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A startup from Malaga is the most used European AI app in the world according to Andreessen Horowitz. It’s called Freepik

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The venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz has prepared its already traditional ranking with the world’s top 100 end-user AI applications. There are many predictable ones in the top positions, but we are surprised because among the top 15 is none other than freepikthe platform created by the Malaga startup of the same name. Freepik in the world top. On the list we have many usual suspects (and some not so usual) in the top positions, but one of the big surprises on the list It is the Freepik platformwhich is ranked number 11 and is the only representative of our country in that ranking. But besides that, it is the first of all Europeans included on the list. This specific list is made with the number of unique monthly visits as a criterion. USA dominates. In that list the dominance of apps from American companies is clear, and only the Chinese one DeepSeek sneaks into the top 10 list. Here ChatGPT dominates the ranking with Gemini and Canva completing the podium, but it is surprising to see the relevance of Grok, ahead of Claude. And Google shines with its own light. Within the list, the presence of Google is also notable, which has four tools on that list: Gemini (in number 2 on the list), Google AI Studio (10), Google Labs (25) and the splendid NotebookLM (30). Most of these apps come from the US. Graphic: Xataka with Gemini. Data: Andreessen Horowitz. China tightens. It may seem that China’s role here is less relevant than it should be, but it must be taken into account that many Chinese startups focus on platforms and applications for the Chinese market. Even so, there are clear protagonists such as Capcut and Doubao (ByteDance), Qwen and Quark (Alibaba), Kimi, Kling, Cutout and of course the aforementioned DeepSeek. Europe has its protagonists. Freepik is the clear standout on this list among the European AI applications, but there are others that stand out and manage to make it onto the list such as Photoroom (France), Turboscribe and Veed (United Kingdom), Remove.bg/Kalleido (Austria) and another standout, ElevenLabs (based in London). An evolution towards hybrid apps. As Andreessen Horowitz points out, three years ago the distinction between “native AI” products and traditional software was clear. Today that barrier has disappeared, since massive tools like CapCutCanva or Notion have integrated generative AI as the core of their experience and revenue engine. They have taken advantage of their inertia, they have adapted and they have won. In mobile apps the ranking changes, and a lot. The most popular AI mobile apps in the world based on their number of active users each month is very different. Here Freepik disappears from the list, for example, and it is China that totally dominates with 22 of the 50 apps (44%). The US has 13 apps on the list (26%), while Europe only has four (8%) and other countries share the other 11 (22%). Here China benefits from its huge user base, who also very frequently use AI applications for all types of functions. ByteDance is especially eye-catching and has five apps on the list (CapCut, Doubao, Cici, Hypic and Gauth). Divergence of approaches. In general, all apps try to build user loyalty through their ecosystems and try to integrate more and more things so that one does not leave them. However, there are important approaches among some such as ChatGPT, very oriented towards being a “super app” for mass consumption, and Claude, from Anthropic, which focuses on professional and technical users. AI wants to be almost invisible. AI is no longer a destination, a website to go to, but is becoming part of the experience, a function integrated into the application. Thus, it now resides directly in the browser, in development environments or in office suites. In Xataka | The war between Anthropic and the Pentagon points to something terrifying: a new “Oppenheimer Moment”

We have found the “switch” of cellular aging. The secret is called protein AP2A1

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Regenerative medicine has a very clear objective ahead today: to look for the ‘button’ that can stop aging and allow us live much longeror at least have a better quality of life when we reach certain ages. And here the Japanese have a lot to say with a discovery that gives us more clues about how to preserve our cells much better. A new study. Everything that has to do with living a little longer, the truth is that it causes a little stir in the scientific world, and the article published in January 2025 in the magazine Cellular Signaling it was no wonder. Here it was shown how a team of researchers from Osaka University managed to identify a protein that literally acts as a cellular senescence switch called AP2A1. Our cells. Just as aging can be seen aesthetically, our cells also age through a process of senescence. Upon entering this state, the cells stop dividing, but do not die, since they become larger, more rigid and adhere strongly to their environment. And here a team of scientists has discovered the exact mechanism that causes this. Here the study has pointed to a protein as the culprit: AP2A1. A molecule that acts as a kind of biological transport truck that moves another protein, called β1 integrin along the fibers of the cell. That is why, over time, this process strengthens cell adhesion, causing the cell to become rigid and “old.” The revolution. The important thing here is that if the function of AP2A1 is suppressed in old cells, the biological clock reverses. That is, the cells decrease in size, lose rigidity, drastically reduce the classic markers of aging and proliferate and migrate again. Basically, they rejuvenate themselves. Furthermore, it has also been seen that if this protein is overexpressed in young cells, the result is great aging that accelerates. Your potential. Here the scientific team has seen that AP2A1 is not only emerging as a great marker that measures a person’s aging, but also acts as a direct therapeutic target. That is why some specialized websites such as Fight Aging! already analyze how blocking AP2A1 prevents inflammatory signaling typical of senescent cells. In this way, if we manage to inhibit this protein in the future, we could develop “anti-senescence” agents capable of extending our healthy life expectancy and combating age-related diseases, such as osteoarthritis. A long way. For now, this is something that has been estimated in cellular models in a dish in a laboratory, but it still remains to be seen how it works in the human organism with all the factors that intervene on a cell that is not isolated. What is clear is that the discovery of AP2A1 is a spectacular milestone in cell biology. We have basically found the button that controls the size and youth of cells in the laboratory, but the next big challenge for science will be to find out if we can press that same button, safely, inside the human body. And for that, there are still many years of research left. Images | National Cancer Institute Huy Phan In Xataka | While half the world is worried about aging, one industry is rubbing its hands: the elevator industry

Between Tenerife and Gran Canaria hides an underwater volcano called ‘Enmedio’. The CSIC has just detected activity for the first time

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Under the waters of the Atlantic, about 80 kilometers southwest of Tenerife and Gran Canaria, hides a colossus that we often forget about. Is called ‘Enmedio’, a name that has quite a joke behind it, but which is nothing more than an underwater volcano with a base of 3.5 kilometers and whose summit is 1,625 meters deep. And although it has been there for a long time, now a scientific team has detected for the first time signs of hydrothermal activity in its depths. A decade. It has not happened overnight, since the team of geologists has spent almost ten years collecting multidisciplinary data driven mainly through the VULCANA project. And the results of the measurements made between 2015 and 2024 now have ended up published in the magazine Bulletin of Volcanology. Here, through oceanographic campaigns that combine high-resolution bathymetry, seismic and geochemistry, scientists they have managed to confirm what until now was only a suspicion: the volcano has an active circulatory system. What have they found? What the team has confirmed with all this information is that there is low-temperature hydrothermal activity at this location. In simple terms, we can now see that the volcano is releasing fluids through a series of fractures and a depression that is in your franc. Although this does not mean that it will erupt in the next few hours. In order to make estimates, it was decided to analyze the water in the vicinity of the volcano, and here the instruments recorded thermal anomalies of up to 0.5 ºC above normal. That is, the water around the volcano was hotter and was also loaded with nutrients such as ammonium or iron oxide, which causes biological alterations in the rocks in the area. There is no rash. Logically, when we read ‘volcanic activity’ and ‘Canary Islands’ in the same sentence, it is inevitable to think about volcanic eruptions such as that of Cumbre Vieja in La Palma, and even more so taking into account the recent earthquakes in the area. However, the CSIC has been quite categorical in this regard, pointing out that this detection does not indicate an imminent eruption and has no relationship with the recent seismic swarms recorded in the area around Teide. A paradise. In this way it is an endemic and latent process. In fact, these hydrothermal vents are excellent news for deep ocean biodiversity. To understand it, we can look back to see how the Tagoro volcano ended up fertilizing the post-eruptive marine ecosystem. Now, Enmedio’s fluids act as a chemical engine that influences the composition of the local ocean and feeds communities of microorganisms that thrive in the most extreme conditions of the seafloor. And although the Enmedio volcano is not a new discovery, this first evidence that it “breathes” marks a before and after in volcanic monitoring in Spain. It demonstrates that under water, more than a kilometer and a half deep, the Canary Islands continue to be an incomparable natural laboratory that, thanks to science, we are beginning to understand better than ever. Images | CSIC In Xataka | The last time Mount Fuji erupted was 318 years ago. The Japanese government has turned to AI in case it happens again

Stellantis has lost 22 billion euros with the electric car. Their hope to solve it is called Zaragoza

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Stellantis embarked on a path of rapid and aggressive transition to the electric car. Along the way, it merged models on the same platform, wanted to convert brands to zero emissions and lost the identity of some of them. The result is 20 billion euros of real and expected losses. Now, part of his future is at stake in Zaragoza with a Chinese car. Saragossa. The news was almost a not news because Stellantis, through the mouth of its CEO Automotive Newshad already confirmed that it would manufacture Leapmotor’s Chinese cars in Spain. By then, with a CATL factory in the middle of construction and already manufacturing Stellantis small electric cars, Zaragoza seemed the best placed city, ahead of Madrid and Vigo. Last week, Filosa himself reconfirmed what was already known but expanded the information with some nuances as stated in The Aragon Newspaper. The car will be manufactured in Zaragoza and will not be alone. And the company has awarded Spain the production of up to four completely electric Chinese models. It will, therefore, be the reconversion of Figueruelas. The Stellantis situation. Although the investments were already confirmed, the last presentation of results could have raised some doubts. Then Stellantis confirmed that the electric car would have a negative impact of 22,000 million euros in your accounts. This does not mean, exactly, that it loses that money, but it is the readjustment that amounts to the cancellation of two new factories, the compensatory payment to suppliers, the money invested in new developments and the money that will no longer enter the company’s coffers. All of this is a consequence of a project led by Carlos Tavares, former CEO of the company, which has failed. The Portuguese wanted to accompany the conversion to all-electric too quickly and with a very aggressive cost adjustment. The result has been too much product at dealerships that very few have bought and models little differentiated from each other with a total loss of identity between companies. Good news (1). Firstly, because the arrival of Leapmotor in Zaragoza represents support for the electric transition in Figueruelas. The factory will be in charge of producing one of the first purely Chinese electric cars to arrive in Europe, a key step to be able to sell them without tariffs. But this also guarantees two things. The first is the opening of a new assembly line because they cannot use exactly the same one as for the Opel Corsa, Peugeot 208 and Lancia Ypsilon electric that Figueruelas produces at the moment. The second is that it increases pressure on the production of batteries that CATL will set up nearby, giving greater support to the project. It remains to be seen if the other three Stellantis models will also roll out of their doors.. Good news (2). The second part of the announcement is interesting in that the Leapmotor B10, the first car to be assembled in Zaragoza, is different from the three mentioned above and that in itself is a reason for joy for Zaragoza. And it is that the Stellantis urban electric cars have not been working well in the market. Everything indicates that, in the future, these electric vehicles will have to receive the embrace of the European customer but at the moment it is not being like thatwhich raised questions about long-term production with a plant that could operate at half gas. The Lepmotor B10 is a car that Stellantis has hopes for because it is different. It has much more striking interiors, adjusted to the huge screens that the industry has demanded in recent years. And it has purely Chinese software and development, so Stellantis can play with the price because its investments have been minimal. The company has the power to distribute the car outside of China but the development, investments and sales within China have been left to Leapmotor itself. Strengths and weaknesses. Stellantis’ decision to produce in Spain reminds us the strength that our country has gained in Europe as a productive alternative to advance electric cars. Either because labor is cheaper than in countries like Germany or France, or because energy is also cheaper, Chery or Stellantis, with Leapmotor, have decided that they will manufacture on our soil. Spain has the advantage of a well-established industry that needs reconversion. The problem is that, for the moment, it has focused on the assembly of small cars (as also happens in Martorell) which are the ones that are having the most problems to sell them or, if necessary, for the brand to make a profit from them. It would be interesting for our country to expand its presence in the development of vehicles and not only focus its industry on their production. Therefore, it is good news that Chery also bets on our country for its new R&D&i space. Photo | In Xataka | Volkswagen’s cheap electric car is manufactured in Spain: this is the new megaconstruction that makes it possible

Quietly, there is an AI becoming everything the others want to be. That AI is called Notebook LM

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If I ask you about Google’s AI, it will probably come to your mind Gemini to the head. She is the visible face, the pretty girl and the main focus of the American company. But I do tell you that there is a Google AI that is even more useful for day-to-day tasks, and that it is one of the great hidden ones in the sector. Would you know what I’m talking about? The Silence of Notebook LLM. In silence, and updating little by little with hardly any announcements or press releases, Notebook LLM has become one of the most useful AI tools. Google understands it as “a research and reflection companion”, a tool focused mainly on the academic field. But the truth is that it goes much further. why now. This tool is not new, but it has just been updated with one of the functions most requested by users. Notebook LLM had the potential to create a slideshow by simply uploading a document to it. The problem? Neither did it allow the slides to be modified nor were they compatible with the PPTX format, the king of presentations. Starting today, we can modify any slide using a prompt that indicates the changes. Additionally, the tool adds compatibility with PPTX, allowing presentations to be exported in this format and, soon, in Google Slides. The great covered. Notebook LM is not just a student helper, it is one of the artificial intelligence tools with the best document understanding and creation model. Audio summaries Video summaries Mind maps Information Flashcards Questionnaires Infographics Presentations Data tables A functional AI. Just as text models are beginning to change the search landscape, Notebook LM has the potential to be (almost) everything other AIs aspire to: A reliable model, without hallucinations or inventions. A tool designed by and to streamline processes, without further ado. He doesn’t compete to be the most creative, he competes to be the most useful in his field. It does not browse the web at its own pace, it only works with the files we upload. Doomed to be something small… or not. Google treats its AI suite a little differently than the rest. For example, Gemini is integrated into its Android phones, and Gemini in turn has the text-to-image model integrated. Nano Banana. But if you want to get the most out of the model you need to go to Google AI Studio. Something similar could happen with Notebook LM: it could be a more integrated tool within Gemini, but Google prefers to keep it as an external website, a specific solution for specific uses. Unlike the restGoogle can afford it thanks to its financial muscle since its business model is not to sell AI. It is to get more and more users to use it. Image | Xataka In Xataka | What is Claude Code and what this tool can do to program with artificial intelligence from your computer terminal

Mexico has a gigantic energy treasure under its feet. The plan to extract it is called fracking

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Mexico is walking on a treasure and, at the same time, on a political minefield. Under the land of states like Coahuila, Tamaulipas and Veracruz, an energy giant sleeps: the sixth world reserves of unconventional gas. Waking him up was the great taboo of López Obrador’s six-year term, a red line drawn with the promise of “no to fracking“However, reality has knocked on the door of the National Palace. In a turn that redefines the new mandate, President Claudia Sheinbaum has faced an iron dilemma: staying true to the campaign promise of not using hydraulic fracturing or pursuing “energy sovereignty”, one of the almost mythical aspirations of the Mexican left, to stop depending on US gas. The president has already made a decision: she is willing to pay the political cost. What began as a rumor has become a budgetary and contractual reality in 2026. The data is compelling and leaves no room for doubt about the change in course. Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) has increased its investment for this year in the “Gulf Tertiary Oil” program by 66%, going from 2,423 million pesos in 2025 to 4,016 million pesos in 2026, according to Treasury data obtained via transparency collected by The Universal. The machinery is already in motion. Pemex’s Strategic Plan (2025-2035) schedules the start of these operations after last year’s pilots. Pemex has awarded the first “mixed contracts” to private companies such as C5M, Geolis, CESIGSA and Petrolera Miahuapan. Although the state company retains the majority shareholding and control, it is the private parties who will provide the capital and technology, an urgent need for an oil company with a debt of more than 100 billion dollars. However, this injection of capital has raised alarm bells due to its opacity. The Mexican Alliance against Fracking denounces that in the 2026 Budget there are more than 245,000 million pesos allocated to gas projects that involve hydraulic fracturing, hidden under items that lack public breakdown and transparency, just as collected The Impartial. The semantics of dissimulation If he fracking was a “cursed word” in the previous six-year term, the new government has found a creative solution: change the dictionary. To avoid the political cost of openly announcing the use of fracking, the administration has chosen by a series of technical euphemisms. Rather frackingofficial documents speak of “reservoirs with complex geology” or “reservoir stimulation.” The general director of Pemex, Víctor Rodríguez Padilla, was blunt before the Senate: “We are not going to do frackingwe are taking advantage of technological development in evaluations of existing deposits.” But operational reality belies the rhetoric and breaks the discipline of official discourse. While euphemisms are used in the capital, on the ground urgency rules. The Undersecretary of Hydrocarbons of Tamaulipas, cited by The Countryrecently broke the taboo by declaring: “We talk it like it is here…hydraulic fracturing.” However, to understand the magnitude of the challenge, you have to look at the map. Pemex’s hopes are concentrated in three main basins: Burgos, Tampico-Misantla and Sabinas-Burro Picachos. The Burgos Basin is particularly relevant for being the natural extension towards the south of Eagle Ford in Texas, one of the deposits of shale most prolific of the American boom. If there is wealth north of the border, geology suggests there is wealth to the south as well. However, extracting this oil is not easy. The expert Miriam Grunstein illustrates the technical challenge starkly: the soil in these areas is a clayey “dump” and the crude oil has the density of “toothpaste.” This makes their exploitation extremely difficult, expensive and technologically demanding. Why go back to these complicated areas now? The answer is exhaustion. Pemex is pivoting toward the “unconventional” because its large conventional fields are drying up. It’s a portfolio decision to try to sustain the production platform in the face of the natural decline of traditional fields. If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu Behind Sheinbaum’s turn is a real geopolitical fear. Mexico imports 70% of the gas it consumes from the United States. “If the United States closes the valve, Mexico will be left in the dark,” recognized the head of Pemex himself. But the scenario is even more complex with the neighbor above led by Donald Trump and his vision of natural resources as national security. Recently, Washington has deployed the Project Vaulta strategy to secure critical minerals and counter China, which includes “geological mapping” of Mexican resources. The pressure is such that the Mexican government has had to give in to the harshest pragmatism. It was the Secretary of Economy, Marcelo Ebrard, who summarized Mexico’s position regarding the US energy integration demands with a lapidary phrase: “If you are not at the table participating, you are on the menu.” Mexico has decided to sit at the table fracking to avoid being devoured. Furthermore, the lack of liquidity forces this opening. Reactivating the identified wells requires immediate investments of more than $1 billion, money that will now come from private partners. The decision has been made, but the results will not be immediate. Although investment skyrockets in 2026, specialists warn that the launch of massive exploitation will take between three and four years to yield tangible results. The government’s optimistic projections suggest that, in their most developed phase, these fields could provide an additional 300,000 barrels per day. To achieve this, the “Mixed Contracts” model will be the norm: Pemex collect immediate bonuses for the award (almost 50 million dollars in the first round alone) and lets the private parties assume the operational and financial risk. A very high price The cost of this decision is already being paid in credibility with the bases. Organizations like Greenpeace and the Mexican Alliance against Fracking They have accused Sheinbaum of “betraying the people who elected her.” The most critical point is water. In a country hit by drought, the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change (INECC) estimates that 5.7 million liters of water are required per well. Greenpeace raise the alert citing the … Read more

Telefónica sought to dismiss 4,525 employees with its ERE. Now you have a problem called 5,124 volunteers

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Telefónica has closed the first phase of your ERE in Spain with more employees wanting to leave the company than places available in the ERE. 5,124 workers from the different subsidiaries of the operator presented themselves as candidates to benefit from the ERE. Of these volunteers to leave the company, 352 candidates have been left out because the maximum number of dismissals agreed with the unions has been exceeded. This excess of volunteers worries union representatives. Volunteers to be fired. At the end of December, the company and unions signed the conditions for the Employment Regulation File that will affect seven subsidiaries of the Telefónica group: Telefónica de España, Telefónica Móviles, Telefónica Soluciones, Telefónica Global Solutions, Telefónica Innovación Digital, Telefónica SA and Movistar+. There A minimum of 4,525 departures was set for the entire group, reducing the number of layoffs by 25.6% from the 6,088 that the company planned at the beginning. This implies a reduction of 26.2% of the 17,248 employees of those seven companies. The bulk of the layoffs he was going to concentrate on the matrix and its two main subsidiaries. That is, Telefónica España, Telefónica Móviles and Telefónica Soluciones for which a minimum of 3,765 departures and a maximum of 5,040 were marked. According to pointed Digital EconomyIn these three subsidiaries, 3,995 volunteers have been registered in Telefónica de España, 990 in Móviles and 179 in Solutions, adding up to a total of 5,124 requests to join the ERE. 84 more than the maximum limit provided for them. How many applications are accepted. Of the requests presented for these three subsidiaries, Telefónica has accepted a total of 4,772 exits, which are distributed as follows: 3,649 exits in Telefónica de España, 960 in Mobile and 163 in Solutions, reaching 100% of the objective. That leaves 352 rejected, distributed as follows: 306 in Telefónica de España, 30 in Mobile and 16 in Solutions. It is not the first time that there are more applications for membership than departure places. A similar phenomenon also occurred in the company’s previous ERE. In fact, the unions are asking that priority be given to those employees who were rejected in the previous ERE of 2024reinforcing the voluntary nature of the measure and avoiding forced dismissals. Unions are concerned about the excess. In a statementCCOO insists that the ERE is voluntary and agreed upon, but the excess of applications submitted to the company’s headquarters has them worried. The union insists on analyzing the background that has led so many employees to express their desire to leave the company. “The large number of requests also shows discontent and the need to leave Telefónica, a worrying issue because it indicates a clear dissatisfaction of the staff in the exercise of their professional development,” the union interpreted. What remains to be decided. With the three majority subsidiaries of the Related Companies Agreement already almost closed, it is time to analyze the applications from Telefónica Global Solutions, Telefónica SA, Telefónica Innovación Digital and Movistar+. For these three subsidiaries Global Solutions, Telefónica SA and Telefónica Innovación Digital, 416 volunteers have presented themselves for the 585 planned departures (109 in Global Solutions, 182 in Innovación Digital and 294 in Telefónica SA). This accession leaves these subsidiaries with coverage of 71.11% of the total, forcing the company to look for new candidates and opt for forced dismissals. Something that unions want to avoid at all costs. In other words, while in the group’s headquarters some employees want to leave and cannot, in the smaller subsidiaries they will have to fire employees who want to stay. No news from Movistar+. The Movistar+ TV platform It is the big unknown at the moment, since the numbers of applications to benefit from the ERE, which will affect 175 employees of this division, which represents 20% of its workforce, have not yet been made public. In Xataka | Severance compensation: when there is the right to collect it according to the type of dismissal and how it is calculated Image | Telephone

It’s called AlphaGenome and it looks for the ‘flaws’ in DNA that no one else sees

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Historically, genetics has had a big problem with our body and the instruction manual that we have in each of the cells and that gives us the possibility of living: DNA. Until now, We could only understand well 2% of all our genetic materialleaving the rest of the information in a mess drawer that came to be called “junk DNA” because we did not understand what function it had in our body. But this has changed thanks to technology. The solution. Google has wanted to collaborate with science to understand much better what 98% of our DNA does that it does not encode proteins and that we did not know its reason for being. But evolutionarily, if it has not been lost over the generations, it is because it must have had some relevant function. In order to shed light on this ‘dark’ region we now have AlphaGenome, an AI model that is capable of reading massive fragments of our DNA and predicting with great precision how small mutations can alter cellular machinery and cause diseases. Like a cancer. What we know. As we have said before, genetics knows that only 2% of the human genome contains instructions for making proteins. The rest of the DNA was a mystery for a long time until it was recently discovered that “switches”, known as enhancerswho decide when, where and how much a specific gene is expressed. The problem arose when the genetic variations in these areas were difficult to interpret due to the great diversity of molecular consequences that it can cause. Until now, computational tools had to choose: either they analyzed very short sequences in great detail or they looked at long sequences in little detail. AlphaGenome has broken that barrier. A million letters. In a very colloquial way, we can understand that human DNA is made up of letters (which are the different nitrogenous bases) and their combination literally generate a language. In this case, AlphaGenome’s great technical innovation is its ability to “zoom” and “pan” at the same time. The model takes as input 1 megabase (1 Mb) of DNA sequence, which is one million letters, and predicts thousands of functional genomic clues at single base pair resolution. And this is a vital range, since genetic regulation occurs at a distance. And although in our minds we can imagine that the ‘switches’ of the different genes are right next to or above their targets, the reality is that they can be very far from it. In fact, 99% of validated enhancer-gene pairs fall within this 1 Mb range. Its importance. It may sound like technical science fiction, but the impact of an AI understanding our “junk code” has very real consequences for patients and medicine in the near future. And AlphaGenome is not just a tool for biologists; It is a key to unblock personalized medicine. One of the most important points is in what are known as ‘rare diseases’ where dedicating a research team is unfortunately not worth it due to the few people who have a disease. In this case, AI, by interpreting all the genetic material, can show many answers ‘hidden’ in that non-coding dark matter to offer new diagnostic avenues. Computer drug. The tool promises to accelerate the design of advanced therapies. By predicting how a DNA sequence affects splicing (splicing) or expression, can be used to design drugs that act on the products generated by the genetic machinery of our cells. In this way, the door is opened to these precise and very non-invasive treatments by acting on a specific protein, which reduces its side effects. Decrypt cancer. As has been demonstrated with leukemia, the model allows us to understand the most complex genetic mechanisms of this disease in which we are facing a constant struggle. It doesn’t just say “there is a mutation,” but explains how that mutation breaks cellular rules to activate an oncogene that is the precursor to future cancer. This is vital to develop drugs that attack the root of the problem and not just the symptoms. Your availability. True to the philosophy of “open science” (with nuances), DeepMind has released the model code and weights for research, in addition to provide an online API for non-commercial use. Although logically AlphaGenome is not the end of the road, it does represent the most detailed map that we have ever woven of that “dark matter” that makes us human. Images | digitale.de In Xataka | Your DNA predicts whether you are going to use cannabis (and how often): the culprit genes have already been identified

There is a Chinese startup creating the most amazing robots of the moment. It’s called X Square

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The only embodied AI (bodied artificial intelligence) company backed by the three Chinese technology giants: ByteDance, Meituan and Alibaba. Just over two years of life and financing rounds in which they have managed to overcome the 400 million dollars. These are some of the cover letters of X Square Robot, one of the most promising companies in the field of robotics. where does it come from. XSquare It is a Chinese startup which was born in 2023 at the hands of Wang Qian, an engineer and doctor from the University of Southern California who, in recent years, has maintained a discreet profile in the industry. The company was born not only as a company aimed at creating humanoid robots: they are also behind the development of the language models necessary to lead in robotics. The roadmap. The startup, despite its youth, has made the most of its two years of life. December 2023, full financing and start of operations. March 2024, efforts begin to develop a general large-scale model for embodied AIthe brain that would move its robots. May 2025, commercialization of Quanta X1, a bimanual wheeled robot equipped with its WALL-A model. Specially designed for logistics and commercial tasks. July 2025, first to show purposeful AI model general capable of directly controlling a highly dexterous robotic hand. Unlike traditional approaches—based on rules, fixed trajectories or action-specific training—the system uses a single model that integrates perception, planning and control, allowing grip and movement to be adapted in real time to changes in the environment. August 2025, Quanta X2 arrives, its first humanoid robot, also with a wheel base. The product. Quanta X2 is the latest solution from X Quare, a wheeled humanoid robot that integrates the company’s own AI model. This model allows the robot to have a vision system, autonomous motion control, real-time task planning, etc. We highly recommend watching the demo video in which X Square shows it in operation, because it is spectacular. Why is it important. X Square does not sell ordinary humanoid robots, it sells cognitive capacity. The norm in robotics companies is to design the hardware and adapt it to existing software. X Square designs its own models focused on physical AI. This is something fundamental for his native country, China. The country wants to accelerate the automobile industry in 2030 with 100% automated factories. The aid policy is especially favorable for local companies developing robotics solutions. China has created centers responsible for training robots to imitate human behavior. X Square software is key The backup. X Square is backed by giants like Alibaba and Bytedancethe first group having announced an internal team dedicated to robotics using Qwen, its AI models division, as a base. Despite Alibaba’s muscle when it comes to creating its own language models, the investment of more than $140 million in X Square Robot makes it clear that it is much more than a typical startup. Image | XSquare In Xataka | Robotics has just broken another scale barrier: there are already autonomous robots smaller than a grain of salt

Sandisk has risen 1,000% in the stock market since the summer. Its advantage is called Kioxia

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In just five months, Sandisk shares have soared 1,000% in one of the most astonishing recoveries in Wall Street history. The company has been the latest big beneficiary of the AI ​​boom and the rush to build data centers full of advanced AI chips… and also the memories that accompany those chips. That’s where Sandisk’s great asset comes in, called Kioxia. Value of Sandisk shares in the last six months. Source: Google Finance. Without knowing it, SanDisk was ready for the revolution. HBM memories were traditionally the favorites to accompany GPUs that were the great “brain” of AI, but the scarcity of these components with high bandwidth has meant that the spotlight has been focused for a few months on DRAM and NAND memories, two types of storage in which sanDisk is a dominant player. Like other manufacturers in its segment —Micron is one of the outstanding—, SanDisk has suddenly found itself in a situation that benefited it enormously. free money. The memory chip market works like a commodity market in which leverage can be significant. That means that when prices rise, companies like SanDisk don’t need to invest in new factories or employees to earn more — although they can build them if they deem necessary. It is as if for Micron or SanDisk this phenomenon is equivalent to “free money” because they are receiving much more income for the same products they sold a year or two ago. Not even they themselves expected it: SanDisk CEO David Goeckeler talked about the rise of AI in June, and commented “We try to estimate demand. We think demand is good. What we need is to get supply to match that.” He couldn’t anticipate what would happen with memories starting in September. DRAM and NAND memory prices are skyrocketing from the end of 2025. Source: Sherwood. The key alliance: Kioxia. In recent times SanDisk has grown significantly in your solid state drive business (SSD) for enterprise data centers. But it also maintains a historical strategic alliance with the Japanese company Kioxia, which allows it to obtain NAND chips at a much lower cost than its rivals. The profit margin skyrockets, and so do the shares on the stock market. A relationship with ups and downs. The relationship between Sandisk and Kioxia (formerly Toshiba Memory) is based on a Joint Venture from more than 20 years ago focused on the development of NAND memories. This alliance has achieved advances such as the memories BICS Flash (with 3D storage technology), the wafers that leave their factories are shared between both companies. Kioxia went through a difficult time after Toshiba’s financial crisis and failed merger attempts with Western Digital. They survived all this, and together with Sandisk now the Japanese company controls 30% of the global NAND market. Some win, others lose. The investment fund Elliot Management pushed in early 2025 for SanDisk will separate from Western Digital. They believed that at that time it was worth about $20 billion—as when he bought it a decade ago—, and that fund sold its stake just before the total market explosion. Today that stake would be worth more than $340 million. Bad business for users. But in addition to that background, the ones who have it most complicated are the users, who will continue to suffer the consequences of this phenomenon for months, and perhaps years. Neither Micron nor Sandisk/Kioxia appear to have any intention of significantly expanding production capacity. They already did this during the pandemic and that caused excess inventory when demand fell after confinement. Now they do not want to expose themselves to the same thing, and there is talk that the price increase will continue throughout 2026 and may let’s take a long time in seeing memories at prices “like those before”… if we end up seeing them. Image | Igor Shalyminov In Xataka | Japan has taken out the checkbook to once again dominate the chip industry. Prepare a plan of 325,000 million dollars

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