china

China begins to build the largest dam in the world. His neighbors fear that they use it as a “water pump”

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The Pharaonic works They are not easy. Tell them The Linethe gigantic Horizontal skyscraper that he was confident years ago and that more and more and more. China, however, does not raise your foot from the accelerator and, every little time, it surprises us with some megaestructure. Now, and after a long planning, they have announced the beginning of the construction of the world’s largest hydroelectric dam. And neighboring countries have shouted in the sky for a reason: the possible use of water as a throwing weapon. A monster. China has the largest dam on the planet. The three throats is the largest energy plant in the worldit is so huge that GROUNDS EARTH ROTATION With a refueling, and it is estimated that it has a production capacity of 88.2 million MWH per year. Impressive, but will soon be in a second place because they are preparing an even bigger dam. A set of dams, rather. Located on the Yarlung Tsangpo River, Lto new biggest in the world It will have the capacity to generate 300 million MWH per year, you can cover the energy needs of 300 million people each year and “only” will cost 130,000 million euros. That impressive capacity will be possible thanks both to your turbines as to the use of the energy generated by the two -kilometer unevenness presented by the river in certain areas and a construction with five cascade dams. “The project of the century”. The area is one of the richest in hydroelectric resources in the world, and the idea is to drill between four and six tunnels of 20 kilometers in length through a mountain to divert half of the river flow to achieve 2,000 m³ per second and take advantage of all that force. It will not be a simple operation due to the conditions of the area and at the cost of the project, and that is what has led to China’s prime minister to qualify it as “the project of the century”. As we read in The GuardianLi Qiang made the statements during a ceremony in the region to commemorate the beginning of a construction that was announced in 2020 and has Aroused numerous criticisms. Out of China, yes. Risks. First, for natural reasons. Is found in the Tibet area And it is one of the most regions seismically active of the planet. It is where the Indian and Eurasian plates contact and where numerous earthquakes are given every year, some with important magnitudes. In fact, a recent earthquake already damaged five hydroelectric dams in the area, and the weight of accumulated water itself is another factor that can trigger earthquakes, As has happened. On the other hand, human reasons. Apart from the consequences that an earthquake of that magnitude can have for the local population, it is not the first time that displaces a population to build a dam. These population movements is something that fear Tibetan groups that claim to have no visibility on the plans of the Chinese government. And, when they have complained about other hydroelectric projects in Tibet, they have been repressed by the authorities. The area could not be more geologically complicated. Either at the geopolitical level And geopolitics. India and Bangladés too They look at the dam With the arched eyebrow. He Brahmaputra It is essential for agriculture and access to drinking water of millions of people along the river and fear that dams seriously alter their flow. It is something that would directly affect the agriculture and food security of these people and already They drop That the project is a strategic tool from China to exert pressure on neighboring countries, by being able to control or modify water flow at will. Neeraj Singh Manhas is the special advisor for South Asia in the Parley Policy initiative (organization that seeks to solve conflicts through diplomacy) and in statements to BBCHe commented that “China can always use water as a weapon, blocking or diverting it.” Even if they do not do it on purpose, it would not be the first time that a accidentlike him collapse In cascade of the Banqiao dam and another 61 dams in 1975, an event that caused 85,000 direct deaths and displaced 11 million people. “Water pump”. In addition, it is something that can go against the direct interests of India, which aims to build a hydroelectric dam on the Sang River (one of those feeding on the Tsangpo). Apart from the fact that the flow of the river can affect the energy interests of India, there are voices that warn about the possible use of China as a “water pump.” PEMA KHANDU, Minister of Arunachal Pradesh -a state of the Republic of India -, commented In a recent interview that the dam “can cause an existential threat to our tribes and a half visa. It is quite serious because China could use this as a ‘water pump’. Suppose that, suddenly, they release water: all our Siang belt would be destroyed, finished with tribes that would see how all its properties would be destroyed”. Nothing to worry about. From the Chinese government have always been rejected Those criticisms, ensuring that they do not seek “water hegemony” or intend to get benefits at the expense of their neighbors. On the other hand, it is alleged not only that the project will generate employment in the region, but will cover the energy needs and encourage something that China is advancing by leaps and bounds: he Renewable sector. In addition, the Prime Minister said that these concerns about ecological conservation have been taken into account when planning the project to “avoid environmental damage.” We will see what it is, but it is evident that the dam will be built and the intention is that it is operational in record time: by 2030. Images | Yogho, Guganij In Xataka | China is moving whole buildings at the same time to build underneath. Because? Because it can

If the question is what China is giving Russia in the Ukraine War, we have news: a complete army

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At the beginning of July Bloomberg he took Some documents They showed how a little known firm based in Khabarovsk, at the eastern end of Russia, had emerged as one of the main drone manufacturers of the country. I did it thanks to a dense cooperation network Covering with Chinese companies. Now, Ukraine’s intelligence has shown something much bigger: Beijing is giving Moscow a 100% Made in China complete army. A new generation. The Ukraine Defense Intelligence Directorate (Gur) He has revealed The existence of a new type of Russian decoy drone manufactured entirely With Chinese componentsa disturbing milestone that shows the growing implication of Beijing in the Kremlin war machine. Although for years it is has documented the use of foreign pieces (including Chinese) in Russian arsenalthis would be the first time that an unmanned aerial system used in the Ukrainian front is completely built with technology from a single country: China. Chinese shahed. The drone, of the delta and reduced size, reminds superficially to the Shahed-136 Iranianbut it works mainly as a decoy to saturate Ukrainian aerial defenses, although it can also incorporate an explosive load of up to 15 kilos. The existence of this platform confirms that Russia has not only perfected its saturation tactics With drones, but has also consolidated new technological supply chains that avoid international sanctions. All the components and blocks of the drone are of Chinese origin Commercial components. Of the two drones recovered by the Gur, one of them contained exclusively Chinese pieceswhile the other included two still unidentified components. According to The investigationalmost half of the pieces of the first came from a single company: Cuav Technology Co., a Chinese firm based in Guangdong that It specializes in open source created systems. The components were flight controllers with autopilot functions, navigation modules, antennae and air speed sensors. The most notable is that this company, which in 2022 had publicly announced restrictions on the sale of products both to Russia and Ukraine to avoid its military use, has ended up starring in The technical nucleus of a new Russian weapon. The paradox. The contradiction is even more striking to know that Russia had previously presented a supposedly native vertical take -off drone that turned out to be a direct adaptation of a Cuav acquired product acquired Through Aliexpress. The fundamental difference with the new lure does not lies in the origin of its parts, but that it is now a Russian endogenous production based completely on Chinese technology, not a simple direct purchase. Some of the Chinese components found in a new Russian decoy drone AI and tactical expansion. Chinese involvement is not limited to passive electronics. Ukraine has documented The use of artificial intelligence in Russian drones as the V2Uwhich uses algorithms to Identify and select Objectives autonomously. This drone used a Chinese Leetop A203 minicomputer and a central processor with Jetson Orin de Nvidia module, which reveals a combination of Western and Chinese hardwareused by Russia to incorporate AI capacities in its operations. In addition, Beijing has contributed to the development of fiber optic drones long journey, allowing Russia to extend the scope of these platforms up to 50 kilometers. This technology offers immunity against electronic interference and signal blockages, in addition to overcoming geographical obstacles that limit control via radio frequency. Thus, Beijin has endowed Kremlin with key tools to maintain Your tactical advantageespecially in an increasingly conditioned conflict for The electronic war and the saturation of enemy sensor. Foreign pieces war. We had gone counting In the previous months. Actually, the drone lure manufactured in China is only one more piece within the vast Russian war gear assembled with foreign components. The Gur has recovered multiple Russian arms systems (such as Shahed-136 drones, cruise missiles S-8000 flagcommand vehicles with Radar 9S932-1attack helicopters KA-52 and missiles KH-101) that They contained pieces Native of the United StatesIran, Taiwan, Switzerland, Japan or South Korea. In all cases, the parties escaped the export controls and ended Integrated in armament deployed on Ukraine. Even complete systems have been detected, Like a laser of Chinese origin designed for Brink Ukrainian droneswhose presence in Russia was confirmed after circulating videos on social networks. This transfer, identical to systems already provided By China to Iranreinforces the hypothesis of an active and sustained collaboration between both authoritarian regimes in the development of sophisticated weapons. China and implications. Although Beijing claims to maintain a neutral position before the war in Ukraine, its behavior seems the opposite. Filtered statements This month in CNN they revealed that Foreign Minister Wang Yi confessed to a meeting with the EU Foreign Policy Head of Foreign Policy, Kaja Kallas, which Beijing “cannot accept a Russian defeat” because it would allow the United States to focus their attention on containing China. In private, admitted that a prolonged war could benefit Beijing by distracting Washington from their strategic interests in Asia. This geopolitical calculation does not seem trivial: it reflects that for China, Ukraine is not a secondary issue, but A key piece on the global power board. His strategy seems to focus on keeping Russia sufficiently strong to erode Western influence, without compromising enough to become target of direct sanctions. The axis and the transformation of the conflict. Plus: unlike North Korea support (focused on Artillery, missiles and troops), the Chinese contribution It aims to silently mold the technological architecture of the conflict. The supply of microelectronics, complete platforms, AI tools and critical components has allowed Russia reconfigure your economy In war code and adapt your military industry to resist in the long term. A pattern that suggests that the flow of Chinese technology will not only continue, but will probably intensify, extending, perhaps, throughout the Russian arsenal. With Moscow Diplomatically isolated and financially pressedthe convenience alliance with Beijing is emerging as one of the most decisive variables in the future of war. Image | Gur In Xataka | It is not that the war is asymmetric, is that Russia is attacking with … Read more

Nvidia cannot sell her most powerful chips to China for sanctions. So you have found a plan B: Risc-V

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Nvidia has announced that Its CUDA platform will be compatible with RISC-V processors. He has done so during the Risc-V Summit in China and the chosen place is not accidental: this announcement clearly points to the Chinese market. For the first time, the technology that allows applications to communicate with the NVIDIA GPUs will be extended beyond ARM and X86, towards an open source architecture. Why is it important. CUDA It is the software that operates the Nvidia’s ecosystem. Without a CUDA, the GPU would lose much of their parallel calculation apacities. That Nvidia opens this technology to RISC-V It means that processors based on this open architecture can now serve as the main CPU in NVIDIA GPU systems. The background. The announcement, in addition to making in China, comes while China is accelerating its efforts to reduce its dependence of western processors. Nvidia can’t sell your most powerful models GB200 and GB300 to China for US sanctions, so in this way finds a way to maintain relevant Cuda in the Chinese market. Between the lines. There is a lot of geopolitical strategy in this decision: NVIDIA has been integrating RISC-V nuclei for years into its own GPU for low-level control tasks. Now it makes the jump to support RISC-V as the main processor. And that responds to a reality: if China is going to develop its own processors using open architectures, Nvidia wants to be there from the beginning. In detail. The configuration shown by NVIDIA shows a heterogeneous system: The GPU handles parallel loads. The RISC-V processor executes the CUDA controllers and the application logic. And a DPU manages network tasks. This architecture allows you to orchestrate GPU computations completely within the CUDA environment, something impossible so far with RISC-V. Deepen. Historically, Nvidia has behaved Cuda to each important architecture: X86, ARM, PowerPC and even Sparc de Sun. The company understands that it must be present from the first day on any platform that can take off in the business sector. With a value already exceeding 4 billion dollarsNvidia can afford to bet on all promising architectures. And now the movement positions RISC-V as a viable alternative for future designs of AI processors and high performance computing. If the stars align, other manufacturers could follow the example of Nvidia. And that would accelerate the adoption of RISC-V in data centers beyond China. Outstanding image | Wikimedia Commons In Xataka | On his way to the authentic quantum supremacy, China has set an objective: a “real” quantum computer before 2030

China built the largest high speed network in record time. Now you want something more difficult: improve it

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China has already shown that you can do what no other country has achieved: display in record time The largest high speed network on the planet. But it is not enough to have it. The new challenge is even more complex: to improve it, make it more efficient, more connected, more useful for the economy. And that demands less colorful, but equally ambitious decisions. To grow quickly to grow well. Between 2021 and 2024, China added 10,000 Kilometers of track to your high speed network. The figure impresses, but it is no longer what defines success. The Ministry of Transportation has made it clear that the current objective is not to extend the railway map without pause, but to squeeze its potential. In fact, The country has set As a goal to reach 50,000 operating kilometers before the end of 2025. The network adds 48,000 kilometers, more than 70 % of the world total, and connects 97 % of cities with more than 500,000 inhabitants. Millions of travelers, but there is still a margin of improvement. Only in the first half of 2025, Chinese high -speed trains They transported 2,240 million people. The figure impresses, but the authorities are not formed. The objective now is to make this system more comfortable, more predictable and better coordinated with the rest of the transport ecosystem, from the urban metro to airports. High speed yes, but also logistics. China wants its high -speed trains to cease to be just a solution for travelers. The new approach includes routes adapted to the transport of goods, interconnections with airports and sea nodes, and improvements to integrate the system into the production chain. What is at stake is no longer only mobility, but the country’s competitiveness. Beyond traditional rails. While the current network is kept, China develops new generations of trains, such as magnetic levitation. These advances do not seek to replace what is built, but prepare for a future where speed, autonomy and sustainability are key. The country has already tried prototypes that reach 600 km/h In cities like Qingdao. Figures that impress. Security that holds. Moving millions every day with punctuality is an achievement. Doing it without major incidents, for years, it is even more. China has built a network that not only runs quickly, but aims to resist earthquakes, storms and overloads. According to Xinhuasince 2012 no serious accident has been registered in the high speed network. Centralized planning. Faced with chronic delays that affect many countries, China has maintained a clear strategy: centralized decisions, sustained investment and state control of the process. It is not a perfect model – there are errors, cost overruns and debatable decisions. But its results in deployment and integration are difficult to ignore. A mature network, a major challenge. As we have seen, the Asian giant continues to expand its network, especially towards interior and less connected regions. However, it is no longer just about adding cities to the map. The real challenge is another: to ensure that a gigantic infrastructure works better and better, with less margin of error and more logistics demands. The stage of the big deployments is giving way to the stage of precision. Images | N509FZ (Wikimedia Commons – CC by-SA 4.0) | N509FZ In Xataka | China has not only created the world’s broader high -speed network: it wants to operate it at 1,000 km/Hy has taken a new step

part of Azure’s support was in China

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The last thing one expects when you think about the digital security of the US Department of Defense is that part of the technical support passes through engineers that are on the other side of the world. But that is just what has been happening. A group of Microsoft workers based in China participated in assistance tasks linked to Pentagon contracts, under a remote supervision system. Now, after a revelation, that scheme no longer applies to defense contracts. The cloud is not in heaven. Although it sounds ethereal, the cloud is very real. They are physical servers Distributed throughout the world, managed by technological giants such as Microsoft, Amazon or Google. These companies offer remote access to infrastructure, platforms and applications through the Internet, which allows saving costs, operating from anywhere or climbing services in seconds. But that comfort implies a huge dependence on a few suppliers. Azure not only serves private companies: It also manages government contractsincluding the US Department of Defense. And here the technical support as a key pillar comes into play: people who resolve incidents, help with configurations and guarantee that everything works without interruptions. That was where the controversy we talked about today emerged: part of that support was lending from China. A model that now makes noise. An investigation published by Propublic He revealed more than the participation of engineers based in China in sensitive contracts. He uncovered an inherited system, designed more than a decade ago, which Microsoft used to meet the security requirements of the US government. These foreign engineers did not directly access the systems: their instructions were replicated by authorized personnel from within the country. That model is known as “digital escorts.” In theory, it offered a protection layer. In practice, it opened the door to errors. Those who executed the orders – American employees with access – did not always have the necessary experience to understand what they were doing, according to the medium. In an environment of increasingly complex threats, that architecture has ceased to be a solution. Microsoft has decided to deactivate it. Microsoft moves card. After the publication of the report, Microsoft soon pronounced. In a statement released by Frank Shawits communication director, the company announced an immediate change in its operations: no team based on China will return to technical support for the Pentagon and other sensitive federal clients. The measure directly affects Pentagon’s contracts and is presented as an adjustment to “guarantee security” in critical environments. The company also insisted that its teams acted according to the protocols established by federal agencies. Even so, he promised to review his security procedures with his national partners. “We continue working to offer the safest services possible to the US government,” said Shaw. The language was diplomatic. The turn, not so much. The Pentagon responds. The reaction of the US government was swift. The Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, described the situation as “unacceptable”underlining that such a system has no place in the current context of digital threats. This is an architecture inherited from the Obama era, he said in a video published in X, where he announced a complete review to detect if there are more similar cases in other technological contracts. Another case on stage. The question about which suppliers deserve our trust does not end in Microsoft. In Spain, A contract awarded to HuaweiTo store judicial listening has caused diplomatic tensions with the US and Brussels. Both question if certain technological infrastructure should be in the hands of actors considered sensitive. Images | Xataka with Gemini 2.5 Flash | Microsoft In Xataka | The impossible challenge of China: becoming 100% of the West to have a bomb -proof chip industry

China wanted to turn a village into a great tourist resort. Did not have the numantine resistance of a neighbor

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For a while to this part, the Guizhou area, in downtown China, has become the stage of impossible architectures. In fact, there is a imposing mountain chainbut a bridge so high has been raised that they fit Two Eiffel towers Under him. Not far from there, one person is raising another titanic work: a kind of street castle. A challenge to demolition. I told the weekend The New York Times. In a high grass plain in the Chinese province of Guizhou, a structure that Challenge the laws of physicsurbanism and the very bureaucracy. Composed of eleven floors of reddish wooden rooms embedded by each other, supported by pulleys, water cubes and recycled columns, Chen Tianming’s house seems taken from an enlightened novel by Dr. Seuss or delighted world From El Castillo Ambulante of Ghibli. At first glance, it may seem like a fragile and improvised extravagance, but for its creator and inhabitant, 43, it represents a tenacious affirmation of freedomidentity and resistance to state power. From the ninth floor, to which I access homeless stairs without any railing, Chen observes the uniform apartment buildings where his old neighbors They were relocated. He chose another way: a vertical, personal and challenging. Architecture against forced uprooting. It all started In 2018when the Xingyi government announced the demolition of Chen’s hometown to build A resort. The compensation offer was considered ridiculous by his family, who refused to leave. When the excavators began to destroy, Chen left his messenger work in Hangzhou and returned to defend his parents’ house. Initially motivated by an economic logic (compensation depended on the built area), began adding floors with his brother using recycled materials. But what began as a pragmatic measure became a personal obsession. Apartment on floor, his house grew with him, as a physical extension of his determination to stay, resist, and transform a rural home into a work of inhabited art. And architecture as a manifesto. While officials They insisted in outlaw The structure and sent eviction notifications, Chen responded With nails, ropes and books. The man had studied mathematics before leaving the university, and worked as a calligraphy seller, insurance agent and delivery man, but found in the construction a form of expression that transcended the utility. Each floor had A function or a symbol: A reading corner in the fifth, an outdoor tea house in the sixth, hanging plants and suspended objects in the eighth, a bedroom always higher. Your tools: stairs, pulleys, old woods and their own body. The house became newspaper, shelter and trench. Chen, what He claims to feel “Guardian of the village,” he dedicated his mornings to inspect every corner and repair damage with such ingenious solutions as strategic buckets and columns elevated by the windows. A family history. Despite the skepticism of their neighbors, who accuse them of selfishness or foolishness, the Chen family He has joined Around this unlikely structure. Their parents, accustomed to receiving curious visitors on weekends, with stoic patience the decision of their child. Even his brother has suggested decorating the house With lanterns at night. Together they have chosen isolation against the contempt of the former neighbors who moved. Meanwhile, demolition threat seems have deflated: The resort project was frozen due to lack of funds, in a province marked by Pharaonic developments unfinished. Chen, however, continues to build, not by necessity or ambition, but because it says that each new floor is a personal challenge, an intimate conquest against time and entropy. Uncertain legacy. Obviously, Chen Tianming’s house is not intended to last, and he knows it. He acknowledges that, without its constant maintenance, he would collapse in a couple of years. But he also states that while he is standing, his house will be. He has invested little More than $ 20,000 in materials and about 4,000 in lawyers. His expenses, no doubt, are not those of a professional builder, but rather those of a stubborn artist. Although the government has placed a sign warning of Structural Dangersmany neighbors express admiration against originality and will embodied in the structure. Its construction violates known urban codes, but embodies a form of resistance that many feel their own. “If they demolished it, it would be a shame,” some counted to the Times. In a constant China Forced modernizationthe Chen tower is more than a nail: it is a declaration of intentions. Image | Azylber, YouTube In Xataka | This bridge built by China is so high that two Eiffel tower fit under it. And they have built it in just four years In Xataka | China has an imposing sacred mountain of 2,500 meters high with a surprise at its top: two temples

The US pressure forces China to independent its chip industry. These two projects are their best cards

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China has no choice. Or develops its own manufacturing technology of avant -garde semiconductors or will lose its struggle for world supremacy With the US. No 100% Chinese advanced chips their military capacity, the development of their models of artificial intelligence (AI) and the competitiveness of their technology companies will resent in the medium term. Huawei and SMIC are manufacturing advanced integrated circuits, but use machines from the Dutch company ASML and a technology known as Multiple patterning that compromises its competitiveness. This scenario has caused the Chinese government support with very juicy subsidies to companies that have the ability to develop avant -garde photolithography equipment, such as SicarrierShanghai YuliangSheng, Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment (Smee), Huawei or SMIC. Time plays against this Asian country. How much later in having their own machines of extreme ultraviolet lithography (UVE), which are those used to make very high integration chips, more delayed will be in front of the US and its allies. 2026 will be a crucial year for China in the field of chips The Chinese Academy of Sciences is finishing what is undoubtedly The most ambitious project How many are developing the Chinese semiconductor industry. Thanks to this plan the nation led by Xi Jinping is about to reach a “Deepseek” in the field of integrated circuit industry. This simply means that it is preparing to reach a disruption that has the potential to place this Asian country at the same height as the US, Taiwan or South Korea. However, China’s strategy to produce avant -garde chips is very different from what their rivals have used until now. Each of ASML UVE machines incorporates its own ultraviolet light source, but the Chinese Academy of Sciences seeks to generate this important radiation to produce advanced chips using a syncrotronwhich is nothing other than a circular particle accelerator that is used to analyze atomic level the properties of matter, such as various types of materials, or even proteins. It’s called heps (High Energy Photon Source or high -energy photons source), it is in Beijing and we can see it in the cover photography of this article. Heps syncrotron has the ability to produce high power UVE light An important note before moving forward: the ultraviolet light (UV) is responsible for transferring the geometric pattern that contains the design of the chips to the Silicon wafer. This means, in broad strokes, that the UVE light has the ability to make possible the manufacture of integrated circuits with a greater resolution than the deep ultraviolet light (UVP) that use the previous generation lithography machines that China has in their hands. And a greater resolution in practice implies that it is possible to produce semiconductors with more transistors, and, therefore, more sophisticated and powerful. A priori we can think that a particle accelerator has nothing to do with the manufacture of integrated circuits, but we would be overlooking something very important: the Heps syncrotron has the ability to produce high power UVE light. In fact, it is a source designed to generate a large amount of radiation. China’s plan is to place around the particle accelerator Several semiconductor manufacturing plants to which the syncotron will deliver the UVE light in the same way that a power plant delivers electricity to its customers. That simple. The date on which China plans to start this megaphabrum of avant -garde semiconductors has not yet leaked, but it is already very advanced. However, China’s plans do not end here. In the middle of last March several Asian media collected a photograph taken at the Huawei Research Center in Dongguan, in the province of Canton, in which it appeared The prototype of a UVE lithography team Designed and manufactured entirely in China. Presumably this machine is similar to those produced by ASML, which invites us to anticipate that for 2026 the country led by Xi Jinping will have the ability to produce advanced chips on a large scale. This Chinese lithography equipment uses an LDP type ultraviolet source and not LPP class The leaks They assure That unlike the UVE machines produced by the Dutch company ASML, this Chinese lithography equipment uses an LDP ultraviolet light source (laser induced discharge), and not LPP class (plasma generated by laser). Presumably The development of this ultraviolet radiation emission source It is the milestone that has allowed Chinese engineers to develop a machine that Many experts did not see possible before five years in the best case. At the moment the most prudent is that we take this information with caution, but it seems solid enough to echo it. An interesting note is that on paper the LDP source is able to generate UVE light with a wavelength of 13.5 nm, so this Chinese prototype should be able to compete from you to you with ASML UVE photolithography machines. In addition, the leaks argue that China will begin the production of more test machines during the third quarter of this year with the purpose of launching the large -scale manufacture of these equipment during 2026. Image | Dr. Kim More information | Dr. Kim In Xataka | TSMC acknowledges that it has been considered taking its factories out of Taiwan. It is impossible for a good reason

The US is throwing blows to China. Many of them are fitting the European chips giant ASML

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ASML It is going well, but it could go much better. This Dutch company is the most important photolithography equipment manufacturer on the planet. And it is because it is the only one that can offer its customers the machines of extreme ultraviolet lithography (UVE) that are necessary to MANUFACTE INTEGRATED VANGUARD CIRCUITS. Even so, during the last three years this company is constantly undergoing all types of fluctuations. In fact, in the last hours his actions They have dropped to 7.1% Due to the threat that the very likely US tariffs represent the importation of foreign lithography equipment. And also to the uncertainty that looms over the growth of ASML In full struggle between China and the USA. Christophe Fouquet, the general director of this company, has the obligation to defend the interests of his company. And currently the tension held by the US and China does not make it easy. The sanctions that They have deployed US and the Netherlands They prevent Asml selling Your most advanced lithography teams To its Chinese clients. And neither can some maintenance and after -sales services services provide. In 2022 the sales of this company in China amounted to 2.9 billion euros, which represented 13.8% of its annual sales. At that time Taiwan was a more important market for Asml than China. However, in 2024 the country led by Xi Jinping was consolidated as The largest market for ASML with total sales of 10.2 billion euros. Asml’s rebellion Christophe Fouquet has removed the growth forecast that he and the board of directors of this company had set by 2026. This movement has contributed, as I mentioned a few lines above, to the fall of ASML’s actions. Anyway, it is understandable that this executive has taken this path: “We continue to observe a growing uncertainty promoted by macroeconomic and geopolitical events,” He has declared Fouquet In a statement. “Although we continue to prepare to grow in 2026, we cannot confirm it yet.” The evolution experienced by the actions of this company supports its prudence. In fact, 33% have fallen during the last year. This behavior is anomalous in a company that not only leads the market of photolithography equipment; In addition, it is the only one that markets UVE machines. At the end of last March Christophe Fouquet declared that he was convinced that the US would continue to put pressure on his partners to even more harden the sanctions that seek to stop the development of the Chinese industry of the integrated circuits. “Although we continue to prepare to grow in 2026, we cannot confirm it yet” However, Fouquet’s statements did not end here. He also defended that Europe “should decide for itself what you want” and “should not be dictated by anyone else.” Otherwise, He warnedleading European companies in strategic technologies, among which are ASML, could consider moving outside the old continent. His tone reflected a certain degree of helplessness, but in practice his company would be very difficult to relocate out of Europe. Anyway one of the figures in which we have repaired a few lines above gives us a very accurate track about how A ASML is dealing with prohibitions from the US and endorsed by the Government of the Netherlands that They could greatly degrade your business. As we have seen, in 2024 China was consolidated as its largest market. This success is because Chinese manufacturers of integrated circuits have bought A ASML many suitable photolithography equipment to produce mature semiconductors. On the other hand, currently TSMC, Intel, Samsung, Globalfoundries, Micron Technology and Sk Hynix are well building new chip manufacturing plants, they are well expanding some of those they have in operation. In any case, they all have something in common: they are buying the UVE and UVP equipment of ASML. And, in addition, TSMC, Intel and Samsung presumably will acquire for the next three years a large number of UVE Machines of Haute Opening. It is evident that even in the complicated current situation It is difficult to lie to ASML. At the moment his business in China endures, and will continue to do it at least until the moment when Chinese manufacturers of lithography equipment have their own UVE machines. Image | ASML More information | SCMP In Xataka | Japan wants to recover leadership as a manufacturer of lithography equipment. And he has a plan to end the Asml monopoly

China has a key technology to create a more effective antimisile shield than the iron dome: a beetle

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During the recent one Conflict between Israel and Iran There was a lot of talked about the powerful Israeli antimile defense system, known as the ‘Iron dome’. Europe too wants to build yours and United States shuffled the creation of a ‘golden dome’ that would use a satellite network and would be able to Stop hypersonic missiles. And what about China? Although they have Several antimile systems At different levels, they do not have a “total” shield like the one who wants to build the United States. What they do is a technology that, if applied, would far exceed the detection of missiles from other countries. A beetle. This kind of beetles receives that name for its ability to detect fire up to 80 kilometers away Thanks to an organ in its most sensitive exoskeleton than most infrared sensors in the market. This has been the inspiration of these Chinese researchers for their new creation: a system that mimics this same sensitivity and allows you to detect hot objects quickly and precisely. The system. During the investigation, Posted in Nature magazinethe scientists carried out several tests to verify the effectiveness of the system. In the first they built an ‘heteroestructure’ with divel -divelur, a material that offers a high absorption of the middle infrared range, and pentacene, an organic semiconductor. The device could detect radiation to an intensity of only 0.5 millivats per square centimeter, a sensitivity close to that of the beetle. In the second test they used black phosphorus and Indian seleniuro, achieving a photonic memory of 0.5 microseconds, 20,000 times faster than conventional optical storage. Capacities. Researchers affirm that this technology is able to “detect and identify objects in difficult environments, since it can penetrate obstacles such as smoke, fog and dust, providing clear images and precise detection of objectives.” In addition, it works at room temperature without refrigeration. This technology could be used in various scenarios: fire detection, autonomous driving, night vision systems and of course military environments. Antimisiles. As we said, China does not have an “dome” antimile system, but this technology could open the door to the creation of one that, According to South China Morning Postit would be much more precise than the ‘Golden Dome’ that Donald Trump wants to build. The key point is that the system integrates detection, memory and processing functions. Current antimisile systems are based on traditional silicon semiconductors and hardware separation (sensors and processors) prevents them from reaching those response speeds. Nothing concrete. Donald Trump’s ‘golden dome’ is, for now, a proposal that has not yet materialized, just like this hypothetical Chinese dome. What we do know is that China did not make any grace The announcement of this project because “it would raise the risk of converting space into a war zone and creating a career for creating space weapons.” Currently, China has several antimile defense layers: Dong Neng-3an exoatmospheric missile interception system, HQ-19 for medium-range interception and HQ-29 with antisatelite capabilities. Images | Flickr (1, 2) In Xataka | The day a missile killed 28 soldiers because the antimile defense system ignored an error of 0.000000095 seconds

The decision that opens a gap between China and the United States and will define the future of AI

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It is one of the hottest debates in the AI race and that is making the difference between the two most advanced powers. China is committed to Open Source with models such as Deepseek, while in the United States they lead private developments such as Chatgpt or Claude. Meta, on the other hand, has been defending the Open Source for a long time. Or we believed. According to the New York Timesnew Mark Zuckerberg Superintelligence Team I would be questioning this strategy in favor of developing a closed model. Flying. If confirmed, it would be a drastic change in the finish line. In 2023, goal It joined other companies To defend the creation of open source models and have not been few times when Mark Zuckerberg has said that his AI is Open Source (although not all true). Now that the new Superintelligence Team commanded by Alexandr Wang He has started working, they are considering whether to continue with the plan or choose to develop a closed model. Behemoth. It is the name of the AI Open Source that Meta was developing, its largest model to date. In fact, Behemoth’s bad results would have been The trigger for Zuckerberg decided to create the new AI team. Nearby sources claim that one of the first discussions of the team has been to leave its development. There is also the possibility that Behemoth’s development continues and that the new team focuses on developing a new model that points to the great goal of goal: Create a general artificial intelligence. What is an open AI. The Open Source concept is not new, but with the arrival of AI there has been enough debate about its definition. The AI models are very complex and the classical definition did not adapt to them, so in October last year the Open Source Initiative agency The Osaid published (Open source ai definition), a definition with which Target I did not agree. In order for an AI open source, it must allow the following: Use the system for any purpose and without having to ask permission. Study the operation of the system and inspect its components. Modify the system for any purpose, even to change your performance. Share the system so that others use it, with or without modifications, for any purpose. Chinese patience. The United States and China are the two most powerful players in the AI race, but although they play the same game, they do it with Very different strategies. With Deepseekhis most famous AI model, China surprised to bet on the open source, a strategy that has allowed him Avoid the zancadillas that your rival puts With vetoes and restrictions. And it is not the only oun source in China, there are many more: Qwen from Alibaba, Doubou by bytedance, Ernie from Baidu, Hunyuan Turbo of Tencent or Kimi From MoNshot AI. It is not a matter of giving in exchange for anything, behind there is a strategy of Soft Power Technological: Today I give you access, with the intention of being dominant tomorrow. China wants to create global dependence on its models and be an alternative to the payment models of the Americans. China has the future vision and patience to do so, we have already seen how invested for decades to form engineers And that today gives a clear advantage in the AI race. American immediacy. OpenAI, Anthropic, Google… The greats of the AI of the United States have opted for private development and subscriptions to access their most leading models. The exception to the rule was put by the goal with flame, the only one whose code is accessible (at least part), But if they focus on private development, that closed approach will be armed even more. The objective is clear: they have the most advanced models and resources to continue training them, so they can obtain an economic benefit by monetizing them. They do it through subscriptions to pro versions or with specific products such as AI agents, it is the case of the newly announced Chatgpt agent. The trap. China’s strategy makes all the meaning if we take into account that they were behind their rival (although They have managed to cut positions in record time). With open and free IAS they manage to create a great very fast user base and create that dependence. However, it is not a good long -term strategy from the economic point of view. If in the future they begin to monetize, that sooner or later they will have to do it, they face two problems: that their users come out in disarray and that the regulators put their eyes in them. The United States maintains strong control and obtains benefits from minute one. Has the most sophisticated models, but every time prices are higher And that makes a luxury within reach of a few. Many will look for alternatives and there will be China with their open and free models. They are two opposite visions: one focused on the present and one in the future. We will have to wait to see what vision is imposed. Image | Bibek ghosh, and Kaboomps (Pexels) In Xataka | Four AI companies are monopolizing the intellectual future of humanity. They are not good news

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