The Government of Spain has announced a “sovereign fund.” It has nothing to do with a sovereign fund

Pedro Sánchez announced yesterday Thursday the creation of ‘España Crece’a fund managed by the ICO with an initial endowment of 10.5 billion euros from the Next Generation funds that the Government will not spend before the end of 2026. The stated goal is to mobilize an additional €120 billion through private investment and debt to maintain the reform momentum beyond the European deadline. Why is it important. The European funds expire this year and have been the main investment muscle of the Government, which has not approved budgets in this legislature. Without this vehicle, Spain would lose public investment capacity just when Sánchez boasts of having placed the country “in the Champions League” economically. The announcement arrives in extremiswhen there was a real risk of losing those 10.5 billion that had not been executed. Between the lines. Calling it a “sovereign fund” creates intentional confusion. The classic sovereign funds (Norway, Saudi Arabia, Singapore…) are born from structural surpluses thanks to oil, gas or trade balances that are permanently in the green. Spain has not had a budget surplus since 2007, when there was some debate about converting the pension piggy bank into a vehicle similar to Norwegian. The 2008 crisis buried that discussion. Yes, but. What the Government has presented is more like a renamed investment bank than a traditional sovereign fund. The closest model is British National Wealth Fundoriginally the UK Infrastructure Bank, which raises private funds to co-invest in green technologies and advanced industry. Its capacity is 27,000 million and Spain aspires to quintuple that figure with a smaller public base. In figures: 10.5 billion: initial public endowment, similar to SEPI business rescue fund created in the 2020 pandemic. 120,000 million: theoretical capacity if private investment is added, a “conservative estimate” according to Minister Carlos Body. 60 billion: what the ICO could mobilize directly through leverage. 9 priority sectors: housing (with a focus on the industrialized), energy, digitalization, AI, reindustrialization, circular economy, infrastructure, water and security. The context. Spain has competed well for foreign direct investment in the last decade – fifth world power in projects greenfield since 2013 – and has capitalized on European funds to promote reforms without approved budgets. But the absence of structural surpluses limits ambition too much. Spain has been running a deficit for almost twenty years and its balance of payments, although in surplus since 2012, does not compensate. What is happening. The Government is turning a necessity (not to lose unexecuted European funds) into a narrative of national sovereignty. But the seams are visible: it acts because the deadline is going to expire, not because there is a strategic plan based on its own surpluses. There is neither of the two things. Missing. Minister Corps will present the full details next week. There remain unknowns about the private co-investment mechanisms and how it will be guaranteed that those promised 120 billion will materialize. The experience of the SEPI fund, which barely used a quarter of its endowment, invites skepticism. Sánchez took advantage of the Spain Investors Day to vindicate the economic moment: “We have become accustomed to competing in the Champions League,” he said. He used the same expression as Zapatero in 2007, a few months before the outbreak of the financial crisis. The simile has not gone unnoticed. In Xataka | Carrying your ID on your cell phone is very easy. You just have to take advantage of your next visit to the police station Featured image | Moncloa

The Sovereign Saudi Fund Buy Electronic Arts for 55,000 million dollars

Post in development The rumors of this weekend They gave in the nail: Electronic Arts has finally been acquired by an investment group Headed by the sovereign Fund of Saudi Arabia and Private Investment firms Affinity Partners, owned by Jared Kushner –Donald Trump son -in -law-, and Silver Lake. The agreement values ​​each at $ 210 (a 25% premium on the current cost of each), since the price of them had fired more than 15% Since the rumor came out this weekendwhich may have accelerated the purchase. This is the greatest purchase operation of this type in history: a company that quotes and gets it out of stock market is acquired. It exceeds in that sense the value of 45,000 million dollars that in 2007 had cost the purchase of the Texas Txu public services group. The greatest cash operation is also treated to date in what we have been. The rumor of which The Wall Street Journal echoed He spoke of 50,000 million dollars, before the price of the shares rose. Thus closes what is the second most important purchase in the history of video games, surpassed only for the sale of Activision Blizzard to Microsoftwhich cost 68.7 billion dollars and a few headaches for the company, since it had to face a series of anti-monopoly processes. As for the changes that may be in the EA managerial organization chart, Andrew Wilson, executive director of EA for years, will continue in the group. He will continue to direct the company after the closure of the acquisition in the first half of 2027. With this step, Saudi Arabia becomes one of the main actors in the video game industry: EA not only has very important sports franchises such as EA Sports FC, Madden either NHLbut also icons that can now take renewed forces, such as THE SIMS, Battlefield either Need for Speed. It is a movement perfectly in line with the purchases from the actions of weight brands such as Nintendo either Capcomor its investment in areas such as eSports, hosting some championships In what many observers, as Amnesty International, have described as Sportswhing. They open up with this action of uncertainty for EA, since the company does not speak in its press release about How could it affect the company’s template. Recall, in addition, that Electronic Arts is notorious for having given Sagas Green Light such as ‘Mass Effect’ or ‘Dragon Age’, whose content could collide frontally with the policy of a country very little tolerant With policies queer and integrators that marked the themes of these games. One of the many precedents in that regard: a DLC of ‘Assassin’s Creed Mirage’ financed by Saudi Arabia and set in the country met with the Protests of a good part of the template of Ubisoft. In Xataka | Saudi Arabia plays with fire: he wants more fee, content Trump and finance his energy transition

Many Spanish music festivals are financed by an Israeli fund. And some are already distance

After the recent one Eurovision Festivalthe presence of Israeli capital in events around the world begins to be discussed by activists and even by certain governments, as in Spain. Israel has become a uncomfortable presence For certain cultural events and many music festivals, such as Sónar, they are checking it in recent weeks. Sónar takes a step. He Sonar Electronic Music Festival He has distanced himself from the KKR Investment Fund, current owner of the festival through an intermediary company, in a movement that culminates a few days scrambled in the Spanish scene of large festivals. Public opinion and many groups have been contrary to the interference of the company, with pro-Israeli interests, at several festivals. Sónar has expressed With a statement its “solidarity with the Palestinian civilian population trapped in the humanitarian catastrophe that is lived in Gaza.” It is the second one that broadcasts in a few days, after one that He was criticized for his excessive warmth. This statement is a simple declaration of intentions, since Sónar will continue to be the property of KKR. What is KKR? An American investment fund whose acronym corresponds to Kohlberg, Kravis and Roberts, surnames of its founders, and which has established itself as one of the world’s largest private capital companies, with assets of more than 400,000 million dollars. Among the most criticized kkr activities There are real estate investments in Palestinian territories occupied by Israel, such as Jerusalem Este, Gaza and the West Bank. KKR also controls Guesty, an Israeli platform for real estate property management, which reinforces his presence in the country’s housing sector. KKR has also invested in Israeli technology and cybersecurity companies, As Optivwhich was founded by former intelligence ex officers of the Army of Israel. Finally, Henry Kravis, KKR co -founder, is an acquaintance donor of cultural and political initiatives promoted by Israel and has financially supported US politicians aligned with Israeli interests. Within your team there are Figures like David Petraeusformer director of the CIA and president of the group in the Middle East, which makes clear their interests in the region. Festival intervention. A week ago, the newspaper El Salto He published an article About how KKR had acquired in 2024 Supersruct Entertainment for 1.3 billion euros. It is a company that organizes some eighty festivals worldwide and that in Spain is behind events as known as Sónar, Arenal Sound, or are Do Camiño, Love The 90s, Resurrection, Viña Rock, FIB, Monegros, Brava Madrid, Tsunami Xixón or Granada Sound, among many others until they add about twenty of them. At the moment, Sónar is the only one that has been unmarked from the policy of the investment firm, ensuring that he had no “control” on the company’s investments or decisions. Groups that protest. Although the festivals have not been unmarked from the presence of KKR, many groups have done so, especially those linked to social causes. Some of them They are repeat offenders, Fermín Muguruza, Non Servium, the last Ke Zierre, Sinkope, Kaos Urbano or Porretas. And the Spanish case is not unique: the London platform Boiler Roomwhich broadcasts live music sessions throughout the world, has also been acquired by KKR. The DJ and Producer Ikonika and the DJ Beatrice M are two of the artists who have announced their withdrawal from the festival that the company planned to organize in summer. Boiler Room has issued a statement In which he says that the sale has been a decision of his current owners, in which the team has not been able to influence. More festivals. The movement of the groups (and the Very visible action of civil movements such as the known as BDS movement of Boicot, divestments and sanctions against Israel) has encouraged several festivals to join Sónar, as Eldiario.es. This is what Sharemusic!, Organizers of the 90’s, love the twenties or i love reggaeton (“we want to express our total condemnation to the violence that the Palestinian people”), and Rock vineyard (They condemn “without nuances the massacre that the Palestinian people are suffering”). Both, such as Boiler Room and Sónar, clarify that despite the fact that the festivals are owned by KKR, this does not influence the programming or convictions of the teams. Government support. That the music festivals have become a center of attention for their relationship with Israel’s policies are framed in a much narrower observation of different cultural manifestations, with which it seems no longer to serve That “apolitical entertainment”. To the rejection of the bands to the festivals and the dust that has raised the result of Eurovision, the government positions are added. Last Saturday, the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, said the KKR fund “It’s not welcome” in Spain and commented on the “penetration” at music festivals. After Eurovision, Pedro Sánchez himself requested the Exclusion of Israel from international cultural eventslike the festival itself.

The United States imagined that China would veto its export of rare earths. Has a plan B: The Pacific Fund

In the midst of the tariff war that has ended up becoming a bilateral front between the United States and China, the Asian giant He has responded blocking rare earth export. The White House seems to be seen coming and has played with one of its last buzas. The forecast. The Trump administration has written an executive order to allow the storage of metals found in the marine bed of the Pacific Ocean, According to Financial Times. This initiative seeks to counteract China’s influence on supply chains of critical minerals, since it controls 70% of the global market. A Great Reserve. These metals are found in the polymetallic nodules of the seabed, which contains minerals such as nickel, cobalt, copper, manganese and rare earth traces. As The British media has had accessthe US government has considered that deep water mining will guarantee a national source of these materials, so it seeks to accelerate mining requests under national legislation. Within that idea, it would include the creation of a strategic reserve of minerals to self -abuse. It won’t be so easy. The International Marine Funds Authority (ISA) is responsible for regulating mining in international waters. In a recent meeting, still an agreement has not been reached About how to proceed in underwater mining, and many countries are asking for a moratorium on this practice due to the impact on little known marine ecosystems. In the case of the United States They have not ratified The United Nations Convention on the Law of the 1982 Sea, the treaty that gives the ISA legal support. In other words, it is not within the entity, so the big doubt opens if you can legally grant permits to companies to operate in international waters. For their part, entities like The Metals Company have insisted that the ISA It does not have an exclusive mandatebut some legal experts have warned that acting without their guarantee is a risky movement that can put all nations against. That ocean and not another. While the United States is in this situation, the Pacific choice has much more background and has to do with the Asian giant. China is One of the main actors in underwater mining, with exploration contracts granted by the ISA In the Clarion-Clipperton area (CCZ), a region rich in polymetic nodules. In addition, it is estimated that this underwater corridor can contain more critical minerals than many combined land reserves, which makes it a strategic objective. Taking advantage. Recently, China It started The construction of an underwater laboratory at 2,000 meters deep in the Meriodional China Sea, reinforcing its scientific and operational position in oceanic funds. According to Financial Timeseverything responds to a broader vision: andThe Pacific as the new Front of Economic and Military Competition, where the control of deep resources can make a difference. 80% without mapping or exploring. The oceanic background It is our great unknownsso the ISA is holding these meetings to establish a mining code between all nations as soon as possible. For its part, scientists and environmental groups They have warned that ocean protection is prevailing due to the irreversible effects that could be given. Image | Trump White House Archced and Mister Pommeroy Xataka | There are billions of dollars in rare land buried in full view: you just have to look at the coal ashes

What is High-Flyer, the Chinese fund that drives Deepseek and has been using AI for years to make investment decisions

Deepseek is the fashionable artificial intelligence (AI) company. Your most recent language models They have challenged Openai’s leadership and have caused a real earthquake in the technology industry. These days we have known that It was founded in May 2023 and that has developed its products with a fraction of the computing capacity of some of its main western rivals. But what else is known? Let’s see it. The promising present of Deepseek is the result of years of investigation that began long before its official constitution. Its origin is found in High-Flyer, a quantitative investment fund created in 2015 by the Electronic Engineering student Liang Wenfeng with two classmates. As they count on their websitethe idea was that the algorithms became the heart of their business by allowing real -time operations. A company focused on the Chinese stock market High-Flyer completed its first stock market assisted by AI in October 2016, a movement that triggered an unstoppable effort to continue working in that regard. The company formed software and hardware research and development teams. And apparently it was the appropriate decision. In 2017 I already applied AI In almost all its strategies of quantitative investment, but to continue advancing I needed to break some barriers. They discovered that complex models training tasks required a huge calculation power. This did not discourage them and in 2019 they launched a dedicated division called High-Flyer ai to address the challenge. The group built started working with 500 GPU, then built a 1,100 GPU supercomputer A100 of NVIDIA And in 2022 he spent 140 million dollars to raise the number up to 10,000 GPU, before the entry into force of the export controls of the United States. High-Flyer was completely focused on developing its algorithmic trading business. He had his own deep learning training platform and a Outstanding computer infrastructure. Meanwhile, in the United States there was a company called Openai that bet on the generative AI and that He had surprised many with the benefits of his GPT-3 language model. As China Talk collectsLiang wanted to go beyond finance. For a long time he had been convinced that AI would change the world, and had found the opportunity to bring his effort to the next level. In 2023, High-Flyer announced that it would lay the foundations of a new organization to advance the development of general artificial intelligence (AGI). Thus Deepseek was born, with an injection of capital of high-flyer. Deepseek is a product of High-Flyer work and has obviously drunk this company. Both signatures share offices in the same building, although they seem to use different computing resources. The AI ​​startup says it has H20 chips, that are sold as donuts in Chinaand NVIDIA H800, and that has used only 2,048 GPU of this latest model to train its most recent models, an affirmation that some have questioned. Images | High-flyer | Deepseek In Xataka | “They are brilliant researchers under the control of an authoritarian government.” Anthropic’s CEO has spoken about Depseek

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