choose

Now influencers created by AI choose to be sad or endearing

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A grandfather who teaches how to choose watermelons. A young man with Down syndrome who laments that no one buys the pots he makes with infinite love. Both are generated by AI, and have managed, using sensitivity, empathetic messages and technology that increasingly imitates reality, to make millions of people believe that they are authentic. And let them buy. Above all, let them buy. The wisdom of the old sensei. Paco del Campo He posted his first video a little over two weeks ago. He already has more than a million followers between Instagram and TikTok. Checkered shirt, knitted vest, home remedies to sleep better, to choose ripe melons or to distinguish normal apples from organically grown ones. And of course, it sells books with home remedies with prices between five and thirteen euros. As detected Delia Rodríguezin the fine print of its website it is recognized that “Paco del Campo” is a commercial name, not a person. I can’t stand it in this city, let’s go to the countryside. Paco del Campo is not the only profile of advice on natural dyes, almost with tone rural-xploitation. Sofia.saludencasa gives holistic remedies and sells a book on the subject. Eduardo.holisticovidapossibly by the same author, gives advice and presents a book with very similar characteristics. The use of AI is obvious as long as the visitor is familiar with the visual tics of generative artificial intelligences, but it is completely normal that they fool most people and that they receive interactions and comments from dozens of people who believe that these experts are real. The hook is no longer beauty. Three years ago we were talking about Aitana López, the virtual model from the Barcelona agency The Clueless: an AI with a declared advertising profiledesigned for brands with a tight budget. Its appeal was the visual appeal of the digital model. Paco belongs to another category: unlike Aitana López, no one warns that he is an AI, and the design opts for normality rather than physical perfection. The consequence is that it deceives much more easily: why would AI, when it can generate absolute beauty, replicate an old man’s face? Very simple: confidence in what is close sells more than physical perfection. Even more perverse. This pattern of trust in profiles that want to dazzle with innocence takes on a more sinister nuance with the case of the now-defunct Martinmimoplants profile, which had more than 14,500 followers and 140,000 likes, but which disappeared from the map when the racket was discovered. It showed a young man with Down syndrome with a handmade pot business, lamenting that it doesn’t work. The fourteen videos posted by the account were artificial, and eleven of them did not carry any warning of AI-generated content. The most viewed video exceeded 600,000 views. Martinmimoplants is not the first to resort to this technique: profiles of needy grandparents selling crafts have been seen, but the detail of Down Syndrome is new. This has generated an immediate response: Down Spain described the strategy as “false charity” and asked not to donate or buy without first checking the reliability of the seller. For its part, FACUA, which had already announced that it would take the case to the authorities, formalized the complaint to the General Directorate of Consumer Affairs on July 8, five days after the VerificaRTVE report that exposed it, for abusive clauses. Majestic profiles. This article documented dozens of TikTok Shop accounts that showed supposed entrepreneurs crying about how bad their craft businesses were doing in order to actually sell products purchased in batches in China. The emotional script is the same as Martinmimoplants, and there is also a certain trait of vulnerability: disability in the Spanish case, and in those that The Verge points out, all African-American creators, that is, the thing takes on a racial point. Social networks are, for the most part, a space for business and it is beginning to be treated as such. For example, there are companies like the startup Doublespeed, financed by Andreessen Horowitz, which offers packages influencers synthetics for between 1,500 and 7,500 dollars, depending on the number of publications. The regulatory response. Article 50 of the European Artificial Intelligence Regulation will require labeling of deepfakes and synthetic content that could be confused with real material from the August 2, 2026. Until then, Paco can continue publishing. For now, be careful with profiles that appeal to what is endearing and natural when the exact opposite abounds in their genesis. Or as the classic said, be careful out there. In Xataka | The problem is not that your favorite influencer sells you the motorcycle. The problem is that maybe it doesn’t even exist.

How to change your doctor to choose another depending on your autonomous community

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Let’s explain to you how to change your GP through the Internet, and without having to do any in-person procedures. This way, if you are not satisfied with the attention that the professional assigned to you is giving you, you can make a change. The process depends on each autonomous community. Some will allow you to do everything online, and in others you will simply have a page explaining the necessary documentation and how to make an appointment to make the request in person. This procedure is called Right to free choiceand all autonomous communities allow it to be done. Of course, in almost all of them it is a purely in-person procedure, although some already allow it to be done online. Change doctors in each autonomous community Let’s tell you the links for the doctor change process that each autonomous community has available. Thus, depending on where you live, you will know the page where you have to make the change. On the pages where you can complete the procedure online, the first thing will be to identify yourself using a digital certificatelike the FNMT certificateor alternatively be registered in the Cl@ve system. Then, each page will guide you through the steps you need to take. And on the pages where there is no online procedure, what you have is information about everything you need to be able to do it in person. You will be told the requirements, where to go and the papers you must provide. In Xataka Basics | News about My Citizen Folder: everything new you can do after its March 2026 update

Spain has a license only for automatic cars and more and more people choose it

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Getting your driving license without using the clutch and changing gears is now a reality within the reach of anyone who wants to learn to drive in Spain. This is permit B limited to automatic vehiclesa modality that more and more driving school students choose, but which also generates many doubts about how it works or how to request it. That’s why below these lines we tell you all the details. The same permission, but with a nuance: only automatic Despite what many people believe, there is no new or independent license for automatic cars. We have approached some driving schools to ask about it and, as they explain, the permit is the same as it has always been, B, only in the document an annotation is added which indicates that the holder can only drive with automatic transmission vehicles. As expected, those who obtain their license with a manual gear car, however, are enabled to drive both types of transmission without any restrictions. That note It is popularly known as “code 78” and appears printed on the back of the card, next to the permit category. In Spain, the Instruction 2019/C-134 of the DGT, something already marked in the General Regulations for Drivers, says: “if the applicant takes the practical exam with an automatic transmission vehicle, that circumstance must be reflected in the permit and will only enable him to drive cars with those characteristics.” Why is more and more requested? The rise of this type of permit goes hand in hand with the automobile market itself. Two decades ago, automatic transmission was almost a rarity on Spanish roads; Today, however, there are more and more models (especially electric and hybrid, which do not have a clutch) that They are sold exclusively with this transmission. According to share El Periódico, of the 600,000 category B permits issued each year in Spain, between 33,000 and 37,000 already carry this limitation to the automaticwhich places code 78 between 5.5% and 6.2% of the total. However, as the media points out, in the driving school sector the figure they handle is around 10% of the licenses issued. Gear lever on a Volvo CX60 Asking several driving schools, they affirm that this modality has been implemented for a few years. On the other hand, Raül Viladrich, president of the Federation of Driving Schools of Catalonia, counted to El Periódico that the demand started between 2018 and 2020, although it clarified that it is still much lower than that of the traditional card. It is also a case of generational changesince more and more young people see manual transmission as something of the past and, directly, have no intention of ever driving a car with a clutch. How is it obtained and what is the difference with the traditional exam The learning process is identical to that of the conventional B license, that is, you go to the driving school, you take the theory exam, you have your practical classes and a final exam, with the only difference that both the classes and the driving test are done with an automatic transmission vehicle. You also don’t have to make the decision when you first register, since you can start with a manual car and, if you decide, you can upgrade to an automatic car at any time. This is exactly what a former student, Elena García, tells us, who opted for the automatic mode. Elena says that she chose this route because the car she had at home was already automatic, so it seemed like “the best option” to learn directly with the type of vehicle she was going to use later. Even so, he explains that he started his internship with a manual car, but that, after fifteen or twenty classes, he decided to switch to an automatic car. According to him, in your driving school the automatic option existed and was offeredalthough at first they directly recommended the manual. Elena admits that, almost a year after getting her license, not having access to manual cars does not worry her. And in your immediate surroundings you only have automatic vehicles and, when you travel or need to rent a car, you always find hassle-free automatic car options. What happens if you drive a manual car with this permit Basically, if they catch you, fine the song. “They are prohibited from driving any type of car that is not automatic,” assures Sergio Olivera, president of the National Confederation of Driving Schools (CNAE) to El Periódico. And the thing is that whoever has a license with this entry and uses a vehicle with a manual transmission faces a fine of 500 euros and the loss of four points on the license. The Traffic Law considers this situation a very serious infraction, comparable to driving without a permit. In the event that you have obtained your license only with an automatic car, but you want to drive a manual one, it is currently mandatory to go through a practical exam again, this time with a manual transmission car, without the need to repeat the theoretical part. Less procedures to remove the restriction This requirement, however, has an expiration date. And it already exists a European directiveapproved at the end of 2025, which It is intended to replace the complete practical exam for a training course of only seven hours at a driving school to be able to obtain the B permit without any transmission limitations. According to explained Viladrich to El Periódico, this course can be taken both during the process of obtaining the license itself and later, and its entry into force is expected, in principle, for 2029, although there is still no set date for its application in Spain. This model, in fact, already works in other European countries. In France, Germany or Switzerland, drivers with this limitation can eliminate it through specific training, without having to be re-examined from scratch. The future is automatic Just ten years ago, automatic cars accounted for … Read more

Against the extreme heat, the Civil Guard agents want to choose between the motorcycle or the car. And don’t let your bosses decide

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It has arrived and has placed itself at the center of the debate. The heat and what to do to remedy it is one of the hot topics every year. Whether or not to apply new measures against a summer that increasingly arrives earlier and leaves later is beginning to be a recurring part of the general conversation. From the classrooms and the children to the Civil Guard agents. The heat. Suffocating and sustained. The same one that gives very few breaks between May and September, if not October. We live in a country that is getting hot and what to do to cope with it in the best possible way is something that we repeat to ourselves starting in the month of May. The misfortunes, in fact, seem to have been the only reason that has made us reflect. One of the last major debates revolves around the how hot it is in schools. He’s not the only one. Weather alerts They have already modified the schedules of the most exposed workers, like sweepers or workers. And there is a group that already defends that it is in the same situation: the Civil Guard agents. What do they claim? The Unified Association of Civil Guards (AUGC) is claiming to the higher commands to allow the agents who monitor traffic to decide whether or not to get on the motorcycle or, on the contrary, prefer to patrol by car. The reason is obvious: the heat. Furthermore, this association demands that they not be forced to wear the vest with an airbag when the temperature exceeds 32ºC, claiming that it is a garment that makes heat evacuation difficult. Why all this? These claims have once again gained strength because the AUGC has met with the Head of the Traffic Group of the Civil Guard to send them their requests. And the latter is in charge of deciding the technical criteria to take into account to decide how to work. But the conflict, our colleagues explain Motorpassion Motorcycle comes from behind In July 2025, the PSI-08-25-OPCM report from the Civil Guard Prevention Service indicated that it was advisable not to wear the airbag vest above 32ºC. Later, in December, in the Plenary Session of the Civil Guard Council it was decided that the use of this vest and the decision to take the motorcycle or use the car would fall to the agent “according to his own professional criteria, without the need for authorization or any impediment,” according to the AUGC. And they emphasize that the Operations Command promised to put this in writing. Which have moved again from this association to the Headquarters of the Traffic Group of the Civil Guard is that this commitment never materialized and that, on the contrary, a circular from May once again emphasized that the airbag vest was mandatory up to 35ºC and that It is the Operations Command that ultimately decides whether the agent gets on the motorcycle or not, instead of the latter’s criteria prevailing. The risks. The officers’ claims are based on the extreme heat to which they are subjected on the motorcycle when temperatures far exceed 30ºC. It must be taken into account that a motorcyclist faces environmental heat but is also exposed to the heat generated by the motorcycle itself and the use of safety equipment. The risks riding the motorcycle in extreme heat are evident: greater fatigue, proliferation of headaches or possible dizziness. Photo | In Xataka | “With our heads, we would all ride 20 HP motorcycles”: there is a debate brewing about how much power is too much power for a motorcycle

A woman won the lottery and had to choose between a million dollars or 1,000 a week forever

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Brenda Aubin-Vega was 20 years old when scratched a lottery ticket in Quebec and saw the jackpot appear. What came next was not a celebration without complications: before it was a decision that unleashed months of debate on the networks. The game is called Gagnant à vie —”winner for life”—and offers the lucky person the choice between collecting one million Canadian dollars at once or receiving $1,000 a week for the rest of their life. She chose weekly payments. In networks they put it in broth. The criticisms. When his case became publicthe opinions on networks did not wait. Many users on Reddit and in X They debated their decision. Some argued that weekly payments were the safe option for someone young. Others argued that rejecting a full million (in Canada lottery prizes are not taxed) was a textbook financial error. Taxes, inflation, index funds, historical returns were mentioned. Who is right? The age factor Brenda was 20 years old when she won the prize, so to equal the million with weekly payments she needs to collect for 19 and a half years, that is, reach 40. From then on everything is net profit. If he lives to be 60, he will have earned more than 2 million Canadian dollars. Until 80, more than 3 million. Statistical life expectancy works completely in their favor. Of course, once you die, the payments stop and there is no inheritance left to leave, unless you have been very very saver. The advantages of a million. With the single payment, the numbers are also seductive. A million invested in a low-cost index fund with a conservative 6% annual return becomes more than 10 million by the time Brenda turns 60, assuming she doesn’t touch the money. There is also a nuance that the debates on networks overlooked: inflation erodes those $1,000 per week over time. That is to say, what allows us to live comfortably today may be a modest income in 30 years. The best of both worlds. There is a third way and that is to collect the million and manage it as a personal fund, withdrawing a salary equivalent to the weekly payment and investing the rest. The problem is profitability. With a return of 6% per year, the capital would probably be depleted before retirement age. For the million to last until 80 or more, a higher sustained profitability is needed, an ideal scenario, but one that requires a more aggressive investment strategy and, above all, not making a single serious mistake for six decades. Other factors. On paper it sounds impeccable, in practice it requires a lot of financial discipline sustained over decades and the ability to deviate from the plan, avoiding unforeseen situations or impulsive purchases. The history of lottery prize winners It’s full of bad decisions and million-dollar prizes that disappear in the blink of an eye. In this sense, the winner may not have chosen the most lucrative option, but she chose the safest and, above all, the most comfortable if what you want is to have a safety net without having to complicate your life. Image | Quebec Loto In Xataka | There is something even more difficult than winning the Lottery Jackpot: not making mistakes with the Treasury when collecting it

Liquid cooling or air cooler? What to choose so that your CPU doesn’t smoke without having to spend a fortune

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How difficult it is to choose the parts of a desktop PC: what if the processor, what if RAM memory (well, if you find it at a good price), what if graphics card and other things. But it’s not all about your computer being as powerful as a NASA computer: you also have to design it so that it doesn’t smoke. And that’s where refrigeration comes in, a topic that has more to it than it seems and that we are going to explain in this article. Essentially, you have two ways to cool your processor: an air cooler and liquid cooling. You may read in many places that the latter is the best, but there are many nuances in that statement that must be clarified. So, let’s get down to business. Choosing an air cooler Let’s start with the air heatsink, which we can say is the ‘old-fashioned’ solution for cooling a processor. If you take a look at one of these heatsinks, you will see that it is almost all a fan, although it is a somewhat more complex component than that. Everything is placed on top of the processor and right there, depending on the model we choose, we must keep one thing in mind: may need a lot of space inside the PC case. Piecemeal. The air sink has a copper or aluminum base that rests just above the processor and, to facilitate heat transfer, the thermal pastea compound that makes it easier for this generated heat to pass from one place to another. That heat travels through heat pipes or heat pipes, which are sealed tubes with a small liquid inside that continuously evaporates and condenses to transport heat very efficiently, until it reaches the radiator. How does one of these heatsinks cool? There is no universal answer to this, since each model is different. But, yes, keep this: a quality air heatsink can cool better than small or medium liquid cooling. And that, in addition, with several very interesting advantages. The first thing is that these heatsinks are much easier to install: just apply thermal paste, screw and connect to the motherboard, nothing more. Besides, andThese heatsinks are much simpler and more durable. Basically, what can end up breaking is the fan and it is not difficult to replace at all. Now let’s get to the bad. Again, it will depend a lot on the model we choose, but there are air heatsinks that, when put at full capacity, They are real turbines and they make a lot of noise. They also take up a lot of space, as we said above, which has two implications. First, you need physical space to put it in the box. And second, if it fits just right, it will not have enough space to expel air and the cooling will not be correct. Choose liquid cooling The alternative is AIO liquid cooling (which comes from ‘All In One’). If you have read this far, you can already imagine that we are facing a more sophisticated refrigeration method. In fact, it is not only more sophisticated because of the way it extracts heat (which also, as we will see below), but it is a sophisticated system in sight. It’s an eye-catching system: the compact block above the processor and the case-mounted radiator offer a much cleaner look than the bulky air cooler. This system is based on the same thing as the air heatsink, that is, a metal block that comes into contact with the processor (with thermal paste, of course). What’s happening? What happens through that block? a liquid that absorbs heat and carries it through tubes to a radiatorwhich is actually quite large. This has fans nearby that cool the liquid and, in this way, the cycle begins again. Let’s go with its strong points. Remember what we mentioned above about the price, but, in essence, liquid dissipates heat better than air. In addition, the fans of this type of system are usually quieter than the one with the air cooler, which means less noise. Although be careful, because the pump can also make a little noise. There is also the issue of space, since the block that goes on top of the processor is much less bulky than the air heatsink. Bad turn. This cooling system, being more complex, is much more difficult to install. Besides, It also has a shorter useful life. (they usually have a useful life of between three and six years) and, if there is a coolant leak, it can cause serious damage to the PC (it is not common, but it can happen). They are also more expensive systems, as we say. The good and the bad of both options, face to face air heatsink liquid cooling THE GOOD 🟢 It is a cheaper system that works well and is more durable. It can be more efficient when cooling and aesthetically it is very cool. THE BAD 🔴 It takes up a lot of space inside the PC and can make a lot of noise. It is more expensive and, if it causes problems, it can be a headache. Ideal for: Have a long-lasting cooling system without many complications. Users who put a lot of effort into their processor and who want the interior of their PC to be more aesthetic. Neither of these two options is bad for your PC, but they have their advantages and disadvantages. Beyond what you want to spend, what you have to take into account when choosing is What needs do you have and what use are you going to give to your computer?. If what you are looking for is a system that will last for many years and you will hardly have to worry about it (beyond cleaning it and changing the thermal paste), then the ideal is to choose an air heatsink. Because? Because these systems are simpler and it is difficult for them to break. In addition, a good … Read more

science explains what happens to your body (and your brain) depending on the time you choose

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In social circles, the truth is that there are sometimes very interesting debates about common customs, such as whether it is better to shower first thing in the morning or just before getting into bed. Here, while there is a group of people who defend tooth and nail the revitalizing power of water in the morning to “start” the day, others say that there is nothing like hot water at night to conclude sleep. And here science has something to say. It makes us sleep better. If you have trouble falling asleep, the science here suggests that a nighttime shower may be a good idea, and explained in a meta-analysis published in 2019 in the magazine Sleep Medicine which analyzed 17 different studies. Here it was concluded that bathing or showering with hot water between one and two hours before going to bed reduces the time to fall asleep by approximately 36%. Because? Here hot water is our main ally, since it warms the skin and, therefore, increases blood flow to the extremities such as the hands and feet. From here, when you get out of the shower, that heat dissipates quickly, causing a drop in the body’s core temperature. And this is the key, because this thermal drop mimics the natural cooling that our body experiences before sleeping, which sends an unequivocal signal to the brain to release melatonin, which is the sleep hormone, and reduce levels of cortisol, which is related to stress. It depends on the time. From a psychological point of view, morning and night showers fulfill completely opposite functions and it depends precisely on the time at which we take them. In the case of the morning showerthe goal is increase performance with the activation of the sympathetic system by stimulating muscle tone and, above all, preparing us for the stress of the day. In the case of the night shower, as we have said before, an attempt is made to activate the parasympathetic system with a longer and more leisurely duration of the shower with the aim of reducing the accumulated physical and mental tension, fulfilling the function of an authentic ritual of transition and disconnection. According to psychology. Here we enter territory that is not so clear, but which indicates, for example, that people who prefer a shower at night do so because they have a lower tolerance for dirt, which is why they prefer to remove all the sweat of the day before going to bed. But it is also noted that people who prefer solitude tend to prefer nighttime showers, precisely because, after a day full of stimuli, the bathroom becomes a capsule of sensory disconnection. In the end, it is a way to relax from everything that has happened throughout the day. Images | freepik In Xataka | Cooling down is the forgotten step in our exercise routines. And that affects how we shower

OpenAI had to choose between “being the company that has erotic AI” or competing with Anthropic. And he has chosen the obvious

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Sam Altman wasn’t afraid to try things. That people want to create Studio Ghibli style images? Forward. AI Videos hyperrealistic? Go for it. A browser with AI? we have it. Wherever I saw an option to add AI, OpenAI added it. But that was before, because these projects are being put on the back burner or directly closed for a simple reason: they are blank bullets. ChatGPT is not going to flirt with you. According to the Financial TimesOpenAI has canceled its plans to launch an erotic chatbot, and now the goal is to focus its resources on its most important products. The decision is partly a response to tensions and internal criticism from employees and investors when offering sexualized AI content. One former employee noted that “AI shouldn’t replace your friends or family; you should have human connections.” Making an erotic chatbot is not that easy. In addition to the social impact, it seems that OpenAI has had to face really complex technical challenges when creating this type of chatbot. Training an AI model to do something that “normal” models were trying to avoid was causing problems. For example, when including data sets with explicit content it was necessary to eliminate illegal behavior, such as bestiality or incest. That adult mode, called “Citron mode” internally, could have required users to prove that they were over 18 years old. Too much risk. The move to launch an “adult mode” of ChatGPT was reputationally risky, and people familiar with the decision have indicated that OpenAI wants to begin a long-term investigation into the effects of explicitly sexual chats and the emotional bonds that this type of interaction can create in users. They point out that at the moment there is no “empirical evidence” about the impact, but for now they are clear. And yet, there is another great reason to cancel it indefinitely. Let’s focus on what makes money. In recent weeks we have seen how the new pretty girl of the world of AI is Anthropic, which with Claude has managed to conquer precisely the market sector that is beginning to generate income decent for AI: the companies. OpenAI had been especially focused on end users, but the steps it has taken to try to convince us to pay for ChatGPT Plus/Pro They don’t quite work. No ads, no shopping. A few months ago OpenAI announced that ChatGPT was already capable of buy things for you with its Instant Checkout. The feature was really promising and proposed a paradigm shift in the rules of traditional e-commerce, but this launch seems to have had much less impact than expected. The decision to place ads during conversations seems not going to make ChatGPT’s revenue skyrocket either, so the solution is becoming clearer: if we have to be like Anthropic, we will be more Anthropic, we imagine Sam Altman is saying. Goodbye Sora… The ads don’t quite work, neither does Instant Checkout, and many other launches have not gone beyond generating a fleeting expectation. It happened with Sora: that OpenAI I abandoned her It is a disturbing sign that the company prefers to completely recalibrate. …hello superapp. Another sign of this reorganization is the fact that OpenAI is preparing a desktop tool that will unify its chatbot, its code platform (Codex) and the Atlas browser. The objective, to create a super app with agentic capabilities, not only oriented to code, but also to productivity. It is not clear if they will launch it as a solution for end users or the destination will be the company, where Anthropic is winning the game. New ‘Spud’ model in sight. In The Information indicated this week that OpenAI had recently completed development of a new AI model called Spud. OpenAI is expected to launch it in the coming weeks, and Altman reportedly told his employees that such a model “can really accelerate the economy.” It is not clear what it refers to (agent capabilities?), but with it OpenAI may be able to regain some of the ground lost with Anthropic. If Anthropic lets him, which we doubt. Image | Universal Pictures In Xataka | Wikipedia has banned using AI to write or rewrite articles in English. Human knowledge begins to raise barriers

If Apple is forced to choose between the United States and China, Tim Cook is very clear about which one he will choose

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Tech CEOs are on tour, and they’re pointing east. a few days ago, Lisa SueAMD boss, went to visit samsung for the first time. The result is a contract for the South Korean company to manufacture the next-generation memory for the American company’s AI platform. For his part, Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, was traveling through China. And, after all the pressures from Donald Trump For Apple to manufacture in the United States, Cook is clear about one thing. China is Apple’s base. The best. believe me. Tim Cook has transcended. Although it seems that he has little left in the position (at some point he will have to retire and John Ternus aims to be the successor), Cook has become an almost political figure. This is demonstrated in his travels through other countries or in the United States itself. His trip to China has consisted of several phases. He first visited the Apple Store by Taikoo Li, but the highlight was the trip to Beijing to meet with the Minister of Commerce. One of the points of the meeting was the bilateral relationship between the two. Because Apple is a huge customer for the Chinese technology industry, but China is also a safe asset for Apple. So much so that, as reported by the state portal Xinhua, Cook stated that “China is the most important production base for Apple, as well as its main source in the supply chain.” China’s pressure. The visit occurred at a time when things are as they are between China and the United States, but also with Apple. The details of the commercial and technological war between the powers are something that we have covered almost daily, but with Apple there is also a mess created due to the commissions in the App Store. China has demanded greater flexibility from Apple on store restrictions and Apple’s response is a reduction in commission from 30% to 25%. It’s just a little bit of giving in and a show of goodwill on Apple’s part, but China continues to ask that they loosen control over the App Store, which translates into allowing more third-party payment options to cut what they consider like a monopoly. Come on, Apple, in the eyes of Chinese regulators, still have homework. And the pressure from home. But at the same time that Cook’s visit to China takes place and it is declared that it is the great base of the company, something is moving. On the one hand, India wants to become the new China, and in 2025 Apple achieved a milestone: that one in four iPhones are assembled in India. Assembling is not the same as manufacturing, where China continues to lead the way. And the United States wants to turn the tables. Within its protectionist policies, Donald Trump’s government is trying to get its technology companies to create value on homeland. Intel’s billion-dollar rescue It was an example of the extent to which the US wants its technology to be manufactured in its territory and the truth is that it is bearing fruit. Apple or NVIDIA already have some assignments for Intelbut these incentives are also encouraging foreign companies such as SK Hynix, Samsung or, above all, TSMC those that are taking over the Americans in their territory. Many millions at stake. But despite the demands and demands, a powerful gentleman is a gift of money, and China is a huge market with great potential. It is evident that we can think that “what is Cook going to say in China, which is wonderful, of course”, but we must not forget that this is a company that, like all others, seeks the greatest benefits. And China not only has the capacity to meet Apple’s needs in terms of device manufacturing: it is a market to exploit. A few weeks ago we echoed how the company’s sales marked the best quarter since the first of 2022ending years of declines in Chinese territory (where Huawei has been making a strong comeback), but it’s not just Apple that is pursuing entry into China. NVIDIA has spent months putting pressure on his government to let them sell the H200s in China. Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, commented that the Chinese cake is one of 50,000 million dollars and publicly asked the US government to stop being jealous and start collaborating in the name of capitalism. Cook has had a similar message on his trip to China, one supported by Li Qiang, Prime Minister of China who pointed out that if industrial issues are politicized, “the supply chain becomes a weapon, costs will only increase for companies and the momentum for development will be weakened.” In the end, they have gone to puncture where it hurts: the pocket. Images | Tessa Bury In Xataka | The decline of “Apple culture.” Blind devotion has evolved into critical enthusiasm

Portugal had to choose where to take its AVE first. And between Madrid and Galicia, it is very clear

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It was October 2025 when the news broke. Then we learned that Madrid and Lisbon would be linked by a high-speed train in 2034. The objective set by Spain, Portugal and the European Commission is that both capitals are connected by a train that covers the journey in about three hours of travel. The first step to recover that connection is to have a line ready in 2030 with conventional trains that reopen traffic between both cities without having to change trains. The project rescues a line that It already existed in the 19th century but that time has erased. Furthermore, it follows the designs of a European Union that opts for the train over the plane and is that being able to cover this journey in 180 minutes would be a blow against air traffic, which is much more polluting. If the schedule is met, the AVE between both cities will be available almost three decades later than planned. The news, furthermore, seemed to indicate that Galicia was being relegated to the background. And the region has been fighting alongside Portugal for years to have a high-speed rail connection that structures the Atlantic axis. We now know that Portugal will prioritize Galicia over Madrid. First Galicia, then Madrid The confirmation came from the Portuguese Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, during the XXXVI Spanish-Portuguese Summit held in La Rábida (Huelva) who has indicated that he trusts that the Lisbon-Oporto-Vigo line will be completed in 2033 and, therefore, the deadlines prior to the agreement are met with Europe and Spain on Madrid-Lisbon. The words were collected in The Newspaper and it is confirmation that between Madrid and Galicia, The first place Portugal looks to is Galicia. The latest agreements to carry out trains between both cities seemed to put this connection between the Galician city and the two large Portuguese cities at risk. It must be taken into account that the first objective was for Madrid and Lisbon to already have a high-speed connection ready by 2030, the year in which Spain and Portugal (along with Morocco) will organize the Soccer World Cup. However, given the impossibility of meeting the deadlines, a delay until 2034 was agreed upon. This delay has not put at risk the Atlantic corridor in which The European Union has already invested 250 million euros (more than 750 million euros of European funds have already been spent on Madrid-Lisbon) and up to 3,000 million euros delivered by the European Investment Bank (EIB) in the form of soft loans. In Portugal they defend that the connection between their cities and the north of Spain is much more important than the link with Madrid. The high-speed project between Lisbon, Porto and Vigo had already consumed 11,000 million euros as of 2023 and, in the words of Carlos Fernandes, vice president of Infrastructure in Portugal, collected by The reason “develops our country and the centrality of our cities, and not the centrality of other Iberian cities (in relation to Madrid).” For the project to go ahead, it is necessary for Portugal to comply with the plans but also for Spain to have a high-speed exit between Vigo and Tui. From the Portuguese side, they have never denied that they prefer to prioritize the corridor towards Galicia. Pedro Nuno Santos, then Minister of Infrastructure, criticized Renfe in 2022 in an interview with The Countryensuring that they had maintained the night train between Vigo and Portugal but that on the Spanish side no one towed the trains. Right now, the trip between Vigo and Porto takes two hours and 20 minutes. That is, 140 minutes that would become only 50 minutes once the high-speed connection between both cities is consolidated. In fact, those 140 minutes are what is expected to take between Vigo and Lisbon, a huge leap by current standards. The big loser of the dispute is Extremadura. The region has been hearing for years about a Madrid-Lisbon connection that never seems to come. After years where trains have been a real headache, everything indicates that high speed should be completely ready in the region by 2030 but the delay to 2034 has been marked by the deadlines on the Portuguese side. The step forward in high speed is also key in Extremaduran mobility because, for example, it will allow connecting Madrid with Cáceres in one hour (right now it takes more than three hours) and Madrid with Mérida or Badajoz in just over an hour and a half when to reach the latter from Madrid you have to spend more than four and a half hours. Photo | Pedro Correia, Joaoalves0217 and Mstyslav Chernov In Xataka | Madrid and Lisbon will be linked by the AVE. It will only arrive (if it arrives) 24 years late

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