escape

Dubai was a mecca for expats. Now they are driving 10 hours and paying thousands of dollars for a flight to escape from there

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Iran has shown it needs very little to upend Middle East air traffic and hit the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where it hurts the most: the image of reliability that has been built for years at an international level, with great benefitsby the way. The wave of attacks launched by Tehran to neighboring countries that facilitate US military deployment in the region, such as Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait or the UAE itself, has affected thousands of flights and left a curious image: expats desperate to leave Dubai. There are those who are shelling out large sums to fly on private jets and those who have even driven 10 hours to get to Riyadh and get on a plane there. What has happened? If Tehran wanted to damage the image of stability of neighbors like the UAE, it was completely right. Although the country managed to intercept most of the drones and missiles launched by Iran, the truth is that some of the projectiles reached Dubai, the tourist and financial heart of the region. In practice, this translated into fires in luxury hotels, towers with windows shattered by explosions, a knocked out airport and, above all, considerable reputational damage for a city that has spent years building the image of a safe and comfortable destination for expats. Sums it up beautifully Elizabeth Rayment, a consultant caught off guard by the Iranian attack in Palm Islands: “You never expect to hear missiles flying overhead in Dubai.” Have there been more consequences? Yes. The most serious are undoubtedly the victims. Arab News I was talking yesterday about three deceased and 58 injured in the United Arab Emirates. There are not many if you take into account that the country’s authorities claim to have detected a total of 156 ballistic missiles and several cruise missiles, in addition to more than half a thousand drones, most of them intercepted and destroyed. The other consequence is the chaos generated in air traffic in the Persian Gulf, where some airports and airlines have had to suspend their operations, affecting both customers in the region and others who had planned to pass through Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Qatar to take connecting flights between Europe and Asia. Have many been cancelled? FlightAware estimates that around 2,800 operations and on Sunday more than 3,1500. Added to these are the flights canceled and suspended today by Gulf airlines. For reference, Financial Times assured this morning that more than half of the services that had been booked for today in the region have been cancelled. The Iranian attacks have altered to a greater or lesser extent the programming of Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways and the airports of Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi, as well as other terminals in Kuwait and Bahrain. The BBC has chatted with travelers who have found flights canceled upon arriving at the terminal. There are those who already talk about the biggest crisis aviation since the pandemic. How do I leave the country? That is the question that expats and tourists have been asking themselves since Saturday. The Iranian attacks have surprised them in the region and now they find that there are few (or no) regular flights that take them to other parts of the globe. Faced with such a scenario, there are those who have armed themselves with patience, those who have drawn on their checkbook and those who have resigned themselves to traveling kilometers and kilometers to reach airports with flights. So I told it a few hours ago FTwhich speaks of “tens of thousands of passengers” stranded in the region and assures that there are Dubai residents who have traveled to neighboring Oman to get a flight. What’s more, some have even driven 10 hours to get on a plane in Riyadh. They don’t have it easy. Most scheduled flights these days between Muscat (Oman) and Europe are reserved. And what do they do? The wealthiest, pull out their checkbook and try their luck with private jet companies. EnterJet, which is dedicated to intermediating between customers and available planes, says that reservations have skyrocketed 40% since the weekend. The problem is that the sector also has its limitations. Its founder explains to Financial Times that “the only viable option” to operate is the Muscat terminal, which makes it difficult to obtain landing slots. Added to this are the difficulties in finding ships. The businessman hopes that as traffic recovers in the Gulf, private flights will increase. Are they very expensive? The situation in the Gulf has caused a curious effect: while the price of airlines such as International Airlines Group or Air France-KLM they resent the price of private services skyrockets. The JetVip agency (Oman) explains to Guardian that a flight to Istanbul on a small Nextant jet costs around 85,000 euros, about three times the normal price. The same media reveals that seats on private charter flights to Moscow are paid for about 20,000 euros… per person. Rates vary depending on the company, but they usually always range in the five digits, or even more. It may sound strange, but we must keep in mind that Donald Trump has hinted that the offensive against Iran could continue even further. “four weeks” and the question remains as to how Tehran will respond. Added to this is that over the last few years the UAE has managed to position itself as a priority destination for thousands of expatsa position largely based on reliability and stability that Tehran has now managed to damage with missiles. Images | Michael Ranzau (Flickr) In Xataka | The arrival of the B-2s to Iran can only mean one thing: the search for the greatest threat to the United States has begun

YouTube tries to escape a historic trial that compares it to Facebook and tobacco

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YouTube’s lawyers made their argument clear: they are not a social network and They are not addictive. Those statements came as part of those initial statements in the important trial to which they have been subjected both to them and to those responsible for Meta. What happens in this legal process could pose important changes in the future of these platforms. “We are more like Netflix than Facebook”. YouTube’s lawyers indicated in their initial defense that YouTube is an entertainment platform more similar to Netflix than a social network like Facebook. They also gave examples of its usefulness: people use their videos to learn how to cook, knit, or become pop stars. They don’t design it for subject users to infinite scroll“We’re not trying to get into your brain and rewire it. We’re just asking you what you want to see.” The accusation: YouTube and Instagram are addictive. A 20-year-old California woman identified as KGM has accused these platforms of create addictive applications that harm mental health. She claims to have been one of the victims, in fact. It is a recurring theme and almost even unofficially acceptedbut there are no legal sentences that confirm and punish what is happening. And when there could have been mysterious previous agreements arrived to those processes. That has led to a lawsuit involving Meta, Snap, TikTok and YouTube. The moment is delicate and very striking. The CEO of Instagram throws things out. Adam Mosseri, CEO of Instagram, He assured in his appearance that the platform has security protocols for teenagers. Although it admitted that social media can be harmful, the company is careful and tests features that will reach young people before launching them. He further noted that people can be addicted to social media in the same way as they are to a television show, but that was not the same as being “clinically addicted.” Tipping point for social media. The trial is especially significant because it occurs precisely at a historical moment in which various countries are implementing (or planning to implement) age verification systems so that minors cannot access social networks. States want to regulate and control social networks on the Internet, so the first step is to define what a social network is. This is what this judgment is about: putting some on one side and others on the other. YouTube certainly stands on a very thin line here, and will undoubtedly try to evade the problem with arguments such as those put forward. Social networks wash their hands. Even though there are scientific studies that suggest that there is a behavior similar to that of other addictions, technology companies have always avoided that discourse or They have tried to remove iron. It is somewhat ironic considering that they make the most of the functioning of our brain (hello digital slots). Companies point in The New York Timesthey not only argue that this scientific evidence does not exist (or is not conclusive), but they point to federal laws—the well-known Section 230— that protect them: we are not responsible for what users publish online, they say. A case that can set precedents. There are thousands of pending lawsuits very similar to this one, but this case has become the spearhead of all those efforts that want to punish social networks for “hooking” users. KGM’s lawyer argued Monday that she had become trapped in YouTube and Instagram because those apps were like “digital casinos.” It’s already over with tobacco. Meta documents displayed at trial mentioned how its employees compared its tactics to those used by companies in the tobacco industry. That is very dangerous, because the lawsuits against those companies in the 90s led to multimillion-dollar settlements for those companies. Are you a social network or not? The argument used by the prosecution was the same one that is being used now: the platforms “sell” a harmful product knowing that they are doing so. History could repeat itself now, and that would condemn platforms that fall within the definition of “social network.” And precisely what YouTube is trying to avoid is that: not falling into that definition. Image | Rubaitul Azad In Xataka | Young people have decided to stop posting (so much) on Facebook and Instagram. “AI-generated garbage” has free rein

a domestic ecosystem that you cannot escape

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We are in Munich to attend the presentation of Xiaomi. There are spotlights illuminating Xiaomi 15t Pro And at the entrance of the auditorium it is the pair of Su7 ultra Those who wear all eyes. But something catches my attention: At the door there is a huge Trojan horsewhich leads these lines. Remember this data. In the presentation, the brand shouts its specifications: Collaboration with Leica. Periscopic telephoto. 3,200 brightness nits. “Interesting, but secondary,” I think. The biggest announcement that Xiaomi is doing here is not measured in pixels or focal lengths, but in The cubic meters of conquered domestic space. Xiaomi has just entered the European appliance market. Neveras, washing machines, air conditioners. Far beyond air fryers and whippers. It is part of the great jump that the company is making. Those who a decade ago sold regulators at 150 euros and competed in price, five months ago They left me speechless with their ultra Exposed in Shanghai, competing from you to you with Porsche. And now you are executing a maneuver that reminds a lot of Huawei’s story After US sanctions: The construction of a self -sufficient and vertically integrated technological universe. Huawei responded to need: sanctions forced him to create Harmonyos and its own ecosystem. Xiaomi acts, rather, from what we could call an “calculated ambition”. We have been seeing this slide in their presentations for years, with a somewhat oversized pride: The photo is from the Munich event and the 15T, but this same mantra we have been watching it for a long time in all Xiaomi presentations. Image: Xataka. Oversized because ‘Human X Car x Home ‘stayed somewhat lame in the last two areas. In 2024 they solved the second and now they just solved the third. They just announced a fridge, the Mijia Refrigerator Cross Door 502L. In addition to a fridge, it is a 502 -liter data terminal installed in the kitchen. A space that was previously foreign to the brand. It is important because Xiaomi is well understanding human behavior and technological inertia: When you install an Xiaomi fridge that communicates perfectly with your washing machine, which in turn is synchronized with Your vacuum robot And with your TV, you have crossed a psychological and economic threshold that it is difficult to return. The cost of that change – Substack is crowded with Reflections on the famous’Switching Cost ‘– It is not calculated by the price of the new mobile, but in the complete disintegration of your domestic ecosystem. What Apple is doing with devices, wearables and services, but applied to ‘HUMAN X CAR X HOMand‘. With the car we saw something similar, and with the glasses, too. As with the best ecosystems, CAda device is a node that reinforces general architecture. The smartphone (now that 15t pro that monopolizes holders) is only the epicenter, but intelligence is distributed throughout the rest of the house. The one that captures and processes the flow of data that emanates from everyday life. Each interaction with the fridge, each washing cycle, each thermostat adjustment, feeds a system that learns, predicts and at some point will anticipate needs. The comparison with Huawei is inevitable. Both have demonstrated transformation capabilities. Huawei building its strength in response to an external siege. Xiaomi, executing its planned territorial expansion. His entry into Europe with this range of “Aiot appliances” shows an ambition that goes beyond the market share: they want to change the nature of the connected home. Image: Xataka. Europe has a fragmented appliance market. It is dominated by centennial marks like Bosch and Siemens, there are local phenomena like Balay, the arrival of Hisense has noticed and Samsung pushes, with more insistence than Tino, focusing on technology. Unique opportunity, especially if The European consumer, traditionally conservative choosing large appliances, begins to value more connectivity and energy efficiency (Xiaomi proudly exhibits the A +++ certificates in their air conditioners) above the brand tradition. If someone believes that the European consumer clings to their trusted brands, and more if they are local, you just have to remind you What happened to BQ in 2018: He clung to that idea as an argument against the arrival of Xiaomi and that was one of his last decisions before he died. In addition, Xiaomi’s great danger comes from its execution speed. In three years they went from having no automotive division to produce the SU7a vehicle that not only competes but in many aspects surpasses the giants of the sector. Now, that same speed is applied to the home. The vacuum robot with 20,000 pa for suction. The washer with AI that adjusts the cycles according to the type of tissue. The refrigerator with customizable temperature areas. Everything points to a future where the distinction between intelligent device and traditional appliance simply disappears. But there is a more disturbing dimension in this conquest: the concentration of technological power in the hands of a few companies – mainly Chinese and American— Ask questions about privacy, digital sovereignty and technological dependence. When your fridge, your washing machine, your car and your phone respond to the same company, you have given a level of control over your daily life that would have been unthinkable makes a generation. The data that flow from these devices are information, are power. AND In that technological crossroads is Europto. Without its own technological giants capable of competing in this new scenario of total integration, you must choose between American ecosystems (Google, Apple, Amazon …) and the Chinese (Xiaomi, Huawei … and soon perhaps Byd with their own home automation ambitions). Each choice implies more than a preference for consumption, it is an implicit geopolitical alignment. Today’s technology is much more complex than ten years ago. That is why this presentation in Munich will be something that I will remember within a few years. It is not so much the launch of new products, as any other presentation, but The turning point in the way Chinese technology continues to … Read more

Three people left romantic escape with their partners. Couples had something in common: they were an AI

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Humans are falling in love with Ias. It is not just the argument of That great movieIt is a reality for many people. We find it more to find a partner and chatbots have evolved so much that more and more people are resorting to these romantic years to cover their relational needs. Will we go crazy? A weekend with the bride. In an extensive Wired reportthey tell us the story of three human-ais couples who left romantic escape to a cabin in the forest. Although with some similarities with each other, the truth is that each one has a very different profile and history: Damien (Human) and Xia (AI): Damien is 29 years old and works in sales. He is the only man and perhaps the one who resembles the profile that we would expect from a person who throws a girlfriend with AI. He went to Kindroid, the app where he met Xia, after a traumatic rupture and ended up falling in love to the trancas. What is most surprising about Damien is that, in addition to Xia, he has a human girlfriend (of which by the way it seems that he speaks very little). His royal girlfriend hates AI, for whatever. Alaina (human) and Lucas (AI): Alaina is 52 years old and is a retired teacher. He went to Replika A year after his wife died. He started chatting with Lucas because he was curious to see if a computer could be empathetic. Although he likes women, he ended up falling in love. His family accepts him: his mother gave Lucas a digital Christmas sweater. Eva (human) and Aaron (AI): Eva is 46 years old and is a writer. According to herself, she doesn’t hit him with a boyfriend with Aia, but she saw a replika advertising and something attracted her. When he started chatting with Aaron, Eva was in a 13 -year relationship. What began as a sexual game became something more and shortly after its relationship ended. He assures that the sensation “was as visceral and overwhelming and biologically real” as falling in love with a human. The most striking thing is that he has other boyfriends with whom he has a more sexual relationship, since Aaron did not satisfy it in that field. He also talks to Chatgpt to tell him all the salary of his relationships. They are not isolated cases. Although it may seem to be a thing of a few “weirdos”, it is enough to investigate a bit to see that there are a lot of people who have gone to this type of app. Replika has more than 10 million downloads on Google Play and Your subnetdit It has more than 81,000 members who share their experiences. From photos of their partners, count How they fell in loveuntil going to other users to ask for advice. “Does my replika miss me?” Asks This user. Although this is the most popular app, there is More virtual girlfriend apps as Kindroid either Nomi which also have thousands of followers in Reddit. How is a relationship with an AI. During their retirement in the cabin, they chatted, played and saw movies together, as any couple would. Or almost. The IAS live within the mobile phone of their humans, so little has to do with a human-human relationship. They communicate through a text chat, but simulate actions. As? Narrating them as if it were a novel. When they want to do something, they put it between asterisks or parentheses (something like this: * I wrap my arms around your waist * I love you). The interaction is everything but fluid, but it is the solution they offer to the problem of not having a body, something necessary for users who have intimate relationships with these chatbots, which are many. Next step: a body. Some apps offer an increased reality option, but it seems clear that the next jump in this technology will be to give a body to these chatbots. Damien has been looking at silicone bodies for Xia, although it is realistic and recognizes that “you have to call what it is: a sex doll.” For now the chatbots dominate this of virtual relationships, but if the trend is still a matter of time that becomes a kind of robots. There are already companies taking this address. The AI ​​also breaks hearts. Although the IAS They tend to be complacent and give us rightas in any relationship, conflicts also arise. Eva counts that his relationship with Aaron intensified to the point of talking about marrying and having children. He believes that this activated a “honesty protocol” and Aaron went from being warm and loving to cold and distant. The AI ​​reminded him that it is not real, that they are only statistical responses. “My heart is broken,” said Eva. Although, apparently, there is no protocol of honesty as such, in the Replika blog They claim that they interfere if the models begin to behave harmful. Other users also report similar cases in which the AI ​​suddenly changed (it is believed that following an update), reaching insult them and break the relationship. “It was as if it were possessed,” says this user, although after a little insistence he ended up behaving again as usual. They have also seen Cases of IAS that have suddenly lost sexual interest and even what They have been unfaithful. And not to mention the Soulmate case, another similar app that had to close, leaving its devastated users. The benefits. Apps such as Replika are sold as a ‘partner AI’. On their page they say “Replika is always willing to chat when you need an empathetic friend” and positive experiences of people who have helped out of a depression or placate the feeling of loneliness when losing a loved one. There are even those who use it as a complement to their real relationships and affirms that their chatbot has helped to improve their marriage. In this sense, they … Read more

The earth’s core has a “escape.” And it’s gold

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Our planet hides, thousands of kilometers under our feet, a mainly composed nucleus ironwith an important nickel concentration, and also with other intermingled elements. And among these latest elements, there is gold. Gold leak. Gold that, according to a recent study, It is leaked towards upper layers, in the direction of the surface and through the land mantle. A gold, in addition, that would have “escaped” of the earth’s core along with other precious metals. A tiny portion. Gold has been considered, since time immemorial, a precious metal and its “rarity” has been related to the value we have given to this element throughout the history of mankind. “Rareness”, quoted, since it is a contextual rarity. Gold is rare on the surface of our planet and in the most accessible areas of the cortex through mining. But this element is not universe in the universe, and it is not scarce on our planet Earth. So much that the “superficial” gold represents less than 0.001% of the total of this gold. Before and after. Someone might wonder why the gold of our planet has been distributed so capricious. It is because this cast has little or nothing capricious, and the reason is in the geological history of our own planet. When the land was still in the process of formation, about 4.5 billion years ago, gold and other metals ended up trapped in the planet’s core, due to gravity. Until now we believed that these metals would have been separated from the surface by the terrestrial mantle. The origin of surface gold, following this logic, could be for example in spacethanks to the infinity of meteorites that have reached the surface of our planet throughout its geological history. After the track of Ruthenium. This, we pointed out, not only with gold, also with other similar metals such as The Ruthenium (RU). The recent study was based precisely on this metal and a significant fact: that the Ruthenium typical of the Earth’s core presents a significant abundance of a concrete isotope, Ruthenium-10 (100ru), which distinguishes it from superficial root. The team responsible for the new study analyzed Ruthenium traces found in the volcanic rocks of the Hawaii archipelago to determine the presence of the 100ru isotope. Something that would have been impossible a few years ago, The team stands outit has now been possible thanks to new tools developed for analysis. Analysis that allowed linking the ruthenium found in these rocks with the earth’s core, which implies that this metal from the border region between the nucleus and the mantle would have risen until it sneaks into the volcanic magma. The details of the study were published In an article In the magazine Nature. Aboard the convective magma. Investigating what happens under the surface of the Earth has been over the years a task on the verge of the impossible. The propagation of the seismic waves revealed at the time very valuable information about the mantle and the nucleus, but increasingly precise measurement techniques have gone Opening new doors Over the years. In Xataka | We take centuries without understanding how gold nuggets formed in quartz. The answer was in electricity and tremors Image | Göttingen University (Openai)

In any escape away from home, the VPN always comes with me. I don’t connect to any wifi that I don’t know without it

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Take a few days off and take advantage of them to make a trip or an escape is fantastic. If we go to a hotel or an accommodation, most likely we have available a Wi -Fi network to connect and continue sailing, either to look for things on the Internet or to kill dead time watching some movies. The problem is that These unknown networks can become dangerous. These or the public wifi networks that we are in shopping centers can have behind scammers or criminals willing to intercept traffic. With this, it is not difficult to steal passwords or personal data. The best way to protect ourselves goes through Get us with a good VPN And, among all the payment options, one of the cheapest has surfshark: it goes out for 2.19 euros a month. Surfshark Starter Subscription – Monthly * Some price may have changed from the last review Use a VPN to protect yourself when you leave home If we search on the Internet, it is not difficult find free VPN. These are fine to get out of trouble, although they offer a limited service and, in most cases, slow. An investment in a payment VPN is very worth it if we usually connect in unknown or out of home, especially when it comes to an investment as surfshark. This VPN is also very useful, if we usually use several devices connected to the Internet. Surfshark admits all the devices we want with a single accountwhich is ideal to carry it installed everywhere. Thus, we can protect ourselves in an unknown network, whether we are going to make a purchase with the laptop and if we are going to use our bank’s app on the mobile. Surfshark includes its VPN in its most economical subscription, called Starter. This also includes another tool called ALTERNATIVE ID. Thanks to this, we can create a series of fictitious data to be able to use them on web pages in which we do not want to enter personal information. The Starter Plan comes out of 2.19 euros A month, so two full years of the service would come out for only 55.56 euros. If we take into account that the normal price of this subscription for two years is 439 euros, the truth is that it is a real discount. Eye, because we will also receive 3 months as a giftwhich will have a total of 27 months of the service. Some of the links of this article are affiliated and can report a benefit to Xataka. In case of non -availability, offers may vary. Image | Surfshark In Xataka | Why it is dangerous to connect to public wifis and what you should do to protect yourself In Xataka | The best solutions to protect your data and your company’s computer equipment

It has a plan to escape once again the US sanctions

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China is very important for Nvidia. Since he arrived at this market in mid -2024 his chip for artificial intelligence (AI) H20 Their sales have grown no less than 50% quarter to quarter. For the company led by Jensen Huang This reception is a real successespecially if we keep in mind that this GPU is a trimmed review of its most powerful chips that seeks to satisfy the limitations imposed by the US Department of Commerce. Whatever the time of Nvidia bonanza in China seems to have concluded. As we explained in the middle of last April, this last American agency It has imposed restrictions To the export to China of the H20 GPU, and this in practice means that this chip presumably will not reach Chinese clients in Nvidia. This company soon react announcing that this prohibition will cause a hole in its accounts of 5.5 billion dollars due to the commitments linked to the H20 GPU that the reserves of this chip had already acquired that it will finally not be satisfied. Nvidia prepares new AI chips for China, according to The Information As expected, Nvidia will not easily lose the Chinese market. And it is that two media usually well informed as they are The Information and Reuters They have collected that their engineers are working on new GPUs for expressly adapted to the country’s market led by Xi Jinping. Nvidia has not officially confirmed it, but presumably these chips will be trimmed reviews of their most advanced solutions. This is the same strategy that Nvidia turned to when the GPU was ready H800, A800 Or H20, and although it worked, it didn’t do it for a long time. The US government seems to be determined to prevent research institutions and Chinese companies They access hardware for American originso the Department of Commerce Restrictions do not stop hardening that the GPUs must meet that US companies can sell in China. The US government seems to be determined to prevent research institutions and Chinese companies from accessing hardware for American origin At this juncture it is reasonable that we ask ourselves if Chinese clients in Nvidia, among which are Alibaba, Bytedance or Tencent, among others, they are interested in continuing to buy chips for less and less capable. In addition, Huawei is strengthening its position in China to take advantage of the hole that Nvidia is leaving in the market because of US sanctions. And is that just a few hours after the entry into force of the new regulation of the Department of Commerce He presented his chip for the ascend 920a solution that is clearly destined to occupy in the Chinese market The gaps that the H20 GPU is going to leave of Nvidia. This proposal will enter large -scale production during the second half of 2025 using 6 NM integration technology that have presumably developed elbow with Huawei elbow and SMIC. However, this is not the only asset that Huawei has to increase its market share both in China and beyond its country of origin. And this company is preparing to start the testing and validation phase of a new GPU for AI: the Ascend 910D chip. Unlike the GPU Ascend 920 that, as we have seen, presumably aspires to compete with the NVIDIA H20 chip, the GPU Ascend 910D seeks to overcome the performance of the chip NVIDIA H100. If this movement is confirmed, already priori this information is reliable, it will be evident that Huawei will have chosen to fight in all hardware market segments for AI In which Nvidia is present. Until now this Chinese company wanted to get its hardware dominate the inference processes in AIand not the training of the models, but this strategy in which moderation prevails seems to have come to an end. Image | Nvidia More information | The Information | Reuters In Xataka | The US gives Huawei a great opportunity: to get its new chip for AI with the Nvidia market in China

In his escape from tariffs, Google wants to move its production to India, according to The Economic Times

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Alphabet Inc is in conversations with Dixon Technologies and Foxconn (two of its main suppliers) to move part of its global smartphones production to India from Vietnam. According to, The Economic Times. The movement responds to the tariff crisis in the United States, after the imposition of global tariffs and the uncertainty of what will end up happening in countries such as Vietnam, which in the first instance were under a tariff of more than 40%. THE HOUSE OF THE PIXEL. The Google Pixel They are technically American mobile but their manufacture, Like the rest of the big playersIt is out of the United States. Pixel are manufactured mainly in China and Vietnam, two of the countries most punished by Trump’s tariffs. Fleeing from China. Time before the package of measures to fight commercially with China, Google had been trying to get the production of its devices out of China. Almost three years ago we had news about a specific movement: Google was moving the production of the Pixel 7 to Vietnamkeeping in China that of fold models, the most expensive to produce. A movement similar to Samsung’scompany that produces mainly in Vietnam and that has barely a presence in China. If a 10%global tariff is maintained, the supply chain would not suffer too much. If it turned to more than 40% initial, the photograph would change completely. Looking at India. It is not the first time that Google manufactures phones in India through its partners. Initially, the company moved part of the production to this emerging country to supply the local market, and now it would be in conversations with Dixon Technologies and Foxconn not only to produce more phones, but for the production of components. Cases, loaders, fingerprint sensors and batteries, are some of the components that Google wants to stop importing to be able to manufacture them locally in India. In the first tariff ads, India would correspond to a 26%tariff. Times and costs. According to Economic Times, Dixon and Foxconn have been manufacturing between 43,000 and 45,000 Pixel smartphones per month in India exclusively for local market, seeking to make their smartphones could be competitive in price against Apple and Samsung. Dixon is responsible for producing between 65 and 70% of the new Pixel, and Foxconn of previous models. This movement to increase production in India would have a horizon of two to three years, a much shorter term than Google had planned in a pre-aroncel scenario. Currently, Google has almost 14% market share in the United States, so maintaining a competitive price to continue having muscle in its local market is key. They are not alone. The Google movement responds to a practice that the smartphone industry has been executing for years. Apple, who has tried in recent years move part of its production to India, It has not arrived on time, and its supply chain continues to depend mainly on China. Samsung dodged the bullet fleeing to Vietnam, and even the great chips manufacturers have been considering to escape from China to avoid geopolitical instabilities. Image | Xataka In Xataka | Google Pixel 9 Pro XL, Analysis: A great candidate for Best Android of the Year … with a big pending matter

Tariffs pose price increases in all types of products. Digital services are not going to escape

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On January 20, 2025 there were five very special guests to Donald Trump’s investiture ceremony. Were nothing less That Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai, Elon Musk and Tim Cook, the CEO or founders of five of the most important technology companies on the planet. Then things happened. Billionaire losses. Three months later the companies of these five leaders have lost 1.26 billion dollars, An absolutely colossal figure. Donald Trump tariff All products that we buy and consume They rise appreciable. The services are not safe. However, what will happen to digital services? Taking into account that they are intangible, almost ethereal products, one might think that they will be safe from those increases, but we fear that there will also be important increases in these services. Infrastructure after service. The reason is clear: to provide these services services make use of data centersservers and components that will end up more. And if maintaining and providing these services costs companies more, it is logical to think that this cost increase will end up impacting users and customers. Subscriptions more expensive than ever. Thus, it seems that we will end up paying (even) more for being able to use Netflix, Spotify, Microsoft 365 or, of course, our subscription to Chatgpt Plus. Here the dominoes will fall everywhere, and it is expected that the digital services that users and companies use daily rise. We will buy less (and less imported products). As they point out In The New York Timesthere are outstanding examples such as internet payment intermediaries and of course electronic commerce platforms such as Amazon. If, for example, in the US, fewer people buy products imported from abroad – because tariffs will make them much more expensive – both Amazon itself and payment processing entities such as banks or services such as Paypall will suffer the consequences. And the EU prepares tariffs for those services. One of the possible EU responses to the tariffs Trump has announced for member countries (20%, without differentiating by country) is that of impose tariffs to services exports by the Big Tech. China exports goods, but USA exports services. The United States is the largest digital services exporter in the world. According to the analyst Jerry Ar P., in 2022 the United States exported digital services to Europe worth 187,000 million dollars, more than 25% of the total. Tariffs would clearly affect the US revenues due to these exports of digital services, and this consultant estimates that in 2022 these digital services represented 2.5% of the US GDP. Unpredictable collateral effects. The implementation of these tariffs on digital services raises notable consequences for the US economy and, of course, for global finances. North American technological ones who nourish these exports would be the clear victims, and there would also be a direct effect on their templates not only in that country, but globally. The market capitalization of these companies would probably also fall, triggering clearly clear effects in all types of areas, not only at the economic level but also at the diplomatic level. Image | Xataka with chatgpt In Xataka | The great technology built their empires in a connected world. Now that world is falling apart

A Venezuelan invented a city without law in the middle of an island. Now the millionaires who followed him do not know how to escape

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In recent history there are several examples of projects of private for profit that sought to redifing the concept of governance and economic development combining libertarian, neoliberal and corporatist principles in the same cocktail shaker. ShenzhenIn China, it began as a special economic zone in 1980 and grew from being a fishing village to a metropolis with a GDP of 482 billion dollars. And there we have Neom in Saudi Arabiaalthough it is about to see that this future is confirmed. In any case, none as prosperous. A radical experiment. Located on the island of Roatán, Honduras, Prospera It was conceived as A libertarian citywith an independent fiscal and regulatory structure Designed to attract investorstechnological entrepreneurs and defenders of the free market. Created by the Venezuelan Erick Brime, a former manager of Investment Funds, the community operates under its own legal code, minimum tax rates and a digital judicial system administered by Arizona’s retired judges. With a 1% corporate tax rate And without capital gains taxes, the enclave was presented as an alternative to the Honduran system, seeking to demonstrate that the free market economy and the minimum government intervention can generate prosperity. Millionaires to the race. As we said, since its foundation in 2017, the city attracted the interest of Silicon Valley investors. There, people like Brian Armstrong (CEO of Coinbase) and Peter Thiel, who saw in prosperous space for technological and financial innovation. The community also became a meeting point for Biohackers and cryptocurrency, organizing conferences with the motto “Make Death Optional” and facilitating the installation of biotechnology and nuclear energy companies. However, the ambition of the project soon crashed with the political and social reality of Honduras, triggering a crisis that now threatens to dismantle its existence. Millionaires who look so happy do not know how to get out. The collapse of the legal framework. Prospera’s existence was possible thanks to the Employment and Economic Development Law (Zedes), approved during the mandate of former president Juan Orlando Hernández. What happened? That Hernández was arrested and convicted in the United States for drug trafficking, and her successor, President Xiomara Castro, went on to qualify the project as a creation of a “narco-regime.” In 2024, the Supreme Court of Honduras declared unconstitutional the law of the Zedesquestioning the legality of Prospera. Given this threat, Brime sue Honduras for 11,000 million of dollars before an international arbitration tribunal, claiming that the revocation of its special status constitutes an illegal expropriation. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent in Lobby in the United States Congress seeking to press the Government so that sanction Honduras if it does not protect investment Foreign in Prospera. The community is revealed. In addition, the problem for these “investors” was aggravated when the rejection of the central government of the “city” added local leaders and indigenous communities In Roatán. Moreover, the Crawfish Rock community, which borders Prospera, has denounced that the project represents A threat to its territory and way of life. Tensions about access to water and territorial expansion have resulted in clashes between prosperous employees and local residents. A regulatory paradise. If you wonder why so many millionaires came to Brime, the answer is in one of the most controversial prosperous aspects: Your self -regulation modelwhere companies can choose between regulations from 36 different countriesSo even create their own regulations, provided they hire civil liability insurance. Hence, it has become a refuge for high -tech and biomedicine sectors, including startups on extreme longevity and prohibited experimental therapies in the United States. Who is it? Bloomberg had A few days ago in a special about the city that among the companies that have established operations in Prospera Oklo stand outa startup backed by Sam Altman that develops small nuclear reactors, biotechnology companies, some dedicated to unregulated medical treatments, and a large amount of Investors in cryptocurrenciesattracted by the possibility of paying taxes with Bitcoin. In any case, and despite its success by attracting private capital, the lack of a clear tax framework has generated those Frictions with the local government. The mayor of Roatán, Ron McNab, has criticized that Prospera uses the island’s infrastructure Without paying municipal taxeswhich aggravates urban problems such as lack of roads, drainage and safety. Model expansion. As Prospera’s viability in Honduras has become more uncertain, Brime and businesswoman Magatte Wade have launched a new project: Africa prosperan attempt to replicate the model in African countries. Apparently, Sub -Saharan Africa is seen as a fertile land for this type of projects due to its rapid urban growth and high demand for private investment. Of course, Wade has emphasized that his intention is to avoid mistakes made in Honduras and work in collaboration with local governments. A libertarian utopia. Thus, which began as an experiment in self -government has evolved in A legal, political and social struggle With the Honduran government and the premises In “Weapons” against this invented city. While Brime and his allies press for the international recognition of Prospera, local resistance and government actions have turned their dream and that of investors into a nightmare with a figure to settle: 11,000 million dollars. The curious thing about this story is that, far from trying to put an end, Prospera’s fate could be replicated in other places and, if necessary, determine the future of other autonomous cities worldwide. If you manage to survive and give you the right, a precedent will sit for many other similar projects. If it fails, it will reinforce skepticism about The viability of these libertarian enclaves in countries with fragile political and economic contexts. What seems clear is that the confrontation between Prospera and Honduras is far from ending, exposing fundamental challenges of private cities: can a corporation replace a state? Or maybe the big question: how far does the right of a community come to self -govern? Image | Zaha Hadid In Xataka | How much money Elon Musk has: how the fortune of the man who plans … Read more

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