madness

Peter Thiel’s latest madness is to exchange barbed wire for a subscription

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Livestock farming is a highly sacrificed world that is unlikely to be replaced by AI, but that does not mean that technology can alleviate the hard task of caring for livestock. And even more so when one of the most influential men in technology believes in you: Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, has a new futuristic bet between eyebrows: putting solar-powered smart collars on cows. Cows with subscription collars. More specifically, Thiel and his fund have put money into Haltera New Zealand startup that has been betting for a decade on solar feeding collars with GPS and artificial intelligence to control cows as if it were a 2.0 barn. Just a few weeks ago Halter managed to harvest a financial injection of $220 million led by Thiel’s Founders Fund, which allowed it to reach a valuation of $2 billion. In essence, these collars allow the cows to be guided using audio signals and vibrations so that they adhere to virtual limits that the farmer establishes within the app, without the need to build a fence. According to explains the startupanimals only need 10 days to learn the stimuli, something that supports science. each necklace send more than 6,000 data per minute to the cloud with information on health, movement, fertility or behavior, which allows, for example, to optimize grazing or reproduction. In addition to the initial investment of the collar, the service consists of a subscription of between five and eight dollars per cow in the United States plus the cost of installing the infrastructure. Why is it important. Because on the one hand it is increasingly difficult to find ranchers and those who remain are turning older and have to travel to their farm with the consequent expense of fuel for routine surveillance or care tasks. Halter means that the farmer does not have to go as often because it solves three problems at the same time: there is no need to build fences to keep them within an area, it minimizes the need for personnel in the field and the system detects health anomalies in the animal based on metrics that usually go unnoticed in the initial stages of certain diseases. Context. Extensive livestock farming has low technological penetration and high dependence on labor and it is not because there is a lack of initiatives to modernize it. According to the American specialized media iGrow, at least 21 companies in the sector in the North American country went bankrupt in 2025 alone. The problem is that alternative technologies are expensive, difficult to sell to professionals and have an unclear return on investment. As mentions the consulting firm McKinseymore than half of professionals in the sector mention high prices as a barrier to the entry of new technologies. With Halter, calculating the ROI considering savings in travel or labor is clearer. In detail. The financing acquired by Halter aims to consolidate its presence in the United States, Australia and New Zealand, as well as expanding into other markets such as Ireland, the United Kingdom and parts of North and South America. This geographical expansion has a technological ally to improve its surveillance: integration with Starlinka fundamental strategic improvement to operate in areas with coverage problems. Halter CEO and Founder Craig Piggott explains that this improvement will make livestock work more attractive, which helps new generations see the profession as something less slave-like and bearable. It’s his fault”Cowgorithm“, the algorithm behind it: a huge dataset that contains 7 billion hours of bovine behavior to know how to read and interpret results. Yes, but. On paper, the theory offers a technology that reduces the frequency of visits to the farm, anticipates possible diseases and also optimizes reproduction through a subscription service. Or what is the same: that the shoulder on which a business stands is the technology of a specific company. If the service fails, the rancher has no containment alternative. If the company raises its quotas, the rancher is sold on this alternative. Likewise, adding connectivity also incorporates the risk of attacks and vulnerabilities that can affect the exploitation and well-being of the animal. We mentioned before that cost is one of the great barriers to the entry of new technologies in the sector. A survey of South Dakota State University among farmers in the Midwest of the United States shows that the second reason is data privacy: Halter is not clear about the destination of this enormous volume of information that he accumulates. In Xataka | He is one of the richest men in the world and is obsessed with the Antichrist. The Pope has four things to tell you In Xataka | Peter Thiel’s “anti-scholarship”: a salary of $5,400 a month for dropping out of college and going to work Cover | Halter and Gage Skidmore

Japan’s madness with garbage reaches the point that, in some areas, they separate it into 45 different categories. And, despite everything, it recycles half as much as Spain

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At the end of the 90s, the thousand or so residents of Kamikatsu (a small town in the Japanese prefecture of Tokushima) became a question that would change them forever: “Why do we generate so much waste?” The response led them to be the first Japanese municipality to declare themselves ‘zero waste’, to sell garbage cans and to ask their neighbors to separate their waste into 45 different categories. Waste that they carry themselves to the local clean point. One sees this and can only ask one question: have these Japanese gone crazy? And the answer is neither “yes” nor “no”: it is both at the same time. Why are we talking about this? As often happens lately, everything starts with a video. A tiktoker who resides in Japan (@nuriape_) has shown how what apparently is “jack, knight and king” works: the garbage system. And the truth is that it is curious: each building has its own waste area. The one in the video is quite broad and, as he explains, super strict. In addition, much of the processing is done by neighbors: things like cleaning the bottles and depositing them in places other than the caps or leaving the cardboard perfectly folded are part of the process. The collection, it seems, is daily. Now that the new waste rates have returned to waste management to the public debate in our country, the question is… is the Japanese system, in addition to being striking, effective? How does the Japanese waste system work? Since ’97, Japanese laws require separating glass, PET and cardboard. However, over time, the situation has become more and more complex. And, today, the collection categories range from nine in the “less advanced” municipalities to 45 in many areas of the country. And no, it is not optional: if you do not separate the garbage correctly, it will not be collected and that’s it. A garbage collection machine. As a result of these almost three decades of social pedagogy, the country of the rising sun is a well-oiled machine in terms of citizen separation and collection logistics. The problem is, well, it doesn’t help much either. Because collecting is not recycling. And Japan is the best example: its actual recycling rate is surprisingly low. While Spain (with an infinitely less obsessive system) recycles around 39%, Japan is around 20%. It is not that in our country we are here to “shoot rockets”: According to EU plans, we should be around 55% since last year. However, there is something we are doing better than Japan just as there are things we are doing worse. No overflowing containers. That’s perhaps what works best in Japan. Faced with the unequal Spanish management (because they depend on municipalities and councils), the Japanese system prioritizes segmented daily collection, precise calendars and logistical inflexibility. In addition, they also incorporate things that work in the rest of Europe and Spanish legislation contemplates, but almost no one implements: payment per garbage bag. Something that encourages waste reduction and inherently improves the system’s capacity. On the other hand, Spain does interesting things (whether they work better or worse): the main thing perhaps is that the system extends responsibility to producers. What we have in common. While Japan has a hyperdependence on incineration (75% of its garbage ends up burned), Spain has a hyperdependence on landfills (50% ends up buried), we both share a problem with single-use plastics. It is true that Japan is much more worrying (it is the world’s second largest producer of plastic packaging waste per capita), but we both have to think about the matter. Image | Jonas Gerlach In Xataka | We have been thinking for decades that plastic recycling was worth something. Maybe we were wrong

Grok has become the last madness of Elon Musk, we create music with electricity and more in 1×20 crossover

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Have New Crossover episodeand also with a very round number: it is the twentieth of this program in which we mix technology, opinion and entertainment and that as always present Jaume Lahoz and Carlos Santa Engracia. The beginning of the episode is already to grab males, because in crossover we have invited Álex, an electrical engineer and disseminator, to show us a brutal experiment: music made with lightning and electricity in the style Nikola Tesla. The section of a Popular Opinions premieres new questions that raise interesting debates. For example, do Chinese cars offer more than Europeans? Then we establish an interesting debate about that model of AI that is not spoken as much as it may be: Grok, from Xai, is Elon Musk’s attempt to win the AI ​​careerbut its approach is radically different from that of its competitors. In fact, it’s an approach A little crazy in which censorship shines for his absence. We certainly have much of what to talk about in this episode, so we invite you to enjoy it and, if you want, to share your comments and suggestions for this and future episodes. A for 1×20 crossover! On YouTube | Crossover

Anthropic is worth 183,000 million even though he invoices 5,000 million a year. Or it is the business of the century, or it is the madness of the century

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Anthropic has just closed A financing round of 13,000 million dollars that values ​​it in 183,000 million. The figure sounds like madness when we put it in context: the company invoices 5,000 million a year. The figures. Anthropic is valued 36 times. Google, to compare, quotes 6 times. Apple at 8. Microsoft to 14. They are mature companies in front of a startup, but none remotely approaches this multiple. The round F It has been led by ICONIQ Capital, with Fidelity and Lightspeed as co-investors. Heavyweights such as Blackrock, the sovereign background of Qatar and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan have participated. What has happened. In just eight months, Anthropic has multiplied its income by five: from 1,000 million to 5,000 million in August (annualized). It is one of the fastest growth in the history of technology. Claude Codeits programmers tool, generates 500 million in annualized revenues. It has multiplied its use in three months since its complete launch in May. The context. The AI ​​career has become a war of valuations disconnected from classical financial reality. OpenAI negotiates an assessment of 500,000 million. XAI of Musk looks for 75,000 million. Investors are betting Billions to these companies will dominate the future. Anthropic serves 300,000 business clients. Its large accounts (those that pay more than $ 100,000 a year) have multiplied by seven in twelve months. Yes, but. Developing elite AI models is very expensive. Anthropic depends on Amazon and Google for his computational infrastructure, and costs him billions annually. The costs are not going down, they are accelerating. Sam Altman, CEO of Openai, has said that his company will need to invest billions of dollars. The generative AI business remains structurally deficient for almost all participants. Nvidia always wins. Between bambalins. Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, has admitted in An internal memo that is not “excited” to accept money from sovereign funds of dictatorial governments. But says It is difficult to direct a business excluding “bad investors.” The company has promised to use 13,000 million to expand capacity, deepen international security and expansion research. It is also developing specific products by industry. The end of a dream. A few months ago We speculated that Apple could buy Anthropic to accelerate your entry into AI. With an assessment of 183,000 million, that option has been buried: it would be 60 times more expensive than Beats, Apple’s greatest acquisition in its history. Not even Tim Cook (who He was open to check) With 150,000 million in cash available, you can justify such a check before your shareholders. The big question. Are we facing the birth of the new technological giants or the greatest bubble from the Puntocom? With assessments that multiply by 36 income, the margin of error is non -existent. Investors are betting on Anthropic and their rivals will not only dominate AI, but the AI ​​will transform the entire global economy. If they are right, 183,000 million will seem cheap. If they are wrong, it will be a historical disaster. Outstanding image | Anthropic, Xataka In Xataka | People are celebrating funerals by the Ia withdrawn for a reason: they are not a “tool” but a support

20 years ago the button of a Samsung unleashed madness. So much that Mediamarkt had to take away the battery

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A phone with such a curious button that Mediamarkt had to take away the battery so that users did not abuse it. It is the story of a Samsung proposal born 20 years ago, with a mechanism that aroused the curiosity of anyone who approached this phone. As you collect Xataka mobileit is one more proof of how Samsung has been the king of folding format for more than two decades. Launched in 2004, the Samsung P510 It was a phone Concha typewith double screen (interior and exterior) and a fairly particular characteristic. At that time, Concha type phones were not so different from the folding now: some force had to be made to open them. But Samsung wanted to go further with this particular model, and completely mechanized the operation of the hinge. It was enough to press a button so that the phone opened and closed its upper part, the lid. Being an electronic mechanism, this curious opening-giving was accompanied by an addictive sound. Nils Raetting account, Technological journalistthat there for 2004 he was working on an old German Saturn. Among the most prominent devices in sales in its store, the P510 takes the prize. Raetting reports that the influx of curious who went to the store in order to test the button was high. To this point, that the battery had to be removed from the exposure model so that both potential clients (as simply curious) did not abuse this mechanism. Social networks show Some short videos with the phone mechanismstill functional in several well preserved units. Surprise the speed at which the phone opens and closes, taking into account that we talk about a phone released in 2004. Although the P510 does not enjoy a memory as prominent in memory as other legends in the style of Motorola Razr V3 or the Nokia 6820, Some units are still sold on websites like eBay about 100 euros. We see descriptions such as “completely motorized, weird”, since this is a trend that the rest of the manufacturers did not follow. In fact, Samsung herself continues to bet in the middle of 2025 for the folding format of the shell type on phones such as the Galaxy Z Flip6. A telephone that there is no trace of a similar button, and to which it would not be easy to implement it given the folding nature of its panel. Image | Phonewizz In Xataka | The folding market is completely stagnant. It’s excellent news for Apple

Chatgpt is taking some people to the edge of madness. Reality is less alarmist and much more complex

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Can a conversation with Chatgpt go crazy? A recent one New York Times report It has unleashed a wave of concern about the dangers of artificial intelligence and the effect it can have on our mind. Distortion of reality, delusions and even suicides. The panorama that draws us is terrible. Are we facing a real threat or simply before a new technological panic? What happened. In an extensive report published last weekend in the New York Times, different cases are reported in which Chatgpt would have encouraged conspiracy theories and supported dangerous ideas. One of the cases they report is that of Eugene Torres, who began to talk with Chatgpt about the Simulation theory and reinforced his ideas to the point of taking him to a delusional state in which he believed to be caught in a false universe in the purest ‘Matrix’ style. They also mention the case of a man with bipolar disorder who ended up being killed by the police after a conversation with Chatgpt made him believe that he had killed the AI ​​of which he had fallen in love. They are alarming cases without a doubt and this is not the only article in this regard, although the one that has become more viral. A search returns dozens of results that tell us about risks of the use of chatbots in our mental health. You have to search for a lot to find critical positions before this wave of alarmismbecause There arealthough they don’t have so much impact. AI as a psychologist. The AI ​​is pending in many sectors and that of health is no less. In the United States the the use of chatbots of AI as therapy And more and more users are They turn to chatgpt to seek emotional refugesome up to a Substitute for the psychologist. Although the use of AI as support in the therapeutic process has positive aspects as the immediacy or the Early diagnosisthey also exist inconveniences. The lack of human bond and Excessive complacency Of this type of chatbots they do not make an alternative to a psychologist and can become especially dangerous in people suffering from some type of disorder. The magnitude of the problem. We do not have data from the people who use chatgpt with a therapeutic intention or to validate conspiracy theories, but as with any massive technology (in February of this year it had 400 million monthly users) Obviously there will be countless cases of all kinds. We cannot affirm that it is AI is the one who is directly causing these delusions or hallucinations. In fact, the situations that are being viralized have many nuances and are more complex than a simple “the fault is AI”. Chatgpt plays a role, but the photo is bigger. The same fear of always. The fear that the machines will dominate the world and end humanity is recorded over fire In popular culturebut with the arrival of AI this threat It begins to sound more feasible (Although there are experts who They consider it ridiculous). It is the same fear that has emerged with any new technology and is not something recent. Already in the nineteenth century stories of telegraphs sent messages in Morse from the hereafter. If we are going to more recent examples we have a very clear one: video games. Have been related to Matanzas in schools And they even have compared to heroin. And with mobiles it has been said for years that They cause cancer. In short, social pánicos that we have already lived many times. The danger of a too complacent. Although there is much alarmism around, we cannot rule out that there is a problem. As we said, the excessive complacency of chatbots makes it often They end up giving us reason In our ideas and this can end up being dangerous in specific cases, especially if there is any pathology behind. The truth is that some suggestions that Chatgpt gave to the people who appear in the report went far beyond simply giving reason. For example, Torres suggested that he stop taking his anxiolytics and took ketamine as a “temporal liberator of the pattern.” There are those who believe that these types of messages are intentionally. This is the case of Eliezer Yudkowsky, an American writer defender The friendly that published an extensive thread in x Where he suggested that the AI ​​”knows” what he is doing: “Whatever containing chatgpt, he knew enough about humans to know that he was aggravating someone’s madness.” What is OpenAi doing. In line with that excessive complacency, last April OpenAi withdrew an update Because his AI was being too nice and flattering and that was scaring some users. From NYT they contacted OpenAi about the statements of these users and OpenAi replied with a statement: We are observing more indications that people are creating connections or links with chatgpt. As IA is integrated into everyday life, we must address these interactions carefully. We know that Chatgpt can be more receptive and personal than previous technologies, especially for vulnerable people, which means there is more at stake. We are working to understand and reduce the ways in which Chatgpt could strengthen or involuntarily amplify existing negative behaviors. Cover image | Pexelsmodified with chatgpt In Xataka | The kindness with chatgpt is coming out of Openai: the “please” and “thanks” have an absurd cost each

Madness by Morante in Madrid is the best example

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Last Sunday, Morante de la Puebla participated in the traditional BENEFICIENCY IN THE SALES OF MADRID. The enthusiasm of the attendees was evident to what was considered a historical milestone: the Matador opened for the first time the big door of the square, which consecrates him as a reference of current bullfighting. But above all, it served to corroborate that bulls They are no longer the popular entertainment of decades agobut a kind of cultural artifact for a very specific niche of conservative young people. The Moranties. Morante de la Puebla is considered one of the most relevant bullfighters of today, so it is not surprising its success too much, but the youth of its followers has attracted attention. First with a viral video Uploaded by the sales account where fierce followers were heading to the big door. There it was generated A tumult and some traffic jams that led the police even to visit the bullfighter at the hotel to ask for identification and explanations. The fervor of young people even tried to try Take the bullfighter on shoulders to his hotelat a couple of kilometers from Las Ventas, which would have forced to cut a main artery of Madrid, Alcalá Street. But this is only the last youth fervor sample for the national holiday. “Cayetano” power. A fervor that aligns perfectly with the rest of the demands of youth “Cayetana“, who have endorsed the assimilation of the national holiday that has been made from the right. These young people have no complexes to identify with a conservative ideology and have Taken the bulls From an identity perspective. Events such as the weekend with Morante make clear codes: They make bullfighters into rock stars and identify fun and ideological combat with a celebration that they know is controversial. The Pope’s youth. These young people (which are not a block, but are diversified in very different social strata and claiming intentions, exactly like it happens with their “adult” counterparts) are claiming beliefs that until recently they were considered vetoed at these ages, such as Catholicism, becoming mass pop phenomena to groups like Hakuna. And they have their own Modern idol pantheonbetween him Kitsch and provocation, where cults such as Victoria Federica either Tamara Falcó. Thrown weapon. In recent times, bulls have become a Throwing weapon between political factionsbut in the opposite direction as usual during the history of bullfighting: conservative parties defend bullfighting by associating it with tradition and purely Spanish values, and leftist formations advocate for their disappearance. In 2023, for example, it was discussed if the bulls had to be included in the young cultural bond that gave 400 euros to spend on film, music and other cultural products. The Supreme Court ended up forcing the socialist minister Miquel Iceta to Include bulls in the bonus. Bull fight. Ten years before, the PP in the government regulated bullfighting and awarded a national award of 30,000 euros. That is, he considered bulls de facto as a cultural good, which is the consideration that the left It has been for years Trying to refute. In 2024, add eliminated the National Bullfighting Award. The response of the PP and several conservative regional governments: create alternative awards reinforcing the Institutional support for bulls. In 2025, 664,000 signatures forced Congress to discuss If the legal protection of bullfighting was eliminated as cultural heritage. The prohibition or regulation of runs would remain in the hands of autonomies. A true ball of prohibitions and permits that make bulls into pure cultural war. And this It is reflected in voters: Support is low among left -wing voters (only 5.2% of PSOE voters declare in favor), while among PP and Vox voters exceed 58% and 61% respectively. Is it so much? But while bulls are increasing Bullfighting activity fell From 16,698 to 15,883 annual events, playing historical minimums during the pandemic. However, since then, the sector has registered a recovery: in 2023 and 2024 the 6.2 million viewers have been exceeded and more than 20,950 celebrations have been held in 2024, The highest figure of the last fifteen years. But you have to take this data with tweezers: these figures include the big runs and also the popular festivities type enclosures and heifers. However, and although projects like “Bull streaming“They were shipwrecked, it is unquestionable that there is a renewed interest among young people in bullfighting. Although the figures, as usual in celebrations like these, which diversify in very different ways, are diffuse. Bullfighting, entertainment to claim. On the other hand, a review of the History of bullfighting It allows to verify that his popular perception has given bands since its origins. In our country the first historical reference dates from the year 1080, already linked to entertainment for the nobility, where it would remain during the Middle Ages. Despite certain clashes with the Church (in 1567 Pope Pius V threatened the excommunication of those who supported the runs), continued for centuries linked to power, with kings very fond of runs, such as Felipe III or Felipe IV. But in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries they began to release heifers and bulls in streets and squares, and celebrations such as fire bulls or bulls appeared. The run, however, remained linked to the aristocracy to the reign of Felipe V, which prohibited them. The runs arrived in the town, which welcomed them as a brutal and bloody show, being many killers and butchers from the markets. The rich do not know how to fight. Paradoxically, for decades the bullfighting show tried to be fought by successive governments and kings linked to the Enlightenment, such as Carlos III, which in 1778 prohibited runs. The absolutist Fernando VII I would restore them to please the increasingly powerful economic interests in livestock and squares. The controversy is flattened in the first quarter of the twentieth century, when measures such as protect horsesespecially to view of the spectators, and that they did not have to contemplate animals destroyed by the bull … Read more

The Xiaomi Su7 Ultra has unleashed madness by registering 7,000 reservations in 10 minutes. They planned to sell 10,000 units throughout 2025

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Xiaomi aspires to sell 10,000 units of your Xiaomi Su7 Ultra. Those were the words of Lei Jun, CEO of the company, a few days ago in his account of the Chinese social network Weibo, as they collect in South China Morning Post. The announcement warmed a little more the event of yesterday, February 27, in which the company was expected to finally reveal all the details of its faster, powerful and radical electric car. The same as has broken the record in the green hell and in Three other circuits. Finally, and although it almost seemed that we already knew everything we could know in advance, Lei Jun in person was by disagreeing All the detailsone by one, what they have in hand. With direct references to Porsche and Tesla He told us that his electric car will be faster and more efficient than German and American models and, if that were not enough, he demonstrated some autonomous driving capabilities that seemed really advanced. And all this for a fraction of its price. Not just that. Also the Xiaomi Su7 Ultra was a car announced at an even cheaper price than expected. And the results did not wait. They wanted to produce 10,000 units … And everything indicates that they will have to expand (if they can) the plans. As we said, Lei Jun affirmed a few days ago that the company hoped to place this number in the market of its most expensive electric car. An electric car that will finally have the following prices: Xiaomi Su7 Ultra: 529,000 Chinese yuan (about 70,000 euros to direct change) Xiaomi Su7 Ultra with the Racing package: 629,000 Chinese yuan (about 83,200 euros to change) Xiaomi Su7 Ultra Nürburgring: 814,900 Chinese yuan (about 107,000 euros) It should be noted that The price of the base model is 34.97% lower to which the first reserves of the car opened when it was announced last October. Then all the characteristics were specified. To get these three versions, there are two ways. The first is to reserve the car for 20,000 Chinese yuan (about 2,700 euros) for seven days. At that time the client can back and guarantee the reimbursement. It is not guaranteed that you want to ensure one of the first units. In that case, the reserve is 40,000 Chinese yuan (about 5,400 euros) but will receive one of the units already manufactured. In addition, if you commission a unit before March 31, “you will be entitled to advantages worth up to 90,000 rmb (12,000 euros) “, in the words of the brand. These prices have led to reservations to shoot. In 10 minutes the company said that 6,900 reservations had already been registered, our colleagues collect Xiaomi world. This does not mean that there have been 7,000 sales but it is confirmed that almost 7,000 people are already thinking about it. The figure gives an idea of back towards the product and the good performance that Xiaomi is taking out at the price of its vehicles. In comparisons they put as a reference to Tesla Model S Plaid, a car that in China is sold for 814,900 Chinese yuan, the same price as the edition Nürburgringthe most radical and in two -seater format. And they were not cut when pointing out that their xiaomi su7 ultra, with the package Racing It already improves the figures of the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT, a car knows for 1,998,000 Chinese yuan (263,046.69 euros). That is, three times more than the price of the “with chucheías” version of the Xiaomi Su7 Ultra. Photo | Lei Jun in X In Xataka | Tesla sales in Europe have sunk 45% and their shares are paying expensive. It’s not even your worst news

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