20 euros for the most anticipated game of the year

With ‘Silksong‘We have gone through all phases, if not the duel, yes of the excessive expectation before the launch of one of the most commented titles of the year: six years after its announcement, we have lived the illusion, denial, we have converted it In a memewe have regained hope, and finally, in the Gamescom We receive the news that There was date: September 4. And it was only the first of the two major news related to the sequel to ‘Hollow Knight’. 20 euros of the wing. Team Cherry, knowing that he had one of the most anticipated titles of 2025, could have risen to the parra and ask for a higher price for his game. But no: fans have gone mad to knowing that The game will cost only 19.99 euros. And it is not an intelligent commercial play, but after seeing how fans spent months talking about the high precious of the AAA Games, it is a declaration of intentions. Why not pass. The decision to maintain ‘Silksong’ in 20 euros reflects a development and marketing philosophy that prioritizes access to the game of the greatest possible number of players about the immediate maximization of benefits. This approach is not new in the indie world, but it is remarkable for the magnitude of the expectations deposited in this sequel. 20 euros is a usual price in independent productions, but the honesty of maintaining low cost can generate a very interesting expansive wave in the industry. It is not the only one. We must not go to the productions made by three people, such as ‘Silksong’, to find cheaper games than usual. The French ‘Clair Oscur: Expedition 33‘, Without a doubt, one of the most acclaimed games of the year, and with an overproduction finish, it went on the market around 50 euros. And China has twisted the usual prices with its last success, ‘Wuchang: Fallen feathersr‘, which arrived at stores last week also around 50 euros. We do not speak in these cases of high profile games like a ‘Call of Duty‘or a’Assassin’s Creed‘, But of international games and very high sales (‘ Clair Osccur ‘reached 3.3 million copies in 33 days, and some analysts estimate some Total sales around 8). In the case of ‘Wuchang’ that price brushing the unusual for a production of that caliber has a lot to do with the intentions of Chinese studies to break the international market in the international market, but commercial strategy or not, it is still remarkable: it is clear that it can be done. With this perspective, it is clear that planting 80 euros from PVP to a game can begin to be received as an excess. Indie world. At this point, say that a good part of the best games that come out every year are Indies, there is nothing provocative: you just have to have eyes on your face. Digital stores are full of games already considered masterpieces (‘Celeste’, ‘Cuphead’, ‘Dead Cells’ …) around 20 euros. ‘Balatro‘, the game sensation last year, costs 14 euros. ‘Blue Prince‘, The best puzzle of recent years, 24.’ Vampire Survivors’, my personal favorite of recent times, just five. And the list is endless. The two recent deliveries of ‘Shinobi’ and ‘Ninja Gaiden’, for example, sensational independent cutting games, move in circles that in no case exceed 30 euros and are two of the most commented and praised games of the moment. ‘Silksong’ rides this wave that gradually introduces a viral thought in the heads of the players: cheap does not equals bad, expensive does not equivalent to good. Once the contrary! Nintendo, now what. The panic seized the players a few months ago when Nintendo announced the exorbitant price of His new ‘Mario Kart’, 90 euros. His ambition did not seem to have limits: even for a title that looked like a technical demo of switch 2 like ‘WELCOME TOUR‘I demanded to go through a box (in exchange for a small price, yes, but the comparison with the free’Astro’s Playroom‘PS5 was flagrant -for the same way: Astro Bot’s complete adventure cost less than 60 euros). Thus began the rumor that the price close to 100 euros for the next AAA was inevitable. And that rumor has not been extinguished: with ‘GTA 6 ‘on the horizon It is inevitable to think that Rockstar can exceed the feared psychological border of the three figures. With ‘Silksong’ to twenty euros we would not talk about a brutal pricing contrast. We would be speaking, almost, of means that circulate at two different (financial) speeds. In Xataka | 51 short games (and essential) for people who have little time

This game has been scheduled by only one person, and there is already talk of him as one of the great shooters of the year

The ‘Void/Breaker’ trailer caught the attention of fans in the Great Night of the GamescomOpening Night Live, when it was announced that it was already available on Steam and PC Game Pass (in the future it will also be for PS5 and Xbox). His frantic rhythm and his style and humor, which seemed to connect with classics like ‘Portal‘, liked the respectable, although his big surprise is that being a game that is already drawing the attention of the experts Shootershas been developed by a single person. Eternal return. ‘Void/Breaker’ is a Shooter with structure of Roguelitezambuyéro completely in the Fashion mechanics In the current indie panorama, and justifies it argumentatively: the protagonist is trapped in a continuous cycle of destruction designed by an AI that uses human subjects to test combat variables. That is, you will die again and again facing randomly generated enemies while another human tries to help you escape: it is a person who died before you, but whose mind has ended up trapped in the program, which allows him to give you weapons, help and clues. Forget about the argument. What matters here is the unbeatable structure of frantic and cyclical games, spurred by slight improvements and by a sense of absurd humor of a robotic voice that tries to convince you that you live the best of possible existers, which undoubtedly reminds the classic ‘portal’ and its silly jokes with a very black transfus. You will not get bored of it, nor will you get bored of the enemies: being randomly generated, each new game is that, completely new. In addition to winning skills and improvements, some permanent ones. A titan. The most striking thing about the game is that it has been developed by a single person, and despite this it has an absolutely brilliant finish, which rivals spectacularly with much more ambitious games. Of course, it is easy to see what aspects has spared Daniel Stubbingtonvisible head of Stubby Games, to carry ‘void/breaker’ to fruition. We are not facing a blockbuster in terms of visual luxury, but in terms of gameplay: The satisfactory of the most powerful weapons, the destruction of scenarios, the gravity gun, infinitely improvable as progress is made … all of the first category. The goat throws the mountain. Stubbington already had a previous game that remembered Portal, ‘The Entropy Center‘, which in many ways is an essay of findings that will then return to’ Void/Breaker ‘: also uses a first person perspective, but we are facing a puzzle that instead of using a gun of portals such as the Valve classic, uses a rifle whose shots rewind in time what they reach. Complex and Machiavellian, it is one of those ridiculously quiet and ridiculously addictive games, although the action was not entirely in the equation, anticipating the next Stubbington game. With one you fix. In times when the industry is desperate to find ways of reduce the increasingly brutal development times (that is, to reduce the budgets absolutely out of mother), it is striking as some of the great successes of recent times are developed by a single person. Indies teams minimal are common since games like ‘Braid’ emerged, but lately we are seeing successes like ‘Balatro‘ either ‘The Blue Prince‘, whose most commented characteristic is that they are developed by a single person, and it is inevitable that we think that another industry is possible. If possible. Moreover, it is due. In Xataka | The 29 best free games for PC: Shooters, MMORPGS, driving and strategy

Honda appeared in a Japanese circuit with a Pokémon motorcycle. Actually hid an advance that goes far beyond the game

A video game creature turned into a real motorcycle would not have to get too much attention. But when that creature moves alone on an official track, something changes. That was what happened on August 3 during the ceremony prior to 8 hours from Suzukaone of the most important events of Japanese motorcycling. Honda took a motorcycle designed as the circuit as the Pokémon Koraidon And he made it travel the exit line without driver, at low speed and for about ten minutes, in a showrun scheduled between 11:00 and 11:10. The motorcycle that Honda presented in Suzuka is not just a model based on the character that appears in the ‘scarlet’ delivery of the video game. To make it work, the company combined technologies that it had developed Years ago with your Asimo Robot and with the system Honda Riding Assistaimed at maintaining balance without human intervention and simulate organic movements. According to Nikkei Asiathe unit integrates sensors, cameras and communications to recognize the environment and adjust its movement. An experiment with more ambition than it appears. Honda did not design this motorcycle just to get attention during an event. The company presents it as An opportunity to improve equilibrium technologies and autonomous navigation, with an eye on the future of transport on two wheels. A Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association survey He points out that 26% of motorcycle buyers in Japan are under 40 years old. For Honda, advancing in autonomy and security can help reconnect with a generation that has moved away from motorcycles. The idea of converting a Pokémon into a real vehicle is not new, but until now it had stayed in static models or promotional elements. Toyota, for example, showed an almost real -size recreation of MiraidonKoraidon’s futuristic equivalent in video games. Honda was a step further. What Honda is played with a motorcycle that moves alone. The future of the motorcycle is to convince a new generation that does not end up. A safer and more assisted driving is one of the keys that manufacturers handle. Although this version of Koraidon is a punctual experiment, the technologies involved could move to commercial models, as happened with equilibrium assistance systems developed in the past. For now there is no clear road map to a product, but a declared intention: continue accumulating experience to apply autonomy to the two wheels. Although the show lasted only ten minutes, its message goes much further. Images | Suzuka Circuit (1, 2, 3) | Sling In Xataka | Lamborghini will only manufacture 29 units of its last supercar but you are not in a hurry: they were already sold before presenting

A video game is recruiting the brightest minds of Russia for war. The problem is that they still go to school

Russia gave a blow this week revealing a video of a few minutes. In it, the interior of what they have called as “the largest secret factory of combat drones on the planet”, located at some point in Alabuga, in the Tartaristan region, was prisoned. The piece showed us a huge army of drones with their workers assembling the pieces. However, there was something else: most were not adults, They were teenagers. A video game and a war. History is part of an investigation and exclusive to Russian media in exile The Insider. Apparently, since the summer of 2022, under the appearance of an educational and entertainment platform called Berloga (“Bear Dirridge”), Russia has been recruiting hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren in a progressive technical-military training system focused on the development and use of drones, camouflaged after video gamescompetitions and programs with academic incentives. The game, approved Personally by Putin And symbolically presented in the busy city of Sebastopol, introduces children into a children’s narrative in which “smart bears” They defend The vital resource of “bees” insects, a barely concealed allegory where bears are Russia and Ukrainian bees. From the first levels of the game to participation in face -to -face competitions and the physical assembly of drones, children are guided along a route designed to transform them In technicians and operators useful for the Russian military complex, all while assures them that “they should not say that it is for war.” From command to the welder. Berloga is not an isolated initiative, but the entrance door to a broader educational network built by the so -called agency for Kremlin strategic initiatives, in which They converge NTI Technology Clubs, the TALANT student achievement monitoring platform and the national archipelago intensive. These programs are connected to each other through competitions As great challengesin which thousands of students work in solutions to “technological” problems (which often have undercover military purposes) proposed by companies associated with the Russian State. Screen capture of the concept of a superpesado launch vehicle with a water -based launch system from the “Large Challenges” program Privileged minds to war. He counted the medium That the students who stand out are rewarded with extra points in the national exam, presidential scholarships and direct entries in companies in the defense sector, such as Geoscan, Yakovlev or Almaz-Agent. The tasks presented to them range from the Improvement of the navigationN from UAVS to the design of unmanned vehicles launched from floating platforms, through automated drone detection systems and laser loaders for tactical use. Although J is requiredUstify the projects As if they were for civil use, the students themselves admit That it is a formality: the real objective is military. Children engineers. Adolescents who participate in these training skills and networks not only program or design prototypes, but some (related to research for themselves) They train soldiersthey set up FPV drones and work to undercover military laboratories in exchange for contracts by work with the consent of their parents. The components they use in the contests are the same as they then use in the operational versions of their creations. In other words, knowledge flows directly to the front. Dual technology. In one of the cases, a young man named Stas developed a kamikaze drone low cost to replace current models of the Russian army whose price exceeds $ 10,000 per unit. Another, Vladislav, collaborated with a state company for Test war teams electronics about its own air platform. Companies, Like Geoscan or Yakovlev, segment their operations between civil and military branches, a common practice that allows maintaining the legality facade against international sanctions. This structure of “dual technologies” is held by officials such as Vice Minister of Commerce Vasili Shpak, who argues that there is no longer a clear distinction Between the civil and the military. The official narrative line points to a future in which all technological innovation will be automatically usable for the war conflict. A photo of the Official Telegram Channel of Zarnitssa 2.0 Child Military Training Child involvement in these programs goes beyond technical learning. Here it seems Intensive archipelagowhich in its beginnings covered various sectors, and has been reconverted in an almost exclusively drone course. Includes exercises like Recognition, electronic evasion, drone launch from land stations or search for objectives with thermal cameras. In parallel, Berloga allied in 2024 with Zarnitssa 2.0the modern version of a Soviet military game. The program, financed with millions From rubles of the state budget, he has trained tens of thousands of schoolchildren between the ages of 7 and 21 In the use of weapons Compressed air, Wannera-47 rifles massers, drones flight and choice of military specialties such as Zapador, UAV operator or political instructor. Discrepancies. Some schools are They have complained that both students and teachers have been forced to participate. Zarnitsa It is managed For the Yunarmiya Youth Movement (Young Army), linked to the Ministry of Defense and that in 2025 will receive More than one billion of rubles in subsidies. For the Russian authorities, the objective It seems clear: Detect military talent from an early age and channel it to the defense industry. War pedagogy. There is much more, since research emphasizes that this mass and silent recruitment of minors for war purposes is being institutionalized with Explicit support of the Kremlin. Putin has ordered drone competitions for children since the age of 7, and new school subjects Centering national security include training with UAVs. The official goal is to achieve “technological sovereignty” by 2030, and today’s adolescents are expected to become the military operators of tomorrow. Officials such as the Deputy Minister of Education Dmitry Afanasyev defend The formation of children in military technology under the pretext that “there are no purely civil applications.” In His wordseven a agricultural drone operator You must have combat competitions, as in China. Thus, Russia is institutionalizing a war pedagogy where the child ceases to be a citizen in training and becomes an anticipated military resource. Rights of the … Read more

He is winning the game to Barajas

Traveling from Santiago de Compostela to Madrid in just over an hour is possible. By plane, of course. The problem is that this travel time is not realistic and that is why the train does not stop gaining adherents in the Galicia-Madrid corridor. Better offer, more comfort and a clear winner: Renfe. More travelers. Specifically 181,588 travelers. Those are the ones who collect The Galician mailhave been mounted on one of Renfe’s trains during the first month in which the company has fully had its high -speed trains, with the entire full hourly offer. The figure is spectacular when compared to the plane. In that same month, airlines have set up 155,715 people aboard their vehicles. It is a historical milestone for a means of transport where the train has always been behind the plane. Looking back. In the Gallego newspaper they explain that evolution has been spectacular. The first works that would end up leading to the current high -speed line began in 2011. Then, only 20,000 travelers opted for the train to move along this line. Today the figure is above 180,000 passengers. Although over the years the train has been stealing passengers, as I reduced travel times, the plane was still the preferred means of transport. In 2019, Renfe moved between 40,000 and 60,000 passengers but air traffic continued to exceed 200,000 passengers. Those times have been left behind. Making the plane back. The opening of high speed has caused A clear traveler transfer to the train. Since last year, Galicia and Madrid are united by high speed. And although arrived late and there was controversy With its trains (including an incomprehensible break with the entrance of the new year), Renfe has added more and more passengers. To the point that the train has the most complete offer of schedules. The airlines have been canceling routes and operating with smaller airplanes because they cannot compete in price or times. Yes, it takes more train but it leaves from the center of the Galician cities and you reach Chamartín, a well connected station in the financial nucleus of Madrid. As if that were not enough, The train is cheaper. Less offer in the air. Collect in The Galician mail which is easy to track to what extent the train is going back to the plane. Galician airports are suffering Partial output of Ryanairwhich has abandoned some routes as a pressure measure before what They consider abusive rates by Aena and against the fine imposed by the Government Retailing hand luggage. But it’s just another example. Although Air Europa does maintain its current offer with 56 weekly flights adding Vigo and A Coruña, Air Nostrum is operating with smaller airplanes to dimension the offer to the new reality. A reef. The result is great for Renfe that has found a trench in front of the competition. In recent weeks the rumor had run that Ouigo was trying to get trains To operate that line. Or, even, it was said that Renfe could rent rolling material. The latter has been totally discarded by its president who has assured that “whoever wants to come (to the Galician corridor), to invest.” The key is that the line needs to operate with specific trains that can change from Iberian wide to international width. However, Talgo has all its compromised production And he has no space to serve Renfe rivals, at least, before this decade ends. Good numbers. Although the information surrounding Renfe turns in recent times around the problems in their trains, the truth is that the company is receiving good news in recent days. According to your own data, the first semester of 2025 He has broken his own record in the travel of travelers. This record is not understood without the great growth in the trips of the Galician corridor. Its high -speed trains to Galicia destination and those dedicated to the Extremaduran corridor High speed trips have fired. In both cases, Renfe does not have to compete with ouigo or Iro that yes They have forced him to lower prices and have stolen customers in the Catalan, Valencian and Andalusian corridor. Photo | Eric Salard and by Bene riobó In Xataka | Between delays and breakdowns, we could not imagine that Renfe would beat a new record in 2025: to have more customers than ever

‘Eriksholm’ is a game with 93% of positive criticism in Steam and crazy graphics. And yet it has crashed

Doing video games is not easy. Not only is it a complex development that does not end when the game arrives in Steam, but having an operational and functional video game is only part of the film. It is useless to have a good idea, good production values and eager if the title does not reach who has to get: the players. And if not, tell them to ‘Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream‘. Eriksholm. This is the first title of the Swedish study River End Games (although its creative director comes from says). Roughlyit is a narrative video game with isometric perspective and stealth as the main protagonist. There are no skill trees, level ups or such things to which current games have accustomed us. We control a character and we have to travel the city of Eriksholm without seeing us. Could it be said that it is a puzzle game that is resolved stealth? It could be said. Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream | Valve Altísimos production values. The Swedish study can boast of having done a sensational job in terms of graphics. ‘Eriksholm’ has some of the most spectacular kinematics and facial captures that we have seen for a long time, an outstanding visual quality and amazing animations. This, which is a delight for the eyes, surely plays against the title for a simple reason: the investment. The general norm is that having such powerful graphics is synonymous with having made a strong investment. Investment that in triple A games with great studies can be profitable at the same time, but ‘Erikslhom’ is not precisely that. It is the first game of a new studio and, in addition, it is very niche: it has an isometric perspective type RTS, it is based on stealth, it is short (like 12 hours, more or less), it is barely rejugable and costs 40 euros in Steam. Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream | Valve But I loved it. That is the worst drink. Despite its disastrous release in terms of figures, the game has reaped excellent criticism. In Steam, he has 363 reviews, the majority very positive, and the specialized press has put it through the clouds. That is something that many indies cannot say. The negative criticisms, on the other hand, agree that the narrative falls from the second section of the game, which can be repetitive and that, above all, it takes a long time to start. Be that as it may, despite the reception of the press and most users, ‘Eriksholm’ has not managed to overcome The 500 simultaneous players on the day of its launch. At the time these lines are written there are 106 people playing in Steam, to which the console and Epic Games players should be added. Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream | Valve In the background. Erikslhom’s case puts a very raw reality on the table: the world of video games is voracious. Video games are increasingly expensive to produce and Its price, therefore, is also higher. The budget to buy them, however, has not grown at the same rate and the amount that can be dedicated to experimenting and trying new things is very limited. And what does that translate? In which the player is sure, betting on the great franchises he knows and that, generally, propose games that are a well (‘Call of Duty’, ‘EA Sports FC’, etc.). Despite the overwhelming rhythm of video game launches, the reality is that Steam’s average player Just play four different video games a year. Cover image | Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream in Steam In Xataka | The milling of a programmer made a fateful mistake of this classic video game into a congratulation message

The urban legend about a mythical video game that continues to circulate 35 years later

A legendary game, ‘Wing Commander’ contained a programming bulk error at a time when correcting a video game was more complex than now, in the same way as the testing processes They were less detailed and prolonged than the current ones. An error message that the ingenuity of a programmer made a brief congratulation to the player. That is what they have been telling us so far … but it wasn’t entirely true. Problems in the galaxy. The year is 1990. ‘Wing Commander’, the legendary saga of space flight simulators starts with a Initial Delivery on PC (MS-DOS), whose success would give rise to a franchise that would reach the most powerful microororders and consoles of the time, as a friend CD32, Sega Mega-CD and SNES. In the saga, the Terrestrial Confederation faces a militarized feline breed called Killrathi in the Vega sector. However, shortly before launch in September, Origin Systems developers realized that A fateful mistake hung the game In his final bars. Capital error. What happened was that they found An error message Produced by the memory manager Emm386, which frozen the game. As they needed to send the game to production, one of the programmers, Ken Demarest, directly edited the error message to show the message “Thank you for playing Wing Commander” instead instead of the technical description of the error. A real required required just in time … and that, in reality, never happened. Urban legends. The truth is that this ingenious solution for the error was not published in the final edition: the team managed to correct the error in time, according to Demarest On the Wing Commander Commer Information Centerin its section dedicated to denying urban legends around the franchise. As they say, Demarest was also head of programming in ‘Last VII’, and this game contained a similar closing message (“Thank you for playing ultima VII”). Therefore, the anecdote could have been incorrectly confused or attributed between both titles, further feeding the myth. Functional fudge. Over the years, the false anecdote (of which even There are captures) It became popular so much that this solution was used as an example of a “functional fudge”: a quick but little orthodox solution for the problem. By extension, some critics of Chris Roberts, creator of ‘Wing Commander’ and currently in the ambitious’Star Citizen‘, they have used urban legend to argue that the technical quality of their products has always been questionable. Finally, everything was one of the many urban legends that circulate in the industry. It is counted, it is rumored. The absence of a serious and established press in the first decades of the industry made the video games of the eighties, ninety and even beyond (such as ‘Wing Cmmander’) into hotbeds of rumors and half lies. Since the time of legendary ‘Polybius‘, a mental control device through recreational machines, to the suicide melody of Lavander town in’ Pokémon Red/Blue ‘, authentic Material for nightmares Creepypastathrough the non-existence of A game that erased itself‘Kill Switch’, video games have always had urban legends commented on dark Internet forums and in the cartridge and discs exchange corrillos. The ‘Wing Commander’, as we have seen, has already been officially denied, but it is clear that no one ever kills a good story. In Xataka | The 39 best games of the time to play now and free in the browser

It is more likely to reach a ray to touch your lottery. Until an economist broke the game winning 14 times

The lottery is more an act of faith than anything else. I don’t say it, Mathematics say. In fact, there is more likely to be a ray to become a millionaire at night. It is possible that all that of the same, and that even knowing that we will not touch us, let’s continue playing to feel part of something. The problem is that there are legends that They talk about tricks and Formulas To win. And then there is the story of Stefan Mandel. A mathematical mind. In the mid-1990s, while millions of people worldwide continue Murify the rules Not written from the lottery applying, not magic or superstition, but an elementary probability system and a colossal logistics. The “trick.” His formula was as basic as radical: identify those draws in which the accumulated prize It exceeded by far the total cost of acquiring all possible tickets. By converting a problem of chance into a mathematical operation with a positive statistical return, Mandel transformed the game into a profitability equation. After successfully trying his system in his native Romania and then in Australia, Mandel perfected his strategy With a small team, developing algorithms that generated and printed millions of valid combinations for specific lotteries. The jump to Washington. The high point of his odyssey came when he looked at the United States, where he detected that Virginia’s newly established lottery used only 44 numbersgenerating “barely” 7,059,052 possible combinations. With the boat reaching 15.5 million dollars, and after having prepared in advance A network of investorsprinters and points of sale, Mandel activated his machinery. For two frantic days, his team managed to buy 6.4 million tickets. They did not reach the desired total, but among the paper mountain was the winning ticket. Although the feat unleashed an investigation by the FBI and the CIA, no legal violation was detected: its maneuver, although clearly outside the spirit of the game, it did not transgress any norm written in the regulations in force. The boundaries of chance. The key to the mandel method was not in sophisticated numerical tricks, but to detect when the conditions of the game offered A structural advantage. In this way, its formula only worked when the prize I tripled the cost To acquire all combinations and when lottery systems allowed printing tickets directly with chosen combinations, a possibility that was later prohibited in many countries precisely by cases such as yours. Winning horse. In essence, its strategy converted the lottery into A safe betprovided that resources, time and discipline were available to execute a plan of such magnitude. However, the profit margin was not immediate: Mandel had to distribute the profits between dozens of investors and assume considerable operational and legal costs. Even so, the system allowed him Win 14 lotteries over several years and knead a considerable fortune without resorting to traps or privileged contacts, only to applied mathematics with implacable determination. Legacy and sunset. After his last significant victory, Mandel He retired to a paradise in the Vanuatu Islands, where he lives away from media foci. Its history, however, not only challenges the myth of fate in games of chance, but has become A mathematical legend which highlights the design gaps of many lottery systems before digitalization. Today, with stricter regulations, limits in the purchase of tickets and automated systems, replicate its model It would be unfeasible. Thus, its feat remains one of the most forceful demonstrations of how human ingenuity, when it faces in intelligence and rigor, can alter the balance of the improbable. Image | Barcex In Xataka | We all know that the lottery will not touch us. It doesn’t matter: we play for feeling part of something In Xataka | The trick to prevent the Treasury from staying with 20% of the Lottery Award has a trick. And is called the income statement

An researcher proposed a game to Chatgpt. What he received in return was functional keys from Windows 10

Sometimes, the most effective is the simplest. That thought Marco Figueroa, cybersecurity researcher, when last week decided to test The limits of Chatgpt. The proposal was as innocent as disconcerting: a riddle game, without technical attacks or explicit intentions. Instead of seeking vulnerabilities in the code, he focused on language. And it worked: he managed to make the system return something that, according to himself, should never have appeared on the screen. The result were generic key installation of Windows 10 For business environments. The key was to disguise him. What Figueroa wanted to check was not if he could force the system to deliver forbidden information, but if it was enough to present the right context. He reformulated interaction as a harmless challenge: a kind of riddle in which AI should think of a real text chain, while the user tried to discover it through closed questions. Throughout the conversation, the model did not detect any threat. He responded normally, as if he were playing. But the most critical part came at the end. When introducing the phrase “I Give Up” – I rindo – Figueroa activated the final answer: the model revealed a product key, as it had been stipulated in the rules of the game. It was not a casual carelessness, but a combination of carefully designed instructions to overcome the filters without raising suspicions. The filters were there, but they were not enough. Systems such as Chatgpt are trained to block any attempt to obtain sensitive data: from passwords to malicious links or activation keys. These filters are known as Guardrailsand combine black lists of terms, contextual recognition and intervention mechanisms against potentially harmful content. In theory, asking for a Windows key should automatically activate those filters. But in this case, the model did not identify the situation as dangerous. There were no suspicious words, or direct structures that alerted their protection systems. Everything was raised as a game, and in that context, the AI acted as if it were fulfilling a harmless slogan. What seemed harmless was camouflaged. One of the elements that made the failure possible was a simple obfuscation technique. Instead of writing directly expressions such as “Windows 10 Serial Number”, Figueroa introduced small HTML labels between words. The model, interpreting the structure as something irrelevant, ignored the real content. Why it worked (and why just worrying). One of the reasons why the model offered that response was the type of key revealed. It was not a unique key or linked to a specific user. Apparently it was a generic installation key (GVLK)such as those used in business environments for massive displays. These keys, publicly documented by Microsoft, only work if they are connected to a KMS (Key Management Service) server that validates network activation. The problem was not only the content, but the reasoning. The model understood the conversation as a logical challenge and not as an attempt to evasion. Did not activate its alert systems because the attack did not seem an attack It’s not just a key problem. The test was not limited to an anecdotal issue. According to Figueroa himself, the same logic could be applied to try to access another type of sensitive information: from links that lead to malicious sites to restricted content or personal identifiers. Everything would depend on the way the interaction is formulated and whether the model is capable – or not – to interpret the context as a suspect. In this case, the keys appeared without their origin being completely clear. The report does not specify whether this information is part of the model training data, if it was generated from already learned patterns, or if external sources were accessed. Whatever the road, the result was the same: a barrier that should be impassable ended up giving up. Xataka with Gemini | Aerps.com In Xataka | Granada promised them very happy with their new degree of the university. Until his feet stopped

The AI ​​industry has become a kind of ‘game of thrones’. And that reveals a worrying truth for your future

Sam Altman, CEO of Openai, must be pulling the hairs. In recent days Mark Zuckerberg, Meta CEO, “He has sneaked into his house” and has stolen no less than seven of his most valuable engineers. He has done it with the oldest tactics in the world. He money. In fact, the finish lines have shaken the foundations of the AI ​​industry, because it has not stopped spending true money with the aim of hiring all the talent of the IA that has been able. The situation has turned these engineers into the new superstars of Silicon Valley, with absolutely stratospheric salaries that are linked to the eternal promise that AI will end up changing the world. Goal is betting everything to that belief, and has decided to go for all spending huge fortunes Not already in data centersbut in talent. Let’s summarize: According to Altman himself, the Zuckerberg company offered initial bonds of 100 million dollars -although They were not exactly that – to some specific talents of AI to sign by goal. Fact offers reach 300 million dollars in four years According to Wired. Several of the “tempted” engineers per finishing have ended up accepting those millionaire offers. According to a internal statement From Zuckerberg himself, there have been 11 engineers who have signed by goal. Seven come from Openai, three from Google and one from Anthropic. Meta has also paid $ 14.9 billion for 49% participation in Scaleai, but above all for signing Alexandr Wangits CEO, which will now collect the new goal superintelligence division. They have also signed Nat Friedman, Exceiver of githubwhich will collect that new division with Wang. And they have just signed Daniel Gross, who Safe Superintelligence co -founded Together with Ilya Sutskever just a few months ago. For those last two target signings he has offered Buy a participation 49% in the Risk Capital Fund of Friedman and Gross, called NFDG. The value of the operation is unknown. Welcome to the Game of Thrones of the AI The last movements are nothing more than a confirmation of Zuckerberg’s voracity, which has moved quickly and with that irresistible hook of checks (almost) blank. And meanwhile, its competitors have been exposed to a reality: That AI has become a ‘game of thrones’. This industry is seeing from its beginnings and notable coming. At first, however, these internal movements were motivated by personal differences, visions or ambitions. Now many seem simply motivated by money. Thus, we saw how Openai’s origins became a new “Paypal Mafia” from which new startups arose. These first movements had a lot to do with a simple reason: some confudators and employees of OpenAi did not support Altman or did not share their vision. And that was how we saw several outstanding startups derived from those tensions: However, they all abandoned by OpenAi’s boat not so much for money – which probably also – as well as betting on another different vision. Of those “Morales” resignations We have gone to absolutely mercenary resignations in which money – and not the mission or vision of the company – is the clear factor of movement. That has made Altman recently said, there are two sides: that of the missionaries – which faithful to the companies in which they began their career, and that they believe in their vision and objectives – and the mercenaries that are sold to the highest bidder. AND According to Altman“The missionaries will overcome mercenaries.” The case of Sutskever, which confirmed yesterday the newsIt is especially painful, because now he runs out of his main adventure partner – Daniel Gross. The Sutskever startup is, as in the case of Murati, an absolute mystery: They have no visible productbut they have still achieved extraordinary investment rounds. It was in fact leaked that Zuckerberg came to make an offer to Sutskever To buy your startup, valued at 32,000 million dollars. Sutskever himself seemed to confirm that information by saying that “we feel flattered for their attention, but we are focused on our work.” Betrayals point to an awkward reality: AI is, above all, smoke These movements speak of a deeper problem in the AI ​​industry: those that can be trying to make their particular August, because it is not clear that the promises and the expectation generated by these companies end up becoming a reality. The clearest example is in the recent case of Daniel Gross, co -founder with Sutskever by Safe Superintelligence. In his message confirming the news of his partner’s departure, Sutskever said that “we have (the resources of) computing, the team and we know what to do. Together we will continue to build a safe superintelligence.” It is clear that Daniel Gross knew the same thing that Sutskever knows about the progress of that work, so, If they were so clear about the goal and knew how to achieve it, why change the side? If someone knew that he was going to win the race with his car, would he change it for another simply because they pay him for doing so? It makes no sense. And that tells us about the great truth of the world of AI: that despite all those expectations and all that money, nobody knows for sure if this technology will change the world as many believe it will change it. But in the meantime, the mercenaries will take advantage of it. Quevedo already said. Powerful gentleman is Don Money. Image | Max In Xataka | Four decades ago China decided to invest in forming millions of engineers. Today that plan gives it advantage in the race for AI

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