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the new front of the technological cold war

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The great Achilles heel of the energy transition in Europe is not in sight. It’s not the photovoltaic panels or the windmills, but the hidden chips and processors that make them work. Aware of this risk, the European Union has decided to shield its electrical network with a drastic measure. Companies that want to set up renewable projects with community money will have to look for alternatives: Chinese technology is, for the moment, out of the game. The veto, in detail. Brussels has made public his plan to veto European financing for renewable energy projects that use key equipment manufactured in countries considered “high risk”: China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. The target of this prohibition has a very specific name: investors (or converters). Simply put, these are critical electronic devices that act as processors for photovoltaic plants. Its function is to transform the direct current generated by solar panels into the alternating current that finally reaches our homes and businesses. The measure, de facto, is already underway. financial institutions They have until May 15, 2026 to notify the Commission of the projects they have in their portfolio. As of November 1, the veto will be total for any new facility that aspires to receive community funds, especially those coming from the European Investment Bank (EIB). And why now? As pointed out Expansionthe Community Executive has framed this decision under the umbrella of “economic security” and protection against strategic dependence, distancing itself from those who see it as a mere protectionist industrial policy. The scope of this guideline is capital. As detailed pv magazineis not only limited to traditional solar parks, but extends to vital Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS). This is a blow to the Asian giants, which usually sell integrated solutions that combine batteries and power electronics. To this fence must be added a strict “anti-cheat law”: the regulation does not contemplate significant exceptions and will affect even those inverters that are physically manufactured in Europe, as long as the parent company is controlled by entities from these risk countries. The ghost of the national blackout. The forcefulness of the EU responds to a tangible fear. The Commission bases its veto on intelligence reports and classified information provided by several Member States that warn of a very serious threat: cyberattack and “remote shutdown.” Since the investors are connected to the internet and manage critical operational data of the electrical grid, a foreign actor could use them as a Trojan horse. Siobhan McGarry, Commission spokesperson, has been blunt: “In practice, this could involve a remote shutdown of Member States’ networks, causing national blackouts.” This is not science fiction. The great blackout that Spain and Portugal suffered on April 28, 2025 empirically demonstrated the vulnerability of the network. Although acts of deliberate sabotage were ruled out at the time, the official report from the European grid (ENTSO-E) concluded that the collapse was directly linked to a large voltage swing caused by the unexpected disconnection of photovoltaic inverters. This precedent has revived in Brussels the ghosts of 5G and the decision to corner firms like Huawei and ZTE in the telecommunications sector. A shot in the foot for Spain? Brussels’ theory is firm, but it collides with an uncomfortable reality: the overwhelming dependence on the Asian giant. According to data provided by SCMPChina currently controls 80% of the global inverter market, with brands such as Huawei and Sungrow leading the world ranking. In Spain, the scenario is even more monopolistic. As revealed by the European Solar Manufacturing Council (ESMC)that close to 70% of the inverters installed in our country are of Chinese origin. Huawei alone accounted for 36.5% of installations in 2023, followed by Sungrow (29.7%) and GoodWe (14.5%). Despite warnings from Brussels, the Spanish Government maintains a divergent position and continues to certify dozens of Huawei devices for use in sensitive networks, assuring its allies that they do not pose a risk. However, the shock wave of the European veto is already breaking projects at the national level. As we explain in Xatakathe Generalitat of Catalonia has recently had to backtrack on the award of its public network macro project (XCAT) to the alliance formed by Sirt and Huawei. The fear of having to dismantle the infrastructure in less than a year to comply with new European regulations has left a 127 million euro contract up in the air. Unfounded fear of costs? There are many open questions. Will this veto paralyze renewable deployment in Europe due to lack of supply or cost overruns? The European industry assures that there is no reason for panic. According to the ESMCthe current production capacity in the EU exceeds 100 GW annually (compared to a demand of about 65 GW). Furthermore, the Commission points to Japan, South Korea, Switzerland and the United States as reliable alternative suppliers. Regarding the economic impact, the data dismantles the myth of a drastic increase in prices. As stated Euronewsthe cost of inverters barely represents 5% of the total budget of a solar park. An analysis by Wood Mackenzie It is estimated that replacing Chinese components Western technology will only increase the total cost of large-scale projects by 2%. A “minimal extra cost”, according to Brussels, in exchange for shielding the network. The “boomerang effect.” This strategy of Western isolation has a silent but gigantic parallel consequence. By expelling China from European energy and telecommunications networks, Beijing is being forced to create a 100% autonomous technological ecosystem. Chinese entities, such as Tsinghua University or Huawei itself, are registering an unusually high volume of patents in photolithography to be able to manufacture its own cutting-edge chips without depending on the European ASML. In parallel, they are building solid alternatives to Western Artificial Intelligence standards (like NVIDIA’s CUDA monopoly). By closing the door, Europe and the United States could be incubating a totally uncontrollable and independent global technological competitor. Outrage in Beijing. As expected, China’s reaction has been immediate. The Chinese Chamber of Commerce in the EU (CCCEU) has … Read more

In 1953 Hollywood filmed a blockbuster in front of US nuclear tests. It was the most radioactive movie in history, literally

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Year 1953, during a nuclear test in the Nevada desert, several Las Vegas hotels offered their guests privileged views of the mushroom cloud at dawn as if it were a tourist attraction at Disneyland, with cocktails included and terraces full of spectators. The scene, which is difficult to imagine today, reflected the extent to which certain risks were perceived very differently in the midst of the nuclear age. Filming in the Cold War. In the mid-50s, The Conqueror It was born as a historical blockbuster that from the beginning involved decisions that were difficult to justify, such as choosing John Wayne to play Genghis Khan himself under the production of Howard Hughes. Filming moved to locations in Utah, an area that offered spectacular landscapes but was, at the time, close to areas where the United States was filming atmospheric nuclear tests. The context was not a secret, but its risks were not fully understood either, since public and scientific perception of radiation was much more limited than today. That combination of cinematic ambition and geopolitical moment left a scenario that, seen with perspective, is much more disturbing than what it seemed like then. The real environment. This perfectly documented that nuclear testing in the Nevada desert generated radioactive fallout that moved to populated areas, subsequently affecting known communities as “downwinders”. It is also proven that the filming team worked in one of those regions, and that part of the surrounding material was transferred to other sets, potentially expanding exposure. This context is neither a theory nor a subsequent reconstruction, but a historical fact recognized by investigations and official organizations that have studied the consequences of those tests. The passage of time and the uncomfortable statistics. What happened? That, over the years, a significant part of the cast and production team developed cancerincluding figures such as John Wayne himself (who died of the disease in 1979), Susan Hayward and Dick Powell. The most cited figure that gives an idea of ​​the possible impact speaks of more than 90 cases among about 220 people linked to the production, a fact that has fueled the fame of the filming as one of the most disturbing and cursed in the history of Hollywood. Even so, we must remember that this number comes from of informative accounts and not from controlled epidemiological studies, which requires treating it with some caution despite its impact. What is proven and what is not. The line between facts and story is key in history. It’s proven that there was exposure to a potentially contaminated environment and that several team members developed serious illnesses over time. What is not proven is a direct causal relationship between filming and these cancers, since factors such as personal habits (including smoking) and the lack of comparable clinical data, facts or causalities may enter, making any definitive conclusion difficult. Therefore, the case remains an ambiguous terrain: perfectly plausible in its approach, but not scientifically confirmed. From failure to modern myth. Upon its release, the film was received quite coldly and criticalremaining in the popular imagination as another failure within the industry. However, as the decades passed, his memory has changed completely, transforming into a story that combines Hollywood, Cold War and invisible risk. What at the time was simply a bad creative and logistical decision ended up being reinterpreted as an episode from the world of celluloid. loaded with symbolism about the limits of knowledge and (i)responsibility. The context changes everything. Because the story of The Conqueror lies not only in what happened during filming, but in how that same filming fits within an era in which exposure to nuclear risks formed part of the everyday landscape. There is no doubt, what seemed acceptable then is today perceived as true nonsense, and this radical change of perspective is what turns the case into something more than a movie anecdote. It wasn’t just a problematic shoot, but an example of how seemingly normal decisions can take on a completely different meaning. with the passage of time. Image | RKO In Xataka | The day a man dared to go further than anyone else: a real fight with Bruce Lee where there were no limits In Xataka | One of the most iconic scenes from ‘A Clockwork Orange’ had an infallible trick: the pain you saw in the scene was not fiction

Waymo robotaxis stop if someone gets in front of them. That’s fine until the passenger suffers the consequences.

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That an autonomous car stops if it detects a person nearby is not just a function, it is the most basic thing to make it safe. The problem is when the person nearby is not simply crossing a pedestrian crossing, but is trying to attack passengers. This is what happened in San Francisco in January. The incident. They tell it in the New York Times. Last January, three passengers were returning home in a Waymo robotaxi when a man suddenly stepped in front of the vehicle and began banging on the windows while berating them for “giving money to a robot.” If it had been a normal car, they could have reversed and avoided the man, but what happened was that the car was blocked with them inside while the attacker continued to threaten them. The incident lasted at least six minutes. Waymo, help us. During the incident, the passengers called the police and then the Waymo helpline to see if they could manually steer the car to get them out of there. However, the company told them that this was not possible because there was a person nearby and the software did not allow it, but that they would be fine because the doors were closed. Speaking to the New York Times, one of the passengers states that “If I had kept hitting a single window instead of alternating, I’m sure I would have broken it in the end.” Why is it important. The Waymo robotaxis have been integrated into the life of cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles, but although their use has been normalized, they are also the subject of strong opposition from a sector of the population. Since the appearance of the first robotaxis there have been protests against this technology and have also suffered damage in demonstrations for other reasons. Last summer, during the anti-ICE protests, Protesters burned several Waymo in Los Angeles claiming they were spy cars (Waymo has shared images from its car cameras with police in the past). It is not the first incident. There have been other similar situations of Waymo vehicles vandalized while there were passengers inside, or cases like that of this woman who was trapped while two men outside asked him for his phone. And there have been more controversies, such as the run over of a well-known San Francisco cat or the day there was a blackout and dozens of robotaxis were left strandedblocking the streets. Security. On your websiteWaymo boasts that its cars have 90% fewer accidents with serious injuries and 92% fewer accidents with pedestrians. Obviously the most important thing is to ensure safe driving, but incidents like these show that there are more angles from which to understand safety than just avoiding accidents. Image | Waymo In Xataka | With Waymo’s autonomous cars we are reaching a legal absurdity: driverless violations

Zuckerberg in the front row of Prada seems like a mistake in The Matrix, but it’s actually Meta’s biggest statement of intent

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Any regular attendee of Milan Fashion Week know what to expect in the first row: a perfectly choreographed ecosystem of K-pop idols, internet stars and Hollywood actors with million-dollar contracts. However, at the presentation of the Prada Fall/Winter 2026 women’s collection, a figure appeared which at first glance seemed like a mistake in The Matrix: Mark Zuckerberg. As the magazine points out GQthe usual fashion audience is undergoing a metamorphosis and the technological elite is reclaiming its place in the spotlight, as demonstrated the appearance by Jeff Bezos in Jonathan Anderson’s debut for Dior. However, the founder of Meta did not finish blending in with the environment. As described The Times With a certain British irony, Zuckerberg looked tense in front of the flashes, like “someone who has ever heard of the concept of sitting on a bench, but has never tried it,” awkwardly spreading his fingers over his pants and not really knowing where to look as the models paraded. But what are the Silicon Valley elite doing there? Despite its recent change of image – which some have dubbed the Zuckaissanceleaving behind his uniform of gray t-shirts for Balenciaga clothes and gold chains—his presence in Milan does not respond to the mere whim of a shopping tourist. It’s a top-notch corporate chess move. As detailed The Timesthe key was in the seating arrangement (the coveted Frow either front row). Zuckerberg was not placed next to any random celebrity, but strategically shoulder to shoulder with Lorenzo Bertelli, Prada’s marketing director and son of designer Miuccia Prada. At his side, his wife, Priscilla Chan, shared confidences with none other than Andrea Guerra, executive director of the Italian brand. Besides, they fulfilled the aesthetic duties completely changing her style for the sobriety of Prada. lhaute couture as a Trojan horse. All this social choreography points in a single commercial direction. According to the CNBCMeta and Prada are collaborating closely to launch luxury smart glasses powered by artificial intelligence. The corporate bridge that connects Silicon Valley with Milan is already built. Goal has been collaborating for years successfully with EssilorLuxottica, the Franco-Italian giant that manufactures the current Ray-Ban Meta. Glasses that, by the way, will reach the not inconsiderable figure of 7 million units sold in 2025. Given that EssilorLuxottica has just renewed its licensing agreement with Prada until the 2030s, the triangulation of the business is evident. The goal of this maneuver is to legitimize personal surveillance technology through exclusivity. As explained TechCrunch, Bringing AI to high fashion fills a niche that more sporty or casual brands like Oakley and Ray-Ban can’t reach. Consolidating these glasses as a symbol of status and luxury is the definitive step to benefit the global image of the Meta brand. The technological muscle behind the design. For a Prada product to make sense, the technology inside cannot fail, and this is where the specialized technology media provides the crucial context. As explained in an in-depth analysis by my colleague Lacort in Xatakahe hardware The current Ray-Ban Meta is brilliant—fantastic as speakers and great as a discreet camera—but its software is the weak link. Your “Meta AI” assistant currently feels like a “clueless intern” suffering from a lack of context and erratic responses. To solve this and live up to a luxury label, Meta has taken out the checkbook. Another recent report by Xataka details that the company has just signed a multi-million dollar agreement with NVIDIA to acquire its new generation of server infrastructure (the Rubin architecture and Grace processors). Mark Zuckerberg knows that to sell the glasses of the future he needs to achieve what he calls “personal superintelligence”, processing data in real time without the current glitches, whatever the cost. The elephant in the room. Despite the change of look and multi-million dollar investment, Meta faces a challenge that fashion cannot easily hide. Just a few days before sitting on the catwalk, the owner of Meta was testifying in a Los Angeles courtroom in a landmark trial over social media addiction. Most ironic of all, the judge threatened to hold her team in contempt for showing up in the courtroom wearing Meta glasses equipped with a camera, in a place where recording is prohibited. As he warns TechCrunch, Prada glasses will arrive at a time of growing citizen rejection of constant surveillance devices. Society is beginning to react against invasive technology. The rejection is so real that, as the media highlights, there is already a developer who has created a mobile application exclusively to notify you if someone around you is wearing AI glasses. This raises serious doubts about whether Meta will dare to incorporate controversial features such as facial recognition, something that The New York Times He already suggested that it was under study. Does the devil wear Prada? At the end of the parade, one detail did not go unnoticed. As observed Business InsiderZuckerberg was not wearing his signature Meta smart glasses while sitting in the front row. And he didn’t need it. The photograph of him sitting next to Prada’s leadership was the message in itself. Silicon Valley has finally understood that to convince millions of people to wear a camera, microphone and AI on their faces every day, design matters as much as microchips. The next great technological revolution will not be announced in an aseptic California auditorium with a presenter in jeans; It is being decided right now, under the spotlight on the Milan catwalk. Image | José Goulao and Mark Zuckerberg Xataka | AMD wants to be the great alternative to NVIDIA in AI chips, and Meta has a plan that involves both

It has Taiwan in front of it and Japan is going to fill it with missiles

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At the westernmost tip of Japan there is a paradise place where, on clear days, you can see another territory from the coast. It is the same enclave where they live more native horses than school-age children. That isolated corner, for decades outside the big headlines, has begun to occupy an unexpected space in the strategic conversations of the Indo-Pacific. Also to become in a fort. A red line. That island has become the new red line against China. The reason? Japan will deploy missiles 100 km from Taiwan. In this way, Yonaguni, the westernmost point of the Japanese archipelago, has gone from being a remote enclave in just a few years. a centerpiece of the Indo-Pacific strategic board. Its location, at the end of the Nansei island chainplaces it right in the geographic arc that connects the East China Sea with the Western Pacific, the same corridor that worries Tokyo and Washington facing a possible conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The calendar changes. A few hours ago, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi set for the first time a very specific horizon: before March 2031, a set of surface-to-air missile medium range, projectiles with 360 degree coverage capacity and the possibility of intercepting multiple targets simultaneously. The decision is not isolated, but is part of the strategic turn started in 2022 to reinforce defenses on the southwestern islands, shifting the historical focus from Russia to growing Chinese military activity in the East China Sea. The diplomatic context and Chinese pressure. The announcement also comes after months of deterioration between Tokyo and Beijingaggravated by the statements of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about the possible Japanese involvement if there was an attack on the island of Taiwan that represented an existential threat for the nation. China’s response It was devastatingresponding with trade restrictions, diplomatic pressure and a battery of military demonstrations that, how do we countincluded drone flights and an increased naval presence in the area, while maintaining its claim to Taiwan and its dispute with Japan through the Senkaku Islandsadministered by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing as Diaoyu. The internal transformation. Since 2016, the island has hosted a surveillance unit coastal with about 160 troops, to which electronic warfare capabilities and new military infrastructure will be added. In a community of barely 1,500 inhabitants, where depopulation has been a constant since the postwar period, the presence of military personnel and their families alters the structure demographic and economicgenerating a division between those who see militarization as an investment opportunity and those who fear that the enclave will become a priority objective in the event of conflict. From peripheral paradise to strategic bastion. From that perspective, the expansion of the base, the plans to improve the airport and port and the possible installation of advanced defense systems They consolidate Yonaguni as a key link in the Japanese deterrence architecture. What for decades was a marginal territory is now integrated into a defensive network designed to complicate any attempt to alter the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, sending a clear message about even where is it arranged Japan to arrive to protect what it considers its most sensitive front. The new map. If you will also, the Yonaguni decision reflects a broader transformation in Japanese defense policy, one underpinned by a historic increase of the military budget and the security treaty with the United States, which could drag Tokyo into a larger scale regional conflict. What is clear afterto official statement of Tokyo is that, on the new strategic map of the Indo-Pacific, the small island is no longer a lost point in the ocean: it is the place where Japan has decided mark your limit and where any future crisis could have its first warning signal. Image | GetArchivejpatokal In Xataka | The Japanese island of Yonaguni was known for its beauty and Bad Bunny. Now it is a military fortress because of Taiwan In Xataka | Satellite images leave no doubt: China has concentrated thousands of fishing boats off Japan, and its idea is not to fish

A group of Spanish pilots wait in front of Russia for an alarm that will sound 500 times in 2025. They only have 15 minutes to launch their fighters

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A few minutes from Russian airspace, a handful of Spanish pilots live in the most tense routine that exists in peacetime: be ready to take off at any moment from an icy base from the Balticone where the sky is watched as if each blip on the radar could be the start of something bigger. Fifteen minutes. At Šiauliai, a Lithuanian air base that functions as first line of surveillance over the Baltic, the routine can be broken at any second with a siren and a countdown. When the alert goes off (in 2025 alone it did so up to 500 times), the Spanish pilots of the 15th Wing They put on their equipment, get into the vans and run towards the hangars with a single objective: to be in the air in less than fifteen minutes. It is a millimetric mechanic, repeated so many times in training that becomes automaticbecause the mission does not wait for anyone and because in that area an unidentified plane, without a transponder or without communication, can be the beginning of a serious incident. The shadow of an enemy. The function of these quick exits, called “scrambles”is to intercept and escort suspicious aircraft until they leave Allied space or their intentions become clear, and in the Baltic they are almost an everyday language. The route is especially sensitive because it connects Russia with the militarized enclave of Kaliningradand there intersect fighters, surveillance planes and traffic that sometimes fly without a flight plan or without the expected signals. The result is constant tension: some days there are several outings and other weeks everything seems calm, but the feeling is always the same, that the next warning can come when you are resting or half asleep. 15th Wing Fighter Mission since 2004. NATO started this baltic air police in 2004 to protect the space of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, and since then the countries have taken turns in rotation four months so that the umbrella is permanent. Over time, the deployment was expanded to other bases in the region, first after the first Russian invasion of Ukraine and later with further expansion, because the Eastern Front ceased to be a theoretical concept. In recent months, furthermore, the incursions became more disturbing due to a new detail: not only manned aircraft appeared, but also drones that crossed borders and forced us to react quickly. Spain and the fighters. The Spanish contingent arrived in December with more than 200 troops and eleven EF-18Ma modernized version of the Hornet that Spain operates and maintains ready to fly day or night. The planes are armed with air-to-air missiles and the pilots train with night vision goggles, because surveillance does not stop when the sun goes down. Behind each exit there is a system that monitors the sky relentlessly, control centers that detect traces on the radar and a decision chain that, when activated, turns the entire base into a fast, silent and perfectly rehearsed choreography. Drones change the script. The big twist is that now the problem is not only the classic military plane that approaches without identifying itself, but the emergence of cheap dronesslow, low and erratic, more difficult to classify and more complicated to stop with means designed for another era. It we have counted. In September last year, a wave of Russian drones penetrated Polish airspace during an attack on Ukraine, and then there were similar episodess that forced the activation of fighter jets in countries like Romania. In parallel, small unidentified drones began to be seen near airports, bases and sensitive facilities throughout Europe, fueling the feeling of vulnerability and suspect that someone is measuring response times and blind spots. Crow, the anti-drone. For this reason, in this deployment the 15th Wing arrived with a historical novelty for them: the Indra Crow systeman anti-drone defense that adds a different layer of protection to the base and its surroundings. Crow combines radars, cameras and sensors to detect small aircraft and, once located, attempts to take them down using signal jamming, that is, electronic warfare from fixed or mobile positions. Its range not only protects planes and runways, it also covers the nearby city, because the real goal is to shield critical infrastructure and reduce the risk of a cheap drone causing disproportionate damage. The cost dilemma. Behind this adaptation is a problem that NATO is being forced to solve at full speed: intercepting cheap drones with weapons designed to shoot down fighters is an unsustainable equation. Firing expensive missiles from a fighter jet to take down a small aircraft may work, but it turns every defense in a waste and opens the door to volume saturation. That is why procedures and tactics are being reviewed, looking for cheaper and more specific systems, and assuming that the fighter will no longer always be the best tool to put out the fire. The strategic signal. The arrival of fighters with anti-drone protection It reflects a Europe that begins to fortify the sky as if war were already knocking at the door, although it has not yet fully crossed. In the Baltic, each rotation is a political and military message: there is presence, there is a response and there is an intention to fill gaps that did not exist before. Thus, what was previously an almost routine escort and identification mission is becoming a comprehensive defense exercise against hybrid threatswhere the enemy can be a large plane, a tiny drone or a provocation designed solely to check if, when the alarm sounds, there is really someone capable of taking off in those fifteen minutes. Image | Pexels, Pavel Vanka In Xataka | There are “invisible” Russian submarines happily sailing through the Baltic and that has led Europe to unprecedented measures In Xataka | A Russian submarine has appeared off the coast of France. And Europe’s reaction has been surprising: have a laugh

Vodafone negotiates with Telefónica and Orange to create a common front: a RANco

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Eamonn O’Hare, CEO of Zegona (the owner of Vodafone Spain), has confirmed to Expansion which is in talks with Orange and Telefónica to create a RANco, a mobile network joint venture in the style of the fibercos which launched in 2025. Why is it important. Spain has three large operators managing three national mobile networks with identical fixed costs, but Orange and Telefónica have double Vodafone’s customers. This asymmetry makes Vodafone’s mobile network, comparatively, inefficient. A RANco would allow sharing infrastructure, reducing expenses and improving quality without eroding profitability. The context. Vodafone has multiplied its share price by 12 in 20 months after reducing costs and close two fibercos that generated 2.2 billion in value. The share went from 345 pence (things from the London stock market) when they bought Vodafone Spain to more than 1,565 pence now, and has returned 1,400 million in dividends to its shareholders. It now trades at 9 times its cash flow when its competitors do so at 13 times. The RANco is the missing piece to close that gap. How a RANco works. A RANco is a wholesale mobile network company shared between operators that provides services to its owners. It is similar to fibercos: the network is unified, synergies are captured and a minority stake is sold to an international investor. Vodafone pays 150 million annually to Vantage Towers for towers at double the market price. With the RANco, those costs are divided. Two possible scenarios: With Orange: easier to execute and attract investors, but fewer synergies because they already share a network in some areas. With Telefónica: more synergies by not having anything shared, but more complex to incorporate a financial partner. The calendar. O’Hare puts the closure of RANco within a year and a half. And in November 2028, the window opens to abandon the contract with Vantage Towers. Vodafone has already made a decision: either Vantage reduces its rates by 50% or terminates the agreement. Yes, but. Mergers between operators are not on the table. O’Hare rules out short-term purchases or sales because the regulatory risk is “too great” and would distract the group from its three priorities: Align your stock valuation with the competition. Reach 1,000 million in cash flow. And develop the RANco. The figures. Vodafone Spain generated 400 million in cash flow when Zegona bought it. Last year it reached 600 million. This year it will be close to 800 million. The goal is to reach 1,000 million in the coming years. At stake. The RANco is not just a financial movement. Turning off the cable network will take three or four years migrating customers to fiber. Small operators will disappear, devoured by Digi and Finetwork. And Vodafone keeps open a possible IPO in Spain within three or four years, when it would complete its transformation. The shadow of Telefónica. As published Populi Voice A few days ago, Telefónica began talks to buy Vodafone Spain and close the operation in the first half of 2026. But a RANco with Orange or with Telefónica itself, in addition to O’Hare’s own interview, would change the equation: Vodafone would enter that negotiation with shared infrastructure and long-term contracts that would make the purchase more expensive or directly unviable. Zegona negotiates the RANco also as a policy. Featured image | Orange, Movistar, Vodafone In Xataka | Any teleoperator would be worried about making less money with each client. Digi is exactly what you are looking for

is putting them in front of stores

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There are those who are clear that, not soon, robots will be like current smartphones: we will all have one. There is not enough time for prices to become as democratized as to get to that pointbut if there is a country that has taken the lead when it comes to push humanoid roboticsthat’s China. And the Hobbs W1 is the latest example: a humanoid robot with a human face, and hands capable of doing fine motor work. And they have already put it to work. Hobbs W1. A far cry from Star Wars robots and closer to the uncanny valley. Hobbs W1 still looks like a robot, but the fact that they have given it a face and a body with an absurdly stylized female silhouette is a declaration of intent: they want us to feel “comfortable” with their presence. Very low on the evolutionary scale of robots are those tray holder (or Sardinator) with faces that look like emojis and cat ears: the Hobbs W1 has no legsbut it does have a face, upper joints and a screen. They are tools that are used to give instructions to people. Because Hobbs W1 is already working and those responsible, the Pekingese Noetix Roboticsthey point to a very clear segment: commercial spaces where you can guide clients, answer questions and perform reception tasks. great players. Noetix is ​​one of the many – many – Chinese startups that the country itself is promoting. The strategy of China is to become a robotics power (technological, in general, especially promoted by the ‘Delete A’ plan), and although there are many companies, we can now talk about very prominent names. Hobbs W1 It is estimated that Unitree, UBTECH and AgiBot they control practically the humanoid robot market in China. It is still a small market, but these three companies are looking to position themselves as soon as possible. Its key is the ability to manufacture at scale, but also specialization: Unitree may be the best known name. The most direct comparison would be with Boston Dynamics, since it has its ‘robodog’ – the Unitree Go2 – and its humanoid, the G1. Unitree is already selling units to end customers. In fact, you can buy that Go2 on Amazon. UBTECH has the Walker S1, a robot focused more on professional use. It is the one that directly seeks to replace humans on assembly lines and, in fact, it is already working in one of the plants Geely -manufacturer of electric cars-. AgiBot It is the third in contention. Instead of being specific, it has specialized in being multiplatform and going to volume so that they can do tasks in different sectors. It has humanoid robots from its X series, but also much more specialized ones from the A and G series (although they also give them faces to humanize them. Image: Unitree. Muscle and brain. These companies are closely linked to the development of another of China’s priorities, lto artificial intelligencebut there is a fourth that stands out for its focus. It’s Galbot, and he’s taken a less conventional route. Instead of focusing on promoting their robots as mountebanks or capable of lift heavy weights in factoriesGalbot has developed multimodal AI models with one thing very clear in mind: that they can now care for humans in the real world. When we talk about topics of this type, it is always difficult to know to what extent it is smoke, promises or there is someone with the controls behind the scenes. In the case of Galbot and his G1I can say that, although slow, it works. It already serves a store of just 10 m² in Beijing and you can order drinks perfectly. There is no human nearby and the company plans to expand with more than a hundred automated stores throughout the rest of Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. From the laboratory to the store. Therefore, the Hobbs W1 is just one more of those humanoid robots that China has already put to work. And the truth is that it contrasts with what we see in the West. We have been talking about robotics for many years, but the proper names were different. China has arrived later in this racebut it has managed to position itself as the country to beat. And the reason is your approach. While Tesla promises to have “many” Optimus and Boston Dynamics continues to show his Atlas performing jumpsChinese robots are already in stores, but also walking through the subway supplying the 7 Eleven either extinguishing fires with real firefighters. The vast majority of the startups that are starring in the conversation have been created in the last two years and make it clear that the country is very interested in leading the sector. It’s not only to show off. And it may not just be a strategy to demonstrate technological muscle. we come it counting for months: China faces a future with many more elderly and, as a consequence, much less labor. Have a tremendous rate of youth unemploymentbut even so in the medium term the country faces a dramatic demographic contraction. Putting the elderly to work It’s an option –also in Japan-, but at a certain moment, and with a low birth ratehaving only the elderly work is not an option. That’s where the country’s strategy comes into play: leading the conversation in roboticsattract talent and, in addition, develop robots that can fill that job hole that is anticipated in a few years. Stepping on the accelerator. In whatever way and for whatever reason, it is clear that both the country and the startups are in a hurry. HE they estimate 800 humanoid robots sold in 2024 compared to more than 4,000 in 2025. By 2045, the projection is that they will have more than 100 million operational units with a market of 1.4 billion dollars. And the main advantage is that economy of scale, the national push and being able to access key elements in the … Read more

The clash between a polar front and the Atlantic threatens Twelfth Night

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Just a few hours away from closing 2025, all eyes are already on the weather at the beginning of January and especially on Three Kings Day. after seeing that New Year’s Eve will be quiet. And although there is still room for change, current models already suggest a drastic change in weather with a general drop in temperatures and a large amount of snow spread across the peninsula. The model. The last installment that we have the European model of the ECMWF proposes a scenario of great instability for January 4 and 5, 2026, with snowfall that could reach unusual levels and affect a large part of the center and northeast of the peninsula. Something that is already being shared on social networks by accounts specialized in meteorology. A situation of great instability that would respond to the entry of a cold front of polar origin and the arrival of Atlantic storms loaded with humidity. Two factors that when they collide are the perfect ingredient for widespread snowfall. Although there is still room for this to change, since reliability is low for periods longer than five days. The position of the AEMET. The State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) maintains a much more conservative position. In its special prediction for this Christmas, the agency confirms that the beginning of 2026 will be colder than normal, especially due to the arrival of the storm Francis. This will leave rain starting on January 1 in the Canary Islands and starting on Friday the 2nd it will affect the west of the peninsula. From here, what is expected is that on January 4 there will be strong northerly winds and a generalized thermal drop. But from day 5 there is a “high uncertainty.” Although the models indicate persistent low temperatures, the agency does not currently confirm snowfall at low levels that could turn Three Kings Night white. Fifth anniversary. It is impossible to ignore the psychological component of this forecast, since this coming January marks five years of Filomena. That is why at this time it is easy to look at the maps with a little more disbelief in case there are signs of something similar, although at the moment nothing similar is confirmed. For now wait. With all this, the most prudent thing is to wait until this Twelfth Night approaches to have clear conclusions, especially in view of the different parades that leave in different parts of Spain that can be threatened by adverse weather, but that can always change up to at least 48-72 hours before. Images | TheWeather In Xataka | La Niña is going to be meteorologically “less intense” than we expected. And that actually hides a problem.

We believed that nothing would surpass the Russian robot that ended up on the ground. Until they made one dance in front of Putin

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When it seemed that the humanoid robotics board was dominated by the United States and China, with proposals such as Neo from 1X startup or the Unitree G1 —which even starred in a moment at the Xataka NordVPN 2025 Awards—, Russia decided to make a move with AIDOL, presented as “the country’s first domestic anthropomorphic robot with AI.” The problem was that its debut did not exactly show technological stability: the robot began to wobble, lost its balance and ended up falling face down in front of the cameras. All this with the music of ‘Rocky’ playing in the background. The scene went viral in a matter of hours, overshadowing any technological message that the manufacturer intended to convey. The explanations came quicklybut the public conversation was filled with parodies and memes. In a context where every step in robotics is also measured in terms of reputation, Russia needed a response that showed more than just a failed prototype. Green, the technological replica of Russia. Now, the images arriving from Moscow show a project of a very different nature. Green is an AI-powered humanoid robot that, according to its creators“can move independently and interact with targets in real space.” All development, from mechanical design and electronics to GigaChat-based artificial intelligence, has been carried out by Sberthe country’s largest bank and an increasingly visible player in the Russian technological ecosystem. The humanoid that danced in front of Putin. His debut was very different from that of AIDOL: Green was presented at the conference Artificial Intelligence Journey 2025where he spoke a few words and then, as we can see on YouTubedanced in front of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. “My name is Green. I am the first humanoid Russian robot that has embodied artificial intelligence. This means that I am not just a program on a screen, but a physical embodiment of technology. I was created by Sber engineers,” the robot said before beginning its demonstration. According to Sber, Green incorporates more than a hundred motors and a large number of sensors, allowing it to maintain balance even during rapid and coordinated movements. This time, the presentation did not only seek to surprise, but rather to convey control, stability and a more mature image of the Russian commitment to humanoid robotics. What it means for AI to become embodied The idea of ​​embodied artificial intelligence, according to Sber, goes beyond running models on a screen. It is not just about responding to what a user writes, but about interpreting the environment through sensors, cameras and microphones, processing that information in real time and physically acting. It means providing technology with perception, movement and the ability to make decisions in real situations. That approach proposes a model where hardware is built around artificial intelligence, and not the other way around. What is Russia looking for with humanoid robots? It remains to be seen whether humanoid robots will end up integrating into everyday life, as anticipated by Elon Musk and other figures in the sector. But, should that scenario materialize, Russia wants to ensure that it will have models developed within its borders. Its strategy aims to build technological sovereignty not only in the hardware of the automata, but also in the AI ​​models that drive them and in the infrastructure necessary to train and execute them. For now, there is no information on whether Green will ever become a commercial product or how much it might cost. It is still a technological demonstration and not a robot designed for the market. It is also not easy to place Russia within the global race for humanoids, because there is still no clear data on their real development, their autonomy or their possible applications. What it does seem is that, for the moment, the United States and China are setting the pace in this industry, with more consolidated and visible projects. Images | Kremlin In Xataka | Satya Nadella made the world love Microsoft again. AI is making people hate it again

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