information

what is this European alternative to X and Threads, what it is not, and all the information

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We are going to tell you what exactly W Social is, the European social network project that aims to compete with X and Threads. It is not a social network that is going to start from scratch, but rather it will join an open protocol of another existing network, but from European servers. At the moment, W is just a project announced at the Davos forum, but it is not yet open to the public. Of course, we already have a few important data about it that allow us to know what it will be like. Even so, we will update this article as we know more and as the opening date arrives. What is W Social W Social is a project to create a European social network of micromessages. So that you understand, it is like seeking to create an alternative to the old Twitter, and to current networks such as Threads or X, both American. W Social is not a closed and completely independent social network, but rather it is like a European instance of Bluesky. Therefore, will be based on Bluesky and in the AT Protocol. If you are in, remember that you can follow us on this social network in the account xataka.bsky.social. Think of this as two networks that speak the same language and they are interconnected with each othersomething similar to the instances of Mastodonbut with another technology. You will be able to access Bluesky accounts and read posts and all content, and users of this network will also be able to follow you. Bluesky has more than 42 million users, although there is no figure for how many of them are active. In any case, this will mean that W Social will join forces with this alternative network, so it will not start from scratch and its users will not have to deal with an empty timeline. One of the things that W Social has confirmed to us is that we will be able to completely migrate our existing Bluesky account. Its objective is for us to be able to migrate all our content, comments, interactions, followers and followers, and all other information. But they have not yet clarified the steps, although they assure that they will explain the step by step when this function is available. Finally, say that W Social wants as its fundamental objectives to be a network based on verified humans, transparency, privacy and freedom of expression. All this, they say, believing that we need a global and reliable social network, and one that is managed, hosted and owned in Europe, with all the benefits that this entails for privacy due to the strictest European regulations in this regard. What W Social is NOT W Social It is not a social network created by the European Unionbut by a European company. Yes, a company like Meta or X, but based in the EU and with our rules. This also means that It is not a decentralized or open network like those that are part of the Mastodon ecosystem. It will be a network belonging to a company, which will be the one that makes the decisions. Come on, just like Instagram, Facebook, Threads or X. Main features One of the main characteristics of Bluesky is that it is a social network where You can decide or create the algorithms. By default you only see the content of the people you follow, but you can add your own custom algorithms, whether themed, by language, whatever you want. Although it is still too early to know if W Social will inherit this unique and beneficial function. But the characteristic that will make W Social different is that Your users must have a verified identity. You will have to send your ID and your account will be linked to your identity. This measure has something positive as a clear way to end trolls and online abuse and threatssince the user can be identified to expel him or his actions have criminal consequences just as in life outside the Internet. This will promote a less toxic environment and no bots or fake profiles. All accounts will be real, although this does not mean that you will show your first and last name, because you will be able to choose a username that you want. But this also has a dangerous sidesince there is a danger that this verification turns into surveillance of users, something that would endanger activists and other types of legitimate resistance. We will have to wait to see how they achieve this balance. The other fundamental pillar of W Social will be moderation. Just as X is a free space, but quite wild and where abuses and misinformation run without any type of effective moderation, W Social will be a more controlled network with clear rulessuch as not being able to insult, avoid coordinated campaigns or the creation of permanent noise. Moderation is always a delicate topic, although the platform promises neutrality. We will have to wait to see how they carry out these tasks, how much is done by algorithm and how much is done by people. Moderation is important for creating a healthy digital environment, but it can also be dangerous. How to register on W Social W Social has not yet opened its doors, although You can now sign up for a waiting list. In it, you will have to add your email, and optionally you can add the username you want to use, your country of residence and your Bluesky or LinkedIn profiles. It is expected that W Social beta phase starts in March 2026which will be when the first users start receiving invitations.

NVIDIA will not launch new graphics this year, according to The Information

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Being a PC gamer today is more like a test of patience than a simple hobby. After years marked by skyrocketing prices and shortages, the rise of artificial intelligence has added a new layer of tension to the hardware market. Memory has become a particularly disputed resource and its effects are no longer limited to data centers or large companies: they are beginning to be felt directly in the game ecosystem, right where users expected at least some stability. what’s happening. The current doubts stem from a chain of information that must be located precisely. The Information points out that NVIDIA does not plan to launch new GeForce graphics cards for gaming in 2026, a decision that this source links to the memory shortage that the industry is experiencing. This is not, in any case, a public confirmation from the company, but it comes from two people with knowledge of the matter who spoke to the aforementioned media on condition of anonymity. What NVIDIA says. The American manufacturer has not remained completely silent. In fact, speaking to Tom’s Hardwarehas revealed part of the problem: “Demand for GeForce RTX GPUs is high and memory supply is limited. We continue to ship all GeForce SKUs and work closely with our suppliers to maximize memory availability.” Understanding pitches. NVIDIA’s historical cadence combines two different rhythms that should be separated. On the one hand there are architectural changes, spaced over time and associated with clear leaps in performance or functions. On the other hand, the intermediate versions that refine what exists through memory, consumption or frequency adjustments, keeping the range alive. This hybrid strategy explains why we see a constant annual presence of new cards even when the technological base remains intact. The best way to understand this cadence is to look at what has happened in recent years, with architectural changes every 2-3 years and refreshes or expansions the rest of the time. Under this pattern, what was expected for 2026 was precisely another intermediate refresh of the RTX 50 series, the one that is now in doubt. The component that really sets the pace. The discussion about new cards usually focuses on the power of the graphics chip, but the current bottleneck seems to be located elsewhere in the chain. NVIDIA usually provides its partners with a complete set that combines GPU and memory, so the lack of sufficient GDDR7 modules prevents closing that package and, therefore, distributing new units. Under this industrial logic, memory shortage stops being a secondary problem and becomes a determining factor. Memory for data centers. The aforementioned material limitation does not appear in a vacuum, but at a time when the technology industry is rearranging priorities around artificial intelligence. Data centers dedicated to training and running advanced models demand huge volumes of memory and largely share the same supply chains as consumer hardware. When that pressure increases, available resources tend to shift toward the business segment. Searching for normality. With the present conditioned by available memory, the great unknown becomes when the true generational change will arrive. According to the information collected by Tom’s Hardwarethe internal roadmap would place mass production of the RTX 60 beyond 2027, which could shift its effective arrival to the market towards 2028. There is no direct confirmation from NVIDIA on these dates, so it is best to treat them as estimates from sources familiar with the planning. Images | Xataka In Xataka | The CEOs of NVIDIA and TSMC sat down for dinner and dessert was a request: the world needs wafers and RAM memory

that the US has its “nuclear” information

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Since the Mao timesperiodic purges have been a common tool of power in China to reassert Party control over the military and eliminate real or potential threats. In fact, every generation of leaders has turned to them in moments of internal tensionalmost always wrapped in accusations of corruption or disloyalty, as a reminder that in Beijing political stability has always outweighed military continuity. Unknown territory. If these military purges have been part of the DNA of the Chinese system, the Zhang Youxia’s falluntil now the most powerful general in the country and historical ally of Xi Jinping, marks an unprecedented turning point. It is not only the breadth of the cleaning (the deepest in decades) nor the fact that it has left practically dismantled the leadership of the army, but the strategic context in which it occurs, with China facing the United States in a systemic rivalry and with Taiwan as a backdrop permanent. The radically new element. But what makes this purge something different from all the previous ones is the accusation, leaked in internal briefings, that Zhang had given the United States critical information about the chinese nuclear program. If even partially confirmed, the scandal would not be a simple case of corruption or political disloyalty, but a direct breach in the core of strategic deterrence from Beijing, something unprecedented in the modern history of the PLA and potentially devastating for the balance of power between the two superpowers. Decapitation of commanders. I remembered the BBC that the simultaneous purge of Zhang and Liu Zhenli has reduced the Central Military Commission to an almost empty structure, with Xi and a single active general, with a political rather than an operational profile. That emptying breaks the model collegiate body designed to plan and direct war, creates a leadership vacuum recognized even by Chinese and foreign analystsand leaves millions of soldiers under a weakened chain of command at a time of maximum external pressure. Corruption and power. Officially, most of the media agree a simple summary: explained by corruption and violation of party discipline, but how do we count a few months ago, recent history suggests that the anti-corruption campaign also functions as a mechanism to eliminate rivalsdismantle personal networks and guarantee absolute loyalty to the leader. The result is a almost total control of Xi on the army, comparable only to that of Mao, but at the cost of generating a climate of suspicion that can translate into paralysis, extreme caution and less professional military decisions. Taiwan in the background. In the short term, the elimination of experienced commanders (including some of the few with actual combat experience) seems reduce capacity of the Chinese military to carry out complex operations such as an invasion of Taiwan. However, the experience of previous purges suggests that the replacements tend to be younger, more ideologized and dependent on Xi, which could lead, perhaps in a few years, to a less professional force but more aggressive and less able to question risky orders. The final message. There is no doubt, by sacrificing even a personal ally and “red prince”, Xi sends an unmistakable sign at the forefront: no position, relationship or history protects against suspicion of corruption, disloyalty or, of course, leaking of strategic secrets. If you want, also project a disturbing image abroad: if Washington has had access to chinese nuclear information (that remains to be seen), the rivalry between both powers would enter a much more dangerous and unpredictable. That is why this purge is not just another episode of internal control, but an event that introduces the Chinese armed forces (and the global geopolitical pulse) in a truly unprecedented setting. Image | President of Russia, US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE In Xataka | China’s military is becoming one of the largest in the world. The only problem is the purges In Xataka | 200 drones in the hands of a single soldier: China is advancing very quickly in a type of war that seemed like science fiction

OpenAI is very clear that ads on ChatGPT are going to work. So much so that they are going to charge more than TV for them, according to The Information

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A few days ago we knew that OpenAI was going to draw up a plan to insert advertising in ChatGPT. Now, according to they point Sources from The Information, the company is already establishing the rates that it is going to start charging advertisers, and the truth is that they are going to give something to talk about. The media shares that OpenAI asks for approximately $60 per 1,000 impressions (CPM), a very high figure when compared to other media, including television. The problem is that OpenAI does not yet offer anywhere near the same measurement tools as Google or Meta. The price thing. The figure of 60 dollars is at NFL levels, according to reflects Gennaro Cuofano, founder of The Business Enquineer. OpenAI has not yet specified what data it will provide to advertisers, only that it will be “high level”, so there is some skepticism if we take into account that companies like Meta and Google allow us to track very specific and detailed metrics when we see an ad through their platforms. Vender access, without results. The company is betting for capitalizing on its audience of more than 400 million users before building the necessary infrastructure to offer this type of service. As Cuofano details, it’s about “selling reach now, building attribution later,” similar to what Facebook did in 2010, when it had a massive, fast-growing audience and opted for ads without yet an advanced metrics infrastructure. Time has ended up proving Zuckerberg’s platform right, but we will have to wait to see if the move is worth the same to OpenAI. Nfinancial need. The strategy can also be seen as an attempt by OpenAI to reverse the economic situation through which it passes. And as we knew through internal documents, the company projects operating losses of $74 billion by 2028, driven largely by AI operational costs. The idea is that the ads appear in the coming weeks only for free and download users. Go plan in the United States, while Plus, Pro, Business and Enterprise subscriptions will be free of advertising. OpenAI affirms that the ads will not influence the chatbot’s responses and that it will never sell conversation data to advertisers, in addition to avoiding sensitive topics such as mental health or politics. And now what. OpenAI will now have to demonstrate that it can scale this model beyond experimental budgets. And to scale a platform towards revenues that exceed tens of billions of dollars in advertising, it will be necessary to build a very solid measurement infrastructure and establish relationships with advertising agencies that it does not have now. It remains to be seen if the same promises that feed your ecosystem of products also allow them to build an advertising ecosystem as large as Google, Meta or Amazon have demonstrated in recent years. Cover image | OpenAI In Xataka | “The assemblies are not going to be done by AI”: we talk to the kids who have become carpenters, truck drivers and tinkerers

The computers of the future have found an unexpected ally to store information: fungi

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Bioelectronics has been studying for some time the possibility of taking advantage of living organisms in order to produce electrical activity and, in some way, take advantage of it to make our machines work. Although at first glance it could be a topic worthy of the Matrix script, the truth is that there is a whole fascinating world in that of the memristors based on organic elements. Some researchers have found the key to demonstrate how the mycelium of mushrooms such as shiitake can function as a memristor, an electrical component with the ability to ‘remember’ past states. This discovery could be the key to a new generation of sustainable and biodegradable electronic devices. What is a memristor and why does it matter? A memristor is an electronic component that combines the functions of memory and resistance, capable of “remembering” previous electrical states. They are currently manufactured with materials such as titanium dioxide between two metal electrodes, but their production requires scarce minerals and polluting and high-cost industrial processes. Hence the importance of looking for more sustainable alternatives through organic materials. How mycelium works as memory. John LaRocco’s team at Ohio State University grew shiitake mushrooms in Petri dishes until complete development. They then dehydrated them in the sun, turning them into rigid disc-shaped structures that can be rehydrated when necessary. By connecting electrodes to these samples and applying different voltages, discovered that the mycelium presents conductive structures similar to conventional ‘memristors’. According to LaRocco, “if we could develop a microchip that mimicked real neural activity, we could dramatically reduce the amount of energy consumed when the machine is not in use.” The results of the experiment. After two months of testing, the shiitake-based memristor demonstrated the ability to change electrical state up to 5,850 times per second with an accuracy close to 90%. When they applied a specific sine wave, the characteristic figure-eight curve of an ideal memristor appeared, confirming that the mycelium indeed remembers electrical flow. Although performance eventually decreased at higher frequencies, connecting multiple samples improved stability, something the researchers compared to the network effect of neural connections in the brain. Vadvantages over traditional semiconductors. The main attraction of these biological memristors is its sustainability. Mushrooms are developed from organic biomass, they are biodegradable and their environmental impact is minimal. Furthermore, growing them is economical and their production can be easily scalable, from small laboratory experiments to industrial manufacturing. Additionally, fungi have exceptional radiation resistance, which could also make them especially valuable for aerospace applications. Potential applications and pending challenges. The flexibility and scalability of these components opens up possibilities in fields from extreme environment computing and space exploration to autonomous systems and wearable devices. However, significant obstacles remain. And just as they count from Wired, current samples are too large and need to be miniaturized to compete with existing microchips. Furthermore, the electrical properties of mycelium vary between samples even grown in the same medium, which makes its stable industrial manufacture difficult. Next steps in the investigation. The team plans to develop techniques to grow mycelium and give it an ideal shape using 3D printing and methods for incorporating electrical contacts during cultivation. They are also exploring the optimal way to preserve it long-term, combining techniques such as freeze-drying and special coatings. “Society is increasingly aware of the need to protect our environment and preserve it for future generations, and that could be one of the driving factors for new biocompatible ideas like these,” pointed out Qudsia Tahmina, co-author of the study. Beyond mushrooms. This is not the only organic material that has demonstrated ‘memristive’ properties. Researchers from other universities They have experimented with honey and human bloodexploring their possibilities as biodegradable electronic components. Honey, for example, can change resistance in just 500 nanoseconds and is completely biodegradable. In the case of blood, scientists in India discovered in 2011 that it could function as a memristor by applying different voltages, keeping the resistance stable for at least 30 minutes. Cover image | Yuval Zukerman In Xataka | In the midst of the RAM memory crisis, Samsung takes a leap with its HBM4 memory. It does not imply good news for the pocket

Microsoft has reduced its ambition with AI. It has been realized that almost no one uses Copilot, they say in The Information

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There is Satya Nadella, in his office, like an influencer. Since the Excel World Championship has been held, he wants to see how good he is at handling it… with the help of Copilot. The video is nice and seems to show that Microsoft’s promise that AI will be able to do many things for you is fulfilled. However, reality says otherwise, and the company itself seems to recognize it, because its sales objectives have been cut, according to The Information. Optimism has cooled. According to internal sources in the Azure division cited in said newspaper, the company has made an unusual decision: lowering sales growth quotas for its AI products and services. The objectives were not achieved in the fiscal year that ended in June, and that has now caused the sales teams’ goals to be adjusted downward, reaching close to 25% growth. That Microsoft makes such a change is a clear indicator that the market is not responding at the speed expected. Microsoft denies it. The Information’s claims have been denied by Microsoft. Those responsible indicated on Bloomberg that that article “inaccurately conflates the concepts of growth and sales quotas” and that “aggregate sales quotas for AI products have not been reduced.” Which chatbot is used the most? (in USA). Meanwhile, the consulting firm FirstPageSage has published the market shares of the main chatbots on the market in the US. According to this data, ChatGPT clearly dominates that market with 61.30% of queries, while Microsoft is second with 14.10%. However, it is interesting to look at the details of the estimated growth: at Microsoft it is only 2%, while at Gemini it grows 12% and Claude 14%. AI chatbot usage rate in December 2025 in the US. Source: FirstPageSage AI doesn’t quite work. Corporate clients are finding it difficult to justify the return on investment from AI. It is difficult to measure the real savings that AI represents for writing reports or analyzing sales leads, for example. But there are sectors such as finance or cybersecurity in which the tolerance for error is zero. We still cannot trust AI, and that means that its real scope, especially in companies, is limited. An MIT report already warned that 95% of companies that have opted for the use of AI they have seen no measurable return in real income. An example. In the topic of The Information we talk about the Carlyle private equity fund. They started using Copilot Studio to automate meeting summaries and financial models, but hit a technical roadblock: the AI ​​was having trouble pulling reliable data from other external applications. Given the situation, Carlyle reduced its spending on AI and is now much more selective with the AI ​​solutions it pays for, although its overall investment in technology is growing. Bad on one hand, good on the other. It must be made clear that the AI ​​business is not in crisis, but it is very polarized. Azure is still going strong and GirHub works really well, for example. The problem is convincing traditional companies to pay extra for automated AI agents. Especially when using them is much more complex than installing a simple chatbot and starting to use it. Even OpenAI adjusts expectations. OpenAI itself, they also indicated in The Information, has had to review its expectations with the agent market. Their new estimates have reduced AI agent revenue by $26 billion over the next five years. To compensate for this drop, OpenAI will focus its income on ChatGPT subscriptions. Patience is running outeither. The industry is certainly not throwing in the towel, but it is beginning to lose patience. Brian Spanswick, CEO of the cybersecurity firm Cohesity, summed up the current situation: there is hope, but evidence is lacking. His company is creating its own code that allows it to connect Microsoft agents with its internal data, and they hope that this will demonstrate a real return on investment in a few months. Whether they succeed is another story, but one thing seems increasingly clear: the promises of AI remain unfulfilled. At least, those that Microsoft did with Copilot in companies. Images | Microsoft | OFFICIAL LEWEB PHOTOS (CC BY 2.0) In Xataka | People are so, so fed up with AI in Windows 11 that a developer has created an app to eliminate it

dates, information and everything we expect from the games they are going to give away

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As is customary on these dates, Epic Games is going to make its traditional advent calendar giving away games in your digital store. We are not going to know the games they are going to give away each day until the time comes to reveal them, nor the dates or the number of games, but we can get an idea taking into account what they did in previous years. Therefore, what we are going to do is tell you the first games already announced, and then we are going to take a look at what they have done in previous years to tell you what we expect this Christmas. These assumptions are the logical ones if nothing radically changes, but keep in mind that we won’t know until the time comes either. What are these Christmas offers? The Epic Games Store is one of the largest digital video game stores along with Steam. And every year around this time they usually make a kind of advent calendar, in which every day they give away a new game. To be precise, first they give away a bomb of game for a week, and then they start with the daily drip. Sometimes they can be important games, the so-called AAA, and other days they will be more independent or lesser-known games. But in any case, they will once again get us to enter their store every day to see the Christmas sales, and while you buy a free game, you may pay for another discounted one. Dates of the games that Epic Games gives away For now, Epic Games has only revealed the first of the games that he is going to give awaywhich will be available for a week. But the important thing is that it also sets a date for when to give the next one. This is important because, if they repeat the tactics of other yearsthe normal thing is that from that next game they start giving away one a day. Last year the daily games were extended until January 2, and then they put on another one for a whole week. These are the dates we know: December 12 at 2:00 (Spanish peninsular time) – Hogwarts Legacy December 18 at 5:00 p.m. (Spanish peninsular time) – New game From here on, the normal thing is that every day of the week give away a new game starting at 5:00 p.m. Spanish peninsular time. If Epic Games later specifies and confirms the gift schedule, we will update this article to tell you. In Xataka Basics | Amazon Luna free with Amazon Prime: what it is, what games you have access to, and how to get more titles

with smuggled NVIDIA chips, according to The Information

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The Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek would have been training his next model with thousands of NVIDIA Blackwell chipsthe most advanced on the market and whose export to China is expressly prohibited by the United States. So The Information states itciting six sources close to the company, who claim that the chips would have arrived in the country through smuggling. ANDl alleged smuggling scheme. According to the media, the chips would have been acquired legally through data centers in countries where their sale is allowed. Once installed and inspected by NVIDIA or its authorized distributors such as Dell or Super Micro Computer, the servers would have been disassembled and the components would have been shipped to China in separate pieces, passing customs under false declarations. This method would allow no trace of the end user to be left. The response of NVIDIA. The company has flatly denied these accusations in a statement: “We have not seen any evidence or received notices of ‘ghost data centers’ built to deceive us and our OEM partners, which are then dismantled, smuggled and rebuilt elsewhere.” NVIDIA adds that, although this type of smuggling “seems implausible,” it investigates any information it receives about it. Why Blackwell chips are so valuable to DeepSeek. NVIDIA’s Blackwell processors began shipping in the final quarter of 2024, with companies like Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI being the first to receive them. These chips include specialized hardware to accelerate sparse computing (Sparse Computing), executing this type of calculations up to twice as fast as traditional methods. According to The Information, DeepSeek would have been using a technique called “sparse attention” that activates only certain parts of the model to respond to requests instead of the entire model, which significantly reduces inference costs. Blackwells would be especially useful for this approach, although their application in larger models is proving more complicated than anticipated. Geopolitical context. US President Donald Trump came to boast to Chinese leader Xi Jinping that Blackwell chips are “10 years ahead of any other chip” and that he would not allow China access to them. However, this week Trump authorized the sale of H200 chips from NVIDIA to China, a generation before the Blackwells, although Beijing is still considering whether to allow its acquisition. Of course, this measure could reduce demand for smuggled Blackwell chips in the Asian country. lThe difficulties of enforcing restrictions. Most NVIDIA chips are manufactured in Taiwan and sold through a complex network of distributors around the world. Jacob Feldgoise, analyst at the Center for Security and Emerging Technologies at Georgetown University account to the media that “the burden of proof to enforce and prosecute chip smuggling cases is quite high. Clear and convincing evidence is needed.” DeepSeek remains silent. The Chinese startup has not responded to the allegations. Previously, DeepSeek had trained its models with older NVIDIA chips: 10,000 A100 units stored by its parent company, hedge fund High-Flyer Capital Management, before US export restrictions took effect in 2022. The company’s research documents from last year indicated that they also had used hopper chipsthe generation immediately before Blackwell. DeepSeek faces several sticks from Washington: in April, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party published a report calling the startup “a profound threat” to American national security, accusing it of illegally using export-controlled NVIDIA chips. Qregulatory repression. NVIDIA confirmed this week that it has developed a verification technology location through software that could indicate in which country its chips operate, although it has not yet been launched. This tool would use the computing capabilities of your GPUs to monitor the performance and location of the processors. The company has clarified that this is read-only software that does not allow NVIDIA to remotely control the chips or disable them. “There is no off switch,” the company said. Cover image | DeepSeek, Xataka with Mockuuups Studio and NVIDIA In Xataka | If anyone thought that Europe had no role in the race for AI, Mistral has something to tell them

If you spend more than 25,000 euros a year with your card, the PIN will not be the only information they ask for

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He cash is increasingly anecdotal for consumers, not only because of the lack of concern that comes with not having to be looking for a cashier to withdraw cash from time to time, but for the convenience that the mobile payments. However, from January 1, 2026, the Treasury will have stricter control over payments made with bank cards. If a card accumulates more than 25,000 euros in annual expenses, financial institutions will be obliged to “submit an annual informative return” on these movements to the Treasury. Payments of more than 25,000 euros must be declared. The new measure is included in the regulatory modification introduced by the Royal Decree 253/2025allowing the State to detect possible fraud and ensure that capital movements of a certain size are transparent and justified. This control comes at a time when most payments are made digitally and cash is increasingly used less. Therefore, the regulations that already required financial institutions to notify cash movements have been reinforced. The scope is expanded. Until now, the regulations required notification of payments with cards and Bizum of more than 3,000 euros per year to companies and professionals. However, the scope of the measure is now extended to all charges made by card in any payment method, both in physical establishments and online, as well as through platforms linked to telephone numbers. That is, it not only affects credit or debit card payments, but also extends the measure to Bizum or other mobile payment systems. “Banking or credit entities and other entities that, in accordance with current regulations, provide the collection management service through cards, with physical or virtual support, that offer cash, debit, deferred debit, credit and electronic money functions, in any currency, as well as through payments associated with a mobile phone number, to businessmen and professionals established in Spain,” the regulations specify. Differentiation between companies and individuals. The new regulations establish differences between business and private use, but in both cases entities must notify movements of more than 25,000 euros annually. For self-employed workers and companies, the new regulations eliminate the minimum limits to communicate card operationswhich implies that any payment, regardless of its amount, must be reported to the Tax Agency. This significantly increases the monitoring and traceability of all commercial operations carried out with card or mobile payment. On the other hand, for individual consumers, only those who have a high annual spending with cards will be subject to this more exhaustive tax control. What information is reported? In accordance with the provisions of article 38ter that modifies the new Royal Decree, financial entities must notify the Treasury of the following data about the holders and linked payment products of those who spend more than 25,000 euros per year in card spending: Contract number formalized by the entity for the issuance of cards. Identification data of the contract holders (or their authorized persons or beneficiaries), which will include name and surname or company name, tax identification number, country of residence, and date of birth for natural persons. In the absence of a tax identification number, the passport number or identity number valid in your country of origin and the country issuing the identification documentation will be provided. Card number (PAN) associated with the contract and type of card. Number of subscriptions and their total amount, registered on the card in the year, with indication of the number of cash recharges and their total amount, made on the card in the year (movements and total amount of the expense) Number of charges and their total amount, recorded on the card in the year, with an indication of the number of spending operations carried out with the card and their total amount, derived from payments made in establishments in the year and the number of cash withdrawals and their total amount, made with the card in the year. Identification of the account, if applicable, to which the card operation is linked, through its International Bank Account Code (IBAN) or, failing that, through the corresponding customer account code. In Xataka | In 2030 we will no longer have to enter card numbers in purchases. Mastercard already has a substitute Image | Unsplash (Nathana Rebouças)

A ghost fleet has mapped the entire submarine structure of the EU. The question is what Moscow will do with that information

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In January 2025 United Kingdom He raised his voice At the international level. The British Secretary of Defense, John Healy, explained that a nuclear submarine and two ships from Royal Navy had sighted a spy ship in the waters of the nation, and that it was the second time in just three months. The message did not stay there. The United Kingdom gave a name and a nation behind the incursion: Yantar and Russia. Now it has been discovered that the ship has been doing much more than that. The resurgence of a war. In recent months, NATO’s attention has moved to a less visible but increasingly critical front: the European seabed. The protagonist of this new concern is, again, The Yantara Russian spy ship that, disguised as a civil ship, toured during almost 100 days The waters of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean with an accurate objective: map and monitor the submarine cables on Europe and North America for their digital communications, their financial transactions, their energy and even their most sensitive military systems. We know all this Thanks to the Financial Timesthat after an investigation based on interviews with NATO naval officers and former members of the Russian north fleet, as well as in radar images of the European Space Agency, he has confirmed that the Yantar came to be located on critical cables in the sea of ​​Ireland and in front of Norway, on the strategic route to Svalbard. The role of Gugi. The Yantar operates under the orbit of the GLAVNOYE UPRAVLENIE GLUBOKOVODNIKH ISSLEDOVII (GUGI), the director of Deep Water Research created in the Cold War and known in the West as Military Unit 40056. Based on Olenya Guba, in the Kola Peninsula, this force is located on the border between the Russian Navy and military intelligence (Gru), dedicated less to science than to espionage. Gugi has about 50 platforms (From minisubmarines capable of reaching 6,000 meters deep to nodriza ships such as Yantar), designed to place sensors, manipulate or sabotage cables and, if necessary, destroy strategic infrastructure in a conflict scenario. Despite the blows suffered (such as the submarine fire Losharik in 2019 or the death of its historic boss by Covid), the organization has continued to receive resources Even in full war of Ukraine, which has allowed to commission new spy units. The Yantar The threat in the gray zone. The reactivation of Yantar’s missions Since the end of 2023 Indicates that Moscow has abandoned the initial caution he showed after invading Ukraine. Analysts like Sidharth Kaoushal (Rusi) They point that Russia has measured NATO’s red lines and is now more willing to take risks. The plans detected in the sea of ​​Ireland, where several cables converge that connect the United Kingdom and Ireland, fit into the Russian logic to act in The so -called “Gray Zone”: Operations of covert sabotage that do not equals an open military attack but can destabilize entire societies. In fact, Western Officers They warn That Moscow could, the case, cut energy or communications to force governments to the negotiation, or even alter the temporal signals that travel through the cables, with devastating effects in sectors such as high frequency financial trade. European vulnerability. The United Kingdom obtains the 99% of its communications Digital of submarine cables and three quarters of its gas through underwater pipelines. Ireland, which does not belong to NATO, is a particularly exposed point: cutting its connections would be to isolate it from the continent without directly attacking an allied member. He parliamentary report British of September 19 warned that the country “could not guarantee an attack or recover in an acceptable period,” also criticizing the fragmentation of responsibilities between ministries. In Denmark, the case of explosions of Nord Stream in 2022 evidenced the same bureaucratic dispersion. Although London has assigned the Royal Navy the mission of Protect these infrastructureexperts point out that the lack of anti -submarine frigates and patrol dependence limit the real response capacity. The Atlantic Bastion project. To close that gap, NATO and especially the United Kingdom they consider the creation of “Atlantic Bastion”: A defensive ring of sensors, submarine drones and acoustic stations in the seabed that reinforces the control of the Greenland-Islandia-Rio-Reinian corridor. Although the plan still lacks concrete financing, its need is increasingly evident. In parallel, surveillance ships such as The British proteus They rehearse with autonomous vehicles capable of documenting the activities of the Yantar and other GGI units, with the idea of ​​exhibiting public evidence and generating deterrence. Admiral Gwyn Jenkins, head of the Royal Navy, He warned This month that Gugi, after a period of relative stillness, “is returning.” Silent war. The activity From Yantar It is not an isolated case: between autumn of 2023 and November 2024, eleven Russian ships (military and supposedly civil) held a almost constant presence in British and Irish waters. Allied intelligence services suspect that Moscow already prepares sabotage scenarios against cables as a pressure measure on the countries that arm Ukraine. While until now these operations have been maintained under the threshold of the open confrontation, the possibility of Russia “turning off” the United Kingdom or Aisle Ireland is not a crazy hypothesis. As summarized Excapitan David Fields, former British naval aggregate in Moscow: “Russian military doctrine consists of hitting first, strong and where it hurts most, to prevent the enemy from even getting rid of war.” On that silent board, the Yantar has become the key piece of a underwater chess that threatens to redefine the limits of European security. Image | Defense ImageryAndrey Luzik In Xataka | A British nuclear submarine has discovered a Russian ship in front of its submarine cables. The second time in three months In Xataka | Research on submarine cables cut in the Baltic has taken a turn: it was not Russia, it was inexperience

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