accounts

comply with Brussels and save your accounts

by

It is the first electric manufactured entirely in Spainbut the arrival of the Cupra Raval goes beyond a product launch: it is the key piece for the firm to balance its accounts with Brussels, with Volkswagen and, ultimately, with the market. Why it matters. Cupra closed 2025 with an operating profit of just one million euros and negative margins of 0.6%, according to they count from The Economist. The main culprit was the 250 million in tariffs that the European Union imposed on the Cupra Tavascan because it is made in China. Added to this are the million-dollar investments committed to the Martorell plant. For this reason, the Raval is not just a new car: it is the rescue plan. Commitments. The Volkswagen Group has allocated around 10,000 million euros to the manufacture of a new family of electric vehicles in Spain, of which 3,000 million go directly to the Martorell plant. There the Cupra Raval and the Volkswagen ID. Polein addition to other Skoda and Audi models based on the same platform. The factory, with capacity for 300,000 units of this electric family per year, will operate at “maximum load”, according to Markus Haupt himselfCEO of Seat and Cupra, during the presentation of the model. Sales target. Haupt has put a figure on success: 40,000 units of the Raval in 2026. These sales should contribute to electrified vehicles represent 25% of the brand’s totala necessary threshold to comply with the CO2 emissions regulation required by the European Union. Without this percentage, Cupra is exposed to fines that would further aggravate an already tight financial situation. The goal of Volkswagen. The group demands Seat and Cupra an operating margin of 6% on sales for 2030. It is an optimistic figure, because if we review its history, the company has never reached it in its entire history. In fact, its best data is from 2024with a margin of 3.7%. To get there, the company has launched an efficiency plan that includes the elimination of 30% of senior management positions, although Haupt has pointed out which does not foresee any further staff adjustments beyond those already agreed upon. What stands out about the car. The Raval is presented with four versions in Spain. The entry level, simply called Raval, starts at 26,000 euros before aid, with a range of about 300 km, although for this we will have to wait until September. One step above we have the Dynamic version, with 210 HP and a 54 kWh battery, which reaches 444 km of autonomy and has a starting price of 32,065 euros. Then we have Dynamic Plus and the VZ Extreme, the latter with 226 HP and 384 km of autonomy, which starts at 40,265 euros. Dimensions, a sales argument. At 4.04 meters long and with a 442-litre trunk, the Raval surpasses its direct rivals such as the Renault 5which measures 3.92 meters and offers 277 liters of cargo. And here Cupra is not only looking to compete on price or autonomy, it is also betting everything on offering the cabin and capacity of a higher segment car within the body of an urban car. Rivals who set the bar. Vehicles such as the Renault 5, the KIA EV3 or the BYD Dolphin Surf They feature some of the best-selling B-segment electric cars in Spain. In terms of price and autonomy, it has difficult rivals to beat, so it makes perfect sense that Cupra also wanted to add the practicality factor as a differentiating element. We will have to wait to find out how Cupra fares after this decision. China. Haupt has acknowledged that Chinese manufacturers are on the company’s radar, although has defended that the Raval represents, in his own words, “a very strong response” to them. On the other hand, from Volkswagen, its CEO Oliver Blume has gone further with its motto “made in Europe for Europe”. Blume does not intend to resort to protectionism with his words, but he has clarified that Chinese manufacturers be required to produce on the continent instead of limiting themselves to exporting. The CEO reiterated also during the launch that the commitment to Spain and this model is “one of the largest investments” in the history of the group. We’ll see how the play goes. Cover image | CUPRA In Xataka | “We have no chance”: after visiting a Chinese factory, the CEO of Honda loudly admitted the noise of the industry

Meta just launched managed accounts for tweens

by

WhatsApp is part of the daily lives of millions of people and, in many homes, also part of family communication. The company itself has been presenting it for some time as a common tool to talk to parents, notify that someone has arrived home or coordinate day-to-day activities. However, The platform establishes that its use is intended for people over 13 years of age.. Now Meta has decided introduce a new modality designed precisely for that terrain. The novelty. What was announced by Meta consists of introducing a new type of account within WhatsApp designed for preteens. Instead of creating a conventional profile, the minor uses an account managed by a parent or guardian that is linked to that of the adult from the moment of configuration. This allows the person responsible to monitor certain aspects of app usage, such as who can send messages, which group invitations can be accepted, or what privacy settings apply to the account. A more limited experience from the beginning. The managed account does not replicate all the usual WhatsApp functions, but rather reduces the service to the essentials. In this format, the preteen can use the application to send messages or make calls, but some of the tools that the platform has incorporated in recent years are excluded. Among them are channels, the possibility of sharing location or integration with Meta AI. The adult is in control. As we say, these managed accounts not only limit functions, they also change who makes certain decisions within the application. Once the minor’s account is linked to that of the father, mother or guardian, that person begins to manage various aspects of the use of WhatsApp. You can decide which contacts are authorized to communicate with the account, which group invitations can be accepted, and review message requests from unknown numbers. Additionally, privacy settings are protected by a parental PIN, meaning only the responsible adult can access and modify them. privacy. Although managed accounts introduce new controls for adults, WhatsApp ensures that the platform’s privacy system remains intact. Messages and calls remain protected by end-to-end encryption, so only people participating in the conversation can access their content. Step by step activation. To launch one of these managed accounts, the process begins on the child’s phone and also requires the parent or guardian’s device. WhatsApp also indicates that both devices must have the most recent version of the application and that the person managing the account must be over 18 years of age. The adult must download WhatsApp to the preteen’s phone and choose the option to create a managed account during the setup process. Download WhatsApp on the minor’s mobile Choose the option to create an account managed by a parent or guardian Register and verify the minor’s phone number Enter date of birth and confirm age Scan the QR code with the adult’s mobile phone to link the accounts Verify that the adult is of legal age Create a six-digit parental PIN to protect settings Finish setup on the child’s device The Spanish context adds another layer. In Spain, the debate about minors’ access to certain digital platforms has been ongoing for some time. At the beginning of 2026, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, announced the intention to ban access to social networks for minors under 16 years of age as part of a future regulation aimed at reinforcing digital protection at those ages. In this framework, platforms such as TikTok, Instagram or YouTube appear in the debate, while WhatsApp would be left out as it is considered a messaging service and not a social network. The new function seems designed to respond to a familiar use of messaging that the company itself assumes exists. Instead of ignoring it, Meta proposes a model in which this access occurs with more limits and with the direct supervision of a responsible adult. The result is a more limited version of WhatsApp, focused on basic communication and with additional controls over contacts, groups and privacy settings. In this way, the company tries to fit the use of the application by preteens within a more controlled environment. AvailabilityWhatsApp has only confirmed that these accounts will begin to roll out gradually in the coming months. That calendar leaves open an important question in regions like the European Union. In the European Region, On April 11, 2024, the company lowered the minimum age of use from 16 to 13 years to harmonize it with the rest of the world. However, the sources consulted do not yet detail how this new modality administered for minors below that threshold will be articulated in Europe or what scope it will actually have in those markets. Images | WhatsApp In Xataka | You’ve been ‘user84721’ for years. A study just showed that AI can know who you are in minutes

Collapsing fiber prices in Spain has turned out very well for Digi. And still the accounts don’t work out

by

Digi continues with its unstoppable pace until it aspires to become in the third Spanish operator. What might have sounded utopian not so many years ago is getting closer to becoming a reality. The new milestone for the Romanian operator is in its volume of fixed broadband clients. For the first time, they have surpassed Vodafone. The numbers. According to Expansion dataat the end of 2025 Digi has achieved a historic result. For the first time, it has reached Vodafone Spain in volume of fixed broadband customers (mainly fiber). Not only were the data spectacular in terms of volume, Digi attracted almost twelve times more users than Vodafone throughout the year. A difference in acquisition that shows the sustained growth of the Romanian operator. Far from the giants. Both Telefónica and the MásOrange group remain unbeatable, doubling the numbers of Digi and Vodafone in Spain. Despite this, Digi has become the third operator by clients in the residential market, since within Vodafone’s figures there is a significant weight of corporate business. Digi’s strategy. Prices, prices and prices. Digi’s strategy is to offer a quality service at the lowest possible price. And this works. Your Trojan horse is cheap fiberalong with mobile lines at a very reasonable price. A low cost strategy that has led it to be the absolute king in portability, something that has led its competition to sink their prices with fees aimed at directly fighting Digi. Yes, but. Despite its fantastic numbers in customer volume and portability, Digi reported 33 million in losses in 2025. The aggressive pricing strategy together with a large investment means that the operator’s profitability remains negative. Despite this, it is expected that in 2026 Digi will study big plans, like going public. Meanwhile, investment in fiber deployment, network leasing and infrastructure will continue to make it difficult to make enough money while preserving current prices. Image | Digi In Xataka | Digi wants to become one of the largest teleoperators in Spain. And that is why it has gone from 4,000 to 10,000 workers.

Many people hide behind anonymous accounts thinking that no one can discover them. AI has bad news for them

by

Accounts without a profile photo or real name plague social networks; perhaps even you, who read these lines, are the owner of one. We do not judge, there are many reasons not to show your face on networks and, in fact, anonymity is the pillar on which the internet has been built. However, if you thought that calling yourself ‘user84721’ and having a landscape photo protected you, researchers have just shown that accounts can be deanonymized in minutes with AI (of course). The study. A team of researchers has published a study called “Large-scale deanonymization online with large language models” which is echoed Guardian. In it, they demonstrate how an LLM-based agent is able to compromise anonymous social media accounts with astonishing efficiency. The process consists of three steps: the LLM extracts identifying data (age, location, interests…), looks for possible matches in other users and finally reasons which are the best candidates, verifying the matches and eliminating false positives. Minutes. This is how long it took to identify users on sites like Reddit, Hacker News, and Anthropic Interviewer Dataset participants with this method. In the image you can see how, based on a few pieces of information such as where the student studies, the approximate age, the city and the name of the dog, they achieve a match with the user’s real profile. This is a fictitious case, but in the experiment they managed to identify real users by cross-referencing information with Linkedin profiles and other platforms. According to the researchers, LLMs allow for large-scale deanonymization of accounts, far exceeding the speed and efficiency of classical methods. They also highlight that there is not always enough information to reach a match, so everything depends on the online footprint of each user. Consequences. Researchers warn that this use of AI could be used for problematic purposes, such as governments that want to identify activists or cybercriminals seeking to launch highly personalized attacks. In addition, it must be taken into account that the system is not infallible and there may be false positives. Speaking to The Guardian, Peter Bentley, professor of computer science at UCL, warns that “People are going to be accused of things they haven’t done.” The end of anonymity. As we said at the beginning, the Internet has been built on the anonymity of its users, but we are experiencing a regulatory shift that pursues precisely put an end to it. We see it with the ban on social networks or the blocking of pornographic websites for minors promoted by countries such as United Kingdom, Australia, Denmark and now also Spain. These initiatives require the identification of users to be able to access certain content through video selfies, electronic ID, verification systems with AI… There are many options, What is not clear is its effectiveness. Image | Own preparation on a background of Google DeepMind In Xataka | There was no need to invent a “pajaport”, Google already includes it in Android. The real challenge is in Europe

Delays and cancellations are putting a hole in Renfe’s accounts. So he’s going to start his own bus company.

by

Renfe Viajeros… by bus. That has been one of the usual trends in recent months, with the company plagued by incidents that have prevented it from providing the service normally. The situation has been so complicated that, it is estimated, the impact of alternative services exceeds 10 million euros each year. The solution: create your own bus network. And Renfe is already looking for a partner. Looking for a partner. The information is brought The Countrywhere it is stated that Renfe is looking for a partner to start its own bus company. The idea would be very simple: Renfe would control 49% of the company and 51% would fall on the side of the collaborator. According to the newspaper, the proposal has already passed the board of directors of Renfe and Renfe Viajeros. Now, therefore, it remains to carry out the tender so that those companies that are interested in offering support to Renfe can sign up. The initial idea would be to have dozens of buses (between 50 and 100, according to the newspaper) to provide service in specific contexts. In Xataka We have contacted Renfe but when we wrote these lines we have not received a response. Because? Because Renfe is spending money on offering an alternative on wheels to its customers. When an incident interrupts the service, Renfe has to have a alternative road transport system. Right now, he has to pay an outside company, renting the buses and related expenses, such as staff. Having its own fleet would entail an expense of around 60 million euros, according to the initial accounts that have been raised. However, the newspaper points out that there are savings of between 90 and 130 million after a decade. That is, each year on average you would be saving about 10 million euros or a slightly higher figure. From the media they collect that the model used will be that of “negotiated procedure with advertising”. This means that Renfe will receive proposals but will be able to negotiate the conditions with the companies that have a more solvent offer. It is an exceptional procedure in the public procurement system. Exceptional situation. The premise, therefore, is to have a fixed fleet of buses and drivers, without having to subcontract and pay others to perform exceptional road services. Until now, the company has to search the market for drivers and buses that are available when a line is cut due to an unforeseen event. In recent years, the problem has been especially serious for the company. The DANA of Valenciathe fires in Galicia and León and the recent cutting of the southern corridor as consequence of the Adamuz accident in Córdoba has forced Renfe to maintain active service with buses for weeks. What does Renfe expect? Attract companies that have been seeing their business contract. And since The Country They point out that Renfe believes that there is more than enough business to keep the contracted buses active for at least 10 years. In fact, the contract would be for a decade, extendable to another five years, and they say that demand peaks could multiply current ones by nine. The movement could be interesting for bus companies because, right now, There are route tenders that are half dead and in which work is done with very low demand. Some of these companies would find a new outlet for their vehicles with each Renfe breakdown or incident in the infrastructure. In addition, it must be taken into account that the impact on the accounts may be greater when the incident (such as those described above) is not scheduled because forces Renfe to enter a market with few drivers and with companies that know the urgency of the company. Forced. It must be taken into account that a good part of Renfe’s business continues to be public. Therefore, you have the obligation to provide an alternative service when incidents occur on high speed but also if, for example, there are incidents on Cercanías or Rodalies. Any improvement in facilities that requires the interruption of rail traffic is replaced with buses. Photo | Pablo Nieto Abad and Fabio Romano In Xataka | Spain thought that Spain could manufacture the perfect trains for Spain. The reality: Spain is already looking for trains in Germany

two different versions, millions of accounts in check and one good idea

by

If you’ve received a message from Instagram asking you to reset your password in the last few days, you’re not the only one. A quick look to Reddit or social networks like X/Twitter evidence that it is something quite common at the beginning of 2026. In fact, there are those who assures have received these messages on several occasions this week, including a few times a day. what has happened. Numerous Instagram users have detected unusual activity related to mass password reset requests. More specifically, they were receiving password reset emails that looked legitimate without having requested it first. Two versions that explain it. Following that massive request and speculation, on January 9, the antivirus software company Malwarebytes made public a data leak. Just a few hours ago, Instagram pronounced. The versions of each one: According to Malwarebytes, a group of cybercriminals “stole sensitive information from 17.5 million Instagram accounts, including usernames, physical addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and more.” It is not mere scraping, but an authentic doxing kit found on a popular cybercrime forum. From here, there were two options: either we were facing an automated brute force attack where legitimate “I forgot my password” emails were generated and, within the chaos, a malicious email was sent so that you click on a false link. Or that Meta had executed a defensive Instagram reset of those accounts it considers compromised. According to Instagram, they have fixed an issue that “allowed a third party to request password reset emails for some people. There was no breach of our systems and your Instagram accounts are secure.” He closed the explanation with an apology for the inconvenience. Tap to go to the post Why is it important. Instagram minimizes the impact of this incident by calling it a “software problem” and not a systems breach since technically, if they did not enter their servers, they do not consider it a hack. In any case, this alleged data leak contains usernames, real names, physical addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses. The level of risk is high insofar as this exposure of confidential personal information is of such caliber that it breaks the barrier between the digital and the physical. Exposing who you are online also jeopardizes real-world security. The reports detail that parts of that database are being marketed on the black market, sorting them into batches based on countries and numbers of followers. That is, prioritizing high-profile accounts such as influencers or business accounts. What should you do now. To begin with, under no circumstances touch on the links that appear in the emails, no matter how real they may seem. From here: Change Instagram password from the app, in ‘Settings and activity’ > ‘Account Center’ > ‘Password and security’ > ‘Change password’. Use a long, robust and unique one. Configure the Two-Step Authentication that you will find in the ‘Password and Security’ section of the app, following the previous route. Better avoid the SMS option. Likewise, it is advisable to log out on all devices and, in case you have received several messages, check if the emails are truly from Instagram through the ‘Emails from Instagram’ option in the settings. If you detect any, delete them. In Xataka | “You can’t trust your eyes to know what’s real anymore.” Instagram CEO announces that the feed is dead In Xataka | Instagram has wreaked havoc on tourism in half the world. AI has arrived to multiply it by a thousand Cover | Solen Feyissa and Gemini

Ukraine’s biggest problem is not Russia. There are three European countries trapped in a perverse mechanism: type C accounts

by

Europe faces a decision that goes far beyond an accounting discussion and that defines its strategic credibility: what to do with the more than 210,000 million of euros of Russian assets frozen since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine. The problem is twofold, because it is not just about figures, but about what comes after activating the operation. The European crossroads. Yes, because the question is not only whether that money should be used to support kyiv at a critical moment, but whether the European Union is capable to take the risks political, legal and economic implications of doing so. As Washington presses for a quick exit to the conflict and reduces its financial support, Brussels finds itself caught between the urgency of avoiding a Ukrainian defeat and the fear of unleashing a russian retaliation that directly hits several of its Member States. Putin clearly. Statements this week by Vladimir Putinloaded with contempt for European elites and confidence in a protracted war, are not simple rhetoric. Moscow makes it clear that it is not contemplating real concessions and that it considers the use of its frozen assets as theft that demands a response. That response would not be symbolic, but surgical: selective seizures, accelerated nationalizations, endless litigation and the use of the Russian financial system as a weapon. The message, a priori, is unequivocal: if Europe crosses the line, Russia will not only punish Ukraine on the battlefield, but also European countries that still have exposed economic interests within their territory. The real blockage. I remembered this morning the financial times he crux of the whole situation. Although the debate is presented as a struggle between hawks and cautions, the real blockage comes from a handful of countries specific, with Belgium, Italy and Austria at the head. It is not a question of ideology, but of direct vulnerability. Belgium hosts Euroclear, the warehouse that guards most of the frozen Russian assets, and fears becoming the first target of retaliation judicial and economic. Italy and Austria, for their part, maintain banks and companies with billions trapped in Russia, benefits included, which they cannot repatriate. For these countries, authorizing the use of Russian money is not an abstract foreign policy decision, but rather an immediate risk to their financial and corporate systems. Type C accounts: the ace of Moscow. At the center of this fear are the calls type C accountsthe mechanism created by Moscow to withhold dividends, interest and assets from Western companies. That money, formally owned by European and American companies, is under Russian control and can be frozen, redistributed or directly transferred to the state budget with a simple decree. For the Kremlin, these accounts are a retaliation tool fast and effective, far superior in agility to slow Western judicial processes. For Europe, they are an invisible chain that binds entire governments when making strategic decisions, because any false step can translate into lost billions and internal political crises. Germany pushes, Europe hesitates. Germany has become the main political engine of the plan to use Russian assets, convinced that without that money there is no realistic way to support Ukraine for another two years without skyrocketing the European debt or depending on impossible unanimity. Berlin insists that the risk must be shared among everyone and that failure to act would send a devastating sign: Europe is not capable of defending its own security. However, this logic collides with the reality of countries that feel that the risk is not distributed, but rather concentrated in their national balance sheetsits banks and its courts. A (bad) peace as a threat. This financial blockade occurs in an even more disturbing context: European fear to an imposed peace on terms favorable to Russia. For many capitals, an agreement that consolidates Moscow’s territorial gains would not only leave Ukraine defenseless, but would force Europe to prepare for a scenario direct confrontation in the medium term, with longer borders, a strengthened Russian army and a weakened European deterrent. In this framework, the frozen Russian money stops being a tactical lever and becomes a strategic investment: either it is used now to support Ukraine, or it is paid for later in the form of massive rearmament and risk of war. The final dilemma. In short, the European Union has frozen Russian assets to prevent them from returning to Moscow without reparations, but now it must decide whether it dares to give the next step. Without that money, Ukraine could run out of liquidity in a matter of months, losing all negotiating power and forcing a deal from weakness. With him, Europe is exposed to reprisals, litigation and immediate economic losses, concentrated in a few countries that are currently holding back the decision. The crossroads are clear: assume the political and financial cost now, or accept that the fear of type C accounts determine European security policy. Not only the future of Ukraine is at stake in that election, but also Europe’s ability to act as a coherent geopolitical actor when your own interests are at risk. Image | RawPixel In Xataka | A missile has been bombarding Ukraine’s defenses for weeks. What no one could imagine is that he is not Russian: he is from the West In Xataka | A day later the satellites leave no doubt: Russia fortified a bridge, and a Ukrainian drone made science fiction a reality

Spain adds eight more billionaires in 2025. A single fortune accounts for six out of every ten euros: Amancio Ortega, of course

by

Before the arrival Christmas lottery and change the luck of some people, the latest report ‘Billionaire Ambitions 2025’ from UBS, reveals that Spain is experiencing a new leap in the elite of great fortunes, with more billionaires than a year ago. But that’s not all, since the report indicates that not only has the number of billionaires increased, but the volume of existing assets has also grown. That is, richer than they are richer. The rest of us mortals only hope to be healthy after the Lottery draw. Spain wins “ultra-rich.” He UBS report points out that in Spain there are already 32 people with assets exceeding 1,000 million dollars. This represents a net increase of eight new ultra-rich in the last year since the same 2024 report recorded 27 assets over one billion in Spain. UBS calculates that, together, these 32 great fortunes reach 213.1 billion dollars, equivalent to about 182.6 billion euros, as calculated Forbes. …and they are getting richer. This equity volume represents a growth of 21.5% compared to the previous year, an increase that UBS links to the good performance of some of the main businessmen in the country and to the greatest concentration of assets in the hands of a few families. According to these same sources, Spanish billionaires have added around 11.6 billion dollars (about 9.94 billion euros) to the national wealth in the last year, reinforcing the weight of this small group in the economy. Six out of every ten euros in the hands of Amancio Ortega. Within this new photo of the new ultra-rich in Spain that UBS has left, the weight of the enormous concentration of wealth in a single person has not gone unnoticed: Amancio Ortega, founder of Inditex. The UBS report indicates that the Ortega’s heritage It has remained at average levels of $124.1 billion during the last two quarters of 2025, after having increased its fortune by about $21 billion in just one year. This increase marks Ortega as the owner of approximately 58.2% of all the combined wealth of Spanish billionaires. That is, about six out of every ten euros of that group are concentrated in their personal fortune. The solidity of Pontegadea and the “great success” of Inditex. The strong increase in Ortega’s assets in 2025 is explained, to a large extent, by the strength of investments of Pontegadea, already converted into one of the real estate most solvent in Europeand by the behavior of Inditex on the stock market. In fact, Ortega’s textile empire has recently experienced one of the days most bullish of the yearin which each share of the company rose by around 8.9%, closing with a revaluation of 8.86%. This surge in the stock market has directly impacted the wealth of Ortega, who controls 59.294% of the capital of Inditex, causing the valuation of his fortune to skyrocket by $16,100 to the current $140.2 billion. assigns Forbes on your list. In Xataka | Amancio Ortega has collected dividends at Inditex: he has bought Amazon’s headquarters in Canada and has money left over Image | Unsplash (Igal Ness)GTRES

OpenAI and Google deny that they are going to put ads in ChatGPT and Gemini. The reality is that accounts do not come only with subscriptions

by

What AI has a profitability problem It is something well known. All you have to do is look at the OpenAI accounts, which in the last consolidated quarter lost a whopping $11.5 billion. The subscriptions were presented as a way to monetize chatbotsbut ChatGPT barely has 5% of the total users on one of your payment plans. The numbers do not come out and, although companies deny it, the shadow of advertising hangs over AI. what’s happening. Rumors that some very popular chatbots are integrating ads are intensifying in recent days. First they began to circulate alleged screenshots of an ad on ChatGPT and later a media specialized in advertising claimed that Gemini will have announcements in 2026. Companies deny it. Google has been quick to deny the information, ensuring that Gemini has no ads and “there are currently no plans in place to change it.” What stands out above all is that “currently”, which continues to leave the door open to include advertising in the future. For its part, OpenAI has come out to deny it ensuring that what appeared in that screenshot “was either not real or it was not an advertisement.” What was seen was a suggestion to connect the account of Target, the popular American hypermarket chain. When the river sounds… Despite the forcefulness in denying it, a few days ago we learned that OpenAI is preparing the ground to include advertising in ChatGPT. ChatGPT beta version for Android includes explicit references to an ad feature and tags like “content bazaar” and “ad carousel.” Additionally, the company is hiring experts in advertising platformsso the appearance of ads is not a question of “if”, but of “when.” In the case of Google, we haven’t seen any screenshots or traces in the code, so there isn’t that sense of imminence. However, there are rumors that there will be announcements in AI summaries and taking into account that advertising is the company’s main business, it does not sound crazy that they end up integrating ads into their chatbot. Investment vs return. The imbalance between what technology companies are spending on AI with what they are earning is totally unbalanced. Big tech companies like Google are increasing their revenue, but It is not thanks to AI, but to its cloud services. In the case of OpenAI, without an infrastructure to minimize the impact, the disconnection between expenses and income is brutal. Subscriptions are not enough. AI has managed to penetrate the general public and, according to the consulting firm Menlo Venturesalready has 1.8 billion users around the world. The problem is that only 3% pay any type of subscription. OpenAI currently has 5% paying users and expects that by 2030 the figure will increase to 8.5%. It is still not enough to achieve the desired profitability. According to a study by JP Morgan, For the AI ​​industry to achieve a 10% return on everything they have spent, it would take $650 billion a year, which is the same as saying that 1.4 billion people pay more than $400 each year to use AI. They may succeed, but for now ads seem like a faster way to generate income. Image | Generated with Gemini In Xataka | AI has become the best example that if you don’t pay for the product, you are the product

OpenAI is going to have to pay a fortune in credit obligations in 2026. Today the accounts do not work out

by

In recent months, OpenAI has signed agreements worth more than $1.4 trillion in infrastructure—data centers—that will be built in the next 8-10 years. The problem is that to do this they will have to face gigantic credit obligations that will require billions of dollars in 2026, and it is not at all clear how they will be able to face those payments. bad business. Your current income structure certainly does not support such debt. Sam Altman indicated in X They expect to end the year with more than $20 billion in annualized revenue. Even so, they will continue to be in (very) red numbers, although they also promise that by 2030 they will enter “hundreds of billions of dollars“The accounts do not come out, and that makes it virtually impossible to meet all credit commitments without resorting to extraordinary forms of financing, refinancing or… Rescue. Last week there was already talk about how both NVIDIA and OpenAI had dropped the possibility that papa state had to rescue them in case of a debacle. Sam Altman himself clarified shortly after that “we don’t have or want government guarantees (…) and taxpayers should not bail out companies that make bad business decisions.” He does not want a rescue, but he does talk about agreements with the government. Although Altman clarified that he was not seeking government bailouts, he did make it clear that there is a debate about a strategy to face these loans: “The only area in which we have discussed loan guarantees is in the framework of supporting the construction of semiconductor factories in the United States (…) Of course, this is different from governments guaranteeing the construction of data centers for private purposes.” It seems impossible for them to get out of this. As analyst Ed Zitron explains in your newsletterOpenAI needs $400 billion over the next 12 months to meet those credit obligations. Not only that: for him OpenAI’s plans to build chips with Broadcom and fill a 1 GW data center or create similar data centers with AMD chips Instinct or with the Vera Rubin from NVIDIA “There is not enough time to build these data centers. And if there was enough time, there would not be enough money. And if there was enough money, there would not be enough (electrical) transformers, electrical grade steel or specialized talent to supply the electricity for these data centers.” That’s all a gigantic house of cards. Possible strategies. OpenAI increasingly depends on debt issues and strategic investors, but also on those circular financing agreements it has reached with several companies. SoftBank, which already invested in OpenAI, could expand its bet, especially now that it has just sold completely all its participation in NVIDIA. Although the sale has obtained almost $6 billion, the figure is still insufficient even if it is invested in OpenAI. And of course OpenAI could achieve explosive revenue growth, but it is far from clear that it will achieve such growth in the short term. The other solution: slow down. OpenAI’s excessive ambition makes everything surrounding its agreements and proposals absolutely enormous, and that also affects its credit obligations. Adopting a slightly less risky strategy and setting more feasible deadlines could reduce the financial stress to which the company is subject… but it would also raise doubts about the growth promises that Altman and his people have made for years. Going public? Another option for OpenAI is to go public now that it has managed to complete the restructuring and has become in a for-profit organization under the umbrella, of course, of the OpenAI Foundation. In recent days there was talk about how this option would allow the company get a billion dollar valuationbut the analysts they doubt that something like this is going to happen in the short term… if it happens at all. And the bubble keeps growing. Analysts like Scott Galloway they explained recently that the valuations of companies like NVIDIA, Oracle or AMD are conditional on those “handshake” agreements with other companies like OpenAI. For him, these agreements have no substance: there is much ado about nothing. If the market ends up losing confidence, the consequences could be dire and the hypothetical bubble could burst. Source: Apollo Academy All eggs in one basket. Stock market concentration does not help. Torsten Sloj, chief economist at Apollo Global Management, has been talking for some time about the dangerous concentration of the S&P 500 index in 2025. A few days ago published a graph in which it showed the returns of various assets in the last five years, and there is a clear conclusion: while “the Magnificent Seven” have grown exceptionally, the rest have barely done so. Image | Steve Juvetson In Xataka | There is a race in which Anthropic is winning over OpenAI: that of being profitable

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.