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The most profitable action of the AI ​​revolution in Spain is not a software company. It is a construction company

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We know Florentino Pérez ample by hire galactics and for his business successes, but a priori we would not easily relate him to the rise of AI. And by not doing so we would make a serious mistake, because the manager managed to see before anyone else that this was a huge opportunity… and he is taking advantage of it almost without us realizing it. what has happened. ACS is a construction company that doesn’t seem particularly fascinating. You lay bricks, asphalt and cement, but in 2025 the data tells a fascinating story. The company obtained a net profit of 950 million euros, 15% more than the previous year, and the engine of that growth was its American subsidiary, Turnerwhose contribution to the group’s results grew by 66.6% to 549 million euros. Turner doesn’t build flats or highways. Build data centers. And therein lies the crux of the matter. AI needs big construction companies. The transformation has not happened all at once. ACS has been betting on this niche for years with a simple but powerful thesis: AI requires enormous amounts of hardware, and that hardware needs equally huge buildings with cooling, energy and security. And ACS is dedicated to precisely that: to build large buildings. In Xataka Amazon is building an empire in Aragon: it has just paid 1.5 million to expand the electrical network to its fifth data center Florentino triumphs in the US. Turner arrived earlier and stronger. In 2025, ACS won several large-scale data center contracts, including the construction of a 902-megawatt center in Wisconsin as part of the Stargate program, and a stake in the $10 billion, one-megawatt Meta campus in Indiana. Those are conventional projects. They are cities whose inhabitants are servants for this new era of AI. Go for it all. As they point out in five daysdata centers generated more than 9 billion euros in sales during 2025, and ACS has already delivered more than 9 GW of capacity all over the world. That figure is extraordinary, especially considering that in all of Spain the installed capacity barely reaches 7 GW. The Spanish company that talks the least about AI has been silently one of its great beneficiaries for years. Very much in the style of Florentino Pérez, who usually maintains a relatively low profile and succeeds without making too much noise. Stocks on the rise. The market took a while to see it, but it has reacted forcefully. ACS shares have soared 115% in the last twelve months. Today they are close to 110 euros and mark historical highs while the construction sector advances (“only”) 20%. Group sales they reached 49,848 million euros, with the US and Canada contributing 63% of the total. ACS is in practice more of a North American technological infrastructure company than a Spanish construction company. It is listed on the Ibex and is chaired by one of the great football personalities, yes, but its current driving force is not here, but in the US and in the AI ​​fever. Build and Own. ACS is not limited to executing other people’s contracts: it also wants to be the owner of what it builds. In January 2026, the company completed an alliance with Global Infrastructure Partners, BlackRock subsidiaryto create a 50/50 joint venture to develop a global data center platform with an initial capacity of 1.7 GW. Already before had bought Dornanan Irish engineering company specialized in this type of infrastructure, for 436 million euros. ACS doesn’t just want to build AI data centers: it wants to own a piece of that infrastructure. The dollar as a great risk. One of the big problems with this project is the US currency. With more than 60% of its income in North America, each fall of the dollar against the euro is a setback for the Spanish multinational. The devaluation of the dollar is already greater than 10% after the last twelve months, and that has prevented Turner’s growth from being even greater. According to Renta 4 analysts, the “currency effect” subtracted more than five percentage points from the growth of net profit. And investors warn. Analysts themselves consider that the AI ​​market has already discounted a good part of future growth. At Bloomberg, the consensus is to maintain the stock with an average target price of 88 euros, which would imply a fall of 20% compared to current levels. This is what usually happens with good economic stories: when everyone knows them, they are no longer an opportunity. But at ACS they are optimistic. Although experts are cautious, at ACS they expect that spending on infrastructure quadruples from now to 2034. In fact, they expect that the benefits of 2026 will go even further than those of 2025 and exceed 1,000 million euros. If it achieves this, Florentino’s company will have completed one of the quietest and most profitable industrial transformations in the recent history of our country. {“videoId”:”x86aas4″,”autoplay”:false,”title”:”60% of the INTERNET passes through HERE: This is the LARGEST Data Processing Center in SPAIN”, “tag”:””, “duration”:”266″} Turner is ahead. According to Data Center MagazineTurner accumulated a backlog – a portfolio of confirmed orders – of $39 billion as of August 2025. It is the dominant construction company in this segment globally, although of course it has direct competitors such as DPR Construction, Holder, Skanska or AECOM. However, none have achieved the same concentration of contracts with the hyperscalers (Meta, Amazon and Microsoft). Turner has been building its reputation as a builder of this type of facility for more than a decade, and it is very difficult to replicate that advantage quickly. The irony of ACS and Spain. There is a geographical paradox in this success story: Spain and Europe have years debating on digital sovereignty, technological dependence and the need to build own infrastructure for not to be left out of the AI ​​revolution. While this debate is taking place, the Spanish company that is most building this infrastructure is doing so almost exclusively outside of Spain. As … Read more

The fighters and bombers were a warning to Japan. Now China has taken action with a devastating veto: pandas

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The crisis between China and Japan has entered a deeper and symbolically harsher phase, marked by a clear transition from direct military pressure to political, cultural and emotional coercion. It all began after the statements of the Japanese Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, stating that a Chinese attack against Taiwan would mean an existential threat for Japan, a phrase that Beijing interpreted as the prelude to a possible Japanese military involvement in a conflict on the island. From warning to punishment. Since those words, China has raised the pulse with a calculated combination of demonstrations of force and indirect retaliation: J-15 fighters illuminating Japanese aircraft with radar from the Liaoning aircraft carrier, joint flights of strategic bombers Chinese and Russians near the Japanese archipelago and a diplomatic campaign that seeks to isolate Tokyo by remembering the Japanese imperial past and its role in World War II. Heaven as a message. The aerial maneuvers They are not isolated incidents, but carefully choreographed messages. The passage of the Liaoning south of Okinawa, the radar jams and the flights of nuclear-capable bombers over the Sea of ​​Japan and the East China Sea are part of a pattern of intimidation that seeks highlight two ideas: that China is willing to escalate and that Japan cannot count on an automatic response from the United States. Washington, focused on stabilizing its relationship with Beijing and ambiguous about its degree of involvement in a crisis over Taiwan, has left Tokyo in an uncomfortable position. Only after the Chinese-Russian flights came a joint response with American B-52 bombers and Japanese fighters, a sign of deterrence that does not clear up the underlying uncertainty and confirms that the regional balance has become more fragile. The pressure changes. But the most revealing turn in Chinese strategy comes when the confrontation has left the strictly military level and has filtered into everyday life. Beijing has urged its citizens to avoid Japan, discouraged Chinese students from enrolling in Japanese universities, cut flights and dropped organized tourism. Added to this is a waterfall of cultural cancellations: concerts suspended, screenings canceled and shows held in empty pavilions following decisions by Chinese organizers. These are not improvised gestures, but a form of selective punishment that seeks to generate visible costs for Japan without crossing military thresholds, a warning addressed both to Tokyo and other countries tempted to express similar commitments to Taiwan. Panda diplomacy. In this context it takes on all its meaning. the withdrawal of the last giant pandas in Japan. Since the normalization of relations in 1972, pandas have been one of the more refined tools of Chinese soft power: iconic animals, formally on loan, that symbolize friendship, scientific cooperation and goodwill, but whose legal ownership always remains Chinese. Over the decades, Beijing has used its transfer, renewal or withdrawal as a political thermometerrewarding fluid relationships and freezing those that come into conflict. “Panda diplomacy” is not folklore, but a carefully designed form of strategic signaling, capable of conveying closeness or disapproval without the need for official communications. Tokyo is left without pandas. The decision to return to China to Xiao Xiao and Lei Leithe last two pandas at the Ueno Zoo, leaves Japan without any for the first time in more than half a century. Although formally it is presented as the expiration of an agreement and a logistical issue, the chosen moment and Beijing’s silence regarding any possibility of renewal make the march of the pandas in a political gesture impossible to ignore. In a city where these animals are a mass phenomenon and a cultural and economic asset, their departure functions as a tangible reminder who controls the symbols of the bilateral relationship. The expectation of hundreds of thousands of visitors saying goodbye to the pandas underlines the extent to which Chinese punishment has moved beyond the strategic level. to the emotional. A calculated climb. The sequence is revealing: first, military warningsafter, diplomatic pressureand finally, sanction cultural and symbolic. China thus displays a manual of gradual coercion that combines hard and soft force to shape the behavior of its neighbors. Japan, far from giving in, maintains its position on Taiwan supported by public opinion increasingly critical of Beijing, while assuming that the bilateral relationship has entered its lowest point since the Senkaku Islands crisis in 2012. The disturbing thing about the episode is not only the removal of some pandas wave concert cancellationbut the clarity with which China has demonstrated that it has multiple levers (military, economic, cultural and symbolic) to respond to any political challenge. And she is willing to use them all, progressively, when she considers that her red lines have been crossed. Image | Alert5, kumachii, Colegota In Xataka | Everything is going great between China and Japan, they are just pointing heavy weapons at each other In Xataka | China has drawn a very clear red line to Japan: being an ally of the United States is good, supporting Taiwan is bad.

The only Russian access gate to the ISS remains out of service. And that is forcing NASA to take action

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“We are taking a very serious risk; we have no technical reserves for platform number 31; There is only one position for Soyuz-2 launches (in Baikonur),” warned Dmitri Rogozin, then director general of Roscosmos, on January 25, 2022. That wake-up call went almost unnoticed, but today it takes on unexpected weight. What was then described as a structural vulnerability has become an immediate problem for Russia’s ability to reach low orbit. And, in turn, for the operational balance of the International Space Station. That reflection of 2022 seemed distant until the last takeoff from Baikonur showed that the lack of redundancy is no longer a hypothetical risk. Platform 31/6, from where manned missions and freighters take off to the ISS, was damaged after the launch of Soyuz MS-28 (Expedition 74). The ship docked without problems, but the ramp did not pass the test. From that moment on, the question stopped being technical and became operational: what does it mean for the only infrastructure configured for these missions to be out of service from one day to the next. What happened in Baikonur and how is Russian access to the ISS? The first images of the Baikonur complex after the launch showed that the incident had not been minor. The service platform located under the rocket, a mobile structure of about 20 tons used for access prior to takeoff, a fall appeared in the ramp pit. According to sources consulted by Ars Technica, everything indicates that it was not secured correctly and was ejected by the thrust of Soyuz-2. Roscosmos admitted damage to “several elements” of the complex, although without going into details. The visible magnitude of the impact suggests a more complex repair than the official message indicates. Condition of damaged platform in Baikonur, Kazakhstan Now, one of the least visible elements of the Russian program is the diversity of platforms from which the different Soyuz take off. However, only a subset of them meets the technical and orbital conditions to send crew or cargo to the ISS. That detail explains why the damage in Baikonur generates such an immediate impact on international planning. Current overview of the main ramps: Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Site 31/6 (Soyuz-2): ramp used for manned missions and Progress freighters. Currently not operational. Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Site 45 (Baiterek/Soyuz-5): future candidate, still in the testing phase and without certification for missions to the ISS. Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Gagarin’s Start: symbolic installation of the Soviet program, today deactivated and in the process of becoming a museum. Plesetsk, Russia: designed for high and polar orbits, it is not suitable for reaching the inclination of the ISS. Vostochny, Russia: in use for cargo missions, but not configured for crewed flights or missions to the ISS. The temporary paralysis of the Russian capacity to launch missions to the station affects a decisive element of the orbital ecosystem: the Progress freighters. These ships not only transport supplies for the Russian segment, but also provide the fuel necessary to periodically raise the orbit of the ISS and use their thrusters to assist in attitude control. Other ships, such as Dragon or Cygnus, have demonstrated ability to contribute in part to these tasksalthough they do not cover all uses of Progress. NASA’s response was not long in coming. According to internal planning cited by Ars Technica, lThe agency has advanced two Dragon cargo missions to ensure sufficient operating margin in the coming months. CRS-34, initially scheduled for June 2026, moves to May, and CRS-35 moves from November to August. One source describes these changes as a “direct result” of the Baikonur incident. The goal is simple: ensure that the station has supplies without depending on the uncertain schedule of upcoming Progress missions. Launch of Soyuz MS-28 from Baikonur on November 27, 2025 From the outside, the agency has insisted that the station maintains sufficient capacity for the maneuvers of reboot and attitude control and that no immediate impacts are expected. Everything seems to indicate that the rescheduling of the Dragon missions works as an additional cushion. Roscosmos claims to have of the necessary spare parts and maintains that the repairs will be completed “in the near future.” However, the official estimate contrasts with the valuations collected by the Russian newspaper Kommersant. In that publication, Aleksandr Khokhlov, a member of the St. Petersburg branch of the Russian Cosmonautics Federation, maintains that the repairs could be prolonged from half a year to more than a yeardepending on the actual extent of the damage. Added to this are the extreme temperatures in Kazakhstan in winter and the budgetary pressure derived from the war in Ukraine. What happened at Baikonur reminds us that the architecture of the station depends on both technical decisions and political priorities. NASA has already reinforced its operating margin and now the question is how Russia will respond to a setback that reveals the lack of redundancies in its infrastructure. The pace of repair and the willingness to sustain their participation will mark the stability of the program in the coming months. Ultimately, this episode anticipates the challenges of a stage in which the ISS requires more effort than is sometimes visible. Images | NASA (1, 2, 3) | Roscosmos In Xataka | We already know when the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS will be closest to Earth and what’s better: how to see it

Spain is a country extremely loyal to its local supermarkets. A chain wants to change that: Action

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He already competitive and highly contested sector of retail Spanish has become complicated with the emergence of a new actor, one whom some already present as a direct competitor of Mercadona or Aldi, although its approach is slightly different. Your name: actiona Dutch chain that is expanding strongly throughout Europe. So much so, in fact, that he boasts of having more than 3,000 stores spread across 13 countries and serve 20.2 million customers every week. And among those countries Spain is included. What exactly is Action? A chain of stores. So far nothing exceptional or out of the ordinary. What has made him stand out is his expansion ratesomething it has achieved largely due to its approach: an aggressive commitment to promotions, prices and an offer in continuous review. To start (and how you can check in your website) the company offers a wide catalog of items that includes everything from household items to stationery, electronics, toys, tools, parapharmacy, clothing or sports. What it differs from, for example, Mercadona (or most supermarkets) is in its power line. While Juan Roig’s firm pays more and more attention to already cooked food and ready to goAction is limited to snacks, cookies, candy, soft drinks and some packaged foods, such as instant noodles or protein bars. Nothing fresh. No butcher or fruit shop sections. Is it their only difference? Its main bet is prices, a discount policy that leads it to launch weekly promotions with products under €15. The company gives it so much importance that it presents itself as “a chain of discount stores for non-food products” and assures that the majority of its products (two thirds) can be purchased for less than two euros. It is nothing exceptional, but it is an effective formula that has allowed other companies to grow before, like Temu. Action ensures that it always has 1,500 products for one euro and renews its catalog with 150 new items every week. And does it work for you? It seems so. At least if we look at your history and figures. Although the company is young (it opened its first store in Enkhuizen, Netherlands, in 1993) it has managed to spread throughout Europe to add more than 3,000 stores in 13 countries. Your last balance shows that its net sales in the first half of the year reached 7.3 billion euros, 17.9% more than in 2024. Regarding commercial expansion, during the same period it opened 125 new stores that now receive, on average, around 20.2 million customers every week. Its main markets are France and Germany, where this year it opened its 600th store. Its presence is also notable in Poland, with around 400 premises. In general, its progression over the last 20 years has been more than notable: in 2003 the chain added 100 storesin 2008 they were already double, in 2014 it added half a thousand and in 2022 it exceeded the 2,000 barrier. This year it has already celebrated a new brand (3,000 stores), with the jump to the Romanian and Swiss markets. And in Spain? The chain debuted in Spain in 2022 and two years later it advanced its peninsular expansion with your first store in Portugal. Here the pioneer was an establishment in Girona, although during its inauguration those responsible for the company already announced that they would continue advancing with a view to the rest of Spain. In fact, during the Girona premiere, Monique Groeneveld, director of the firm, already clarified that in a matter of “weeks” more stores would open in the rest of Catalonia. The passing of the years has confirmed that he was not just talking. Today Action has almost 90 stores spread throughout much of the Spanish geography and a notable footprint in the Community of Madrid, Catalonia, Murcia and the Valencian Community. At the beginning of summer, when it had 74 stores, its workforce already exceeded 1,400 people. Recently its expansion throughout the Spanish geography was expanded with new stores in Royal City, Gijón, Baena and Tárrega. Since June, this vast commercial network has also been completed with its first distribution center in the country, the sixteenth in Europe. A facility of around 59,000 square meters (m2) located in Illescas, in the province of Toledo, designed to supply 210 stores throughout Spain and Portugal. Are they all advantages? No. Although the Dutch chain shares part of the strategy of other firms that have achieved a wide presence in Spain, as a commitment to low costaggressive pricing policy, promotions and own brandswill not have an easy time beating other large chains. Its offer is not comparable to that of Mercadona, Aldi or Lidl (especially due to the differences in food), but Spanish retail is already highly contested and has giants such as Roig’s firm, which has a share of almost 30%. The Spanish customer has also demonstrated notable loyalty towards regional firms. Images | Action and Google Maps In Xataka | For Juan Roig, the key to Mercadona’s future is very simple: “Salaries above the sector average”

Europe has decided to take action against Moscow’s hybrid war. So Germany has started hunting for Russian drones

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Which started as a succession of technical incidents and contradictory testimonies did not take long to shake the governments of the old continent, mobilizing ships and planes, and forcing Berlin to rewrite the rules about when and how something floating above our heads can be knocked down. On that invisible chessboard there was a question that everyone avoided answering: who really presses the button that launches these devices, and for what purpose? Now, Germany and the rest of Europe seem to agree. The invisible front. we have been counting. Europe has entered an unprecedented phase of aerial vulnerability. In just a few months, a wave of incursions by unidentified drones (some over airports, industrial plants and strategic centers) has forced the closure of airspace, diverting flights and putting on alert to the forces navies of several countries. In Germany, air traffic disruptions have been multiplied by 33% in a single year, and what began as a succession of isolated incidents has become a continental phenomenon that many attribute to a hybrid offensive orchestrated by Russia. And more. These raids, without constituting a formal act of war, are part of a destabilization strategy broader that combines cyberattacks, sabotage and technological intimidation to gauge NATO’s reaction and test European response capacity without crossing the threshold of direct confrontation. Germany changes doctrine. Until recently, German authorities were limited to detecting drones, without being able to intervene on them. However, the magnitude of the raids (which forced even at closing of Munich airport and left thousands of passengers stranded) has forced a legal change of enormous significance. The Government of Friedrich Merz has approved a bill authorizing the federal police to shoot down drones that violate German airspace or represent an immediate danger, using everything from kinetic shots to laser weapons and electronic jamming systems. It is not a trivial topic. It is about the first modification of the police law since 1994, and its parliamentary approval will place Germany at the level from France, the United Kingdom, Lithuania and Romaniacountries that already allow the active neutralization of unmanned aircraft. The Executive has also announced the creation of a national anti-drone unit that will be in charge of neutralizing low-altitude devices, while those with greater power will remain under military jurisdiction. Between safety and climbing. The approval of this law reflects a dilemma that crosses all of Europe: how to respond to Russian hybrid aggression without provoking an escalation of war. Chancellor Merz himself has acknowledged that many of the intercepted aircraft appear to be carrying out reconnaissance flights, without weapons, but with clear strategic intentions. At the same time, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has underlined that operations in urban environments must be governed by the principle of proportionality to avoid collateral damage. Fear that a misidentification could lead to a diplomatic or military incident keeps security forces on edge. a constant balance between firmness and prudence. Meanwhile, Germany modernizes its defense with systems such as the Rheinmetall Skyrangerdesigned to neutralize swarms of drones in the middle of a hybrid war, and strengthens its coordination with NATO in the face of the risk that the technological frontier will also become a political frontier. The risk of the “gray zone”. Recent incidents in Poland, Estonia and Romania (where Russian drones and MiG-31 fighters have violated allied airspace) have prompted NATO to review its rules of engagement. Countries bordering Russia, backed by France and the United Kingdom, have proposed more aggressive measures: allow pilots to open fire without visual confirmation, arm surveillance drones and carry out military exercises on the same border line. Although some allies advocate containment to avoid a direct clash with a nuclear power, others maintain that the only effective deterrence is the visible action. Washington has pushed to relax response rules and even has suggested that the Alliance should “shoot Russian planes” that enter its airspace. In other words, the debate has revealed the tension between European caution and the American desire to regain the initiative against Moscow, in a context in which the war in Ukraine and Russian aerial provocations threaten to overflow the limits of conventional war. Europe and the air shield. The idea we count recently. While NATO refines its protocols, the European Union is trying to strengthen its autonomous capacity against hybrid attacks. The president of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has proposed lifting that “drone wall”a network of sensors, radars and weapons that protects the eastern flank of the continent. Brussels is also preparing sanctions and restrictions to the movement of Russian diplomats suspected of directing sabotage operations, while allocating community funds to finance anti-drone systems in airports, ports and power plants. The initiative seeks not only to reinforce physical security, but also to respond politically to the Russian attempt to sow division within the EU. “Russia wants to divide us; we must respond with unity,” has warned von der Leyen, stressing that defense against gray war cannot be limited to reacting, but must focus on active deterrence. Europe in transformation. The drone challenge has forced Europe to recognize that 21st century war is not fought only with tanks and missiles, but also with algorithmsautonomous swarms and information saturation. The German law authorizes the demolition of unmanned aircraft, military coordination of NATO on the eastern flank and the new European strategy air defense They are part of the same response: that of a continent that adapts to an enemy that does not always show itself. In the diffuse space of the hybrid warwhere a civilian drone can become a strategic weapon and a cyber attack an act of war, the border between peace and conflict has become more blurred than ever. Germany, the industrial and political epicenter of the old continent, seems to have understood that security is no longer measured in battles, but in reaction seconds. And as the Ukraine war redefines the global balance of power, Europe rehearses its own defensive revival: a forced transition from pacifism to pragmatism, in which each downed … Read more

They do them for them and companies are taking action

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The remote work interviews They have become fertile terrain for candidates to use AI as a cheat assistant and simply read the answers that the assistant facilitates in real time. A survey of the interview simulation portal with AI interviewing.io It points to the fact that 81% of the interviewers suspect that candidates use AI During their interviews, while 31 % have already confirmed it. The dilemma: traps or tools? One of the most striking cases of use of AI in the Cluelystartup founded by two Columbia student to solve technical interviews with the help of An undetectable For the interviewer. After discovering the deception, the University suspended it for “academic dishonesty.” However, the approach of the two students He opened a debate: Is it a trap to use a calculator or spelling corrector of the text editor or are they tools that everyone uses in their usual work? Increasingly hard interviews. To respond to these practices of candidates who hide the use of AI attendees during their interviews, companies have hardened the processes. As the analyst and engineer points out Gergely Orosz In one of the entries from your newslettersome companies are already changing the content of the interviews so that they are more open and require a logical route and not simply remain in the copy and paste of the Training questions that appear on platforms Training as Leetcode. Orosz stressed that the interviewers of large companies as a goal, are already obliged to indicate whether there are suspicions that the candidate is cheating at any point in the selection process, not only in technical tests. Thus, interviews are less vulnerable to the use of AI. According to statements From a finish line, “we demand the candidates to share their entire screen and deactivate all the background filters (including the blur) in most interviews” to reduce the possibility of external support. According to collected India TodayAmazon has already made it clear that “the use of unauthorized during interviews can lead to immediate disqualification” of the hiring process. Prohibit interviews. The dilemma facing technological press to use them In all possible processes. While some companies prohibit the use of AI In their interviews, others explore otherwise. According The published by Business InsiderGoal is allowing to use AI assistants in some of their work interviews. According to the company, “candidates can use AI tools in the same way that engineers do in their day to day.” What do you know how to do with AI? In that same line, other companies such as Canva move, which Incentives use of AI tools in their interviews to assess the skills of the candidates in this area. As stated, Farhan Thawar, Shopify engineering manager at A recent interviewin the selection processes of their department they let the candidates use what they want. “I love it. Because what happens now is that Ia sometimes generates pure garbage. When the candidate uses an AI assistant, I like to see the code generated. I ask them: What do you think? Is it a good code? Isn’t it a good code? Is there any problem?” That approach puts the AI ​​in the place that will occupy in its real position, since one of the tasks of the candidate It will be to check code generated by Ia. The return of the face -to -face. On the other hand, given the increase in fraud, some companies are recovering face -to -face interviews. Great technology such as Google, Cisco and McKinsey have reintroduced at least A face -to -face round. According to a Gartner report72.4 % of those responsible for selection are already applying it to reduce fraud In work interviews since face -to -face interviews allow you to verify the immediate reasoning, communication and reaction skills of the candidates. “Teleworking and advances in artificial intelligence have facilitated more than ever the infiltration of false candidates in the hiring process,” declared to Computerworld Scott McGuckin, Vice President of Acquisition of Global Talent of Cisco In Xataka | “I am very perfectionist”: the answer that recruiters no longer want to hear in work interviews Image | Pexels (Edmond Dantès)

How to use Gemini to convert a photo into an ultra realistic action doll with Nanobanana

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Let’s explain How to turn a photo In a Bandai -style action figure, with its box and everything. You will be able to do this with the Gemini image editorand it will be an almost exact reproduction of the character that appears in the photo, whether a person, an animated character or even your pet. Gemini has a powerful photo editor for artificial intelligencewith which you can do many things. And although it focuses above all on being an alternative to Photoshop, you can also do creative things like this, and all this even with the free version. In this image, a box will also be accompanied with the character, and in the background you will see a computer. Turn your photo into a realistic figure To be able to create this type of image, you first need a photo that you have taken from the character from whom you want to create the image. Gemini will use that image as a reference, causing the doll to have the same posture and expression. It’s like making a photo dollthat is, you will have to choose well what you want. Then, you just have to upload the photo and write the following Prompt: Create a 1/7 scale marketed figure of the photo character, in a realistic style and environment. Place the figure on the table of a computer, using a transparent acrylic circular base without any text. On the computer screen, it shows the ZBrush modeling process of the figure, which must also have the same features in the photo. Next to the computer screen, place a bandal -style toy packaging printed with the original illustration, and with colors similar to those of the character. In the box you must put as name “(name)”. In very few seconds Gemini will create the image for you. The only thing you should worry about in this prompt is Change the name of the boxto add the one you want. You can also change what you want, such as the background computer or the box next to its colors. You can also do the same with drawings That you have dropped from the Internet, using the characters of your favorite anime or comics. The only limit is that Gemini does not allow doing so with photos of real people downloaded from the Internet. In Xataka Basics | Gemini Image Editor: 16 forms and tricks to squeeze Nano-Banana with Google’s artificial intelligence

For me listening to music was always something private. Spotify’s social functions invaded that shelter but I already took action

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The announcement that Spotify users We can send us direct messages It was an immediate reminder for me: the time had come to thoroughly review the privacy in the application. I have always been clear that what I hear and when I hear it belongs exclusively to my personal sphere. With that idea in mind, I decided to take action on the matter. I opened the app and went to Configuration and privacy > Privacy and social. There is the panel that marks what is shared and what is not, so I took the time to go calmly. Private session. It is Spotify’s unknowns Annual Wrapped. It expires automatically at six hours. I did not activate it because I decided to adjust the rest of the options permanently. Reproduction activity. Spotify can transmit your reproduction activity to your followers (which feeds the feed of friends on the desk). If you are listening to a certain song, your followers that are in the desktop app can see it almost in real time. I deactivated it. I do not need my listening from the minute by minute to be exposed. Recently heard artists. As I mentioned, your profile can show a “artists heard recently”. If you don’t want others to see what your last artists or genres were, you can deactivate that option. I prefer that this information does not appear, so I chose to disable it. Public lists vs. private lists. Something that at the time made me a little noise is that when you create a new playlist in Spotify, by default it will be public. This means that any user could access it if he finds the link, and will appear listed in your profile (if the privacy settings allow it). If a playlist contains songs that you prefer not to be visible, you can mark it as “make private”, which totally hides it: no one else can access, not even with the direct link. The private playlists only see them. Even so, there is a useful nuance: in the desktop version you can manually choose which concrete playlists you want to show in your profile. It is a way of maintaining fine control: all private by default, and I only highlight what I decide. Profile visibility. I deactivated followers and following that no one can see who I follow or who follow me. Less noise, less exposure. Messages in Spotify. It should be said that they are not yet active in Europe and that Spotify has begun a progressive deployment in other regions. On a personal level, the idea does not attract me too much: as I said at the beginning, my relationship with the application is that of a musical refuge, not that of a social network. As the company has advanced, the function will have its own privacy controls and can be completely deactivated, something that you will surely receive it. In any case, there will also be complementary measures, such as blocking unwanted users or rejecting message requests. As a complement, out of that menu I checked two more sections: I deactivated personalized advertising and removed the option to share data with Facebook. Thus I limit the crossing of information with third parties and I prevent my account from relating to a social network that I do not need to listen to music. The final experience does not change in the essential: I still search, choose and reproduce as always. What does change is my sense of control. My playlists are not published alone, my activity does not appear in the feed of others, my profile does not show recent artists or monitoring relationships. And if one day I need an extra layer, I know that private session is waiting there. Images | Xataka with Gemini 2.5 Flash | Screen capture In Xataka | Spotify is no longer a music player. It is a “audio netflix” who wants to devour your whole day

His bet is called KF-21, and is almost ready for real action

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The KF-21 has not been designed to impress Washington, or to compete with the F-35 in rankiness. It has been designed for something simpler and more ambitious at the same time: that South Korea does not depend on anyone when you need a combat plane. The country is called Boramae, Hugon Hunterand want it to be the axis of your Air defense until 2032. It is not just a new generation hunting: it is a symbol. And everything indicates that it will also be a notice for its neighbors. When South Korea wanted to access F-35 technologies to integrate them into their future hunt, he ran into a resounding negative. The United States rejected Transfer key systems such as Radar Aesa, the electrooptic aiming system (Eots), IRS and the radiofrequency disturbance of electronic warfare. That episode was decisive. Seoul assumed that, if I wanted to have control, I would have to build from scratch. Thus was born the KF-21. With him, Korea does not break with his western partners, but marks a clear line: there can be no real sovereignty if the most sensitive technology continues to depend on third parties. The South Korean jump towards autonomy in defense For Seoul, the KF-21 not only responds to a desire for industrial independence. It also responds to a strategic need. Tensions with North Korea are cyclical, but constant. China continues to rearm. And Japan already works with the United Kingdom and Italy at the GCAPthe future sixth generation hunting that should fly around 2035. South Korea does not want to be left behind. According to DAPA, the agency in charge of the projectthe KF-21 will first replace the F-4 and F-5, and then apart from the F-16. Having your own plane is defense, but also positioning. According to the governmentSouth Korea became the eighth country to get a supersonic hunt for its own development to carry out a test flight. The first prototype of the KF-21 was presented in April 2021. Three months later, On July 19, 2022, he first took off from the Sacheon base. Since then, the six planned prototypes are already flying and have exceeded milestones such as the first supersonic flight (January 2023) and the first real tests with meteor missiles (May 8, 2024) and Iris-T (May 17, 2024), according to Dapa and Diehl Defense. Deliveries to the Air Force will begin in 2026. One of the KF-21 keys is what it has inside. The aesa radar that equips is not imported: It has been developed in Korea by Hanwha Systems and the Defense Development Agency. The same goes for much of the plane, mission systems and sensors. The objective, According to Kaiis to reach a rate of 65% nationalization In serial production. The engine may not be yours yet, but what is seen in the cabin and radar is. Developing KF-21 has not been cheap. According to Dapa figuresthe initial development budget was set at 8.8 billion Wones, which is equivalent to about 5.4 billion euros. The cast was clear: 60% is contributed by the government, 20% KAI and local industrial partners, and the remaining 20% initially agreed with Indonesia. South Korea has opted for a gradual strategy, with blocking in blocks and a progressive nationalization of components. He does not seek to have everything from day one, but control each phase of the process. Indonesian participation has been one of the most unstable points of the program. Initially signed to finance 20% of development, But he stopped paying years later. After years of tension, In 2025 a new framework was agreed: Your contribution will be 600,000 million wones, about 415 million euros then. The agreement maintains some technological transfer and access to production for the Indonesian Air Force. South Korea will assume the rest. The project advances with or without them, but not without costs. The engine is today the main external dependence of the KF-21. Use General Electric F414, The same that propels F/A-18 Super HornetAssembled under license by Hanwha Aerospace in South Korea. Although that allows some logistics control, the supply is still tied to US authorizations. The South Korean industry already works in its own enginebut it is estimated that it will not be ready before the next decade. Meanwhile, any export plan of the KF-21 will continue to be subject to the ITAR regulations. It is the last piece that Korea still does not control. The KF-21 has been designed with export in mind. South Korea has already shown that you can sell light fighters such as FA-50. Now he wants to repeat the movement in a higher range. Philippines and Poland are among the possible KF-21 clients, And Egypt appears in the media radar, although without official confirmation. The only real limit is the American seal which still weighs on certain components, at least until there are motor and other components. Although the program advances according to the calendar, not everything is resolved. The first units that will be delivered from 2026 will only have Air-Aire capabilities. Air-Tierra weapons integration is scheduled for 2027, As confirmed by the Acquisition Programs Council. Nor are real operating costs, or their behavior in continued service. The South Korean Air Force will assume that risk in the first person. The KF-21 has demonstrated a lot in a short time, but the definitive test has not yet passed: that of daily use. It is not yet in service, but the KF-21 has already fulfilled part of its mission: to demonstrate that South Korea does not need to choose between being a client or staying out. It can be manufacturer. And it can be seriously. What comes later – exports, improvements, additional blocks – will depend on the operational result and the international context. But the key step has already occurred. Now it’s time to wait to know the results. Images | Korea Government/Ministry of Defense (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) | ANSHMAT | CC by 4.0 In Xataka | A group of countries is … Read more

Between franchises, action and superheroes Hollywood has found a surprising gold mine: horror movies

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14.4% of the American box office already belongs to horror movies. It is its historical maximum and a great leap from 9.8% of last year confirming what we already suspected: the damn genre has become an unexpected hero of Hollywood. ‘Weapons‘, the last success of director Zach Cregger, has debuted with $ 42.5 million collected and 100% critical approval in Rotten Tomatoes. The pattern is confirmed. Why is it important. The era of streaming has created the perfect conditions for this genre: Cheap productions, between 5 and 30 million compared to 200 of a Blockbuster. Viral by its very nature. Consumed in the intimacy of the home, where no one judges you for shouting (when they reach the platforms). Simple equation: Less investment, greater return. The contrast. In 2021, the best previous year for the genre, dominated the sequelae. ‘Halloween’, ‘A Quiet Place’. Now the original stories, new scares. Six horror films have exceeded 50 million worldwide this year. There are 29 horror launches scheduled for 2025. The average budget is a tenth of a Blockbuster traditional. Yes, but. The industry fears an early saturation. Variety I already talked in April of ‘Horror Glut’ (‘Terror Empacho’). The risk is to turn fear into routine and end up tireding the viewer too early. In perspective. Historically, terror is the Hollywood refuge genre in times of crisis. In the great depression it was when the classic monsters of Universal were born. In the seventies (Vietnam, Watergate), they arrived ‘The exorcist‘ and ‘The Matanza de Texas‘. There were also rebounds in Pandemia. Today, with the industry staggering between The strike hangoverthe change of model towards the streaming And the threat of AI, terror is the answer again. Cheap to produce, easy to sell, impossible to ignore. And now what. The generative AI can be the following revolution of the genre. Special effects at balance price, scripts generated by trained algorithms in our deepest fears. Terror, which has always been the most honest genre about the human condition, could be the first to hug the AI without complexes. Fear sells. He has always done it. But now, also saves balances. In Xataka | More ads for less money: the equation of success that Netflix has deciphered big Outstanding image | Warner Bros. Pictures

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