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Neighbors in Chile tried to stop an Amazon data center. Justice has left a clear message with its decision

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Artificial intelligence has been part of our lives for a long time, often almost without us stopping to think about what is behind it. We use it as if everything were happening in an invisible layer: models, algorithms and, perhaps, servers in some remote location. But we can also look at it from another perspective. The infrastructure that supports that world is very real: it has a location, consumes resources, requires permits, involves enormous investments, and can also alter the environment of those who live nearby. That is one of the great debates that is beginning to accompany the rise of AI: the cloud also has neighbors. They lost the case. A specific case leads us to Huechurabanorth of Santiago de Chile, where Amazon plans to build a data center. The initiative had received a favorable Environmental Qualification Resolution in July 2024, but not everyone was convinced that the project had been evaluated accordingly. That concern reached the judicial route through a claim presented by Patricio Hernández Valenzuelaa resident of the area, and the Second Environmental Court resolved on April 9, 2026 to reject ita decision that leaves the data center in a position to move forward. A very specific concern. Hernández questioned whether the environmental evaluation of the project had not adequately taken into account a possible high voltage line that, according to his approach, would be necessary to power the data center. The criticism was not minor: if both infrastructures were linked, they had to be analyzed together. For residents, not doing so meant leaving relevant impacts on the environment out of the analysis. The key to the failure. The court’s reasoning involves clearly separating both pieces. The ruling concludes that the data center and the eventual high-voltage line cannot be considered to form a single initiative, among other things because the Amazon project does not include that infrastructure as part of its design. Furthermore, the planned electricity supply does not depend on its own installation, but on the network managed by third parties, which reinforces the idea that these are different projects. Without joint evaluation. Once the existence of a project unit has been ruled out, the court concludes that an integrated environmental assessment is not appropriate. The sentence explicitly states it: “it has been proven that between both initiatives there is no relationship of functional interdependence that conditions their execution.” This nuance is key, because it implies that the data center can operate using the available electrical infrastructure, without the need to subject its viability to a future high voltage line which, in any case, would have to be evaluated separately if it were to be considered. Beyond the legal debate. The Amazon project has very specific dimensions on paper. The data storage center in Huechuraba is designed to operate for 30 years, with an estimated investment of 205 million dollars. It would be built on an area of ​​10.9 hectares, with a construction of 21,350.07 square meters, in the street of Américo Vespucio 1055. From the company, collects Reutershave pointed out that the design of the infrastructure focuses on minimizing energy and water consumption, and maintains that the plan met environmental requirements. Chile as a hub. The Huechuraba project is not an isolated initiative within Amazon’s strategy. Amazon Web Services has proposed an investment of more than 4,000 million dollars in Chile over 15 years to build, operate and maintain its infrastructure in the country. The idea is to turn Santiago into its third major center in Latin America, after São Paulo and the central region of Mexico. Factors such as connectivity through fiber optic cables are added to this context. The concern of those who live nearby. Beyond the investment and digital infrastructure they promise, data centers are often accompanied by very specific concerns: high electricity consumption, use of water for cooling, heat or noise generation, and their fit into environments that, in many cases, have environmental or community value. Google did not have the same path. The case of Amazon is not the only one that has gone through this type of debate in Chile. Google had obtained initial approval in 2020 to build a $200 million data center in Cerrillos, southwest of Santiago. However, the project’s journey was different. In February 2024, the Second Environmental Court decided to partially reverse that permissionand months later the company announced that it would not continue with the initiative as it had originally been proposed, opting to start a new process from scratch for a project in the same location, but with a redesign based on air cooling. Electricity enters the scene. If we broaden the focus, the debate is not limited to a specific project, but to the system’s capacity to absorb this type of infrastructure. A Systep reportpublished on September 23, 2025 with data from the National Electrical Coordinator, indicated that, taking 2025 as a starting point, the electrical demand of data centers in Chile could increase by 270% in five years. The same projection places this consumption at around 1,207 MW in 2030. These figures help to understand why the energy issue has become one of the central axes when talking about the expansion of the cloud and AI. Images | Xataka with Nano Banana In Xataka | In 2024, Big Tech spent absurd amounts of money on AI. In 2025, they managed to spend 77% more

There are those who want the V-16 beacon to be optional. The director of the DGT has a message: “There is no going back”

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126 days. That is how long the V-16 beacon has been mandatory in our country. A period in which, due to the DGT’s own unclear information, it is not clear whether the agents are fining or not for not having it in the car. What is certain is that there are still those who doubt its effectiveness and try to get the triangles to return. For them, Pere Navarro has a message. “There is no mark behind”. The statements are from Pere Navarro, director of the DGT, who in the forum Pedestrians and road safety organized in A Coruña and in which the city council and the Galician Federation of Municipalities and Provinces have participated has assured the following collected by Motorpassion: “(The beacon) is here to stay, there is no going back. It is an important safety element and is mandatory. And it also serves to avoid accidents” The director of the DGT has thus tried to settle a controversy that continues to rage despite the fact that since last January 1 This signaling element is mandatory, replacing the classic emergency triangles. Because? Pere Navarro’s response obeys the amendment that Vox has registered in Congress to try to reverse the use of the connected V-16 beacon. Or, at least, significantly modify its use. The intention of the political group is that the V-16 beacon is only an optional addition to the emergency triangles but that the latter are the ones that are really mandatory. Vox also searches end connectivity of the device, a focus of controversy despite the fact that the signaling object cannot be identified with the driver who activates it. “Everything is advantages”. For his part, Navarro is clear about it and has made it known in the forum: “everything is an advantage.” In words collected by elDiario.eyesthe director of the DGT defends that not getting out of the car in the event of a breakdown before signaling the danger is a step forward. Let us remember that From 2023 it is mandatory to stay in the car in the event of a breakdown unless the driver and passengers have access to a safe place to wait for emergency or help services. Navarro has also pointed out that “we should be proud” of the use of the beacon, after the European Commission confirmed that it is an object fully in line with European law although at first it was doubted how it was implemented. Surrounded by controversy. Since the connected V-16 beacon project was launched, the DGT has had to face all kinds of controversies. Various associations have questioned its effectivenessproducts were sold that have been invalidated by lack connectivity and along the way we have seen it flourish a very lucrative business to companies based in China. Furthermore, it is also not clear whether an agent would fine us or not if we do not have it. In a press conference, the Minister of the Interior Fernando Grande-Marlaska pointed out that was not going to be fined for a “reasonable” period of time but it was never determined what time window that definition includes. However, we know that just a few days after the new signaling system became mandatory there were already agents who fined the drivers. In Xataka | “We have not done it well”: the DGT assumes that something has failed in the arrival of the V-16 beacons

If you download ‘Torrente Presidente’, Santiago Segura has the same message for you as if you downloaded ‘Torrente 3’

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Whoever tries to download ‘Torrente, president‘ Through unofficial channels you will find, instead of the film, a video message from Santiago Segura asking you to go to the cinema. It is not the first time: the Madrid director has been using this same tactic and this same video since 2005, with ‘Torrente 3’. Torrente deceives you. The sixth installment of the highest-grossing saga of Spanish cinema has been in theaters for eleven days and already accumulates more than 16 million euros in collection. It is the most viewed film in Spain so far this year, and yet, whoever downloads the film via torrent will find a clip in which Santiago Segura asks the viewerwith his usual casual tone, to go to the movies. The video is titled ‘Torrente, president… or not?’ It weighs only 22 MB and lasts one and a half minutes. It’s impossible to confuse it with a full movie, but the file name does its job perfectly: appearing in search results where a user would expect to find the actual movie. It’s not the first time. The video has not been filmed now: already in 2005, with the release of ‘Torrente 3: El Protector’, Santiago Segura distributed this same video, playing the first minutes of the film before cutting to the warning message. These were the times of widespread unauthorized downloads and the popularization of what was then known as Top Manta, and Segura was not the only one undertaking this type of initiative. For example, around the same time, the copy seen on the internet of the French film ‘Blueberry’ started normally until, after ten minutes, the protagonist broke the fourth wall and addressed the viewer. The group Estopa did something similar with one of their albums, adding voice interruptions to some copies that were circulating on the internet. Unique strategies. This video adds to the fame of Santiago Segura as one of the filmmakers who best knows how to attract the public’s attention, even if it is with messages that apparently stand in favor of the industry and against the user who is not aware of torrents. The promotional strategy for ‘Torrente Presidente’ has been equally unusual: no prior press screenings, no official trailer until the Monday after the premiere, with no advances of any kind regarding cameos or plot. This contributed to the public rushing to see it en masse from day one, before the social conversation gutted the content. This message about unauthorized torrents obeys the same logic: control of content until the box office has been squeezed. In Xataka | There are many people who hate Santiago Segura’s films. The problem is that they “save” Spanish cinema every year

With the RAM market completely destroyed, Valve has a message to create the Steam Machine: “help”

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Valve is not having any luck in the hardware world. If with software it is the undisputed queen of the PC ecosystem thanks to Steamwhen they try to launch a console things don’t go so smoothly. More than a decade ago they already tried it with some first Steam Machines that they had no identity. Now they have returned to the fray with a Steam Machine that it looks very goodbut it comes at the worst time. And in the middle of the RAM memory crisisValve only has one thing to say. Aid. The crisis. At Xataka we have been covering the RAM memory news because, although it seems that it is a crisis of a specific component, it is really something that It is affecting the entire industry of semiconductors… and consumption. If in 2020 it was a perfect storm What caused the semiconductor crisis is now the enormous demand for RAM by AI companies. They are all building gigantic data centers and there is a problem: there is only three big RAM manufacturers (plus a fourth that is emerging in China) and all of them have focused on creating RAM for data center equipment. The consequence is that there is no RAM for anyone else. And this not only affects RAM as such: it affects the price of cell phones, computers, cars and even to the router. And, of course, to the Steam Machine. Hey kid, do you have RAM? Valve announced its new machine at the end of last year and they targeted early 2026 to give a release date and price. The problem is that the days were passing, the price of RAM was rising and the question arose: What about Steam Machine? Well what happens is that Valve is desperate. They have already said that it will be released this year (in principle it was going to be spring), it seems that it will be expensive and, in addition, they have pointed directly to the crisis in the supply problems they are having with his other console, the Steam Deck. With this panorama, Valve has appeared at the GDC fair to explain its vision of the console/PC and, in an environment full of manufacturers and professionals, launched a request to the public: If you have access to a large amount of RAM, we are in the market and we would like to buy it.” Complicated. It is a humorous comment, but also somewhat symptomatic. Valve has the money as punishment, but it is not even close to being a premium customer of those few foundries capable of creating RAM. If even Apple can have a bad time, being the second client of the giant TSMCValve does not even enter the annex in the memory request sheet. There are analyzes of all kinds about the consequences of this crisis. In it mobile market will feel a strong bloweven targeting manufacturers that will have to stop launching devices due to market conditions. But on PC, things are more or less the same, with global shipments forecast to be 11% less than the previous year. Captain after the fact. It’s no longer that the Steam Machine may or may not come out, it’s that if it does come out, it would be very expensive. It is something similar to what would happen with the rumored PlayStation 6 that could have seen the light this year and about which we already know that we will not have news in the short term. And here the big question may arise: why didn’t Valve release the Steam Machine when they announced it? Obviously, there were units prepared because they were shown to the press and, furthermore, it is not cutting-edge hardware, so it would have been easy to have it on the market in November 2025. But of course, the situation escalated at a dizzying pace and launching a console at X price and two months later raising it by 200 euros due to the price of RAM or, even worse, stopping selling it because you don’t have units available would have been a tremendous blow. Not so much to the coffers, which in the end with Steam they get a good pinch, but to the reputation. And it is clear that a second disastrous launch of a Steam Machine is something that Valve cannot afford. Now we just have to wait to see when they will be able to launch the machine and, above all, if the price corresponds to components that have already been available for five months. they seemed somewhat fair to us for the most demanding games. Images | DOTA2 The International In Xataka | The price of RAM has skyrocketed and the best example to see the debacle is a 100 euro PC: the Raspberry Pi

It is a nod to Chinese Big Tech and a message for NVIDIA

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Huawei has arrived at the Mobile World Congress with one objective: to show the world What good have these last five years been? of vetoes and sanctions. The company has just had the second best year in its history. It seemed impossible when The United States ostracized herbut this five years has served not only to regain the throne in the enormous Chinese market, but to build something: the idea that China’s technological evolution passes through its hands. As a result of this we have the advertisement at the Barcelona fair of a line of SuperPoD supercomputers with a single objective: that the Chinese Big Tech don’t have to depend from NVIDIA. Return. Huawei has been collaborating with SMIC -the great foundry of China- to create chips. Chips that feed both your consumer devices as other high-performance ones for large-scale computing. It is clearly difficult to do this without violating Western vetoes (for example, their mobile processors do not have 5G and are less powerful than those of Qualcomm or MediaTek), but they are making progress. The symbolic thing is that They have turned resilience into their best quality. If in 2020 they competed for the market with Samsung and Apple, achieving a profit of 129,000 yuan, in 2025 registered 127 billion dollars, something impressive if we take into account that, above all, They come from the local market. In this time, Huawei has positioned itself as a lifestyle brand that has consumer devices, but also home automation and even cars. But if there is a great frontier today, it is that of artificial intelligence. And Huawei knows that it was something that had to be attacked not only from the most local perspective, but by launching a global warning. SuperPoD. Because these supercomputers, really, are not new. The company presented them in mid-September last year with a more local focus, for China. And before looking at the products, you have to see what a SuperPoD is. These are high-performance clusters that bring together thousands of specialized AI chips. And those chips are not from NVIDIA, which dominates the global conversation in AI computing, but rather their own. It’s about your Ascendsome that have been developing for years and that China is waiting like May rain to break that hegemony of NVIDIA. The idea is the same as with other technological sectors of the Asian giant: not to depend on anyone else. They are the following: Atlas 950 SuperPoD– A cluster of up to 9,192 Ascend 950DT NPUs per system with up to 1,152 TB of unified memory. TaiShan 950 SuperPoD– First general-purpose computing SuperPoD with two models: 96 cores / 192 threads or 192 cores / 384 threads for, for example, massive virtualization or critical databases. Local ecosystem. Huawei’s approach is very interesting. The Ascend is not close to the power and sophistication of NVIDIA chips, nor to CUDA technology that has become the language of AI. However, if each chip individually cannot compete for the most demanding tasks, what Huawei has thought is that these chips be scalable. To do this, they have developed a connection technology with ultra-high bandwidth that allows all these chips to be connected to each other with the aim that, in practice, it behaves like a single logical computer. This connection technology has been named UnifiedBus and, in the statement, Huawei states that the idea is to “continue defending open source and open systems to accelerate developer innovation and the prosperity of ecosystems. That is something that resonates with the Government’s objective: that its companies such as Tencent, ByteDance, Alibaba or DeepSeek, which have run into the arms of the latest NVIDIA chips As soon as the ban was lifted, they developed their technologies using ‘made in China’ solutions. Ambition at the cost of sanction. All this comes in a tremendously turbulent context. China is betting a lot on artificial intelligence and robotics as pillars of the country’s technological roadmapbut NVIDIA still has the best product. There is analysis that expose that the best of Huawei is still five times less powerful than the best of NVIDIA, and the United States has just made it clear that investment in AI is one in national security. All the mess between Anthropic and the Pentagon has to do with how the United States demands that the AI ​​of its private companies belongs to the State because they claim that the AI ​​of Chinese companies belongs to China, and China will not hesitate to do whatever it wants with that AI. Because computing power is, and will be, at the core of the AI ​​race, Huawei has shown that it is doing everything it can to deliver the best tools. And Western sanctions have only helped China ‘wake up’ and begin to shape these technological solutions at an accelerated pace. NVIDIA was clear. It remains to be seen whether customers around the world will adopt Huawei’s SuperPoD systems as an alternative to NVIDIA, but what is already on the table is that something is happening. At least, in China. In the middle of last year, the CEO of NVIDIA pointed out that before the vetoes, NVIDIA had 95% of the market share in Chinabut currently it is only 50%. These vetoes did not stop China, but rather accelerated the development of its own industry to the point that the competition, now, is fierce. In fact, the manager recently pointed out that it was absurd for the US to try to stop China with vetoes and sanctions, since China would achieve technological sovereignty sooner or later and that the ideal would be to take an economic slice while they could… and make Chinese Big Tech dependent on NVIDIA technology. And there Huawei’s approach is very curious because yes, its chips may not be the most powerful, but they are mass scalable and adaptable to the needs of each of the companies. Images | HuaweiXataka In Xataka | Huawei no longer competes: it is building its own … Read more

If anyone was waiting for the AI ​​bubble to burst, NVIDIA’s results have a message: sit tight

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NVIDIA just published your results of the fourth quarter of its last fiscal year and has left Wall Street speechless. Revenues of $68.1 billion, a net profit that almost doubles that of the same period of the previous year, and a forecast for the following quarter that has far exceeded analysts’ expectations. And all this in a turbulent context where more efficient models and other alternatives are beginning to appear. The crash of DeepSeek is far away, and the demand for chips does not slow down. We tell you the numbers in detail. In case your position was not clear. Only a handful of companies in history have exceeded $100 billion in annual profit. Alphabet, Microsoft and Apple are in that club. NVIDIA has just joined them, with $120 billion in profits in the last twelve months, according to the report. The difference is speed: just three years ago, its annual profit was 4.4 billion. We can say with certainty that no technology company has ever grown so quickly on that scale. AI, and more AI. The engine that has driven these profits is its data center business, which generated $62.3 billion in the quarter, 71% more than a year ago. Within that segment, if we focus on their Blackwell chips, they have gone from entering 32.6 billion to 51.3 billion, while the networks (NVLink, Spectrum-X and InfiniBand) grow from 3,000 to 11,000 million. Gross margin is 75%, and earnings per share nearly double to $1.76 in GAAP terms (which is the official rulebook that companies follow to demonstrate transparent accounting). What Jensen Huang says. “Without computing, there is no way to generate tokens. Without tokens, there is no way to grow revenue.”, counted directly the CEO of NVIDIA in the meeting with investors. Their thesis is that in the new AI economy, computing power directly equates to revenue for their customers. That is why the large cloud service providers (Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta) continue increasing your capex budgetswhich together will exceed 500,000 million dollars in 2026 to build AI data centers. And NVIDIA is the main beneficiary of that expense. What DeepSeek has not broken, but accelerated. At the beginning of 2025, the emergence of the Chinese DeepSeek model generated an unprecedented tremor in the markets, leaving a simple question in our minds: if AI becomes more efficient, why do we need so many chips? The answer from NVIDIA’s results is that efficiency does not reduce infrastructure demand, it multiplies it. Every improvement in inference efficiency lowers the cost per token, encouraging more companies to deploy more AI applications, which in turn requires more compute. It’s like Jevons’ paradox, but applied to AI: efficiency expands the market instead of contracting it. Agentic AI as the next catalyst. On the same call with investors and analysts, Huang stood out that “enterprise adoption of agents is skyrocketing.” AI agentsthese systems that make decisions and execute tasks autonomously, require many more inference cycles than chatbots. They are the next step in the AI ​​value chain, and NVIDIA is once again in a privileged position. Colette Kress, CFO of the company, confirmed In addition, the first samples of Vera Rubin, the next generation of chips that will arrive later this year, have already been sent. China and the competition. Not everything is green. NVIDIA acknowledged that its forecast for the next quarter ($78 billion) does not include computing revenue in China. The company has generated just about $60 million from H20 chips since the Trump administration reapproved some sales in August 2025, according to SEC filings, and has yet to earn revenue from the most recently approved H200. Regulatory uncertainty with Beijing remains a small China in Huang’s shoe. In parallel, competitors such as AMD, Broadcom or Google’s own custom chips (TPUs) are gaining ground. But the NVIDIA CEO remains focused on his vision. And according to pointed at the meeting: “Every company depends on software, and all software will depend on AI.” As long as this is fulfilled, everything indicates that NVIDIA will continue selling the blades and picks. Cover image | NVIDIA In Xataka | NVIDIA was founded by three engineers, but only Jensen Huang remains CEO: “I wish I had kept some shares”

The death of ‘El Mencho’ sends a worrying message

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2026 will be remembered in Mexico for several reasons. One, scheduled, is the celebration of the world cup. The other, unforeseen, is death this sunday of Nemesio Oseguera, alias ‘El Mencho’, one of the most important names in international drug trafficking. The unknown now is to what extent both events will overlap and if the second will influence the first in some way. It is not a question that we ask ourselves, but a murmur that is beginning to sound in the sports press around the world, from the United States either South Korea. The reason is very simple: the same country that in the last few hours has postponed matches due to the violence unleashed by the death of ‘El Mencho’ will have to host national teams that will compete in the World Cup in four months. What has happened? That the fight against drug trafficking has written a key chapter in Mexico. An operation orchestrated by the Mexican army with the support of US intelligence ended on Sunday with the death of Nemensio Rubén Osegeuera‘El Mencho’, leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). The news is important for several reasons. First, due to the relevance of the protagonist, ‘El Mencho’, who, as detailed by the Secretariat of National Defense, died while being transferred (already injured) to Mexico City. Click on the image to go to the tweet. And who was it? Despite having maintained a low profile and low visibility, Mencho had managed to become one of the most relevant leaders of American drug trafficking. Also one of the most sought after in the world. The US even offered 15 million dollars to whoever facilitated his arrest. The reason is the reach of the CJNG, an organization with diversified businesses, tentacles throughout Mexico (and part of the US) and a power that has already demonstrated in several occasionswhether executing judges and high officials or even shooting down helicopters with cannon fire. For the Government of Donald Trump ‘El Mencho’ was also “one of the main traffickers of fentanyl” from America. Has it had repercussions? Yes. And that is the second reason why Oseguera’s death is so relevant. The operation deployed on Sunday in the mountains of Jalisco has triggered an earthquake that has spread through Mexico with roads closed and episodes of violence that, for example, have led to a dozen of States to suspend their school classes and have affected part of the country’s air traffic, with the cancellation of hundreds of flights. The Mexican newspaper The Financier speak directly of “a wave of violence.” The local and international press inform of blockades and attacks on businesses in Jalisco and other Mexican states and the authorities have identified more than 252 roads with cuts in twenty regions, although they guarantee that 90% have already been resolved. That has not prevented Canada or the United States have advised its citizens to avoid going out in certain areas. Has it affected anything else? Yes. Beyond traffic, logistics, education or commerce, the tumults unleashed in certain parts of Mexico by the death of ‘El Mencho’ have been felt on two fronts. One is tourism. As reports the BBCthe Puerto Vallarta airport has suffered cancellations and diversions, a relevant fact considering that it is one of the most popular destinations in the country. Added to this are messages from Canada and the United States, but also from nations such as the United Kingdom, Australia or New Zealand, asking their citizens for caution. Another front that has not been immune is sports. Especially football. After what happened yesterday, at least two matches of first level. One was the women’s classic between Guadalajara and América, which was to be played at the Akron stadium (Zapopan). The other, the scheduled match between Querétaro and Juárez, from Liga MX, in the state of La Corregidora (Querétaro). Is that important? That the violent reactions to the death of ‘El Mencho’ affect tourism and (above all) the football agenda could seem like a minor issue if it were not for the fact that 2026 is not just any year for Mexico. In a few months the country will become, along with the US and Canada, World Cup host. In fact, the stadium where Querétaro and Juárez were due to meet yesterday will soon host a friendly match between the Mexican team and Iceland. The Akron stadium (the same one where Guadalajara and América should have played) will also be the scene this summer of several events in which teams from Korea, Colombia, Uruguay and Spain will participate. Can it influence? Of course the coincidence has not gone unnoticed. In Spain, sports media such as BRAND either ACEbut they are not the only ones. The South Korean media The Chosun had an impact in the last hours on the same idea and reporter Ephrat Livini slid in your analysis of what happened to The New York Times (TNYT) a key fact: “Much of the violence occurred in Guadalajara, a center of 1.4 million inhabitants that is home to the World Cup.” The problem is not only the violence unleashed in the last few hours. The key is what happens from now on and the multiple scenarios that are opening, among which includes a possible internal war within the CJNG to succeed the fallen boss or an offensive by rival cartels to dispute his territories. A few days ago (before the death of ‘El Mencho’) the newspaper The Time revealed since Mexico has redoubled its vigilance against the possibility that, taking advantage of the World Cup, Colombian drug traffickers may enter the country posing as fans. Images | Wikipedia In Xataka | Now that the most wanted cartel in Mexico has died, three disturbing possibilities open up. And they all point to the same place: the US

the founder of Telegram charges against Pedro Sánchez and sends a massive message

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He package of measures of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to regulate social networks has not only aroused the ire of Elon Musk, who has launched several disqualifications through X. It has also provoked a reaction from the CEO and co-founder of Telegram. Pável Dúrov is sending a message this afternoon to Spanish users of the platform in which he frontally rejects the proposal and warns of what, in his opinion, would be its consequences. Hey, you have a message from Durov. If you use Telegram and have a Spanish number, it is very likely that this afternoon you received an unusual notification. The official ‘Telegram’ bot, the same one usually used for security communications such as login codes, displays a message forwarded from the channel @durov. “The government of Pedro Sánchez is promoting new dangerous regulations that threaten your freedoms on the internet,” the text begins. From there, Dúrov promises to “explain” why he considers that the package of measures represents an alarm signal for freedom of expression and privacy. Durov Dúrov’s message translated into Spanish in the Telegram bot Against the prohibition of social networks for minors under 16 years of age. One of the central criticisms of the founder of Telegram points to the proposal to restrict the access of minors under 16 years of age to social networks. Dúrov maintains that such a measure, in practice, would imply strict identity verification controls that would go beyond that age group, citing formulas such as DNI or biometrics. “It sets a precedent for tracking the identity of EVERY user, eroding anonymity and opening doors to mass data collection,” he says. “What starts with minors could spread to everyone, stifling open debate,” he adds. Here it is important to clarify something important: for now, the Government has not fully detailed what specific technical measures would be applied for this age verification, nor how they would be implemented in practice. That is to say, Dúrov’s interpretation is based on a harsh scenario, but the actual implementation will depend on how the initiative ends up being drafted and the mechanism chosen to apply it. Risks of “overcensorship”. The message also focuses on another point of the proposal: tightening the responsibility of the platforms, including their managers, if they do not remove content considered illegal or hateful. According to Dúrov, this would push companies to act preventively and aggressively, with a clear collateral effect on public debate: “this will force over-censorship—the platforms will delete anything minimally controversial to avoid risks, silencing political dissidence, journalism and everyday opinions.” And what about the algorithm? The initiative also proposes legally punishing the manipulation of algorithms and the deliberate amplification of illegal content. Dúrov interprets this point as a potential paradigm shift: that the control of the order of what we see on the Internet becomes a regulated matter with room for political intervention. “Governments will dictate what you see, burying opposing opinions and creating state-controlled echo chambers,” he writes. In the same block, he warns that these types of measures would end up affecting the free circulation of ideas. Measures against polarization. Another leg of the package is the creation of a system described as a “footprint of hate and polarization,” which would quantify how platforms amplify social division and serve as a basis for future sanctions. Durov dwells especially on this point, questioning the fit of categories that, in his opinion, are too open and moldable: “vague definitions of ‘hate’ could label criticism of the government as divisive, leading to closures or fines. This can be a tool to suppress the opposition.” A message without gray, waiting for the small print. Overall, Dúrov presents the proposal as an inseparable block of threats against freedom of expression and privacy, hardly distinguishing between measures or opening room for nuances. It is a reading aligned with Telegram’s usual narrative, which tends to frame regulation as a direct risk to digital rights. But it also leaves a decisive factor in the background: several parts of the plan, as we say, are still pending completion, both in its final formulation and in its technical implementation. Telegram does not come to this debate from scratch. Dúrov’s intervention also occurs in a complicated context for the platform. Telegram has been under the spotlight for some time due to the role played by some channels and groups in the dissemination of content that is difficult to moderate, and due to the recurring debates about responsibility and cooperation with authorities. Added to this is that the founder has been noted in France in the framework of investigations linked to the use of Telegram against criminal activities and certain illegal content. This history helps to understand why these types of messages are not just political criticism. Images | Dima Solomin | Moncloa In Xataka | We don’t know if banning social media for those under 16 is going to solve the problem. Yes we know that it will generate others

If your Madrid-Barcelona train now takes five hours, Renfe and Iryo have a message: there is no compensation

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What used to be two and a half hours has become recurring trips of more than four hours. The Madrid-Barcelona line lives between speed limitations that are multiplying travel times. Adif is working hard to correct the alleged defects on the road. And, in the middle, some passengers who bought a ticket that promised a 150-minute trip that is now impossible to fulfill and who are not going to receive a single euro in compensation. The Madrid-Barcelona line. Since the occurrence of fateful train accident in Adamuz (Córdoba)the Madrid-Barcelona line is in focus. After months of complaints from train drivers, and self-imposed speed limitations, as they have confirmed to XatakaAdif strives to review all avenues to verify that there are no defects or, if there are, fix them. The company in charge of managing and maintaining the roads began applying temporary speed restrictions in the most controversial sections. These limitations they rose and applied punctually in the days following the Andalusian accident, with the vibrations being the focus of controversy. More, many more. As the days go by, the controversy has grown. To the reviews of Adif facilities a storm has joined which has complicated the service even more. The result: trains that were supposed to take 150 minutes between Madrid and Barcelona have been arriving regularly after four and a half hours. The latest news is that Adif has asked Renfe, Ouigo and Iryo to eliminate the last services of each day in order to be able to work for a greater number of hours and reduce the planned days of track inspection. These works will study the complaints reported by the train drivers and, if necessary, fix the damage on the tracks if the technicians consider that intervention is necessary, they point out in The World. No compensation. These warnings from the train drivers and the subsequent reviews by Adif are what are causing the continuous delays in the journeys. Delays that, however, will not be compensated by Renfe and Iryo, companies that already report on their websites that this situation does not fall within the reasons for returning a ticket partially or in its entirety. So much Renfe as Iryo They emphasize that these delays are unrelated to the service provided by the operators and, therefore, will not be reimbursed. In the case of the Italian company, this decision affects tickets purchased after January 28, while in the case of Renfe it will not be a reason for refunds for tickets purchased after January 31. An exception. What travelers from these companies do have the right to be relocated to another shift by the operator if their trains have been canceled as a result of Adif’s latest request. In the case of Renfe, which has issued its decision in statements that it has collected The Countrythe trains to relocate those affected will be of double composition to double the number of seats and the possibility of canceling the trip has been opened at no cost to the traveler. A new controversy. These delays and the decision not to compensate travelers, understanding that they are due to reasons unrelated to their services, deepen the controversies that have been surrounding railway compensation for months. And Renfe, by order of Congresshas the obligation to compensate again for delays of more than 15 minutes and return the money if the train arrives 30 minutes above the scheduled time. These deadlines were extended to 60 and 90 minutes respectively. in 2024 and They should have returned to their original deadlines in 2026 but this has not happened yet. Photo | trenduck and Renfe In Xataka | Spain has put so many passengers on the train that the Government is already toying with an idea: that we travel standing

What are they and how do they work when verifying that the message you receive is from who it says it is?

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Let’s explain to you What are verified SMS and how do they work?a technology that verifies that whoever sends you a message is who they say they are. This is something that has been around for a few years now, but we are going to see it more and more to fight fraud and scams. Let’s start by explaining to you in a simple way first the concept of these messages, so that you understand why it is important that they be normalized and used more and more. Then, we will also tell you in an understandable way how they work. What are verified SMS and what are they for? One of the most popular online frauds and scams out there is smishingwhich is a type of phishing in which a cybercriminal sends fraudulent SMS messages in bulk posing as a company. In these messages, attach a link or false information with which to start a process to steal your data, your online service accounts and even money. This has caused trust in the SMS we receive from companies to erode. In fact, when we receive communication through this method, the recommended thing today is not to trust it. And of course, this makes this type of notice no longer meaningful. And this is where verified SMS come into play, although they are not really SMS but rather messages that use the RCS protocol. In them, companies and entities can show an indicator that indicates them as an official channel or account. In Spain, BBVA or Bankinter has been one of the first large banks to start using this method. This way, when you receive a text message on your mobile, you will be able to distinguish when it was actually sent by an entity that has verified its identity and when it is an unidentified one. Thus, if your bank has its account verified when it sends you messages and you receive an unverified one, you will know that there is something strange, even if the name is the same. How verified messages work Verified messages are sent using RCS protocol. RCS are a type of messages that are sent like SMS and reach you in the same place as regular SMS, but with advanced functions such as sending photos, audio, creating groups, etc. It is a alternative to WhatsApp integrated directly into your messages application, both on Android and iPhone. In Spain, it is already a protocol that works with almost all operators. Regarding the company verification processaccording to the standard defined by the GSMA Entities have to complete a process before sending messages that appear as verified. First, the entity must register its identity with name and logo, and submit them to an external certification by a third party that validates that the entity can use that name and logo. This verification company must be included in the trusted list of the recipient’s operator. Those who verify the identity of the entities that want to send these messages are those known as Verification Authorities. These can be mobile operators, private companies specialized in digital verification or even government entities. The verification authorities They depend on each country and its deployment of this technology. Therefore, let’s take the case of Bankinter, which has been verified by Movistar. When this bank sends you a text message, it will do so with the RCS protocol. And since your operator recognizes Movistar as a valid verification authority, and Movistar has verified that the message comes from Bankinter, the message that you receive from the bank will have the verification badge. But there is one last step that your messaging application takes. Because when you receive the message, your app automatically downloads the sender’s profile and runs a series of technical checks before displaying the verification badge. It will even check if the verification signature is still valid with new messages. So, a complex verification chain is generated with several steps, and only when all of them are completed will the message appear as from a verified sender. This way, even if a cybercriminal manages to breach the security of one of the steps, there are still others. These are all protocols for sending verified messages within the RCS standard. In Xataka Basics | RCS vs WhatsApp, Telegram and other apps: advantages, disadvantages and why you no longer need messaging apps

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