delay

Valve has just announced a delay and price increase for the Steam Machine

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Valve’s plans to revolutionize desktop video games face the reality of the component market. The company has confirmed the postponement of Steam Machine, Steam Frame and Steam Controller, initially planned for the first quarter of 2026, due to the global shortage of RAM and storage. The announcement comes accompanied by a warning: the initially announced prices will be revised upwards, which puts at risk the strategy of competing directly with traditional consoles. What we believed. The official presentation of Valve’s hardware took place in November 2025when the company simultaneously unveiled three devices aimed at expanding its ecosystem beyond the traditional PC: the Steam Machine console, the Steam Frame virtual reality headset, and a new iteration of the Steam Controller. At that time, information provided to media It targeted a launch in the first quarter of 2026. Our love broke. However, Valve has had to recalibrate its expectations. According to the statement, the company acknowledges that it hoped to announce definitive prices and specific release dates at this point, but circumstances in the component market have prevented this. “The limited availability and rising prices of these critical components mean we must review our exact shipping schedule and pricing,” they admit. A little later. The new time frame now extends to the first half of 2026, a deliberately vague formulation that contrasts with the initial precision. Valve emphasizes that it maintains its goal of distributing the three products within that period, but warns about the volatility of the scenario: they need to establish prices and dates that they can announce with confidence, aware of how quickly circumstances can change. The RAM crisis. The problem affects the entire technology industry. Memory manufacturers have experienced a unprecedented price increase: according to data from the component market, the cost of RAM modules has multiplied by three or even four from the beginning of 2026. This escalation responds to a strategic reorientation of the major producers such as SamsungSK Hynix and Micron, which prioritize the manufacture of high-performance memory for artificial intelligence servers, a segment that offers higher profit margins. It was seen coming. Already in November, when Valve presented its hardware, the warning signs were evident. By then, the company recognized that setting prices was complex because “the market is a little strange” and “memory prices are going up as we speak.” What seemed like temporary turbulence has been consolidated as a structural trend. It is a crisis that evokes the semiconductor shortage that shook the industry between 2020 and 2022, causing delays in the launch of consoles and widespread price increases in graphics cards. The current phenomenon presents, however, a peculiarity: it is not about interruptions in the supply chain, but rather a deliberate decision by manufacturers to redirect productive capacity towards the lucrative AI market, leaving the gaming industry in the background. What is known about the machine’s hardware. The Steam Machine, the star product of this trilogy, will be powered by an AMD processor, as confirmed by the semiconductor company’s CEO, Lisa Su, during the presentation of quarterly results: “From a product perspective, Valve is on track to begin shipping its AMD-powered Steam Machine early this year.” That statement, which sounded reassuring then, now takes on an ironic tone: the hardware is ready, but the economic context is not. During previous sessions with specialized media, the company indicated that the Steam Machine would be placed “close to the entry level of the PC space”, a formulation that suggested that it would compete directly with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S in terms of price, rather than with high-end PC configurations. This approach clashes head-on with the current reality of the components market: competing with consoles means achieving very tight margins in a closed ecosystem where Sony and Microsoft can assume initial losses. Valve lacks that flexibility, and the increase in memory and storage costs threatens to place its products in a price range that would distance them from the average consumer. In Xataka | Panic of a ridiculous death among RAM manufacturers: they fear that technology companies will “monopolize” and they are already putting controls

Critical dress rehearsal leak forces NASA to delay Artemis II

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If we learned something with Artemis I in 2022 is that liquid hydrogen is possibly the biggest enemy of NASA’s patience in its missions. And in the last few hours the US space agency has confirmed what many of us feared after a difficult weekend: the launch of Artemis IIthe mission that must take astronauts around the Moon, officially delayed until March. An accumulation of errors. These days NASA had on its agenda to do a ‘general rehearsal’ for the launch of this new mission that aims to test its equipment to take the final leap: put man on Mars in the future. And everything seemed to be ready, with the astronauts in strict quarantine since January 23. But in the end, Florida’s weather reminded us again that it reigns supreme with freezing temperatures and strong winds that forced these plans to stop. Some specific limits. A priori, these adverse conditions should not be a problem for cutting-edge operation, but the reality is that the SLS rocket has very strict operating limits: it cannot safely load fuel if the temperature drops below 4.4ºC for more than 30 minutes. Something that eliminated the launch window that It was scheduled between February 6 and 7moving hope to February 8. The coup de grace. But if the weather was already a big problem, in the last few hours the last major inconvenience has arrived while retrying to refuel under more favorable conditions. It was none other than a leak of liquid hydrogen that was detected at the umbilical interface of the rear service mast while the test was being carried out. Something that has forced everything that was being done to stop, and logically to make decisions that are very hard. Safety first. Although the agency managed to complete many of the test objectives, the hydrogen concentration exceeded safety limits, forcing the rocket to be drained. Administrator Jared Isaacman has been blunt– Crew and vehicle safety is the top priority, so no launch window will be forced. A ‘dejà vu’. For fans of the Artemis show, this sounds painfully familiar. The situation is almost a carbon copy of what was experienced with Artemis I in 2022and although at that time it was not the weather, there were recurring technical failures such as propellant leaks and problems with the pressure fans that caused multiple cancellations of the general rehearsal. Because of those technical problems, they were forced to return the rocket to the Vehicle Assembly Building for much more thorough checks, pushing the April launch to the end of August. Now the similarity lies in the complexity of liquid hydrogen, an ultracold and extremely difficult to contain fuel that remains the Achilles heel of these missions. What will happen now? For now, with all these problems behind us, the launch window that lasted until February 11 has been completely ruled out. This forces us to look for a new date that NASA aims for sometime in March 2026although without specifying a specific day. To do this, they must still analyze data and above all have a successful general rehearsal to validate the safety of the operation. As far as the astronauts are concerned, it no longer makes sense for them to remain quarantined at the Kennedy Space Center, so they will return to Houston until there is a new firm launch date. Images | POT In Xataka | Claude begins to seem unstoppable: NASA has already used him to plan routes for the Perseverance rover on Mars

Three years of delay later, Valladolid is about to complete what seemed endless: the A-11

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Cross Castilla y León on a highway. From Soria to Zamora, passing through Valladolid, to link the first of them with the A-66 or give access to Portugal without having to go through secondary roads. It is known as the Duero Highway and its end is already visible at its central junction, in Valladolid. It arrives, yes, three years late. The works They have already been extended for more than six years, well beyond December 2022 for which the section between Tudela de Duero and Olivares was expected to be inaugurated. Two populations that should have been united three years after work began in 2019, explain in Valladolid newspaper. When this section is inaugurated and connects with the Quintanilla de Arriba section, it will be open the largest highway link which has been opened to traffic once in our country. 34 kilometers that should arrive in spring. Because first there is a hurdle to overcome. A viaduct to finish Until now, the stretch of highway inaugurated only once in our country is the 27.8 km that separate Solares and Torrelavega in Cantabria by the A-8 and which were opened to traffic in 2015. The record should become obsolete when Quintanilla de Arriba and Tudela de Duero are finally linked by the A-11. This section, as we said, was planned in two segments. Between Tudela de Duero and Olivares de Duero there are 20.2 kilometers in length and between this town and Quintanilla de Arriba there are another 14.5 kilometers. The intention is that this first section will be open to traffic in 2022 after investing 79.1 million euros. The second was to be ready at the end of 2023 after spending 97.9 million euros. It is estimated, however, that this section has gone above 220 million euros. A figure that pales compared to the total work, if we take into account that the last 120 kilometers of the Duero Highway under construction have been awarded some 980 million euros in the sum of all the projects. It remains to be built, for example, the expansion of the Aranda del Duero variant. As far as Valladolid is concerned, residents have yet to see how the 34 kilometer link is completed with the construction of the Duero viaduct. When completed it will be the culmination of works that are expected to be ready by the spring of this year. However, in May of last year Those responsible preferred to remain cautious and make it clear that until the end of 2026 the deadlines projected with the last extension would be met. Whether you arrive in spring or winter, the opening of this section next to Valladolid will be key to seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. The connection between Soria and Zamora by highway is a historic demand that should have been completed a long time ago. Especially if we take into account that The first section of the A-11 was opened to cars in 1995. More than 30 years later, there are still fringes to close. Photos | Ministry of Transport In Xataka | Spain has dozens of unique abandoned roads. Now he wants to save them by turning them into “historic roads”

Snow is one of the few things that can delay the Shinkansen in Japan. To combat it there is a solution as simple as it is effective.

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Japanese bullet trains are known for their extreme punctuality. However, when the snow appears, neither the most cutting-edge railway system of the world is saved. And to combat it, the country’s railway institutions developed a solution as simple as it was ingenious: sprinklers installed along the tracks that spray water during snowfall. This is done to prevent snow from accumulating and wreaking havoc on the trains. We explain in detail how these systems work. Why is it important. Snow not only causes the system to stop being as punctual as usual, but it can also cause serious damage to high-speed trains. And at speeds above 200 km/h, the snow on the ground rises due to the air current generated by the train, which can cause it to compact under the cars forming ice balls that, upon impact with the ground, throw gravel into the air. This can end up breaking windows and damaging train components if left untreated. Japan has spent decades perfecting systems to eliminate this problem without sacrificing speed or punctuality. The origin of the problem. When the Shinkansen began regular operations in 1964, according to explains JR Tokai (the operating company of the Tokaido Shinkansen), construction was carried out in a hurry and “there was not enough time to consider” alternative routes that would avoid areas of heavy snowfall. In January 1965, just three months after launch, snowfall in the Sekigahara region caused serious incidentsincluding broken windows and shattered water tanks. The investigation revealed that the real culprit was speed, since the wind generated raised the snow, which ended up turning into ice projectiles under the carriages. The solution: sprinklers. To prevent the snow from rising and forming those dangerous ice balls, it was installed a sprinkler system along the tracks that sprays water during snowfall. There are currently sprinklers deployed in a stretch of more than 70 kilometers, covering the lines most affected by the snow. In 2009, the nozzles were improved so that the water reached areas that were not reached before, melting the snow more effectively. The system does not completely remove snow, but changes its consistency to prevent it from compacting and flying, thus reducing the risk of damage. It is not the only solution. The water system is complemented by other resources. During non-service hours, snow plows work at dawn to remove accumulated snow. Since 2003, rotary snow plows have been used that use rotating brushes capable of cleaning up to five centimeters below the surface of the rails. In addition, since 2013, devices with optical sensors have been used to monitor weather conditions, and there are cameras installed under the carriages to detect snow accumulations. When a snow-covered train arrives at stations like Nagoya or Osaka, there are also specialized teams waiting under the platforms with high-pressure washers to quickly remove stuck-on snow. The results speak. All of this operation has radically transformed the Shinkansen’s defenses when the snow arrives. According to JR Tokaiin 1976 there were 635 train cancellations due to snow, a figure that has been reduced to zero since 1994. The average delay due to snowfall has also improved dramatically, dropping to just a few minutes. Beyond the trains. In the northern regions of Japan, where snowfall can exceed three meters, many roads have sprinklers integrated into the asphalt. The system, known as ‘shosetsu’ (disappearing snow) or ‘yuusetsu’ (melting snow), was developed in 1961 in the city of Nagaoka by Yosaburo Imai, founder of a century-old confectionery. Imai was inspired by observing that snow did not accumulate where thermal water gushed from underground. Since then, underground pipes transport geothermal water (at about 13-14°C) to pavement sprinklers that melt snow during winter storms, avoiding the use of salt or snow blowers. Cover image | KUA YUE In Xataka | The straightest road in Spain is located in a place whose name I don’t want to remember: between El Provencio and La Roda

Renfe is obliged to return money after 15 minutes of delay. Its president warns that this “would make tickets more expensive”

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The president of Renfe, Álvaro Fernández Heredia, assures that the company will not apply from January 1 the new compensation approved by Congress. He argues that the measure is “unconstitutional and generates inequality against Iryo and Ouigo.” Conflict. In November, Congress approved a PP amendment to the Sustainable Mobility Law that forces Renfe to recover its old compensation for delays. These are 50% refund of the ticket from 15 minutes of delay and 100% from 30 minutes. Currently, after the change which the operator made in July 2024, only returns money after 60 minutes (50% of the amount) and 90 minutes (100%). The amendment, which had the support of Vox, Junts, ERC, PNV, Podemos and BNG, sets January 1, 2026 as the date of entry into force. Renfe’s position. Fernández Heredia, has declared in RNE that “in principle, no” there will be changes next Thursday in the travel conditions. According to the president of the operator, the State Attorney’s Office is studying legal formulas to avoid applying the provision. “We have a legal opinion that clearly says that it is unconstitutional,” he said. explained in El País, arguing that it violates principles such as equal treatment, freedom of enterprise and two European regulations on rail transport services. The economic cost according to the operator. The president of the institution estimates the impact of the measure at more than 125 million euros annually, well above the 43 million that Renfe paid in compensation during 2023. As Fernández Heredia clarifies, the increase is not only due to more incidents, but also because the amendment extends compensation to all long-distance commercial services, including Avlo, Alvia and Intercity, not just the AVE. “Whoever wrote this didn’t know what he was doing,” pointed out to the middle. The consequences for the traveler. The president of Renfe warns that applying the new compensation would cause a 10% increase in fares and would displace up to 5% of passengers towards the competition. In addition, it warns that “deficient services that Renfe maintains in areas where Iryo and Ouigo do not operate would be put at serious risk.” “If we want it to be cheaper, provide deficient services and stop where no one stops, what we don’t want is liberalization,” declared in RNE. Inequality. The core of Renfe’s argument is regulatory asymmetry. And while this operator would have to return part of the money from 15 minutes late, Ouigo begins to compensate from 30 minutes (with purchase vouchers) and Iryo from 30 minutes as well. Both competitors only refund 100% of the amount after 90 minutes of delay, just like Renfe does now. “I don’t think this is being done because we want to improve the conditions of travelers, but rather because of an attack on Renfe,” he said. affirmed Fernández Heredia in El País. Legal battle underway. Sources from the Ministry of Transport they qualified the amendment to the media 20 Minutes as “demagogic and populist.” Minister Óscar Puente announced after the approval of the law that they would look for formulas to prevent its application, something that Fernández Heredia has confirmed is being studied. The president of Renfe regrets that the company “is not entitled to appeal to the Constitutional Court, which creates insecurity when it comes to defending ourselves.” He inherits the mark of ppolitical opulism. The president of Renfe was very critical of the parliamentary groups that supported the measure. “It was a slap in the face of Renfe to the Government,” as collected The Country. “It is a populist measure because they do not say that this measure implies ‘raising prices’ and that it will benefit the ‘other two companies,’” added in the interview on ‘Las Mañanas de RNE’. The president of the operator has asked the PP, Podemos and BNG for explanations about why the obligation only affects Renfe. “If we want to provide a guarantee policy and better compensation, the logical thing is that it should be for all travelers.” In Xataka | Public transport faces 2026 with extended aid and the approved Single Pass: there is still one step ahead

We have carried the burden of reproductive delay on women. But men also have their part (and the proof is in the sperm)

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Let’s talk about semen because it’s important. We already knew: the quality of sperm, for example, is directly related with the life expectancy of men. However, in recent days the situation has taken an interesting turn. A few days ago, a group of researchers from the Sanger Institute and King’s College London advertisement that “aging” has more consequences than it seems. It is not only that, with age, sperm accumulate mutations; is that the percentage of sperm with mutations does not stop growing. And that changes many of the things we thought we knew. What exactly have they done? The team sequenced semen samples from individuals between 24-75 years old and They discovered that the process accumulation of mutations is not just a matter of wear and tear. There is, interestingly, a combination of chance and positive selection. That is, he has found evidence that there are “winning” variants in the testicles. The study concludes that it “concludes a 2–3× risk of known causal mutations with age and estimates 3–5% of sperm with a pathogenic mutation in middle-aged and older men.” The numbers are low, but the paradigm changes. The paradigm? It is not just that the older you are, the more mutations there are, but that these mutations compete with each other and thrive within the testicle (intratesticular positive selection). This means that the risk window widens beyond the simple annual arithmetic sum. For years, we have carried the burden of delayed parenthood on women. In a simplistic (and now we know hasty) way, the public debate has loaded thethe responsibility of reproductive planning about them. But also the health-scientist: the risk profiles were defined by the gestational age of the mother. And yet, men also have their part. What is hidden in the sperm. Although, as I cannot help but repeat, the risk is low, we cannot ignore that the greater presence of variants linked to neurodevelopmental disorders and developmental syndromes changes the general picture. The reality is that, despite everything we know, we know very little. And that is a problem because, whether we want it or notthe trends are very solid: the age of having children it’s going to be delayed all over the world. Image | Quinn Dombrowski In Xataka | Having many children sounds great as a way to preserve the species. Until you start passing genetic mutations

In Japan, the average trains delay is 96 seconds. It is not magic, his secret is called “Paka-Yoke”

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We are not going to discover anything if we tell you that the high Spanish speed has not lived its best summer. To get an idea, Four out of 10 Renfe trains They have suffered some type of delay. We have had breakdowns, Lost trains during the night and the final tip of the fires. But beyond summer, the truth is that the Spanish road network is giving important symptoms of fatigue. Only last June, The birds arrived with a medium delay of 19 minutes About the scheduled time. In April the figure was almost 21 minutes. According to the published report by the company, of the 9,607 trains that circulated last June, only one in three arrived in time Or they were delayed less than five minutes. We know this because Renfe herself has published it but the breakdowns have also affected the trains of Iryo and Ouigo that have to circulate on the same ways. The data point to two possible reasons. First, Spain begins to give symptoms of having an infradimensive infrastructure to host the arrival of new operators (OUIGO and IRYO) and a Growth sustained in the number of trips. Second, the data warn that not enough has been invested in maintenance and modernization of the roads. It is very likely that the situation we are living is a mixture of both reasons. But a question overwhelm: if in Spain we have problems with three trains companies … how do they work in Japan where six different companies operate? 96 seconds Move by Japan, especially for Honshu (his main island in which cities like Tokyo, Kyoto or Osaka are found) is very simple if you decide on the high -speed train. The frequencies are so bulky and the delays so exceptional that the reliability in the system is absolute. The known as Japan Rail It can, also, be chaos for those who visit the country for the first time, taking into account that even Six companies operate on their lines. However, each of them has its own reserved space so they do not compete on the same roads as it happens in Spain where Renfe has to deal with Iro and Ouigo. Despite this, four of those Six companies (JR East, JR Central, JR West and JR Kyushu) are completely privatized and only two (JR Hokkaido and JR Shikoku) are state -owned. There is, however, a fundamental difference. In Spain, following European orders, the management of the roads falls exclusively on Adif (which was public and also had to be privatized) that charges some canons to companies that want to operate in their railway framework. AND The roads are shared partly between medium distance and high speed trains. In Japan, however, companies manage infrastructure and maintenance of the roads in which they operate but the network of Shinkansenthe famous bullet trains, have a completely separated infrastructure from the rest of the trains and is managed by the Railway Construction, Transportation and Technology Agency of Japan (JRTT). This physical separation allows to reduce the risks (a fault of a slower train does not impact bullet trains) and install systems specifically designed for this type of trains. That has allowed them to evolve the acquaintance concept of Paka-Yoke which can be translated as “failure proof”, referring to the fact that all human decisions are supervised by an exahustive system monitoring system, which shields the network of those possible human errors. This has allowed Japan to be a reference in world high speed. Until Spain and China surpassed the country in railway kilometers of this type of trains, the Japanese country was a leader but it still is in punctuality. In 2024, The average delay in the Tokaid line was 96 seconds. However, systems are designed for trains to enter a margin of 15 seconds at the station. Most of them stop in the first 6 seconds scheduled. Japanese punctuality is an extremely valued quality. Culture forces to ask for public forgiveness when schedules are not fulfilled, sometimes reaching surreal extremes. Like the day that a railway company had to make its face because one of its trains He left the station 20 seconds earlier than expected. Photo | Henry Perks In Xataka | Japan asked its citizens what bothers them most about tourists on the train. The responses betrayed the nation

Renfe is choking the liberalization of high speed. With vicinity you have another plan: delay it as much as possible

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Spain has to liberalize the vicinity service. Not because the government wants, because it is a European commandment since the fourth rail package was approved, back in 2016. However, Spain is resisting as much as possible to apply these changes. Now, the CNMC has notified again: it touches liberalization. Obligated. Yes, Spain is obliged to liberalize the vicinity service. In fact, I was obliged that, as afternoon, on December 25, 2023, all services were tendered through public tender. Last year, in 2024, contracts should have been awarded. At least, if the deadlines had been met since In 2016 the fourth rail package will be approved. Last year, in the last part of the year, The CNMC pointed out which had “launched a public consultation to gather information on public traveler transport services on rail (near and medium distance) and their next tender.” The previous deadlines could be extended as long as there is already a contract in force on the previous dates. In secret? That detail about the deadlines is important. According to ABCthe current Renfe contract extended from 2018 to 2027. Arrived 2026, at least 3% of the value of the contract related to the Cercanías service should be taken to public tender. However, they say in the newspaper that the Government and Renfe signed (without making it public) an adend to the current contract to delay this first step of liberalization to 2028. The intention is, therefore, to maintain the service of nearby in possession of Renfe. It calculates this means that the value of that 3% of the contract now exceeds 1,000 million euros. What dates are handled? If everything follows its course and there are no more news, the intention is that the liberalization of the service begins in 2028. First with a pilot test, they explain in The economistwhich would last until 2033. From then on, liberalization should be definitive. To carry out this addendum, it was assured that “it has not been possible to determine the public service obligations that will be bidding before January 1, 2026”. Therefore, this extension was signed in the contract that takes liberalization for a year beyond what was initially planned when it was expected that Cercanías would have been liberalized in 2032. Although the Government was already aware that in 2023 this fourth European rail package began to apply that is committed to liberalization, in 2018 signed the agreement with Renfe that maintains its monopoly until the next decade entry. It is not the first time. The delay in the liberalization of vicinity is not the only case in which the government moves in gray spaces for the liberalization of a rail service. Nor Óscar Puente, Minister of Transportation, has been in favor of this type of interventions. In the Madrid-Galicia line, for example, great results are being achieved for Renfe, to the point they have managed to do Go back the offering of airline tickets. However, the government knows that Renfe will keep the monopoly for a while in the corridor since the particularity of the road jump forces to produce very specific trains that Renfe has monopolized. Now companies like Ouigo have a huge waiting list if they want their own. And as we said, Bridge has been the first to criticize the system. He points out that as Renfe has the obligation to operate as a public service is at a disadvantage because Ouigo or Iryo, the two companies that have entered to work in Spain, can choose the most profitable runners but Renfe is obliged to serve in, for example, the Madrid-Extermadura line that is less profitable. Damage. The arrival of Ouigo and Iro to the Spanish railways has hurt Renfe, especially as far as prices are concerned. Yes it is true that Puente does not lack reason when it points out that, really, the three companies do not operate in exactly the same conditions but also should be remembered other data. The arrival of both companies has punctured the bubble of the High speed prices by train. Never before has it moved so much volume of passengers in this type of lines but we must bear in mind that, since the arrival of the French and Italian company, prices have fallen and have never been so cheap. Are there cases in Europe? Yes, Spain would not be the first country to liberalize its vicinity services although there are important nuances because the prominence of the companies that until they were not so long ago is very strong. In Germany, Berlin S-Bahn that operates 15 lines was awarded in 2021 through public tender … which took a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn (the German Renfe). However, The Saale-Thüringen-Südharz network (STS) It has 575 kilometers operated by Abellio Rail Mitteldeutschland GmbH, a private operator. In France, Renfe lost the tender in the Nantes-Burdeos and Nantes-Lyon who took SNCF (the French Renfe). In the Italian Piedmont, Renfe has managed partially. However, in the United Kingdom they have had a liberalized system for decades. Now, tired of the bad state of trains and the bad service offered The government is trying to reverse the situation and return to a monopoly to resume public service reins. Photo | Germán Poo-Caamaño and Jornal.cat In Xataka | With high speed in war, the French owner of Ouigo and Renfe are already preparing for the following battle: Cercanías

Spain goes with such delay in floating wind that its neighbors are being advanced: Morocco and Portugal

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The industry begins to get impatient. It has been almost a year since it was approved Royal Decree 962/2024designed to give the exit gun to the marine wind in Spain. However, the ministerial order that must regulate the first auction has not yet seen the light, and there is also no official calendar with the next steps. In a sector that advances to the rhythm of the wind, the lack of movement begins to weigh. Short. The Wind Business Association (AEE) and the Marine Wind Forum have joined forces to launch a overwhelming message to the government: either, investments will end in other countries. In a joint statementthey have claimed the immediate publication of the bases of the auction and a schedule that gives medium and long term visibility. While Spain is still waiting, Portugal, France or Morocco advance with defined models and concrete projects. A more complex problem. According to AEElack of advances could cost Spain to create more than 7,500 jobs in coastal areas and stop contributing more than 2,000 million euros per year to GDP. In addition, the opportunity to lead a key technology such as floating wind –in which Spain has been a pioneer with world reference prototypes– It could evaporate if a minimum local market is not established. Spain has toilet industrial capabilities, appropriate port infrastructure, demonstrated technological experience – as the first floating prototype developer of the world – and Suitable areas identified in the planning plans of the maritime space (poem). But all that, without a local market that guarantees volume and continuity, is at risk. It has been stretching. In February of this year, the Minister for Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, announced that the Government would launch the first marine wind auction in 2025 and that an order would be published with the bases, According to the newspaper five days. Also The goal was reaffirmed to reach the 3 GW capacity installed in 2030, as established by the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC). But, today, the order has not gone to public consultation. And that is the first stone to launch any auction. From the sector, they denounce that there are no objective reasons that justify the delay and fear that the promises of auctions “in 2025” become another lost year. A wind leak. The main stumbling block is the lack of firm signs and a detailed roadmap. This has caused various companies –As AEE has warned– They are starting to divert their investments to other countries that offer greater certainty and speed. On the other hand, in neighboring countries the situation is being very different. For example, Portugal is about to define Your auction model. France has awarded Already a great project in the Mediterranean and prepares five more parks in the Vizcaya Gulf. Morocco, meanwhile, has presented A 1,000 MW project on the Atlantic coast for 2029. Meanwhile, Spain is still not a single marine kilowatt in commercial operation. Of the 278 MW of floating wind installed worldwide, according to data from the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) June 2025, none is in Spain, although the country has been key in the construction of 100%exported components. In addition, the wind sector also claims that IDAE (Institute for Diversification and Saving Energy) be unlocked to modernize key infrastructure such as the ports of A Coruña, Castellón or Tarragona. Without those logistics nodes ready, the value chain weakens. The look in the Canary Islands. It has profiled as the ideal territory to launch this first pilot auction. The archipelago has a constant winda consolidated logistics chain, political and social consensus, and a high electricity generation cost that could be drastically reduced with marine wind. For AEECanary Islands is the “logical spearhead” to start the commercial development of this technology. Forecasts. The sector expects the Ministry to publish as soon as possible the public consultation for the Ministerial Order and define a clear calendar of upcoming auctions. Meanwhile, the global context does not expect. According to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), the offshore market grew by 10% in 2024, reaching 83.2 GW installed. Spain is still in time to occupy a prominent place in the European leadership of the floating marine wind. But the opportunity window narrows. The ads are not enough: concrete decisions, clear regulation and political will are needed. Otherwise, the country runs the risk of seeing how others assume that strategic role. And with this, lose not only investment and employment, but a key opportunity to reindustrialize the economy and advance the energy transition. Image | Unspash Xataka | In Peru, a company has had an idea to take wind energy directly to your home: turbines as a lay way

ASML, Airbus and Mistral are planted before Brussels. They ask that the application of the law of AI and notify the risks delay

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Europe already has its great artificial intelligence law. What is missing, according to several companies, are the concrete rules to apply it. Only one month after the first standards for the most advanced models, more than 45 large companies – among them ASML, Airbus or Mistral – enter into force – They have signed an open letter asking Brussels to “stop the clock” and postpone their entry into force two years. They point to an unrealistic calendar and the difficulty of competing with the United States or China. What exactly is EU’s artificial intelligence law? The European Union Artificial Intelligence Law entered into force on August 1, 2024after having been politically approved by the European Parliament and the Council in December 2023. It is the first comprehensive regulation of the world focused on this technology, and regulates from how the models are trained to what contexts can be used. The key is in its approach to risk levels: the greater the potential impact, more legal obligations. And what exactly Asml, Airbus, Mistral and the rest ask? They demand a pause two years before the most demanding parts of the law enter into force, especially those that affect high -risk systems and the general purpose models, whose first section is scheduled for August 2025. The reason: The standard is too complex, overlaps with other regulations and still lacks key guides for its application. ASML headquarters in Veldhoven Among those guides is the code of good practices, that had to have been published in spring and still does not be ready. Companies argue that without that document, and with this level of uncertainty, the law can become a brake for European innovation. “This situation puts at risk not only the development of European leaders, but the ability of all industries to deploy the scale required by global competition,” They warn. They also ask that regulatory quality prioritize against speed, and warn that continuing without changes would send a wrong message to the seriousness of Europe in its commitment to technological competitiveness. The names behind this initiative. The request does not arise from an isolated startup or from an informal group of companies. Behind is the EU AI Champions Initiative, a group that groups more than 60 European companies that claim to be committed to the development of a competitive AI and aligned with the EU values. Among its members are names such as ASML, Airbus, Mistral AI, Mercedes-Benz, BNP Paribas, Siemens Energy, Lufthansa, Philips or Publicis. Of course, not all members of the US Ai Champions Initiative signed the letter published this week. Images | Sigmund | Rawpixel | ASML In Xataka | After strictly regulating AI, the European Union has identified a problem: it has been too European Union

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