was done at 5 p.m., because from that time on it is expected that there will be thermal bursts, which would cause very strong gusts of wind, as well as sudden increases in temperature. Revenge what? A thermal blowout is a phenomenon that silk due to the formation of precipitation that never reaches the ground, since on the descent it encounters a layer of very warm and dry air, which evaporates it. The evaporation process requires energy, which is extracted from the surrounding air, cooling it suddenly. The cold air tends to fall downwards, so a downdraft is formed, which will increasingly have a larger column of air above it. The weight of this compresses said current, so that it heats up suddenly, giving rise to increases of about 5ºC in a very few minutes. Sometimes they can even rise 15ºC. On the other hand, when this current of hot air falls suddenly above the earth’s surface, it can no longer continue to descend, so it expands violently in all directions, like the stream of water from a tap that we suddenly turn on. The result is very intense winds, practically hurricane-force. It should be noted that layers of very hot and dry air that give rise to blowouts are more frequent during a heat wavewhich is why these phenomena are becoming more and more frequent. Also terraces and nightstands. In Spain, the decision has already been made to prohibit the opening of terraces in bars during the hottest hours of the day during heat waves. For this reason, in Alicante, terraces and nightstands cannot be opened between 5 and 9 p.m. The Santa Bárbara castle will also be closed and attention will be paid to umbrellas, flower pots and any other object that could cause urban accidents due to the wind. Be careful with the trees. Finally, the City Council has warned residents to avoid walking through wooded areas, to avoid possible accidents if a tree falls due to the wind. Images | Zarateman In Xataka | Sea temperature continues to rise and experts are clear: “It is partly favored by the start of a new El Niño phenomenon”

the ghost of drought has not yet gone away

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Spain’s reservoirs accumulate water. Quite. The balance published on Monday by the Government shows that the water reserve is at 73.4% of its capacity, which is equivalent to about 41,100 cubic hectometers (hm3), almost 3,000 more than last year and 9,300 than the average of the last decade. Now, that does not mean that Spain can breathe free from the specter of water cuts. On the contrary. Reserves have been declining for months while warnings echo of those who remember that droughts must be solved with the swamps still full. There is a revealing fact: the water reserve has been reducing since may and Galicia activated weeks ago the pre-alert for “moderate shortages” in several areas. The percentage: 73.4%. That is the level of occupancy of the reservoirs. He last balance from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (Miteco) shows that the swamps of peninsular Spain, with a capacity of 56,042 hm3, currently store 41,110. If we go down to detail we see that there are areas in which the stock is much higher and others in which it is clearly lower. In Júcar the reserves are at 60.8% and in Galicia-Costa at 65.2% while in the internal basins of the Basque Country or Catalonia they exceed 85%. In general, the Atlantic side remains at 74.8% and the Mediterranean side is around 68.8%. Is it a bad balance? No. Not at least if we take into account the panorama that Spain faced in other years at this point in the summer. At the end of July 2025, the country’s dams they remained at 68.4%with just over 38,300 hm3 of water, and there were certain regions in which the outlook was very worrying. The water reserve stored in the Segura basin It didn’t even reach 29%when now exceeds 56%. In general, Miteco itself recognizes that the dammed water is higher than that of a year ago and the average for the last decade, which is at 31,831 hm3. This is the case in both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. It’s not all good news. No. And that’s probably the most important part. Perhaps the current water outlook is not bad, especially if we compare it with that of recent years, but there is one fact that cannot be omitted either: reserves have been declining for months and there is no hope of that changing. In fact, this negative trend can be traced back to May 19, when Miteco calculated that the reservoirs were above the 84% of its capacity. A month later that indicator had already dropped to 80.1% and on Monday it was at 73.4%. Dams that empty. A quick Google search comes up to find news about swamps that are slowly emptying. It happens with the Ciudad Real reservoirs and Salamanca or in Andalusia and Estremadurato cite a handful of examples. In Galicia the Xunta even went one step further and opted two weeks ago for activating the “pre-alert for moderate water shortage” in the Lérez and Anllóns and Costa da Coruña river systems up to the border with Arteixo. In Vigo have activated also the pre-alert. There at the beginning of the month the mayor, Abel Caballero, assured that there was water for five months and that its main dam, Eiras, has fewer reserves than it accumulated around the same time in 2017, the year in which the region suffered one of its worst droughts. How is that possible? Very easy, due to the peculiar meteorology that Spain is encountering this year. The winter was very rainy. So much so that Miteco calculates that it was the eighth with the most rainfall since it began collecting data on the subject, in 1961. So far in the 21st century there has only been two others in which the most water was collected, 2000-2001 and 2009-2010. This explains why in March the reservoirs accumulated just over 46,800 hm3 of water for human, agricultural and industrial consumption, 83.5% of its capacity. In the entire historical series there is no March with a better indicator. From that stage we went to a spring particularly “dry”during which 75% of what has been normal for that season between 1991 and 2020 was collected on the peninsula. In June the change was even more radical. The Aemet calculates that the average precipitation in peninsular Spain was just 12.4 mm“which represents 39% of the normal value for the month,” he clarifies. In the historical archive From the agency there are only two Junes in which the umbrella was less needed. “It is worth thinking about the drought”. It is not about being catastrophic with the reservoirs at 73.4% of its capacity, but it is advisable to keep in mind reflections such as the one I left in April in The Conversation Jorge Rodríguez-Chueca, professor at the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM). Despite the good water reserve data that Spain had at that time, the expert warned: “It is at this time when it is appropriate to think about the drought.” The reason is very simple: strategies must be drawn up when there is still water in the swamps, not when we have dragged on for months with hardly any rain. date hm3 of dammed water Water reserve (%) 05/19/2026 47,178 84.2 06/02/2026 46,593 83.1 06/16/2026 45,672 81.5 06/30/2026 43,955 78.4 06/14/2026 42,192 75.3 06/21/2026 41,110 73.4 The other figure: 32,000 hm3. Although the copious winter rains had allowed Spain leave behind the state of drought that the country has been dragging since 2021Rodríguez-Chueca insisted: “It is now, when the reservoirs are full, when the drought must be addressed through planning and awareness.” “The amount of water impounded is only a specific image, not a guarantee for the future,” insisted the UPM expert before slipping in a key piece of information: Spain’s annual consumption is around 32,000 hm3. “Drought does not appear suddenly, it is a cumulative process. If consumption remains high, the system may seem safe. But if it also rains less, … Read more

It was the best investment of his life

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That Tom Hanks is one of the actors highest paid in Hollywood It’s not a surprise to anyone. However, there was a film in which, due to the high production cost, both the director and the main actor had to reduce their initially agreed salary. Hanks didn’t just take a pay cut. He completely renounced the fixed salary initially agreed with Paramount in order to continue filming a film that would not only consolidate his career, but would ultimately make him much richer: Forrest Gump. Who wants a salary when they have a box office. Filming Forrest Gump was a challenge from the beginning. Paramount was suspicious of a story about a man with an intellectual disability that was intertwined with events and symbolic places that had been transcendental in recent decades. As and as they pointed out in IndieWirethe production budget skyrocketed to 55 million of dollars, a huge figure for a drama that left its entire plot in the hands of the protagonists. No superheroes neither film sagas in between. To alleviate these increased costs, Hanks and director Robert Zemeckis agreed to defer much of their agreed-upon fixed salary. In exchange, they asked for a percentage of gross revenue from the first dollar raised. A percentage of revenue, not box office. The condition demanded by Hanks and Zemeckis marks an important nuance. If it had claimed a percentage of the box office, the studio would collect all the income, deduct its production costs and deliver the agreed percentage on the rest, which is a much smaller amount. With the requirement of the percentage of gross income, Hanks and Zemeckis were on equal terms with the studio and would be paid long before Paramount began to deduct expenses. If the film failed, Paramount lost money, but the actor and director would have given away their work. The popular Forrest Gump race scene that Tom Hanks paid for Forrest Gump’s career was paid for by Hanks. one of The most remembered scenes of the movie are the ones where Gump starts running across the country for no apparent reason, and people start joining him. That scene was almost not filmed due to lack of budget. Paramount saw it as too expensive and wanted to cut it. Zemeckis wasn’t about to lose her and went to talk to Hanks. In an interview To Hanks on Graham Bensinger’s podcast, the actor recalled the talk he had with the director: “He said, ‘Well, this production is going to cost X amount of dollars.’ And it wasn’t cheap. And I said, ‘Okay.’” The plan was simple. They put up the money and Paramount returned the favor with a higher percentage of the profits. The studio was delighted to accept because if the film was a failure what they lost was not their money. Maximum commitment to the film. Financing the popular scene of the bearded Gump running from coast to coast was not the only time Hanks had to dig deep during filming. The budget was so tight that during filming, the weather prevented them from obtaining insurance coverage for certain days, and Paramount refused to assume this new additional expense. Hanks and Zemeckis once again put money out of their own pockets to pay the insurance and not stop filming. In the same interviewHanks recalled that, given the financial obstacles that the studio was placing on him, Zemeckis asked him “to be my collaborator, not just my employee.” “It’s a good deal. Let’s do it,” the actor responded. In this way, both became partners who would cover the gaps that the studio did not cover, with the condition of recovering their investment with increasing percentages of box office revenues. The bet paid for itself.. Forrest Gump was released in July 1994 and, from the first weekend, it swept the box office. It grossed more than $677 million worldwide, with more than $330 million in the United States alone according to Fox Business data. It also won six Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Hanks. Thanks to his percentage of gross income agreement, Hanks earned an estimated figure in 65 million of dollars. Almost ten times more than the salary he signed when he accepted the project. According to the holderl Celebrity Net Worththe actor’s current fortune is estimated at about $400 million. Not bad for a gamble that started with a scene that the studio refused to pay for. In Xataka | “The best movie ever made” according to Tom Hanks is this classic that, curiously, never appears on the lists Image | Paramount Pictures

China has just launched three giant carbon fiber lines: bad news for the US and Japan

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China has taken a new step in its race to dominate the advanced materials sector. And the state giant CNBM (China National Building Material Group) has launched three new high-performance carbon fiber production lines at its Lianyungang plant in Jiangsu province, operated by its subsidiary Zhongfu Shenying Carbon Fiber. The new facilities cover the three main categories of the material (general use, high resistance and high modulus) and add to the advances that the country has been announcing in recent months in this field. Why is it important. High-performance carbon fiber has been around for decades being a strategic material controlled by very few actors. Japan and the United States have historically dominated its production, and for years China has had restricted access to the most advanced variants through international export control agreements. With these three lines, Beijing reinforces its capacity to produce at home a material that is key for sectors such as aeronautics, energy, robotics or consumer electronics. In detail. The three lines put into operation are, according to has reported the Chinese state agency Xinhua, the largest in the world in their respective categories. The first is a high-capacity line for 5,000 tons per year, which uses the subsidiary’s own spinning technology and whose material is mainly used for wind energy and electric vehicles. The second, with a capacity for 1,000 tons per year, produces T1100 grade fiber, designed for aerospace applications that require very light structures with high load capacity. And the third, of 600 tons per year, manufactures SYM40 grade high modulus fiber, aimed at precision applications in the seabed, deep mining, space or competitive sports equipment, according to they collect from Global Times. A relevant fact about this announcement is that, depending on the mediumthe new lines have achieved a localization rate of more than 95% in their main equipment. That is, almost all of the machinery used to manufacture the fiber is domestically manufactured, which confirms that China not only produces the material, but also much of the technology necessary to do so on a large scale. The context. This announcement comes in the midst of a technological pulse with the United States and Japan. According to South China Morning PostWashington and Tokyo have recently tightened controls on the export of equipment and technology to manufacture high-strength carbon fiber, precisely to make it difficult for Chinese companies to produce it. Ma Jie, an analyst at Guoyuan Securities, explained in a report that these restrictions have pushed the Chinese industry to pursue technological self-sufficiency and control its entire supply chain, and recalled that the sector has gone from basic T300 fiber to today reaching standards that are among the most advanced in the world. Furthermore, just as we counted A few months ago, CNBM had presented at the JEC World fair in Paris the world’s first mass production of T1200 fiber, the strongest variant of the scale, with more than 8 gigapascals of tensile strength. Added to this news, at the beginning of June, was the announcement by Shanghai Petrochemical, a subsidiary of Sinopec, about the large-scale production of T1000 fiber using its own process. Supply. Zhou Yuxian, president of CNBM, pointed out Xinhua that these new lines help solve two structural problems in the sector: the shortage of high-end carbon fiber products and the lack of a complete offer that covers all categories of the material. The manager added that the production “will reinforce the security and resilience of the Chinese supply of strategic materials.” It is worth remembering that, until now, the world market has been dominated by a handful of manufacturers. Three Japanese companies (Toray Industries, Teijin and Mitsubishi Chemical) together controlled just over half of the global market in 2025, according to a report from Nikkei Asia. The American Hexcel is another of the major players in the sector, especially in the aerospace and military fields. morenda. China’s push for carbon fiber responds to a demand that continues to grow. And according tothe report According to Guoyuan Securities, global demand for carbon fiber exceeded 220,000 tons in 2025, with a growth of 43.8% compared to the previous year, while in China this growth was even higher, 57%, driven by the manufacturing of the C919 commercial aircraft, humanoid robots and low-altitude vehicles. Cover image | CGTN In Xataka | “It’s not cheating, it’s engineering”: this is how China avoids 2,000 ASML patents with a laser trick

The United Kingdom has found energy gold with geothermal energy

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If there’s one thing Cornwall is known for (apart from the surprising boom of romantic TV movies tabletop) is due to its long mining tradition. Now, the Cornish industry is reinventing itself with a revolutionary deep geothermal project that, in addition to joining the national grid and generating energy for 10,000 homes English, is also capable of extracting lithium by taking advantage of this same geothermal resource. A pioneer plant. Last February it was launched in the town of Redruth in Cornwall the first geothermal power station in the United Kingdom with the hottest and deepest well in the country. It is about the United Downs projectfrom the energy company Geothermal Engineering Ltd (GEL), an innovative initiative whose objective is to generate electricity and heat using hot granite rocks among the abundant underground resources hidden in this English county. As GEL CEO Ryan Law told The Guardian, “It’s like someone built a huge nuclear power plant underground“We are simply taking advantage of the heat that is generated.” Clean energy 24/7. Furthermore, this plant, like all geothermal plants, has the potential to provide constant electricity and heat from a minimal land area compared to other renewable installations. According to data on the company websitea project of this type can produce 5 MW with only a carbon footprint of between 5 and 15 g of CO2 per kW. But this is not just about energy.. In addition to supplying energy, this plant will also be able to extract high concentrations of lithium from the mineral-rich water it uses. And, curiously, as The Guardian explains, during the process the heat of the used water drops to 50º C, a perfect temperature to be able to separate it from this resource that today is highly sought after for electric vehicle batteries and renewable energy storage. This method is called direct extraction of lithium and it is a physicochemical process that avoids evaporation ponds or open pit miningsignificantly reducing the environmental impact of conventional extraction. Therefore, we would be facing a revolutionary technology that would boost United Kingdom towards a greener and more sustainable horizon (and, of course, less dependent on imports). And how does it work? The geothermal is a renewable energy that takes advantage of the heat that the Earth produces naturally. As the GEL company itself explains, whether through volcanic environments or natural faults under the ground, Geothermal plants access these high temperature areas through drilling of different lengths that create natural hot water wells. On the one hand, the production well pumps that resource to the surface, where the pressurized steam that is created drives a turbine that is used to generate electricity, just like nuclear energy doesbut without the risks or residues of this. It is at this moment when the temperature of the water allows the extraction of lithium. On the other hand, a second injection well, somewhat shallower, is responsible for returning the water already used to the fault and reintroducing it into the geothermal reservoir so that it can be used again and the cycle can begin again, as GEL points out on its website. The rest of the world (and Spain) also looks underground. In a context as fluctuating as the current one, in which enclaves such as Europe seeks its energy independencegeothermal energy with lithium extraction is a more than interesting option for the world. Some countries are already following in the UK’s footsteps, as shown by the UK’s geothermal lithium projects. Vulcan Energy Resources in Germany and Eramet and Strasbourg Electricity in France, classified as strategic by the European Union. However, in our country we will have to wait. In places like the old mining town of Villasrubias in Salamanca or the deposit in the rural area of ​​Cañaveral in Cáceres, managed by the company Lithium Iberiaa high presence of this is hidden white goldbut the extraction projects contemplate conventional mining. Furthermore, although Spain has some geothermal resources, especially in the Canary Islandsfor now there is no project that combines this renewable energy with the direct extraction of lithium. Therefore, it remains to be seen if geothermal lithium plants like the one in Cornwall manage to demonstrate their viability and become a reference for our energy model to advance in this direction. Nothing new under the Cornish sun. For this small coastal county, the mineral extraction industry, especially tin and copperhas been an indisputable part of its identity for centuries. After the decline of its mining, which came to dominate the world market in the 19th century, today companies like GEL are reactivating the sector in the area thanks to the global demand for such elements. crucial in the energy transition like lithium. “People here are proud of their mining tradition,” Greg Foxwell, a member of Gwennap parish council, near Redruth, told The Guardian. According to data accessed by the British newspaper, so far the Cornish geothermal plant has created 100 jobs, including engineers, chemists and geologists, and has hired suppliers, contractors and raw materials, betting especially on local talent and resources. Image | GEL Xataka | The Earth has been providing heat for millions of years and now Google wants it for something very different from heating

savings of up to 1,146 euros in the pre-purchase of the new Galaxy Z Fold, Galaxy Z Flip and Galaxy Watch

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Yesterday’s Unpacked revealed the five new Samsung devices. We have three folding watches (one of them has a new format) and two watches that, although they arrive in stores during the first days of August, we can already pre-purchase in the official samsung store. We tell you how to get them with a total saving of up to 1,146 euros. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links The Galaxy Z Fold8 launches a new format In this new generation of foldable devices, Samsung has three phones. There are two old acquaintances (although one has a new last name Ultra) who join the Galaxy Z Fold8Samsung’s first foldable with a format similar to that of a passport. Galaxy Z Fold8 We’re just starting with this foldable, a device that has a 7.6-inch screen unfolded, a dual 50-megapixel rear camera and the best Android processor there is to date, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. With pre-purchase in the Samsung store, we can save up to 1,146 euros on our purchase. Let’s see the different promotional layers that we can apply one by one: The phone starts at 1,999 euros (for its 256 GB version). With Delivery and Premierewe will receive a direct discount of 100 euros. To this, we must add what we obtain for the valuation of our old mobile, which can reach up to 896 euros (we will obtain this as a refund). Paying with PayPal or Samsung Pay, we will obtain another direct discount of 150 euros. If we use the discount code ‘SAMSUNG5‘, we will get a 5% discount. And with the code ‘CHARGER’ we will receive a gift charger. Adding all the above, the price of this device with 256 GB would remain at 1,661.55 euros (1,851.55 euros and 2,231.55 euros for its 512 GB and 1 TB versions, respectively). At this price, we would also have to subtract the reimbursement we receive later for handing over our old cell phone. Additional note: if you choose one of the exclusive colors from the Samsung store and also use the code ‘GIFTCASE’ you will get a gift case. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra Now we move on to Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultrathe first Samsung phone to use a silicon-carbon battery. A device whose interior screen extends up to 8 inches with 3,000 nits of maximum brightness (and a hinge that is barely noticeable), the same Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and a camera system that, in this case, incorporates three rear cameras. Let’s go with the discounts: The phone starts at 2,199 euros (for its 256 GB version). As with the previous one, we will receive a direct discount of 100 euros with Delivery and Release. In addition, a subsequent refund of up to 896 euros (depending on the valuation of the device we deliver). Paying with PayPal or Samsung Pay, direct discount of 150 euros. If we use the discount code ‘SAMSUNG5‘, we will get a 5% discount. All together, leave the pre-purchase of this device in 1,851.55, euros for its 256 GB version. As with the Z Fold8, we can use the code ‘CHARGER’ for the gift charger and ‘GIFTCASE’ to obtain a gift case in the exclusive colors on the Samsung website. The price of the other versions is as follows: The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Galaxy Z Flip8 Samsung’s most economical foldable is once again one more generation Galaxy Z Flip8. It is ideal if you are looking for a handy and light phone, since it barely weighs 180 grams. Its interior screen reaches 6.9 inches and the exterior, 4.1 inches, can be used for a lot of functions. In this case, we can save up to 616 euros: The device is part of the 1,299 euros for its 256 GB version (the 512 GB version is priced at 1,499 euros). The discounts are a little different here. With Delivery and Release, we will receive a direct discount of 50 euros. The refund for the old device can be up to 466 euros. Paying with PayPal or Samsung Pay, the discount is 100 euros. Additionally, we will receive a direct 5% discount if we use the code ‘SAMSUNG5’. All together, leaves the price of the device at 1,091.55 euros and 1,281.55 euros for its 256 and 512 GB versions, respectively. As with the previous ones, we can use the same coupons to get a charger and gift case for its exclusive colors. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links The new Galaxy Watch also have a discount In addition to the three new foldables, Samsung yesterday presented two different watches: The Galaxy Watch9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra2. let’s see how to pre-purchase them with the biggest possible discount. Galaxy Watch9 The Galaxy Watch9 arrives with a new Qualcomm processor and is more focused on day-to-day life. Comes in two different sizes (40 and 44 millimeters) and, each of them, in Bluetooth and Bluetooth+LTE versions. The device is part of the 409 euros and this is the way to pre-purchase it cheaper: With Delivery and Release, we will have a direct discount of 30 euros and a refund of up to 110 euros. By choosing PayPal as a payment method, we will receive another discount of 50 euros. Additionally, we can also use the code ‘SAMSUNG5‘ to get an extra 5% discount. With all this together, we can get this new Samsung watch from 312.55 euros. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Galaxy Watch Ultra2 And finally, we have the new Galaxy Watch Ultra2. Samsung has refined the formula of its previous Ultra using the same Qualcomm processor that the previous model has, but with a screen with a brutal maximum brightness of 5,000 nits and the largest battery it has used in its watches so far (800 mAh). The device costs 749 euros and these are the … Read more

The EU has just fined Google 890 million for the DMA. The figure weighs less than a paragraph almost hidden in the statement

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The European Commission announced this Thursday two fines for a total of 890 million euros to Google for violating the Digital Markets Regulation (DMA). There are 460 million for self-preference in Google Search and 430 million for blocking Google Play developers who want to offer payment alternatives outside the store. It is the first firm sanction against Google under the DMA. Arrives less than a week after the 550 million to AliExpress under the Digital Services Lawthe sister standard that monitors the sale of products on platforms. In detail. The two breaches point to the core of Google’s business. In Searchplaces its own services (Shopping, Hotels, Flights, sports results…) at the top of the page, with rich visual formats, its own filters and graphic elements that rivals cannot replicate. External comparators, such as Idealo, Trivago or Skyscanner, appear below and in a simple list format. In Playdevelopers could not freely link to their own websites or alternative stores to complete the purchase. And when they did, Google continued to charge a commission on those external transactions for a period that the Commission considers “excessive.” The Commission gives Google 60 days to correct both practices. If you do not do so, you are exposed to periodic penalty payments of up to 5% of your daily worldwide turnover. Between the lines. The figure is impressive but is relative if we consider that Alphabet had a turnover of more than $350 billion in 2025 and the DMA allows sanctions of up to 10% of global turnover. That is to say, the 890 million are a lot of money but they are far from the legal ceiling: the penalty could have reached 35,000 million. The most important paragraph is almost hidden in the Commission’s statement: Google has submitted proposals on “how it plans to apply the decision’s principles to summaries and AI mode.” That is, the AI Overviews that already appear on the classic results also have to be subject to the rules of the DMA. There the technical complexity skyrockets because a LLM that synthesizes information from dozens of sources does not separate its own services from those of others with the same cleanliness. The context. Google has already accumulated almost 10 billion euros in European fines since 2017. The difference with the old sanctions is one of method. Those were antitrust: They came after years of investigation and punished already consolidated practices. The DMA operates in reverse. Establish ex ante rules for gatekeepers or designated “gatekeepers” (Alphabet has been since September 2023) and sanctions continued non-compliance. The Commission no longer disputes whether Google is dominant. Part of it is. Yes, but. Kent Walker, president of Global Affairs of Google, has reacted harshly. It has said that complying with the DMA will force the company to “remove real-time search features that Europeans appreciate” and “dismantle security protections on Google Play.” “It is not fair competition, it is a worsening of the product driven by a small group of complainants with particular interests,” he added. The Commission itself acknowledges, however, that Google has made considerable progress during the investigation. It has started testing changes to the presentation of Shopping, Hotels and Flights, and the regulator is examining them. The fine punishes already completed non-compliance. The real negotiation is about what’s next. And now what. Three open fronts: Google can appeal to the General Court of the EU. Given the track record, it likely will. These resources take years. This month, without going any further, the 2018 fine has been settled. Eight years. The technical adaptation in Search and Play will have to be verified. Rivals have been complaining for a decade that Google’s solutions are more cosmetic than anything else and that its dominant position remains intact after each round. The dialogue on AI Mode remains open. This is where how the search for the future is regulated is decided, and where the Commission has fewer precedents to rely on. The next round is not about ten blue links under a search bar. In Xataka | The worst news for Google is not that the EU forces it to open Android to ChatGPT: it is sharing its training data Featured image | Xataka

China wants the world to pay for lithium at its price. And it’s not that easy

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China has taken a definitive step towards the internationalization of its raw materials markets: this month has opened foreign investors its lithium futures contract on the Guangzhou Futures Exchange (GFEX). This measure comes after similar openings in iron ore and oil, and is part of the Chinese Government’s ambition to strengthen your influence on global prices of raw materials and expand the international use of the renminbi (RMB). Futures are contracts that set today the price at which a commodity will be bought or sold at a future date, regardless of what its market price is at that moment. This contract is not an anecdotal movement. In the last year, the GFEX has traded 120 million lots of lithium carbonate, an essential material in lithium-iron-phosphate batteries (LFP) that equip a good part of current electric vehicles. China processes around 60% of the world’s lithium and it is by far the largest battery market on the planet. In this context, its physical weight in the supply chain is undeniable. However, converting that industrial weight into real financial power is much more complicated. Chinese capital controls mean that the vast majority of futures trading, despite its enormous liquidity, is domestic in nature. It is primarily domestic speculators and not global commercial participants who set these prices. A recurring speculative fever Volatility is the first obstacle. Last year the closure of a CATL mine was enough to unleash a real speculative fever in the GFEX contract. In fact, on July 6, 2025, the daily volume fell to 174,787 lots, just 35% of the annual average, an example of how quickly interest deflates once the initial frenzy passes. This stock exchange has had to intervene on several occasions to stop similar episodes. In July 2025 he imposed a daily limit of 3,000 lots in new positions for those who were not members of a futures society. In November he went further: he tightened commissions and position limits, and prices plummeted immediately. The clearest precedent dates back to 2016, when Chinese retail money poured so heavily into steel rod futures that the volume traded in a single day exceeded the negotiated total on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. China opened its crude oil contract on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange using this same rhetoric in 2018 Another important note: adding to this regulatory volatility is the problem of financial plumbing. Foreign operators can now deposit margins in dollars, but with a 5% discountso only $95 out of every $100 counts as collateral. All trading and settlement is still done in RMB, and repatriating those profits is not easy. China opened its crude oil contract in the Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE, for its acronym in English) using this same rhetoric in 2018. And although achieved considerable foreign participationcompanies still have to simultaneously manage price risk, RMB/USD exchange rate risk and capital repatriation risk; three exposures that on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) or the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) would be reduced to one. The result is that as long as these futures remain subject to political intervention and capital controls, they will predictably continue to function as an essential reference for the market, but not as the authentic benchmark against which the rest of the world can manage its risk. Image | freepik More information | Volt Insight In Xataka | ASML has had an exclusive monopoly on the very complex photolithography machines for years. China is close to breaking it

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