money

That Instagram and Facebook are plagued by fraudulent ads is bad. That Meta is making money with them is even worse

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Congratulations! You have won an iPhone. the king Felipe VI announcing investments. Work at Primor and get paid up to 160 euros per hour. These are just three examples of fraudulent ads that have appeared on Facebook and Instagram, but there are many more. So many, that Meta is making money with them. What has happened? An investigation of Reuters has revealed that Meta estimated that 10% of all revenue volume would come from fraudulent ads, which would total $16 billion. In an internal document from December 2024, Meta estimated that its platform serves about 15 billion “high-risk” scam ads every day. By “high risk” they mean those that are clearly frauds, like those we mentioned in the introduction, so the real number would be even higher. It seems like fraud, because we charge you more. Meta has automated systems to detect these types of ads, the problem is that the policy to block them is quite lax. The documents reveal that ads are only blocked if the system identifies it as a scam with 95% certainty. If the percentage is lower, what they do is raise the advertiser’s fee to supposedly discourage them. That is, if they continue to advertise, Meta makes even more money from frauds. The favorite site of scammers. There is more. In another document, Meta admits that “It is easier to advertise scams on Meta platforms than on Google.” The information comes from channels in which scammers discuss their methods, although they do not specify the reasons for their choice. They also estimate that a third of all successful scams in the United States occur through their platforms. Regulation. Meta is in the crosshairs of regulators around the world. The European Commission initiated action against the company for the use of data to serve advertising to users. In United Kingdom took them to trial for the same reason and more recently the United States Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating them for the financial frauds advertised on their platform. In documents published by Reuters, Meta shows its intention to reduce illegal ads, but is concerned that a sudden reduction would negatively affect its revenue. Don’t touch my publi. Meta is in a delicate moment for the huge increase in spending on AI which, despite having achieved positive results in the last quarter, has caused its shares to fall 8%. Considering that targeted advertising is Meta’s main revenue stream, a reduction on this front could shake the entire house of cards. Meta responds. Speaking to Reuters, a Meta spokesperson criticized the news, saying the documents “present a selective view that distorts Meta’s approach to fraud and scams.” He says the estimate of 10% profit from scam ads was excessive and the actual figure was much lower, although he declined to give an updated figure. According to Meta, in the last year and a half, fraudulent ad notices have been reduced by 58% and in 2025 they will have eliminated more than 134 million scams from their platform. Image | Generated with AI. background Pixabay In Xataka | The majority of medical discharges that are investigated are fraud. The nuance is that they are only investigated if there are signs of fraud

who is making money with the elimination of the DGT triangles

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January 1, 2026. That is the key date. The day from which It will be mandatory to use a connected V-16 light to signal a breakdown on the road. Not only that, that day we will say goodbye to emergency triangles. Because those who use them will be exposed to a fine. The decision, confirmed in 2021, continues to raise controversy with just a few months left to fully implement it. Until now, the V-16 light could replace emergency triangles, which were no longer mandatory on highways and expressways. However, it will be from January 1 of next year when not only will they not be mandatory, they will also be prohibited. How did we get here and why? The new regulations The change is very simple. The emergency triangles that have accompanied us until now will be prohibited from January 1, 2026. The Royal Decree 159/2021published on March 17, 2021, modified annex XI of the General Vehicle Regulations. It specifies all the changes that must be taken into account when having an approved light and how to act with it. From then on, every driver must have a V-16 signal connected which, in general terms, must comply with the following requirements: Radiate light 360 degrees Maintain irradiation intensity for at least 30 minutes Protection degree IP54 at least Guaranteed operation between -10ºC and 50ºC Powered by cell or battery that must guarantee its operation for a minimum of 18 months Guaranteed connectivity for at least 12 years, to notify the DGT when the device is activated. If you have any doubts about whether or not the purchased device is approved by the DGT, the entity has a list in which all devices are included who have passed the homologation exam. The real change, as we say, is that the DGT makes the use of this system mandatory and, in addition, bans emergency triangles. He assures that placing triangles on the road increases the risk of being run over and, therefore, it is better to use a light that should be placed on the roof of the vehicle to warn other drivers. In the case of a motorcycle, it must have an adapter to position it on the handlebars. Yes indeed, the DGT makes it clear that the motorcyclist is not obliged to have this device. However, those who use the triangles face a fine of 80 euros (a minor offense for “not properly signaling the obstacle created on the road in the event of an accident or vehicle breakdown”, as stated in article 130 of the General Traffic Regulations) and, in addition, those who do not have a connected and approved V-16 light (those not connected are valid until December 31, 2025 but not from January 1, 2025). next year) can also be fined 80 euros as is the case until now with triangles. How did you get here? This is one of the questions that has raised controversy. And Spain is the only country in Europe in which these V-16 lights will be mandatory. What happens if we have to travel outside our borders? If the country has a full agreement with Spain, V-16 light is perfectly valid but if it does not have it, we will have to count on the triangles to be able to indicate an emergency. In any case, Spain being the only country where it is mandatory, it is recommended to carry emergency triangles if you leave our borders. The DGT assures that, however, the measure was necessary because installing the triangles on the road means too much risk to the passengers of a disabled vehicle. According to the data provided with the presentation of this V-16 beacon, between 2018 and 2021 they died every year between 18 and 22 people run over on the road after getting out of a vehicle and In 2022 there are 58 deaths. Of course, the agency does not specify whether these attacks were caused by the installation of the triangles or for any other reason. In fact, the DGT has recently changed the regulations. From 2023 It is mandatory to stay off the road in a place away from traffic whenever possible. However, if there is no space, passengers in a disabled vehicle no longer have to wait outside the vehicle; it is now mandatory to sit inside with the seat belt on. The V-16 light, they say, allows you to signal the vehicle without having to get out of it, just by putting your hand out of the window and placing it on the roof. When activated, the beacon begins to emit a light signal that must be seen from a kilometer away. It automatically contacts the DGT 3.0 platform which will send the information to the means closest to the incident, such as the light panels, to notify the rest of the drivers. Furthermore, the signal itself will broadcast information to connected vehicles to circulate in the vicinity, alerting them that they will find a broken down vehicle on the road. It’s the call signal V-27 that will appear on the car’s instrument panel and is made up of a red triangle with an exclamation mark inside and three curved lines on the outside to mark connectivity. Of course, the beacon does not connect directly to emergency services. This task is left to the drivers, who have to call to convey their situation and what happened. Also your insurance if it is necessary for the car to be towed by a tow truck. The money We have already seen the arguments of the DGT but… how much is it going to cost us in our pockets? Right now, the connected and approved V-16 lights are selling for around 50 euros. This money includes data service for a minimum of 12 years. Of course, we must keep in mind that they also require minimal maintenance. The agency recommends changing the battery or fully charging the battery every year. A problem that, obviously, emergency triangles … Read more

Something big is coming in European money. The ECB has set a date for a key step towards the digital euro

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The European Central Bank has made a move in one of the most sensitive projects in its recent history. After two years of preparation, the organization has decided to move on to the next phase of the digital eurothe initiative with which it seeks to adapt public money to the era of electronic payments. It is not a launch, nor a final decision: if the European regulations are approved in 2026, there will be a pilot starting in 2027 and the Eurosystem wants to be ready for a possible first emission in 2029. The decision comes after a preparation stage started in November 2023in which the ECB and the national central banks defined the technical and operational pillars of the project. In these two years, progress was made in the draft of the operating regulations, in the selection of technological suppliers and in tests with market participants. Political momentum has also been key: euro leaders called at the October 2025 summit to accelerate work to ensure that Europe retains its own capacity in digital payments. A pilot to get out of paper. The announced step opens a phase aimed at validating that the system can work in practice, both from a technical point of view and from real use. The ECB talks about a pilot in which Banks, technology providers, businesses and consumers would participate, with tests on payments in everyday situations and security controls. The objective is to verify that the digital euro, if it exists, can operate reliably and offer a simple experience for the user. Despite the progress, this does not mean that the digital euro is ready for launch or that it will replace paper money. The institution emphasizes that the cash will continue to exist and that the project requires legislative support before any final decision. Furthermore, it is neither a decentralized token nor an experiment to displace the banking sector. The proposed architecture, they assure, maintains banks as the main access and operation channel for citizens and businesses. Three points before starting. The digital euro roadmap is supported by three conditions: legislative progress, technical validation and the formal decision of the ECB later. The European Regulation will establish the rights, limits and obligations of the system, including the way in which financial institutions participate. In parallel, the architecture will be deployed in modules to adjust development as results are obtained. Nothing in this phase implies committing unlimited resources or guarantees the final emission. A project that still needs to convince. Initial support for the digital euro is not homogeneous across Europe. In Germany, a survey prepared for the Bundesbank In April 2024 it showed that half of citizens “could imagine using it” and that 41% already knew about the project. In Spain, a study by Monitor Deloitte In 2024, it indicated that 61% would not adopt it for now, largely due to lack of knowledge and satisfaction with current methods. At European level, a survey published by BEUC In 2025, it indicated that privacy is a priority for 81% of those surveyed, along with security and the absence of commissions as essential elements. From now on, progress will be as technical as it is political. As we say, the ECB wants to have the pieces ready for a pilot in 2027 and to consider a possible initial emission in 2029, provided that the European regulation is approved and tests confirm its viability. The process will be gradual and reviewable, and therein lies its importance: Europe is preparing for an option that could expand its autonomy in payments Images | ECB | omid armin In Xataka | The world seemed unprepared for the end of cash. The digital euro makes it clear that yes

The largest Primark store in Spain is a money-making machine. It is so profitable that even Amancio Ortega makes money with it

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The Primark flagship store on Madrid’s Gran Vía is not only a place to buy cheap clothes, but it has become a monument in the city, both for its size and for the historic building that houses it. The flagship store of the Irish clothing brand has just completed its tenth anniversary active and leaves us with some really interesting figures and data. One of the most curious facts is who he is. really your home. It’s almost a cosmic joke. A historical and popular monument. According to data Provided by the brand itself, the Primark store on Gran Vía has a total area of ​​12,500 square meters, making it the largest of the group in Spain and possibly one of the largest in the world. With more than five million visitors a year, it is one of the most visited commercial spaces in Spain and a key point of Madrid commerce. It is located in the Paris Building, an emblematic building designed in 1924, notable not only for its architecture, but for its artistic decoration, represented by its majestic imperial staircase and its impressive glass dome. On their roofs it rages an epic battle between figures from Greek mythology: Diana the Huntress observes from the building opposite the fight to the death between the Phoenix sent by Zeus to punish Endymion, Diana’s lover. He testimony of that fight It is reflected in the form of two lost arrows of Diana, which from the sidewalk welcome visitors at the main entrance of the store. This combination of history, architecture and grandeur makes the store an authentic “monument” on Madrid’s Gran Vía. Official data and operating figures. According to the study data carried out by the consulting firm AFI on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the storearound 1,000 people of 28 nationalities work there, generating 500 indirect jobs through suppliers and additional services. At an economic level, the store contributed 83 million euros in 2024 to the economy as a whole, of which 42 million euros corresponded to taxes and social contributions. To understand the economic dimension of this economic mastodon, it is enough to say that Primark’s enormous space contributes more than 10 million euros annually to the local Gross Domestic Product through its operations alone. The “unofficial data.” Jaime PlaCEO of SUOP, has started a series of videos in the TikTok profile of the teleco, which details data and figures of emblematic buildings such as the Bernabéu, the Madrid airport or, of course, the Primark megastore. Between data and estimates from the video that the businessman dedicates to this location, it is noted that the salaries of the employees who work in the store amount to approximately 2 million euros, while cleaning, security and insurance services represent a monthly expense of 100,000 euros. Added to this are 20,000 euros per month in electricity and water supplies. All this, together with the merchandise on display on its shelves adds up to an approximate cost of 11.7 million per month. The “cosmic joke”: rent. According to the data provided by Pla, among these monthly expenses, 1.8 million euros are allocated to pay the rent for the building. This point is especially striking because the building where the store is located is owned by Amancio Ortega. It is ironic that the founder from Inditex, is collecting rent of the most important store of its main rival in the sector of retail textile. Amancio Ortega, through Pontegadea, bought the Paris Building to Drago Real Estate Partners in 2015, just before the store opened to the public. It is not known exactly how much Pontegadea paid for him, but the starting price of the operation was 400 million euros. Pontegadea: the “premium” landlord. Amancio Ortega founded Pontegadea with the intention of turning into profitable investments the dividends that its founder receives each year for 59.294% of Inditex shares. with those billionaire annual dividendsPontegadea has become Amancio Ortega’s second empire Thanks to your strategic real estate investmentsOrtega has become in the home from companies like Amazon, Apple, Google, Spotify and, as if it were a cosmic joke, also from Primark, charging a millionaire rent to the main rival of the company that made him a millionaire. In Xataka | In his efforts to diversify investments, Amancio Ortega takes a new twist: becoming a port authority Image | Primark, GTRES

falsify expense notes and make money with them

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Artificial intelligence is becoming a real headache for the accounting departments of many companies, and not precisely because of the automation of tasks that it requires. can leave you without work. Now, the big threat comes from an unexpected source: the ease with which fake expense receipts can be generated thanks to the skills of generate images hyperrealistic with AI. AI at the service of fraud. Until recently, expense fraud was concentrated in already known areas: small traps in subsistence, transportation or purchase receipts that employees presented for reimbursement. However, as highlighted by a published article in it Financial Timesthe number of refund requests based on falsified receipts has increased dramatically in recent months. As detailed in the analysis From AppZen, since OpenAI launched ChatGPT and Google launched its Gemini with image generative AI, expense receipt fraud has increased by 14%. The problem is not that they have increased since then, but that they have improved their quality so much that each time it is more difficult to detect them. “These receipts have gotten so good that we tell our customers, ‘don’t trust your eyes,’” Chris Juneau, senior vice president and director of product marketing at SAP Concur, told Financial Times. Indistinguishable receipts. As they practically showed on the podcast The Accounting Podcastgenerating receipts for fraudulent expenses that can pass as authentic, is within anyone’s reach. It’s not even necessary be a paying user from ChatGPT or Gemini. With just a handful of commands entered with a natural language In ChatGPT, the ticket obtained would fit perfectly as one of the thousands of receipts for food or transportation expenses that companies process daily. AI to detect AI. It may seem that the problem of counterfeit tickets is a minor problem because they involve relatively small amounts. However, the average economic loss from false receipt fraud in the US is $133,000 on average, according to a survey prepared by Medius in 2024 to senior financial executives. The expansion of this type of financial fraud has reached the ears of OpenAI, one of the main generators of these receipts, has taken letters in the subject including metadata in your images to identify that it is AI-generated content. This has allowed fintech companies like Ramp to develop AI-based tools that analyze the metadata of this type of receipts to stop fraud. The fintech claimed that with this software it had detected false receipts worth one million dollars in just 90 days. The law is made, the trap is made. Faced with this movement to detect fraudulent receipts through metadata, “cheating” employees have also chosen to refine their techniques using more ingenuity: take a photo of the receipt generated by AI and attach it as a receipt, just as you would do as a real receipt. That way, the image no longer includes the AI ​​agent’s metadata, returning to square one. “It will be a continuous arms race. We just have to stay ahead,” he said. in statements to Bloomberg Karim Atiyeh, co-founder and CTO of Ramp. Spending patterns. In response to this new strategy, AI uses what it does best: analyze patterns. These expense receipt “verifier” agents take into account the context in which these receipts could have been generated if they were authentic (travel schedules, date coincidences, repetition of names, etc.). Based on this data, the system determines whether the receipt is false or not, without needing to verify the metadata. “Technology can analyze everything in such detail, so much so that humans, after a while, miss things; they are human,” he assured the Financial Times Calvin Lee, Senior Director of Product Management at Ramp In Xataka | 81% of interviewers suspected AI cheating in interviews: 31% confirmed it without a doubt and put a stop to it Image | Gemini

Anthropic is spending much more money than it brings in. The question is how long can it continue like this?

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How much does AI cost? That question can be answered by AWS, which has billed Anthropic a whopping $2.66 billion so far this year. The problem is twofold, because in that same period it is estimated that Anthropic has earned 2.55 billion dollars, so with that alone it has spent more than it earns. But Anthropic has many more expenses and the accounts, once again, do not work out in the AI ​​segment. Why is it important. The data revealed by Ed Zitron confirms the problem they face all AI startups: They spend (much) more than they earn, and that trend does not seem to be reversing. In fact, although these companies are growing in revenue, they are also growing proportionally in expenses. And the question, of course, is whether this pace is sustainable. The Anthropic case. According to Zitron data, in 2024 Anthropic earned between $400 and $600 million, but spent $1.35 billion on AWS, that is, 226% of its income. The trend appears to continue in 2025, because the share of spending on AWS is 104% of its revenue. It seems that things have improved, but that expense does not include what it costs Anthropic use Google Cloud infrastructureanother of its partners in all its operations. The expenditure on it is also likely to be enormous, which complicates the situation. The mystery of unexplained costs. The unaccounted cost gap is also enormous. In 2024 Anthropic’s total spending was estimated at 6.2 billion dollars. If we know that he spent $1.35 billion on AWS, there is $4.85 billion left that is not explained. That suggests that spending on Google Cloud and other operational costs is absolutely astronomical. In fact, computing costs may be much higher than we thought. Another startup desperate for investment. Meanwhile, Anthropic continues to raise capital. Zitron analysis reveals that between 2023 and 2025 achievement raise investment rounds for a total of 37.5 billion dollars (20,000 of them in 2025 alone). A good part of that money came precisely from the companies that provide infrastructure: Amazon and Google. Despite that funding, Anthropic appears as desperate as OpenAI to raise new rounds of investment. The company run by Dario Amodei recently resorted to money from Middle Eastern countries, for example. Spending continues to skyrocket. The study figures further reveal that Anthropic spends more the more time passes. In January 2024, it spent $52.9 million on AWS, but in December 2024 that amount rose to $176.1 million. In September 2025, it is estimated that spending on AWS was no less than $518.9 million: the escalation in costs is very notable. And he tightens the screws on Cursor. One of Anthropic’s most important clients is the startup vibe coding Cursor. This company has clearly been affected by that situation, and Cursor’s costs on AWS doubled from $6.19 million in May 2025 to $12.67 million in June. Just in those Anthropic months implement the so-called “Service Levels” with which it forced business customers to spend a minimum amount and pay higher rates for prompt caching, a special component designed for startups that use generative AI models for programming. What did Cursor do? Increase prices (and apologize for it) of your customer subscriptions. This can’t go on like this forever. For Zitron, always very critical of this reality of AI companies, the conclusion is clear: Anthropic’s costs are out of control. In fact, he argues that they increase practically linearly with respect to revenue, which makes their business model unsustainable. The only solution is to increase prices drastically (possibly 100%) to become profitable. The problem is that the market accepts paying twice as much at once for AI as it currently pays for. Image | Anthropic | Taylor Vick In Xataka | Anthropic says Claude Sonnet 4.5 can clone a service like Slack in 30 hours. The reality is more complicated

give you money to buy a house

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In a context in which the housing is one of the main actors of territorial inequality In Spain, some rural municipalities have decided to intervene by directly offering money to whoever is willing to move and buy. We are not facing a “return to the countryside”, but rather public programs with specific amounts designed to reverse decades of population loss and to reactivate areas where the demographic decline has already had visible consequences in services, economic activity and social structure. National panorama. It is estimated that more than 3,400 municipalities Spaniards have been at structural demographic risk for years. They occupy almost the entire interior territory, but they barely concentrate the 10% of the population. The cumulative output of inhabitants deteriorated schools, commerce and employment, which in turn accelerated emigration to large cities. That loop has been difficult to reverse with soft incentives. Hence, the novelty of the current moment is the leap to material incentives to try to generate real population movement in the opposite direction for the first time in decades. Urban crisis and opportunity. While the rental and purchase markets in capitals such as Madrid, Barcelona or Malaga have become directly prohibitive For average incomes, much of inland Spain has a inverse problem: abundance of empty houses, low demand and shrinking economic bases. Urban pressure and rural emptying are not separate phenomena, but rather two sides of the same territorial asymmetry. And that is where the logic of pay to move: displace population where there is idle capacity and alleviate, at least on the margin, the residential saturation of metropolitan areas. An idea that already we had seen beforenot only in Spain, also in Italy. The DIVA program. He DIVA plan in the north of Cáceres it is possibly the clearest and most quantified initiative. Offers up to 15,000 euros to people who move to the towns in the region and telework from there, yes, with a minimum registration obligation of 24 months (and 36 for full payment) and accredited continuity of remote work activity. The overall endowment amounts to 200 million and its stated goal is to attract about 200 new stable residents. It does not finance residential tourism or second homes: it requires effective permanence and sustained employment relationships over time. Castilla y León. Here the Board grants up to 2,000 euros to families who move to small municipalities and acquire housing there. The amount starts at 1,000 euros for units without children and goes up to 2,000. for families with minors. The aid is processed after registering and requires establishing residence effective in the municipality. The objective is to induce purchase and roots in localities that have been losing density for decades, reinforcing stable tenure as a mechanism of permanence. Valladolid. The Provincial Council guide the program to young people from 18 to 36 years old in towns with less than 20,000 inhabitants, with income limits of up to 33,600 euros per year. For purchase with a mortgage it covers up to 10 installments (maximum €4,000), and for rehabilitation it covers up to 80% of the technical fees also with a limit of €4,000. The design seeks to lower the initial financial entry barrier to rural property among profiles that, without incentive, would choose to remain in stressed metropolitan areas. Rioja. He Revive Plan grants between 20,000 and 40,000 euros to those who buy housing in municipalities with less than 5,000 inhabitants and occupy it as their habitual residence. The maximum amount is reserved for towns of up to 500 inhabitants where depopulation is more acute. The property cannot exceed 180,000 euros and it must be inhabited within a maximum period of time after the purchase, maintaining a minimum residence of five years. The incentive does not finance rotation: it requires roots measurable in time. Navarre. Navarre guide the help to those under 35 years of age who buy housing in towns with less than 5,000 inhabitants or in non-urban areas up to 20,000. The subsidy is calculated as a percentage of the price with limits per square meter, so that an 80 m² apartment below 153,827 euros can be partially subsidized. The final requirement is habitual residence. The program is not about subsidized rent, but rather about establishing ownership as a mechanism for demographic return. Conditions, intention and limits. All programs share or repeat two traits: They seek continuous residence, not opportunistic mobility, and subordinate the aid to documentary proof of real roots (registration, habitual use, periods of permanence and, in the case of Ambroz, effective teleworking). The design, as we said at the beginning, seeks to induce functional repopulationnot symbolic. Of course, its scope is limited in scale, but it represents a phase change: for the first time there is competition for population with direct incentives. In a country where the cities seem to be expelling the citizens for the cost, and the interior collapses due to vacuumpaying to move stops being an anecdote and becomes an instrument of territorial policy. Image | Diego Delso In Xataka | The pistachio has worked an unexpected wonder: generating thousands of jobs in the fields of Castilla-La Mancha In Xataka | In rural Salamanca someone has had an idea to revitalize the towns: give you the bar

“I told Musk not to donate his money, it would end up in organizations chosen by Bill Gates”

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Peter Thiel is one of the most influential and controversial names in the technology world, known both for his business success with projects such as PayPal or Palantir, and for his unconventional ideas. about education either religion. Recently, Thiel has generated a lot of debate after Reuters had access to recordings of a series of private conferences in which he warned Elon Musk about where his fortune could end up if he donated it to the wrong people. Peter Thiel and his influence in Silicon Valley. Peter Thiel is a key figure in Silicon Valley, being one of the founding members of the so-called “PayPal mafia“, a group of businessmen who revolutionized technology and currently accumulate great economic and political power. Their role as mentor and investment partner of other majors in the sector, like Mark Zuckerberghas allowed him to control venture capital funds that drive many decisive companies in the San Francisco Bay Area. One of the figures with whom Thiel has had a particularly complex relationship is Elon Musk, with whom he founded the company PayPal. In transcripts seen by Reuters of Thiel’s private talks, he explained how he warned Musk against donating his fortune to Bill Gates through The Giving Pledgean agreement by which millionaires agree to donate a large part of their assets to social causes. Thiel told his audience: “I told (Elon Musk) that his money would end up in the hands of organizations selected by Bill Gates.” In response to this message, the millionaire said that Musk responded: “What am I supposed to do, give it to my children? It would be worse to give it to Bill Gates,” is recorded in the leaked transcripts. Then Musk ruled out Gates. A few years ago, Bill Gates and Elon Musk held a series of meetings in which Gates proposed a series of impact investments in which the founder of Space X could be interested in investing philanthropically through the Gates Foundation. Within the framework of this approach, the founder and his son Rory They even visited the Tesla factory in Austin. However, when Musk’s donation commitment seemed to come to fruition, the South African millionaire suddenly changed his mind and he sent Gates away in bad waysblaming him for how incoherent that someone who claims to fight against climate change would have short positions (at losses) of a company like Tesla, which worked to reduce fossil fuels. From that moment, the relationship between Musk and Gates they have been like water and oil. Thiel’s story in which he advised Musk to distance himself from Gates, and the abrupt breakdown of philanthropic talks with the Microsoft founder could be related. The fear of global power and the figure of the “Antichrist”. According what was published by Guardianthe transcripts also revealed other concerns of Thiel, who in his workshops warned about the risk of the emergence of a figure of global power, which he figuratively called “Antichrist”, who could emerge from the dominance growing of artificial intelligence. According to Thiel, this entity, which represents a form of power, could be presented as a solution to face global crises such as the climate change or nuclear threatsbut in reality it would end up limiting individual freedoms and promoting a uniformity of thought. As and as pointed out Fortunethis concern is based on his personal interpretation of the biblical text and what he considers the danger of developing science without a solid ethical basiswhich could generate a global system that demands obedience in exchange for order and security. Technology will set you free. Peter Thiel argues that large technological fortunes should not be donated to charitable causes, but rather, in his words, “large technological fortunes should be used to protect human freedom” from the risk of a centralized global system that controls the flow of capital and innovation. The millionaire warns that, if governments and international institutions control investments and innovation, could curb creativity and human potential under the pretext of global security. The Twitter purchase on the part of Elon Musk, his involvement in the Trump campaign and his subsequent role in DOGEshow that Thiel’s words have influenced Musk to reconsider his commitments and think about how to protect the legacy of his fortune in the face of these concerns. In Xataka | Some millionaires didn’t like the ideology of universities, so they created their own university: an “Anti-Woke” Image | Flickr (Gage Skidmore, Statsministerens kontor)

Amazon kept losing money on its Echo devices. He has found a way to stop the bleeding: flood us with ads

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Amazon has been losing a fortune with their Amazon Echo devices. Connected speakers and displays are in millions of homes, but they have never been profitable. The company’s hope was that they would become a vehicle to sell more products on its e-commerce platform, but that goal was never met. Now Amazon has found a way to get a lot out of them: to put advertising in them for good. Lots of advertising. Why is it important. Amazon has just launched on the market your new Echo Show and Eco Dot. Prices have risen in all cases, but they also arrive with Alexa+ —although not in Spain at the moment—, the AI ​​assistant that the company has been working on for several months. These products are supposed to offer important advantages in the user experience, but at the moment what is happening is that these devices are displaying advertisements frequently. Wasted. Between 2017 and 2021 Amazon lost more than $25 billion with its Amazon Echo. The idea seemed good: they could sell them at a loss if they later amortized them by converting them into products to sell us things. Instead, users ended up taking advantage of them for little more than setting timers and musicand that has ended up being a huge problem for Amazon. Ads everywhere. There are several users of Amazon’s connected screens—the Echo Show—who are seeing surprise ads appear on these screens. a user Reddit account how the alarm clock feature on your Echo Show 5 became an annoying ad. Other user checked that in addition to one advertisement, songs that he had not specified were playing, while another he complained about how his Echo Show kept advertising the Amazon Plus service. Ads now appear more frequently on Prime Video. Source: Xataka. Flooded with advertising. These screens don’t stop showing ads, match other users, but in addition none of those users accepted that their devices could be used to display advertising, and there is no switch or configuration parameter that stops this behavior. Even people who are paying $20 for Alexa+, Amazon’s new AI assistant, are complaining from all that advertising avalanche. Also on Prime Video. Personally, I don’t have an Echo Show, but I have noticed that when enjoying series and movies on Prime Video, advertisements are broadcast with greater frequency and duration. I am not he only (not much less). Amazon allows customize preferences regarding advertising, but those who have done it affirm that this does not hardly reduce the frequency with which advertisements appear. What Amazon says. An Amazon spokesperson stated the following: at Ars Technica: “Advertising is a small part of the experience and helps customers discover new content and products they may be interested in. If customers don’t like a suggestion, they can swipe to the next card on the screen or directly provide feedback by tapping the info icon or tapping the screen.” If you move away, I announce to the song. The Amazon Ads website details the ad formats, and the text explains that “The ad viewing experience dynamically adapts based on the customer’s proximity to the device.” Once it is detected that the user is more than 1.2 meters away from their device, “the ads are displayed in full screen alternating with other content, such as the weather, recipes, sports and news.” This seems to be getting worse. The latest comments seen on Reddit or on X (formerly Twitter) seem to make it clear that Amazon is increasing the amount of advertising it displays on its devices and services. The question, of course, is how far they will go… and how that will impact both sales of their devices and subscriptions to their platforms. In Xataka | Amazon missed the AI ​​train, but it wants to catch it back. The new Alexa with AI will arrive this month to try it

Ten banking giants are going after stablecoins. They are trying not to miss the digital money train

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A consortium of ten of the world’s largest banks, including Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, UBS, Santander and BNP Paribas, have announced that they are exploring creating their own stablecoins, according to Reuters. Why is it important. It is the first time that a consortium of this magnitude has officially reacted to the threat posed by stablecoins (stablecoins) for your business. What has happened. The consortium has made this announcement regarding this development. They would be digital assets anchored 1:1 to the main G7 currencies (dollar, euro, pound, etc.) and, key, they would work on public blockchains, the same technology used by the crypto world. The advertisement seeks to stand up to the absolute dominance of Tethera single company that currently manages a volume of 179 billion dollars outside the traditional banking system. The small print. This movement does not come so much in a context of innovation as in a crisis management room: The money that Tether moves is money that escapes the control and commissions of the SWIFT system. The bank is not creating something new, it is trying to build its own version of something that already exists, works on a large scale and is taking over their ground. The great contradiction is that, to compete, they must use a technology (blockchain) designed explicitly to eliminate intermediaries. The business model of a bank is, precisely, to be that intermediary. They are forcibly adopting the foundations of technology that threatens to erode an increasing part of their business. And now whatand. The ball is now in the court of governments and central banks. For a regulator, a stablecoin issued by a private bank continues to be a threat to monetary sovereignty. This movement only serves to hurry them up in the development of their own digital currencies (the famous CBDC). A CBDC controlled by the European Central Bank or the Federal Reserve could, in the long term, render obsolete both stablecoins of Tether as those now proposed by banks. The banking consortium, in its attempt not to be left behind, may have only managed to accelerate the arrival of a much more powerful competitor: the State itself. In Xataka | It is not bitcoin or Ethereum: Tether is the stablecoin that has turned its creators into emperors of finance Featured image | Alicja Ziajowska

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