future

It’s a clue to your strategy for the hardware of the future

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Apple has acquired Invrs.io, a small AI-guided photonics and optical research company. It is one of those purchases that almost goes unnoticed, but that reveals a lot about where Apple is aiming in the hardware and AI race. Below these lines we tell you all the details. What has happened. According to a notification published by the European Commission, Apple announced in October 2025 that it was acquiring certain assets of Invrs.io LLC and hiring its only employee and founder, Martin Schubert. The information was made public this week, after the regulatory waiting period of four months, according to counted MacRumors. Who is Schubert and what he did. Schubert founded Invrs.io in 2023 after spending more than a decade working on advanced display, chip and optics technologies at companies including Google, Alphabet, X and Meta. According to your LinkedIn profileaccumulates nearly a hundred patents. At Invrs.io his goal was to develop AI-guided design tools focused on optics and photonics, with direct applications in augmented and virtual reality, data centers and autonomous vehicles. The company, according to its page on GitHubbuilt open source frameworks for photonics research, with standardized simulations and a public ranking to compare design results. Why does this matter? Photonics is the science that studies how to generate, control and detect photons, that is, light particles. In practical terms, it is the basis for optical components such as cameras, sensors, displays, LiDAR scanners, and lenses for mixed reality devices. Apple has been integrating this type of technology into its products for years, from the iPhone’s camera system to the Apple Vision Pro. Bringing in someone specialized in designing those components with the help of AI allows you to speed up that process and do it with greater precision. The Apple pattern. This acquisition fits perfectly into Apple’s usual way of moving: small, silent purchases highly oriented toward specific capabilities, generally months before introducing a new product. In January of this year it bought Q.aian Israeli AI startup applied to audio, in what is considered its second largest historical acquisition with nearly $2 billion. Invrs.io is much more modest in size (it literally has one person in charge), but it gives us small clues as to how the company’s movements regarding its products will be in the following years. The hardware that accompanies AI. Although we are now witnessing a great technological battle to see who launches the most powerful AI model, there is a race in the background that will decide who stays on top, and that race involves hardware. Specifically, the hardware that AI will use to perceive the physical world: sensors, lenses, optical systems, computer vision technology, etc. Google now has Nano Bananaa model with which it works so that AI can generate images with knowledge of the real world. Apple, with moves like this, could bet on integrating ultra-precise optics into its wearables and future devices. They are different strategies, but with a common objective: to be the eyes of the AI. And now what. Apple has not confirmed which projects Schubert will work on internally, something completely common for the company. But everything indicates that the company will intend with this purchase to improve the optical components of future models of the Apple Vision Pro, the iPhone or devices yet to be announced. Cover image | Junseong Lee and Xataka In Xataka | Apple is not yet ready to manufacture the iPhone in the US, but it has given in something: part of the Mac Mini is

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra has shown us a wonderful future. One full of screens with privacy technology

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Many revolutions come without us realizing it and by surprise. As if they were a supporting actor that no one seemed to pay attention to and turns out to be the real star of the movie: This is how the privacy screen arrived of the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: an innovation that no one expected and that made the AI ​​or the cameras of that mobile barely matter. Because although all those things add up, they are an evolution that we were all waiting for. But the privacy screen thing is something else: it is an everyday revolution and so obvious that one can only think how it is possible that we are in 2026 and no one would have invented something like this before. Samsung, as our colleague Ana Boria rightly says – please, don’t miss the Short -, has suddenly destroyed the entire industry of tempered glass that protects privacy. For years we have seen how it was possible to add a “privacy protector” in the form of protective glass to our mobile phone or laptop. With it it was possible to prevent any curious/gossip from taking a look at our device over our shoulder, but Samsung has made these protectors no longer necessary, because it has shown us how this technology can be part of the device’s screen itself. The idea is not entirely new, of course. HP has already applied a similar idea in some of its laptops a whopping 10 years ago. He called it Sure View and developed it in collaboration with 3M. That technology effectively allowed the viewing angles of the EliteBook 1040 and 840 to be critically reduced, but the proposal did not seem to work. Image: Samsung. Samsung, however, has gone a step further because this privacy screen can not only be activated and deactivated whenever we want: it can even be activated or deactivated in a personalized way for each application: if you want the privacy screen mode to be activated every time you look at your bank application, you just have to select this option in the settings. The customization of this feature is also extraordinaryand Samsung allows you to adjust it so that it is activated automatically, for example, when we receive notifications, or that the screen also goes into “anti-gossip” mode just when we are entering a PIN for an application. With the function activated, the screen only looks good to those looking at it from the front. This is one of those ideas that show that not everything is invented in the world of technology and that a real practical and everyday improvement as “silly” as this can be much more important and impactful than some AI options that remain fireworks. In fact, here Samsung has surprised us with an innovation that should make apple blush: the Cupertino company does not stop boasting that They are the champions of privacyand although they have certainly traditionally stood out in this section, here Samsung has left them biting the dust. To them and to everyone. Privacy screens have already become one of the clear technological innovations of 2026. Now We just hope that all manufacturers follow the story and end up implementing similar systems on their mobile phones. That may take some time, of course, but today it seems inevitable to think that what Samsung has done is open the door to a wonderful future in which we will be much safer from gossip. Good for Samsung. In Xataka | Image | Xataka with Freepik

All Big Tech are betting the money they have and the money they don’t have on the future of AI. All but one: Apple

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650 billion dollars. There it is nothing. That is the total amount that Google, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft are going to invest in data centers for AI. That amount of money is astonishing and is similar to the current GDP of countries like Argentina or Israel. But the curious thing is not only that: there is a Big Tech that is totally ignoring this fever to spend on AI as if there were no tomorrow. Apple against the current. The company led by Tim Cook is the only one of the group of large technology companies whose capex (planned capital expenditure) was reduced last quarter. Based on FactSet data compiled by SherwoodApple’s forecasts for that quarter were not to spend more, but attention, spend (quite a bit) less. The numbers don’t lie. According to the data provided by these companies, Amazon expects that in 2026 its capex reaches up to 200,000 million dollars. Google wants to go from 175,000 to 185,000 million. Meta estimates that the expense will be between 115,000 and the 135,000 million. And although Microsoft did not give a specific figure, it surely exceeds the $114 billion estimated by Wall Street. And Apple? Apple will not spend more, but 19% according to its latest estimates: about $12.7 billion. Amazon: +42% YoY (vs. previous year) Microsoft: +89% YoY Google: +95% YoY Goal: +48% YoY Apple: -19% YoY Cupertino goes from AI. While its competitors spent record sums last quarter (which ended December 31) on the purchase of material and properties linked to the AI ​​sector and data centers, Apple continues not to invest in this sector. It is something that makes it clear that the company seems to have definitively decided that this is not its war. Siri+Gemini is the best test. Confirmation of that “surrender” is in the recent announcement that Gemini will be the AI ​​on which the new version of Siri will be based. Apple’s new AI assistant is expected to hit the market this spring with at least some initial features, but the fact that it does so depends entirely on Google’s AI model makes it clear that Apple here prefers to delegate rather than invest to have its own foundational model. AI will be a commodity. Instead of participating in this costly war of language models, Apple is clear that AI is going to end up being a commodity, something that is going to become a basic standard technology like the PC, mobile phone or laptop is now. Model prices plummet as the capacity of those models grows, and benchmarks make it clear that no model is better than another for long. Apple as a gateway to AI. As usual, what Apple will do is take advantage of the fact that has the “gateway to AI. With 2.4 billion devices worldwide, it controls the most valuable distribution channel on the planet. It has the luxury of not making “the engine,” but rather acting as an avenue to bring AI to the masses. Here agreements like the one it has completed with Google are just the beginning. It doesn’t matter being late. It is something that is in the company’s DNA. He also did not want to fight the search engine battle, but it did not matter: he reached an agreement with Google, which has paid him billions of dollars for years to be able to put its search engine as the default engine on iPhones, iPads and Macs. Apple prefers that others pave the way and absorb the costs of early learning. Then she usually arrives with superior integration and a refined experience (iPod, iPhone) or directly with deals like the one she completed in the search engine space. AI will be invisible and ubiquitous. Apple’s goal doesn’t seem to be to offer its own chatbot on the web, but to make AI invisible and ubiquitous. It doesn’t matter which model runs behind it, but simply that this AI works transparently for the user. And it does so, of course, seamlessly integrated into Apple services and applications. Privacy by flag. And of course, with that vaunted commitment to privacy that Apple always boasts of. Its Private Cloud Compute is the best proof of this. By not relying on advertising (hello Google, hello OpenAI), it is able to offer advanced features without collecting massive data from users. But there is risk. Still, the strategy has a critical risk: if AI models become a commodity and end up creating technological monopolies, Apple could be permanently at the mercy of its suppliers. If these competitive advantages end up being consolidated in the model layer – the one controlled by OpenAI, Anthropic and Google – and not in the integration layer – which is Apple’s – the dependence on third parties will be a dangerous strategic weakness. Room for maneuver. Apple has annual benefits close to 100 billion dollars, which gives it an enviable financial position to wait for this “hype” cycle to cool down. It is clear that there is an AI bubble and that bubble will probably end up exploding and leaving many victims. If it does, one of those that will undoubtedly have room to maneuver to survive will be Apple. Image | Xataka with Freepik In Xataka | China does not have a spending problem with AI. What it has is a huge income gap compared to its main rival

“task dates” are the new way to screen your future partner

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Picture the scene: no candles, no jazz music in the background, no glasses of wine. In its place is an Allen wrench, an instruction manual with silent drawings, and a pressed-wood shelf that seems to resist the laws of physics. What for many would be the prelude to a breakup, for a new generation of singles it is the perfect date. Welcome to choremancingthe trend that proposes that, if you want to know who someone really is, forget the gala dinner and take them to do the weekly shopping. For years, the dominant dating app narrative sold us the matches as the gateway to an endless parade of sophisticated plans. However, how to explain Guardian, something is changing. The British media defines the choremancing like a portmanteau chore (homework) and romance. The idea is as simple as it is cynical: why waste time pretending at a cocktail bar if 90% of life as a couple is going to consist of deciding who takes out the trash or how the bills are paid? This trend was consolidated after the application Plenty of Fish would include it in its annual trends report. It’s no longer about impressing, but about “folding a date into an errand you had to do anyway.” It is, in essence, the definitive compatibility test. The end of romantic “posturing” Why do we prefer to see our date in the frozen food aisle than under the dim light of a restaurant? The answer lies in authenticity. As Bruce Y. Lee analyzes in the magazine Psychology Todaymundane tasks reveal what people are “at their core.” At a dinner party it’s easy to maintain a façade, but when faced with a logistical challenge—like figuring out why a piece of furniture is missing—the real personality comes out: Is your date cooperative and adaptable, or does he become selfish and irritable at the first setback? However, this “test” has its dangers. Quartz warns that assembling Ikea furniture is a real emotional minefield. Citing expert psychologiststhe outlet explains that these tasks activate old “triggers” and latent insecurities. A simple bookshelf can lead to existential questions: “Do you think I’m stupid?”, “Don’t you trust me?” Additionally, psychology professor Dan Ariely points in the same medium a dangerous phenomenon: the fundamental attribution error. We tend to think that if we make a mistake it is because the instructions are bad, but if the other person makes a mistake it is because they “never pay attention.” He choremancing It is, therefore, a quick way to see how the couple manages guilt and pressure. The collapse of the Tinder model This retreat into everyday life is not coincidental, but symptomatic. Traditional dating apps are suffering from structural wear. Although 80% of Generation Z want to find love, only 55% feel ready for a relationship. It is the “paradox of preparation”: the fear of failure is so high that young people prefer not to try. “Traditional flirting” is on the decline. Today you no longer ask for a date, you ask for Instagram, and that is where the interaction often dies. The fear of “public failure”—having to delete photos or explain things if a relationship doesn’t work out—acts like a handbrake. In this context, a “task date” is much safer: less pressure, less exposition, and above all, more honesty. Faced with this boredom, some are returning to old methods, like the resurgence of marriage agencies. “We get a lot of tired and frustrated people from the digital world,” they explain from the sector. Singles now seek “exclusivity and anonymity”, fleeing the public showcase of social networks. This search for tangible connection has taken courtship to the most unexpected spaces. For example, a couple of months ago the “hook up in Mercadona from seven to eight in the afternoon” went viral. What started as a joke about secret codes—like carrying an upside-down pineapple in your cart to indicate availability— reflects a deep reality: the desire to return to face-to-face in real environments, away from the algorithm. But he choremancing It goes beyond the first date; It is also the glue of coexistence. According to psychologist Dr. Hannah Lawson, cited by Uniladtechcouples who do household chores together, like washing dishes, are 20% happier. Lawson maintains that sharing these small daily rituals builds a stronger emotional connection than large romantic gestures. “It’s a symbol of equality,” he says, preventing resentment and encouraging natural conversation. However, there is a cruder reading behind this boom in useful quotes. First of all, the economic context does not help. With housing through the roof, looking for a partner has become a pragmatic decision: “you need two incomes to aspire to a stable life.” In this scenario, evaluating whether your potential partner is efficient at managing the house is not a lack of romanticism, it is a survival instinct. So is he choremancing The future of love or simply proof that we are too tired for traditional courtship? Either way, it seems like an efficient strategy. In a world where time is the most scarce resource, combining logistics with romance allows us to optimize the agenda and, in the process, truly get to know who we have in front of us. At the end of the day, logic is unbeatable. If the date goes wrong and you discover that that person doesn’t know how to work as a team or gets frustrated with an instruction manual, at least you won’t have wasted the afternoon in a pretentious bar. In the worst case scenario, the relationship will not have prospered, but you will have been left with the purchase made, the dog walked or, with a little luck, the living room furniture finally assembled. Image | freepik Xataka | Zara dressed Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl. That says much more about Zara’s plans than about Bad Bunny

This Star Trek movie was canceled in 1977 because science fiction had no future. Two weeks later Star Wars premiered

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In the mid-1970s, ‘Star Trek‘ was experiencing a unique phenomenon in the entertainment industry. The original series, canceled in 1969 after three seasons of discreet audiences, had found an unexpected second life. Continuous reruns and fan enthusiasm (the first phenomenon of its kind to develop pop culture) encouraged Paramount to extend the original mythology. In 1976, a full-page advertisement appeared in ‘The New York Times’ proclaiming the imminent production of a Star Trek film: ‘Planet of the Titans’, and which aspired to take the franchise into uncharted cinematic territories. The origin. Producer Gerald Isenberg assumed executive control of the project in July 1976, intending to transform ‘Star Trek’ into a first-rate cinematic event. To direct, Paramount hired Philip Kaufman, a filmmaker whose profile was unconventional for a franchise. Kaufman would direct acclaimed works such as ‘Chosen for Glory’ and would delve into a science fiction very different from ‘Star Trek’ in the remake of ‘Invasion of the Ultracorps’ in 1978. But by 1976 he had already directed the western ‘No Law or Hope’ and the arctic adventures of ‘The White Dawn’. Chris Bryant and Allan Scott, British writers of the superb and extremely rare ‘Shadow Menace’, were chosen as scriptwriters. The conceptual basis of the project was nourished by ambitious sources: Kaufman and Isenberg structured the narrative inspired by the novel ‘The Last and the First Humanity’ by Olaf Stapledon, which traces human evolution over billions of years. As a scientific advisor, Paramount hired Jesco von Puttkamer, a NASA engineer. Ralph McQuarriewhose conceptual work for ‘Star Wars’ was then in full development, would do the designs. The conflicts. Creative tensions quickly emerged. Kaufman aspired to create a cinematographic work that would dialogue with ‘2001: A Space Odyssey‘ in visual and philosophical complexity. Gene Roddenberry, creator of the original series, defended its essence. Bryant and Scott they were trapped between these two incompatible visions, trying to balance the artistic ambitions of one and the fidelity of the other. The budget, initially set at three million dollars, rose to 10 million. What was it about? Captain James T. Kirk has disappeared three years ago, during a rescue mission near a black hole. The Enterprise remains operational, but Spock has returned to Vulcan. When Starfleet detects anomalous energetic emissions coming from the same black hole where Kirk was lost, Spock rejoins. They discover a planet trapped inside the black hole, the mythical home of the Titans, an ancient civilization possessing technology superior to that of humans. The planet is being inexorably sucked into the black hole. Spock locates Kirk, scarred by years of isolation and transformed by cosmic forces. The planned outcome was the most radical bet: to escape collapse, the Enterprise deliberately enters the black hole, emerging not in its time, but in our prehistory. The crew discovers that they themselves are the Titans of mythology. Kirk is Prometheus, the bringer of fire to early humanity. The script does not clarify whether the crew would finally manage to return to their time or would be trapped observing the slow development of human history that they themselves had started. Kirk is dead. But… why make a movie in which the legendary Kirk is practically absent? William Shatner’s contract with Paramount had expired, leading Bryant and Scott to develop a first draft that eliminated Kirk. After several weeks of work, the studio informed them that an agreement had been reached and that Kirk should be reinstated as the lead. This twist forced a substantial rewrite of the material. And the situation with Leonard Nimoy was even more complex: the actor withdrew from the project due to a conflict over the unauthorized use of his image as Spock in a Heineken advertisement, but an agreement was finally reached. The cancellation. Bryant and Scott submitted their first completed draft on March 1, 1977, after months of intense creative negotiations, but ultimately walked away from the project. Kaufman personally took on the rewrite of the script. His version intensified the role of Spock and developed the dynamic with a Klingon played by none other than the legendary Toshiro Mifune. Just when he was convinced he had found the definitive story, he was told that Paramount had canceled the project. This happened in May 1977, just seventeen days before the premiere of ‘Star Wars’. Kaufman would always remember the phrase that a studio executive told him as justification for the cancellation: “there is no future in science fiction.” Why was it cancelled? They converged different factors: the increase in costs, the fear that ‘Star Wars’ would saturate the science fiction market and the belief that they had distanced themselves too much from the original series. When ‘Star Wars’ grossed more than $775 million worldwide, Paramount pitched ‘Star Trek: Phase II,’ a television series planned as the flagship of a new company television network. It would also be cancelled, although one of its scripts would eventually become the basis for ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’, released in December 1979. The legacy. ‘‘Planet of the Titans’ was not the first failed attempt to bring ‘Star Trek’ to the cinema, but rather one more link in a chain of frustrated projects that reflected Paramount’s uncertainty about how to capitalize on the franchise: there are cases as popular as the legendary and disturbing film ‘The God Thing’, written by Roddenberry himself in 1975, or the many attempts to recruit science fiction authors to contribute ideas for films, as happened with Harlan Ellison in the late seventies. And although something remained from the film in the future after the cancellation of ‘Planet of the Titans’ (for example, the concept designs They were reused in 2017 in ‘Star Trek: Discovery’), this cursed movie is the perfect example of what ‘Star Trek’ has always been. A sign that there are more ways to do science fiction outside of spectacle pulp of Star Wars and, at the same time, the confirmation that it is very complicated to do so. In Xataka | More and more … Read more

five TVs at outlet prices with coupons for future purchases

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Carrefour has launched a new brochure with discounts on a wide range of devices, among which we have a good variety of Samsung, LG, Hisense and TCL televisions. Not only are they reduced to “outlet price”, but the store also gives you a coupon for future purchases. Are you interested? Let’s take a look at the best offers. LG OLED55B56LA by 799 eurosa 55-inch OLED TV. Samsung TQ65S93FAT by 1,399 eurosa smart TV with OLED panel technology and a size of 65 inches. TCL 65C71K by 899 eurosa good 65-inch QD-Mini LED TV. Samsung TQ55QN74FAT by 599 eurosa very reasonable price for a Neo QLED TV. Hisense 43E79Q by 299 eurosa very low price for a television compatible with Dolby technologies. LG OLED55B56LA An OLED television for less than 700 euros? This is something that a few years ago was difficult to see (if we were able to see it, of course), but now it is a reality: although Carrefour has it on offer for 799 euros and gives you a 15% coupon, if you register at MediaMarkt you can buy it for 669.94 euros. The LG OLED55B56LA is a smart OLED TV with 55-inch screen which offers a refresh rate of 120 Hz, something ideal for playing video games. It is compatible with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos and includes technologies gaming such as Nvidia G-Sync or AMD FreeSync. LG OLED55B56LA (OLED, 65 inches) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Samsung TQ65S93FAT If the previous television is too small for you, Carrefour (and other stores) has reduced the Samsung TQ65S93FAT for a price of 1,399 euros and gives you a 15% coupon, as well as a refund of 150 euros. This OLED TV has a 65-inch diagonal and offers a refresh rate of up to 144 Hz, its panel is anti-reflective and it supports Dolby Atmos. Its speakers offer a power of 60W and integrates the voice assistant Alexa. Samsung TQ65S93FAT (OLED, 65 inches) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links TCL 65C71K Carrefour also has on offer the TCL 65C71Ka smart TV that, for 899 eurosoffers you a 15% coupon for future purchases. It incorporates a 65-inch QD-Mini LED panel and is compatible with Dolby Vision IQ and with Dolby Atmos. Its operating system is Google TV, it comes with Game Master mode for video games and incorporates HDMI 2.1. TCL 65C71K (QD-Mini LED, 65 inches) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Samsung TQ55QN74FAT If the previous Samsung television is beyond your budget, be very careful with the Samsung TQ55QN74FATa model that, despite being found in Carrefour for 599 euros and comes with a 15% coupon, El Corte Inglés has it for 579 euros. In this case we are talking about a mid-high range smart TV that incorporates a panel Neo QLED. Football, series, movies and documentaries no matter what operator you are. No permanence The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Its diagonal is 55 inches and it reaches a refresh rate of up to 144 Hz. It also comes with the Filmmaker mode to watch movies and series and integrates the Alexa voice assistant. Samsung TQ55QN74FAT (Neo QLED, 55 inches) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Hisense 43E79Q Finally, if what you are looking for is a smaller and much cheaper television, Carrefour has the Hisense 43E79Q by 299 euros and also gives you a 15% coupon for future purchases. In this case, we are talking about a smart TV with a 43-inch QLED panel that is compatible with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos and offers viewing angles of 178º. Hisense 43E79Q (QLED, 43 inches) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Carrefour and Compradicción (header), LG, Samsung, TCL, Hisense In Xataka | Best sound bars in quality price (2026). Which one to buy and seven recommended models from 99 euros In Xataka | Best home theater projectors. Which one to buy and five recommended models from 299 to 18,000 euros

Mexico knows that the future lies in technological sovereignty and has already chosen its “Silicon Valley: Jalisco and Sonora

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Mexico has undertaken the adventure of technological sovereignty. With her arrival to the presidency, Claudia Sheinbaum set the modest goal of “continuing to make Mexico the best country in the world.” To this end, he presented the ‘Mexico Plan‘, a roadmap to attract investment and develop industries such as biotechnology, electric cars or that of semiconductors. And the foundations for that ambitious chip manufacturing plan are already being built with a single idea in mind. Technological sovereignty. Kutsari. Silicon is extracted from sand and this is precisely what ‘kutsari’ means in Purépecha. It is also the name of Kutsari Project that seeks to stop importing a large part of the semiconductors that Mexico needs for the products it already manufactures. Puebla, Jalisco and Sonora are the three locations chosen to develop a plan that only pursues one objective: to stop being a country that assembles chips to become one that designs, manufactures and sells them. Jalisco moves. Since the project was announced, steps have been taken to get it started, and as we read in MillenniumJalisco has not wasted time. One of the poles of Kutsari will be the Cinvestav -Center for Research and Advanced Studies-. The reason is that it is the only institution in the country that has an agreement with Intel to generate integrated circuits in 16 nanometer lithography. Jalisco was already a semiconductor manufacturing point at the end of the last century and the Intel Design Center is located in the same area. That is why Jalisco has already been nicknamed the ‘Silicon Valley of Latin America’, a ‘hub’ in which different technology companies are settling, especially those dedicated to semiconductors, and which is bringing foreign investment. According to Pablo Lemusgovernor of Jalisco, if Mexico’s economy grew by 0.5%, due to that investment Jalisco’s grew by 4%. Sonora winks at the US. Another of the axes in this objective of technological sovereignty is Sonora. Recently, it signed an agreement to locate the Semiconductor Research and Development Center at the University of Sonora. Apart from being another thinking mind in the semiconductor strategy, Sonora has an advantage: the Mexico-US Trade Corridor, which seeks greater investment and regional connectivity. In the end, Sonora and Jalisco are taking steps in the same direction: investment, consolidation of already established infrastructures, construction of new buildings and strengthening agreements to attract talent. Goal: 2028. As they say, things in the palace move slowly, and currently both states are in a phase that we could classify as pre-production. They are preparing the ground in parallel, making advances in design, but also in talent and the ecosystem to create the chip production chain. Let’s remember the importance of having all this tied up (and the closer, the better), since it is one of the secrets behind the leadership of the Taiwanese TSMC. Once everything is ready, the manufacturing phase will begin, and in this sense, we also have to talk about the state of Puebla. In the municipality of Cholula will locate one of Mexico’s semiconductor production plants, one that will take advantage of all that knowledge developed by Jalisco and Sonora and that, it is expected, will begin producing chips by 2028 with an eye toward commercialization by 2029. Competence. It seems like a long time, but it is really a very short period to shape an industry as complex as semiconductors. But, obviously, you have to start somewhere and the latest advances in the Kutsari project show that Mexico remains determined to achieve a certain sovereignty in the chip segment. Now, we will see how far Mexico’s aspirations go and if its production is sufficient to satisfy the global market or it has to “settle” for the domestic market. The reason is that the component crisis of 2020 and the current RAM crisis It is teaching us something: you cannot depend on one country or a handful of companies. And there, Vietnam, India and China are strengthening for break technological hegemony which is currently in the hands of a few. This implies greater competition, but if Mexico’s plans go well, it also represents an opportunity that should not be missed. Image | ASML (edited) In Xataka | There is a global race to gain hegemony of critical minerals. And Mexico has just taken a key step

It is the battle for the Internet of the future

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One of the biggest changes on the Internet since the democratization of devices and networks It allowed us all to have a window to the world, and a speaker, in our pockets. With the underlying idea of ​​protecting minors, the world has embarked on the great adventure of putting doors to the countryside: verify the identity of users who browse the Internet. And the reactions couldn’t be more polarized between defenders and those who see it as the latest blow to privacy. What is evident is that it is the great battle of the Internet, and positioning yourself is extremely complex. In short. The earthquake started last week. Adapting to measures that are being taken from Europe, the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, announced a package of measures with the intention of regulating digital platforms. Among them, in addition to criminal liability for company directors in case of inaction, is the prohibition of access to social networks for minors under 16 years of age. At the time we already mentioned that everything is a potential social network, even the comments box on our website, so the description seemed vague. But there were two mentioned: Elon MuskCEO of X, charging against Sánchez, and Pavel DurovCEO of Telegram that sent a message to its users warning about the Government’s intentions. Durov Dúrov’s message translated into Spanish in the Telegram bot. Imagine not knowing who this man is and having him assault you talking about privacy with a message that could very well be written by ChatGPT I just want to imagine the face of someone who doesn’t know Pavel and sees that a user whose number you haven’t given appears on their Telegram saying that privacy is very important. Telegram and Discord, proper names. Although it is social networks in general that are in the crosshairs of these identification policies, Telegram has been the most vocal. Not the most transparent. Because there we must talk about Discord. proving that It is not something that comes only from Spain, Discord announced a few hours ago that will be able to launch a global age verification system. It will be starting next month and it may be the compass of what we find in other similar apps. The way to proceed will be as follows: All accounts, by default, will be set to “teen friendly”. This implies that there is certain content that we will not be able to access and, if we want to change it, we have to prove that we are adults. Discord’s product manager has commented that private messages will not be used in the verification process, but that the system will take into account the age of the account and the activity, as well as the patterns shown in Discord, to verify that we are adults without us having to do anything. BUT, and here comes the asterisk, if we have to identify ourselves, actions will be needed on the part of the users. If not, you will not be able to access age-restricted channels and servers, but you will also not be able to talk on live channels. Okay, but… how? There are two ways to verify our age. One will be through a selfie video that, according to Discordit will not leave our device. The system will analyze the face in real time and give us access. If you consider that we are not of legal age, you have to upload a photo of the identity document. And here comes the tricky part: Discord assures that the images will be deleted quickly, but the documents need to be verified by a third party. And the thing is, this is old business. If we go to the summer of 2024, we have the controversy that arose with the Digital Wallet system and what caught the most attention, the ‘Pajaporte’. The Digital Wallet It was the preview of what they are seeking to create now: a system to verify that we are of legal age and can browse the Internet without barriers. And, instead of using a video of our face or sending a photo of our DNI to a foreign application, the Spanish app works by securely storing the legal age credential issued by the Government. When you try to access a site that requires verification, the application sends those credentials, but the information is encrypted, ensuring, according to the Government, the anonymity of the user. If there is a data leakthere is no information linkable to a user, but rather a key that identifies us anonymously. And it is also not useful to track the operations carried out by the user. in favor. Once we have everything on the table, the reactions come. And there are two opposing currents in this in what we can call the ‘great battle of the Internet’. Being in favor of identification implies potentially losing privacy in favor of gaining security. It is no secret that the networks are plagued with toxic political discourse, polarization, false information (and even more so now with the democratization of generative artificial intelligence) and a system that encourages insults and threats to occur under that anonymity. Pavel Durovvery vocal about this whole matter, is the head of a social network that has been in the spotlight on several occasions. The promises of Telegram encryption (a end to end encryption that does not come by default in all chats) have given rise to illegal activities. In fact, France launched a crusade against him and the platform by alleged crimes of money laundering, drug trafficking or distribution of child pornography, as well as being a nest for political extremists without the application exercising moderation. That Telegram or The video game ‘Roblox’, for example, has a huge community of minors and It was in the news at the end of last year. for not being forceful with the reports of sexual predators that inhabit the platform. Among other atrocities. Cases like this are what explain … Read more

the future of Olympic Games broadcasts is now

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FPV (First Person View) drones capable of reach one hundred kilometers per hour have burst into Olympic broadcasts with a disturbing promise: to turn sport into something visually indistinguishable from a video game. In alpine skiing, cycling and extreme sports tests, these aircraft equipped with synchronized telemetry systems They follow the athletes from angles that until recently were technically impossible, generating plans that seem extracted from virtual simulators. Who is behind. Olympic Broadcasting Services (the organization created by the International Olympic Committee in 2001 to act as host station for the Olympic and Paralympic Games) is responsible for generating the television, radio and digital signal for media around the world. He began to implement this technology systematically in Beijing 2022. For Paris 2024 Its use had multiplied in disciplines such as BMX, skateboarding and sailing. The question is no longer whether drones can follow athletes, but to what extent this video-ludic aesthetic is reconfiguring our perception of sport. The technology. The devices that Olympic Broadcasting Services has deployed at Milano-Cortina 2026 are not adapted commercial drones, but rather platforms built specifically for sports broadcasting. The Dutch company Dutch Drone Gods has developed a model for sleigh descent tests (bobsleigh, skeleton and luge) that weighs just 243 grams (less than an iPhone) and reaches speeds of 100 kilometers per hour. These cinewhoop type devices They incorporate propellers protected by inverted ducts that improve aerodynamic efficiency. They allow smoother curves, essential for following athletes on steep descents. The technical key lies in the high-end COFDM transmission system that integrates directly with the infrastructure of broadcast traditional, allowing native HD HDR video (both progressive and interlaced) to be transmitted that is seamlessly incorporated into mobile units’ color adjustment systems. How many are there? OBS has deployed 25 FPV drones in total for these Games. They are operated by teams of three specialists (pilot, director and technician) who work synchronized through a dedicated communication channel to manage flight paths, timings and technical adjustments. One of the pilots He assures that it is the most difficult job he has ever done: flying in small spaces up to fifty times per session, consistently, with no margin for error, with millions of spectators watching live. The past. Milano-Cortina 2026 represents the massive winter debut of this technology. The path began in Paris 2024, where FPV drones were used for the first time in competitions. mountain bikingoffering an unprecedented immersive perspective. At the current Winter Games, the most dramatic application has occurred in sliding sports: for the first time, Spectators can follow complete routeswith athletes reaching speeds of over 140 kilometers per hour. Previously, coverage of these disciplines was done with a succession of quick cuts between fixed cameras. Now we can follow the athlete without interruptions, which helps to have a better impression of the speeds they reach. In alpine skiing, drones accompany athletes down the legendary Stelvio descent. In freestyle skiing and snowboarding, the devices are launched with them from the 23-meter springboard. The characteristic high-pitched whir of the rotors has become a recognizable soundtrack of these Games. It is particularly audible during testing. snowboard big airwhere the synchronization between the athlete’s jump and the flight of the drone must be millimeters. How we see sport. We reached this point after decades of developing sports broadcasts. In the mid-eighties there were already cable-suspended camera systems (with variants such as the SpiderCam) that offered aerial angles impossible for fixed cameras. The next step was portable cameras mounted on the athletes themselves. GoPro popularized action cameras during the past decade. Rio 2016 marked another milestone with the introduction of virtual reality, an attempt at total immersion in the sporting event. Regulatory challenges. The 2015 incident at Madonna di Campiglio, where A 10-kilogram drone almost hit skier Marcel Hirschercaused a temporary ban from the FIS that lasted until the 2023-24 season. Race director Markus Waldner then declared that drones were detrimental to safety. A decade later, Milano-Cortina’s 243-gram drones demonstrate how lightweight design and improved protocols can mitigate these risks, although the recent incident with Australian snowboarder Ally Hickman emphasizes that the technology still requires improvement. Header | Matthieu Pétiard in Unsplash – Ricardo Gomez Angel in Unsplash

The great battle of the internet of the future is fought against anonymity. And Discord has taken a step requiring ID to enter

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Discord announced yesterday that will launch an age verification system on its platform globally starting next month. This will be when you default to setting all accounts as “appropriate for teens” (“teen-appropriate“) unless the user proves that they are an adult with a partially automatic process that may require the system to scan our face or our identification document. This has reopened the debate about privacy and privacy not only on social networks, but throughout the internet. How it will work. Savannah Badalich, Product Manager at Discord, explained in The Verge that “Discord does not use private messages or any message content in the age verification process”, and clarifies that in many cases this verification will be transparent and the user will not have to do anything: “For most adults, age verification will not be necessary, as Discord’s age inference model uses account information such as account age, device and activity data, and aggregated high-level patterns in Discord communities. But if you need to verify yourself, be careful. Those users who do not obtain this automatic verification will not be able to access channels and servers that have age restrictions, will not be able to participate by speaking on live channels and will have sensitive or graphic content filters activated. They will also receive notifications of friend requests from suspicious users, and even direct messages from unknown users will be automatically filtered to a separate mailbox. The protection that Discord proposes is analogous to that already proposed by the Government of Spain with the beta Digital Wallet, popularly known as the “pajaporte”. Your face or your ID to validate your age. If Discord’s inference model fails to automatically determine your age, the global rollout will require users to present identification to prove they are of legal age to have an adult account. According to Discord, removing those limitations from teen accounts will force users to “choose to use facial age estimation or offer a form of identification to Discord partners.” So, there will be two great options: your face– The user will need to appear in a selfie video during the verification process and a Discord AI system will analyze that image in real time. According to Discord, that selfie will not leave our device. Your ID– If the selfie process fails, users can appeal or verify their age with a photo of their ID. These documents will be verified by third parties, but on Discord they assure that these images of the document “are quickly deleted — in most cases immediately after confirmation of age.” Discord already had a scandal with this. This is actually not the first time Discord has tried something like this. Last year it already deployed an age verification system in the UK and Australiaand the curious thing is that some users exceeded that measure using the ‘Death Stranding’ photo mode. Mass data theft. In October one of those Discord partners suffered a massive data theft in which users’ age verification data, including the government identification documents of said users, were leaked. Badalich states that they stopped working with that company and now use another. “We do not do biometric scanning or facial recognition, but rather facial estimation. The DNI is deleted immediately. We do not store information about you,” said the directive. Anonymity in danger. For decades, anonymity has been considered an acquired right and a pillar of Internet freedom. It is something that allows exploration and criticism without fear of retaliation, but at the same time that has facilitated a toxic public discourse that has turned many platforms—starting with social networks—into “digital dumps” in which harassment and abuse are difficult to stop. Content moderation on social networks has been so problematic that X and Facebook have ended up eliminating their moderation teams—or reducing them to a minimum—so that let the community itself warn of misuse of these networks. Government pressure. Discord’s announcement follows an increasingly recurring trend on the internet. The pressure from governments around the world is notable and wants to eliminate anonymity with the argument of protecting teenagers. Bills are being promoted that force platforms to monitor who enters and how old they are. Eliminating anonymity would certainly have advantages in mitigating toxic speech and instances of harassment or abuse, but it would also have enormous disadvantages. From protecting minors to spying on us all. Among these disadvantages is the risk that these social networks become a massive system of citizen espionage in which the violation of privacy is real. By forcing users to go through these filters, massive databases can be created that are not only targets for cybercriminals, but also potential tools for state surveillance. Is the cure worse than the disease? This government battle against anonymity is justified as a fight against hate and abuse, but the collateral damage is extraordinary. We would lose that structural privacy that the Internet has always offered. If to prevent a stalker or scammer from acting we must identify each individual on the network, we end up turning the Internet into a gigantic registry in which freedom of expression is conditioned by government blessing. Total paradox. The most ironic thing is that Europe, which has traditionally been a defender of privacy, is now totally in favor of those age verification measures that precisely put her in danger. The old continent, which has always criticized Big Tech for aggregating personal data of European citizens, now supports measures that will precisely help build these gigantic databases. If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. It has been more than a decade since we reflected on that typical phrase of those who did not seem to care that the NSA PRISM program I would have spied on them because they “had nothing to hide.” It’s easy to dismantle that theoryand it is a fallacy that Giving up privacy means greater security. Open debate. The Discord announcement has generated a huge debate in all types of networks, but we found a good … Read more

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