pay Archives - Page 2 of 12

pay the same to women

June 19, 2026 by usatoday24

Japan faces a unprecedented challenge. On the one hand, the labor shortage has forced companies to rethink their labor policies if they want to take advantage of the economic boom period what the future poses to them. On the other hand, its low birth rate collides head-on with the problem of labor shortage, since they would have to do without (at least temporarily) the female half of their workforce. Quite a dilemma. The complicated demographic situation has forced Japanese companies to consider a measure unprecedented in the last two decades: equalizing salaries between men and women. Two birds with one stone. While diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies have been reversed or limited in the US, Japan has chosen to take the opposite path and equalize salaries between men and women to attract female talent and encourage their professional careers. In addition to the practical point of view of attracting a skilled workforce that is in short supply, this change also responds to other economic reasons. Japan is hoarding a good part of the investments with environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria that are leaving the US after Trump’s arrival at the White House. For both reasons, Japanese financial firms such as the insurer Nippon Life Insurance or the bank MUFG have eliminated administrative professional categories Mostly occupied by womenin which between 39% and 50% of a male salary was earned. Two decades of wage discrimination. For the past twenty years, Japanese women have been paid less than men for doing the same job. According to data from the Ministry of HealthLabor and Social Welfare of 2026, on average women earned only 75.8% of men’s salaries in 2024. In prefectures like Tochigi, the gap is even greater, with women barely seeing the 70% of male salary. To put it in context, the wage gap between men and women in OECD countries was located around 11%, while data from 2023 suggest that in Japan this gap had grown from 21.3% to 22%. This discrimination has deep roots in the Japanese labor system. Traditionally, companies offered men lifelong jobs with promotions and pay increases tied to their seniority. Women, upon becoming mothers, were pushed into temporary or part-time jobs, with lower incomes and few opportunities for advancement. This phenomenon, known as the “L-curve,” reflects the sharp drop in participation and women’s salaries after motherhood, making it difficult for them to return to positions of responsibility in companies. Without labor. Japan suffers from a severe labor shortage. a study of the Recruit Works Institute, estimates a shortage of 11 million workers in 2040. The aging of the population and the decrease in the birth rate have reduced the available workforce, and forecasts suggest that the labor supply will decrease from 65.87 million workers in 2022 to 57.67 million in 2040, making it essential harness female potential to maintain productivity and economic growth. This has forced Japanese companies to reconsider your labor policies to attract more women, offering them the same salary as men to encourage their return to the labor market after motherhood, and resume their professional careers, also offering equality in promotions and rewards for seniority. More than salary: family conciliation. Women have a very marked role in Japanese culture with respect to child care. The official studies They point out that equalizing salaries is not enough to attract and retain female workers. Japanese companies have begun to offer work conciliation measuresas reduced hours and teleworking optionsso that women can take care of their children without giving up your professional career. In cities like Tokyo, shorter work days have been implemented and the four day work week for its employees, with the aim of encouraging births and facilitating family conciliation. Salary equalization can favor the adoption of these measures in other regions of the country, allowing more women to access stable jobs without sacrificing their family life. A version of this article was published in April 2025. In Xataka | Construction has been left without generational change: they have discovered that no one is a bricklayer by vocation Image | Unsplash (EMANUELE Ricciardi)

you will have to pay more to enjoy the best places

June 18, 2026 by usatoday24

When entering the Cinesa website to buy a ticket at some of its cinemas, which are included in this pilot experience, the seat selection process has changed. A notice appears warning that the prices of the seats will be variable depending on their position and the seat map shows areas with different colors, each with a different price. Same screen, same sound and same movie, but the price changes depending on where you sit. Cinesa test. The leading cinema chain in Spain, with 35 complexes and more than 400 rooms throughout the countryhas launched a pilot test in three complexes: Nassica (Madrid), Salera (Castellón) and Parque Principado (Asturias). The first rows and the sides have a lower price than usual, while the central area, which has the best visibility, carries a supplement. The advance notice warns: “We are testing a new system that allows you to choose where you want to sit based on the price that best suits you.” Prices in Nassica, For example, They range from 8.40 euros for the areas closest to the screen to the standard price, ending with a supplement for the central seats, with the VIP seats (a category that already exists before the pilot) being the most expensive. The pilot is neither indefinite nor generalized, and Cinesa’s own notice warns that the company is testing the response before making any decision about its extension. Currently, Cinesa has 35 multiplexes throughout the country. They already tried. Cinesa belongs to Odeon Cinemas Group, the largest exhibitor in Europe, with a presence in nine countries. And Odeon, since 2016, has been owned by AMC Theatres, the largest cinema chain in the world. In February 2023, AMC launched Sightline at AMC: a pricing system by seat location with three levels: the first rows and seats for people with disabilities were renamed Value Sightline, with a reduced price. The center seats became Preferred Sightline, with a supplement. The rest, Standard Sightline, maintained the usual price. The show premiered in three markets (New York, Chicago and Kansas City) with the intention of extending it to all AMC locations in the United States before the end of the year. Five months later, AMC canceled the show. The conclusions after analyzing the data were that three out of four spectators who previously chose the central area continued to choose it with the supplement, but lowering the price of the first rows had not increased their occupancy. Essentially, people were still sitting in the same places. Cinesa Airlines. There is a lot of reading comparison of this action of Cinesa with the airlines’ pricing policy, but it is not entirely accurate. On a flight, the difference between seats has a series of very clear additions: legroom, priority boarding… In a cinema, the difference is minimal and the different rates have been decided practically arbitrarily. The differentiation makes more sense in the theater or at a concert, where the different location can lead to considerable differences in the sound or what you see on stage, but this is not the case. The Cinesa case. Cinesa already has a differentiated pricing architecture depending on the quality of the seat or the type of experience thanks to the iSense, IMAX, ScreenX, chair-bedsPlus reclining seats and VIP seats. However, and although it is logical that the next step is to segment the rooms themselves, the reaction on social networks to the announcement has been mostly negative. At the moment, Cinesa has not responded to the questions we have sent them about this decision, so it is not clear whether the strategy it is pursuing is to earn more with the increase in the price of the central seats or to attract more audiences with the discount on the front and side seats. The door is open for competitors like Yelmo to follow in their footsteps. AMC in the US, precisely, stopped the experiment of these tiered prices because its competition kept them fixed, and the company judged that at the image level these fractional prices could be harmful. The key will be to check whether the Spanish public values the location of the space or the savings for their pocket more. In Xataka | There are two reasons why Generation Z is returning to the movies: subscriptions and moving away from mobile phones

pay them extra to return to the office

June 12, 2026 by usatoday24

One of the advantages offered work in Administration public was that, if the position allowed it, the teleworking option was enabled. However, that is about to change for all those officials who depend on the Generalitat of Catalonia. The Government does not prohibit teleworking, but it has put some measures on the negotiating table to discourage civil servants from requesting it. To achieve this, he is even willing to pay them a salary supplement between 90 and 200 euros for those who give up remote work. The battle began a year and a half ago. In January 2025, the Government eliminated teleworking for his senior officials. The measure affected about 500 officials directly: general directors, general secretaries and similar positions. The Ministry of the Presidency, led by Albert Dalmau, argument that such positions require “effective and constant presence” to ensure effective supervision. The reaction from officials It didn’t take long to wait. More than 200 senior officials signed a manifesto in which they described the measure as a “19th century model.” That episode was only the first step of something broader. Now this measure is extended to the rest of the workforce of around 14,900 Catalan administration officials who currently have permission to telework. What exactly does the Government propose?. The Generalitat has put on the table the so-called “immediate operational assistance complement.” This is a supplement of between 90 and 200 euros per month that will be incorporated as a salary extra for those who voluntarily give up the teleworking days recognized in their position. The Catalan administration points out that the decision to take advantage of this supplement is completely voluntary and not an obligation. But monthly payroll changes depending on what you choose. The exact details about the final amount, who will be able to collect it and whether the officials whose teleworking was revoked would also receive it, are points that are still are being negotiated at the Public Service Board. The price of teleworking. The next meeting of the Public Service Board is scheduled for July 1. And everything indicates that the agreement, if it arrives, would not come into force before January 2027. In any case, with this measure a price has been put on teleworking in public administration. This represents an important change in the regulations that regulate remote work in the civil service since, until now, the general rule in the Spanish public service says that teleworking is neutral from an economic point of view: they neither pay you more for doing it nor do they deduct anything for not doing it, as stated in the article 47 bis 3 of the Basic Statute of Public Employees: “Personnel who provide their services through teleworking will have the same duties and rights.” However, with this complement, the Generalitat would give economic value to presence and opting for the office represents a salary improvement that those who opt for teleworking do not have, maintaining the same obligations. Moncloa pushes the opposite. What makes the Catalan bet more striking is that it goes against the current of the central Administration’s bet, which precisely bets for more teleworking. According to data from the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Service published by Digital Economy52.4% of employees of the General State Administration work remotely at least once a week, with more than 93,600 officials in hybrid mode. This percentage comes in full implementation of the day of 35 hours per week for civil servants. Catalonia is also negotiating the reduction of the working day to 35 hours, starting from the current 37.5. But the Government has linked this reduction in hours to the reduction in teleworking. The unions, divided. The measure has not been well received by the different union platforms. The IAC-CATAC, the center with the most delegates, is positioned “radically against.” UGT and CCOO, despite remaining against the measure, are more open to negotiating the conditions. From CCOO they assured that “we understand that this supplement should apply to everyone who works in person all day” and not only to those who expressly renounce teleworking, to avoid a remuneration offence. In Xataka | Companies have put an end to teleworking, but employees are making a move: the key is schedule flexibility Image | Pexels (Miguel Saddi Vitorino), Unsplash (Major Tom Agency)

Argentina wants to get rid of parents who do not pay their children’s pensions. So he kicked them out of the football stadiums

June 4, 2026 by usatoday24

To enjoy a soccer match in an Argentine stadium it will no longer be enough to have a ticket. From now on, fans must comply another extra requirementequally or even more important: being up to date with your children’s pensions. In an attempt to hit where it hurts most, the football heart of the nation that gave birth to Maradona, Messi or Di Estéfano, the authorities have activated a system that prohibits access to the fields to parents who ignore the costs of feeding their children. The Government has 13,000 people in its sights, defaulters whom it just got complicated for them also the USA World Cup. “They don’t enter the fields anymore”. The phrase is from Alejandra Monteoliva, Minister of National Security, who recently announced, via Xthe decision to close the stadium doors to those who are not up to date with their pensions. “Delinquent food debtors no longer enter the fields. Starting today, together with the Government of the City of Buenos Aires, we incorporate debtors into the Safe Tribune program. And they will no longer be able to go in to watch a soccer game,” explains Monteoliva before underlining the basic idea: “He who does not comply with his children, off the courts.” Is it something new? Yes. And no. ‘Safe Tribunes’ It is not a new program. Carry years applying in Argentina and its objective is to reinforce access control to sports events, although until now the focus has been focused mainly on violent fans, accused, convicted or with arrest warrants. It is basically dedicated to checking the documentation of those who go to the camps to check their history or even if they are carrying drugs or knives. For a while now some jurisdictions of the country, as Buenos Airesalso decided to veto sporting events for those who do not comply with the alimony of their minor children. As a reference, the Buenos Aires authorities they assure that since March 2025, 173 controls have been carried out that have made it possible to identify 150 “delinquent food debtors”, fans who were prevented from accessing stadiums or concerts. “So far in 2026 alone, 84 have already been carried out with 75 offenders.” What’s new then? That Argentina has decided to go one step further, combining and reinforcing both initiatives: ‘Safe Grandstands’ and restrictions on access to stadiums for parents with debts. For this, the Ministry of National Security and the Government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Años have signed an agreement that “marks a qualitative leap” in field controls throughout the country. The key is in the exchange of information, which will allow thousands of new names to be included in the ‘Safe Tribune’ red list. To be more exact, we talk about 13,000 people, “delinquent obligors” registered in Buenos Aires and 13 other provinces spread across the country, such as Chaco, Entre Ríos, Formosa, Tierra de Fuego, Santa Cruz or Tucumán. From now on all of them will have a difficult time when they want to watch games in the stadiums, at least as long as they do not catch up with the food pensions they owe. Click on the image to go to the tweet. “Consequences”. Alejandra Monteoliva has not been the only one to insist on the advantages of the system. Something similar has been done, too. via Xthe head of Government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Jorge Macri: “In the city a year ago we prohibited the entry of food debtors to stadiums and mass shows. Now, in joint work with the Government, we added our database to the Safe Tribune program to reinforce these controls throughout the country. Anyone who does not comply with an obligation as basic as feeding their children must have consequences.” Where it hurts the most. In his message, dated May 26, Macri left bouncing another fundamental idea: access controls with the debtor registry in hand will not only be done in the country’s stadiums; The idea is that they will also be applied during the World Cup. Milei’s team has sent a list to the US with more than 30,000 Argentine fans who have restricted access to the World Cup stadiums, which will start in a week in Mexico. And these include, confirms Monteolivathe 13,000 delinquent parents. It is not just another announcement or a declaration of intent. The new restrictions in Argentine stadiums have become official already in the Official Gazette and the Executive has also published a resolution (444/2026) announcing the sending to the US Embassy of information on people with restrictions to access sporting events. The measure is adopted based on the cooperation agreements signed between both Governments and its list would include the “alimony debtors”. Some sources they assure that the veto will extend to Canada and Mexico, the other hosts of the FIFA Cup. Is the problem so serious? In case the 13,000 registered in the system do not give a clue, in 2024 Unicef provided another even more emphatic one: that year it published a report in which it warned that 56% of mothers living in Argentina do not receive child support when the father does not reside in the home, a percentage that rises to 68% if we include mothers who do not receive it regularly. Field access restrictions will only apply when there is a judicial or administrative resolution that demonstrates non-payment and the affected person appears in the official registry of defaulters. Images | Jimmy Baikovicius (Flickr) and Wikipedia In Xataka | The World Cup in the USA is making merit to be the most expensive in history: tickets are already reselling for 2.3 million dollars

It’s the billions of cigarettes a year that pay for everything else.

May 29, 2026 by usatoday24

In the midst of Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign in 2013, the Chinese Government came to officially ban that at banquets and public events of officials there would be cigarettes on the table. The detail seemed symbolic, but it reflected the extent to which tobacco was embedded in the political and economic culture of the country. The silent business that sustains too much. When talking about the Chinese economy, the conversation usually revolves around of electric cars, solar panels, batteries either rare earth. However, one of the most important financial pillars of the Chinese State remains much older, less glamorous and much more profitable: tobacco. I counted this week the new york times that China consumes about half of all cigarettes on the planet and sells about 2.4 billion units a year, a figure so gigantic that it turns the country into a global anomaly. While much of the world reduces tobacco consumption, China has gone in the opposite direction. And it is not just a cultural or health issue. Behind it there is an immense economic and political machinery: the state tobacco monopoly generates around 244 billion dollars annually in benefits and taxes, an amount equivalent to about 7% of all Chinese central government revenue and comparable to the country’s official defense budget. The personal contradiction of the “boss”. The paradox is even more striking because Xi Jinping stopped smoking years ago and, according to reported the Timesto people present in private conversations, went so far as to describe smoking as a serious problem for China. Plus: during his first years in power there seemed to be a certain political will to tighten restrictions, even banned smoking for officials during official events and Beijing adopted limitations in indoor spaces, in addition, in 2015 taxes on tobacco were raised. Even Peng Liyuan, the Chinese first lady, publicly participated in anti-smoking campaigns with Bill Gates. But the momentum quickly faded. The reason seems obvious: the Chinese State depends too much of cigarette money. The same government that promotes futuristic industries and constantly talks about technological modernization continue financing part of its stability thanks to millions of people smoking cheap three-dollar packs. The most powerful monopoly in the country. The heart of the entire system is the State Tobacco Monopoly Administrationan extraordinary structure even by Chinese standards because it regulates the sector and at the same time controls the dominant company that makes virtually all of the country’s cigarettes. That is, the regulator and the business are the same thing. Its economic power has translated into direct political influence. The heads of the organization have a rank equivalent to that of vice minister and several Chinese academic investigations have openly pointed out that the monopoly has blocked or diluted many important health initiatives. The clearest example came around 2017, when an attempt was stopped to implement a national ban on indoor smoking and moved the responsibility to local governmentswhere restrictions are usually weak or barely applied. Financing much more than tobacco. The most revealing thing is that tobacco money is no longer just supports local budgetsbut also some of the great strategic priorities by Xi Jinping. The monopoly has invested more than 1 billion of dollars to strengthen the Chinese financial system and has also participated in the giant national semiconductor fund valued in about 100,000 million. In practice, part of China’s commitment to chips, high technology and industrial independence is being financed thanks to smokers. In producing provinces like Yunnan, tobacco taxes represent more than half of the municipal budget. That explains why so many local governments resist even to moderate measures against smoking: restricting consumption means opening huge holes in finances already weakened by the real estate crisis and the economic slowdown. The great world exception. The Chinese case also breaks several global trends. While in many countries vaping has reduced part of traditional consumption, in China the State hardened quickly regulations on electronic cigarettes and limited flavors and points of sale, preventing them from eroding too much of the classic business. There are also no aggressive health warnings like in the West: Chinese packages still show national symbols and discreet messages instead of shocking images about diseases. Although the smoking rate has dropped slightly Because fewer young people are getting into the habit, the total sales volume continues to grow. Partly because China still has hundreds of millions of smokers and partly because tobacco also functions as a social valve in a context of growing economic pressure. A battle that you don’t want to win at all. The result is a deeply contradictory situation. China officially recognizes that tobacco It is a health problem gigantic and maintains public objectives to reduce the number of smokers, but at the same time financially dependent that millions of people continue to buy cigarettes every day. The Chinese political system itself has created a perverse incentive where really combating smoking would involve hitting a fundamental source of income for local governments, banks, strategic investments and even part of the national technological project. That is why China’s big hidden business is not only in the battery factories or rare earths that dominate international headlines. It is also in a state monopoly that sells almost half of cigarettes on the planet and whose revenue helps support much of everything else. Image | SoQ錫濛譙, Steve Evans In Xataka | It’s never too late to quit smoking: the lungs have an incredible capacity to regenerate In Xataka | Fertility rates have plummeted around the world. There is an unnoticed suspect: tobacco

Get ready to pay 30% more on your bill this summer

May 28, 2026 by usatoday24

Spain has come to pay for consuming energy, marking a historic milestone of -10 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) on any given Sunday. Red Eléctrica data shows days where photovoltaic solar energy reaches more than 63% of the generation at times of maximum radiation, which is an undeniable success for our electrical system. And yet, this summer the electricity bill It will be almost 30% more expensive than last year. To understand how both things can be true at the same time, you have to understand what happens between the solar panel and your bill. The 41% you see and the 59% you don’t see. You look at the market price and think you understand your bill. You don’t understand her. That price—the one making the headlines, the one that hit negative numbers on Sunday—represents 41% of what you pay. The rest is a whole edifice of tolls, system charges and taxes that doesn’t appear on any headline but does appear on your bill each month. And here comes the most ironic trap of this entire story. The massive deployment of wind and solar achieved something that seemed impossible five years ago: moderating national inflation to 3.2%. An indisputable macroeconomic victory. However, that victory had a side effect that no one celebrated since by not exceeding the legal limit for price increases, the “deactivation clause” of the Government’s anti-crisis decree was automatically activated. The renewable shield worked so well that it disabled its own aids. From June 1, VAT on electricity and gas returns to 21%. During the day, renewable. At night, gas. And always, the invoice. During the day, Spain operates with almost free energy: an average at noon of just 1.65 euros per megawatt hour. The sun covers 67% of the demand for six hours in a row. The electrical system, in those hours, is an extraordinary machine. But as night falls, the story suddenly changes. Water covers only 21% of the demand. The wind, barely 13%. As Antonio Aceituno points outenergy market analyst at Tempos Energía, electricity at night costs 57% more than at midday. This is when the gas and coal plants have to be turned on again. And that nighttime lighting is what sets the tone for your receipt. With the arrival of summer, the equation worsens on all fronts. High temperatures reduce the efficiency of solar panels. Air conditioning triggers demand. The hydraulic shield gives way. And the geopolitical panorama is tightening from the outside: despite the pre-peace agreement between the United States and Iran to unblock the Strait of Hormuz, gas travels by ship and those LNG tankers They will not arrive in Europe before August. With European storage stagnant at 37%, Tempos Energía predicts that electricity in the third quarter moves between 82 and 86 euros per megawatt hour. If the pact fails, above 90. 35% more expensive than the previous summer. The market that moves 7% in one afternoon without anything happening. Behind the price of electricity there is another layer that almost no one explains: the European gas market – reference TTF – works, in practice, like a casino. As energy expert Joaquín Coronado describesis a machine designed to transfer volatility to the end consumer. In a single recent session, the index moved more than 7% intraday without any real event to justify it. Only speculation of financial funds. And here comes the paradox that Coronado points out precisely: more than 75% of the energy negotiated in Spain already goes through bilateral contracts, at an agreed price, outside the speculative market. Three out of every four megawatts, shielded. But that remaining 25%—the one that is played every day in the marginalist market—is what sets the price of your entire bill. The minority rules over the majority. Added to this is a dysfunction that comes from the factory in the system design: Spanish demand is inelastic. When electricity shows ridiculous prices at midday, consumers do not react by consuming more to take advantage of the bargain—because they have no real incentives to do so, no smart meters that facilitate it, nor rates that reward it in real time. By not absorbing this excess of cheap energy, agents from France and Portugal end up buying it to export it. And that export, due to the dynamics of European coupling, drags our prices up. We give away the energy and they return the European price to us. Incomplete success. Spain has achieved an indisputable structural feat. We have become a European pioneer by decoupling, for much of the day, our electrical system from the worst international whims of gas, gaining valuable energy independence. However, the transition does not end with installing solar panels. As long as the sector continues to be immersed in internal wars blaming each other, as long as the grid lacks a massive battery system to store megawatts at zero cost and as long as the tax structure continues to suffocate the family bill, cheap electricity will continue to be a mirage on the screens of the financial markets. We generate almost free light at midday, yes, but the labyrinth that that energy runs through until you turn on the plug in your house we will continue to pay at the European luxury price. Image | Unsplash 1 and 2 Xataka | Resolving Spain’s strange paradox: if we generate cheaper energy than ever, why doesn’t the bill go down as much?

From today you can pay with Bizum in stores, this is how it works

May 18, 2026 by usatoday24

Let’s tell you How Bizum payments work in stores physical. This is the long-awaited function with which the Spanish application begins to compete with the American Visa, Mastercard, Apple or Google to take over our mobile payments. The deployment of this function will be progressiveand it will be each banking entity that will decide when to implement it. So, the technology already works as of now, but since Bizum is implemented directly in your bank’s app, it will be up to you when to add the touch payments feature. How this feature works This new function is used to pay with Bizum at the establishments’ dataphones. Businesses will not have to change their POS terminals, since the financial institutions themselves will be the ones to enable this new function in the terminals they already have. All this so that the implementation of this function is quick and easy. Currently, when you pay with your mobile phone in a store, you open your wallet application, choose the card and bring your mobile phone closer to the POS. The NFC chip in your mobile phone and the dataphone establishes the link between them and that’s it, you’ve paid. Now, You can do this from your bank’s app without having to configure the mobile wallet app. In addition to this, An app called Bizum Pay is also going to start arrivingwhich will be like a Bizum wallet application with which to make the payment easier, just as if you did it with Google Pay or Apple Pay, and without having to enter your bank app. The Bizum system will have the same security guarantees as the rest of the mobile payment options. You’ll have to unlock your device to pay, so it’s safer than paying with a card that others can use. Bizum currently has 39 participating banking entitiesamong them the most important banks in Spain, but also many neobanks. Therefore, if you are going to pay for your mobile phone, you can do so with this Spanish alternative instead of resorting to the American ones. The way it works will be exactly the same. When can you pay with Bizum in a business When your bank wants. This is the quick answer. From now on, it will be up to each bank to implement this technology in their mobile applications for customers and in the POS terminals of businesses. Each bank will have its own rhythm, that is, it will arrive progressively. In any case, you will have to pay attention to notifications from your bank’s appthe one you already use to send money with Bizum, because that will be when you will be told when you can start using this. In Xataka Basics | Bizum in 2026: everything that changes (and what does not) in transfers with this system

one where Google, Amazon and Microsoft pay a toll so that we all have internet

May 18, 2026 by usatoday24

In March 2024, several countries in East Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia began experiencing strange internet outages and massive slowdowns in digital services. The origin was not in a cyber attack or an electrical blackout, it was on a ship reached during an attack in the Red Sea that had accidentally dragged its anchor onto the seabed and damaged several undersea cables essential for global communications. Iran’s plan B. For decades, the Strait of Hormuz was seen as the great bottleneck energy of the planet, the route through which much of the world’s oil circulates. It happens that the war with the United States and Israel has made Iran discover something much more important: the Internet also circulates under those waters. As? Apparently, CNN told that Tehran has understood that the submarine cables that connect Europe, Asia and the Gulf are an infrastructure as strategic as oil tankers, and it wants to convert that geographical position into a new source of power. The idea that begins to emerge in Iranian discourse is very clear: if the world needs to pass data under Hormuz, large technology companies such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft or Meta should accept some kind of tolllicense or submission to Iranian rules. In other words, Hormuz would no longer be just a lever about global energybut also about the digital economy. The invisible cables. The great Iranian strategic discovery is born from an inconspicuous reality: almost all global traffic data depends on physical cables laid on the seabed. Banking payments, cloud services, military communications, streaming platforms, stock market operations and much of the artificial intelligence infrastructure pass through them. Some of these cables cross areas near Iranian waters, especially in the Persian Gulf. Although many of the international routes were designed to directly avoid Iranian territory, Tehran understands that proximity is enough to put pressure. The regime has understood that interrupting or threatening these corridors could generate enormous economic and psychological damage, even without firing a missile. The threat of submarine warfare. At this point it should be noted that Iran has not promised to sabotage cables directly, but it has launched deliberately ambiguous messages about possible interruptions or damages. Precisely this ambiguity is part of the strategy. The country has underwater drones, mini-submarines and capable naval forces to operate in the Gulfwhile its regional allies have already accidentally demonstrated in the Red Sea the enormous impact that a simple underwater incident. The real Western fear is not, therefore, a total internet blackout, but rather a chain of disruptions: financial delays, problems in data centers, degradation of business networks or difficulties in repairing critical infrastructure in the middle of a military crisis. In a world completely dependent on data, touching these cables means little less than touching the global economy. The inspiration of the Suez Canal. Tehran clearly looks to the Suez Canal as a model. Egypt has been monetizing for decades its strategic position by charging tolls and taking advantage of the passage of submarine cables between Europe and Asia. Iran wants to partially replicate that logic, although applied to a much more hostile and militarized environment. In fact, the media linked to the Revolutionary Guard they already talk about compulsory licenses, passage fees and exclusive rights for Iranian companies in charge of maintenance. Legally the scenario is complex and many operators will probably ignore the threats while US sanctions are in place, but the simple fact that Iran is openly raising this idea demonstrates how it has changed his strategic vision on Hormuz. The new discovered power. In short, and as we have already seen with crude oil, what is truly important is not whether Iran will one day manage to collect money from the big Western technology companies, but rather that it has discovered a new form of pressure global. For years, Tehran believed that its greatest weapon it was oil. Now you have understood that the world depends even more on invisible data flows that happen under the sea. That is possibly the great geopolitical transformation that Hormuz is currently revealing: a classic maritime strait is also becoming a critical point for the global digital economy. And that means that future international tensions will no longer revolve solely around the control of energy, that too, but also the control of the infrastructure that supports nothing more and nothing less than the internet. Image | Nara, Wikimedia, Collinpetty In Xataka | The war in Iran is doing something that not even Ryanair imagined: making 20 euro flights a relic of the past In Xataka | Dubai has come to the same conclusion as Russia. To protect your oil from drones there is something better than missiles: giant cages

“In five years, robots and AI will have to pay taxes for the middle and lower class”

May 12, 2026 by usatoday24

They say that the devil knows more because he is old than because he is a devil. Therefore, when it comes to have a vision of the future In the technological field, few voices have the weight of Bill Gates. After all, he was one of the avant-garde protagonists of the revolution that brought about the arrival of the personal computer into our lives. The co-founder of Microsoft gave an interview to the middle Australian Financial Review in which he presented his vision on the impact of AI on employment and warns of something that is already being debated in some political and technological circles: whether AI and robotics are going to reduce the need for laborHow will the subsistence of those who lose their jobs be guaranteed? Taxation of the future: robots that pay taxes. The millionaire exposes a concern that other technological billionaires like elon musk or Sam Altman have already expressed on numerous occasions. As Gates explained in his interview, the arrival of AI and robotics to industrial production will have a direct impact on millions of middle and lower class workers who you may lose your job without the option to return to one of the newly created jobs that are expected to replace current jobs. As Gates explained, “We have not yet reached the point where it is necessary to completely change tax structures, but we may do so within five years.” The businessman suggests that the solution could be to “shift the tax burden from labor, at least from medium or low-income workers, to capital, or specifically to the taxation of robots or artificial intelligence.” The millionaire’s proposal is that, if a robot or an algorithm occupies the position of a personthat machine should contribute financially, also replacing the employee in his tax obligations. Gates does not ask that innovation be stopped, but rather that the benefits of automation not remain solely in the hands of those who own the technology, but that the benefit of this advance be distributed to society as a whole. The debate, he insists, must occur now, before the displacement of workers is irreversible. On the verge of an inevitable transformation. The Microsoft founder acknowledges that the current focus is on the productivity offered by AI and robots, but points out that his real concern is how governments are going to manage the displacement of human workers from their jobs. It is not a question of if it will happen (something the millionaire takes for granted), but of when and with what speed. The International Monetary Fund has already warned that up to 40% of global jobs have some degree of exposure to AI, with a special impact on middle-class workers and administrative positions, much more susceptible to automation with AI. Gates argues that governments must begin to design fiscal policies adapted to an economy where a growing percentage of the work will not be done by a contributing employee, but will fall to automated systems. Most AI companies will fail. In his speech, the technology millionaire also left room to analyze the current scenario of technology companies participating in the AI race, and he does so with a serious warning: “If you chose the right company, like Microsoft, Google or Apple, you will have done very well. But most AI companies will fail. It is difficult for a non-technical investor to distinguish which ones will prosper.” The businessman advises not to get carried away inflated valuations and bet on established names. The notice comes at a time of massive investment in AI projects, with prices that skyrocket the capitalization of these companies even before having demonstrated that their products They are really competitive. As in the Internet boom of the late 1990s with the dotcomwhen the dust settles only a few actors will still be standing. Global competition and monopoly risk. Beyond the impact on AI employment, Gates warned about geopolitical competition in the development of this technology in this kind of space race that we are living. “What we are seeing now is fierce competition.” China, for example, offers AI models for free, which puts pressure on other companies to set very low prices. “China offers free models and the rest of the companies offer very, very low prices. We would not want a single country or a single company to be the only one good at AI. But I do not see things going that way, at least for now,” said the millionaire in the face of the technological race for AI that the US and China are starring. In Xataka | While technology companies dispense with juniors to replace them with AI, IBM is doing the opposite: catching bargains Image | Flickr, amazon

It is called Anthropic and it is going to pay you 200,000 million, according to The Information

May 7, 2026 by usatoday24

Anthropic has agreed to pay Google about $200 billion over five years for more computing power, according to has published The Information. The figure would thus place the AI startup as Google Cloud’s largest individual client, representing more than 40% of the backlog of earnings that Alphabet communicated to its investors last week. From commitment to commitment. A revenue backlog reflects contractual commitments already signed by a cloud provider’s customers. That Anthropic occupies more than 40% of Google Cloud says a lot about the extent to which the startup has become a structural piece of Alphabet’s business. There is also another nuance to highlight: that large AI companies like Anthropic or OpenAI still need the hyperscalers to continue growing, so in this sense, both Microsoft and Google can afford not to have the best AI models as long as they receive such an amount of income from offering such computing capacity. What the agreement consists of. According to they count In The Information, the pact, signed in April, includes massive capacity of TPUs (Google’s own AI chips), supplied in collaboration with Broadcom. However, this infrastructure will not be ready after 2027. Anthropic, for its part, not only works with Google hardware, since also uses Trainium chips from Amazon and Nvidia GPUs, playing its cards well to diversify suppliers and not depend on a single company that supplies computing capacity. The now classic circular financing. Alphabet has been investing in Anthropic for years: first it was $300 million in 2023, then another 2 billionafter 1 billion more in 2025. A few days ago we also discovered an investment of up to 40,000 million additional payments by Google, of which 10 billion would be disbursed immediately and the rest would be conditional on objectives met. In exchange, Google Cloud will provide an additional 5 gigawatts of computing capacity. This way, Google invests in Anthropic and Anthropic spends that money in Google. Is called circular financingand it is the key to how the foundations of AI are made of promises. According to account In the middle, the contracts signed between large cloud providers (Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud) and startups like Anthropic and OpenAI already add up to more than two billion dollars in committed backlogs. Hyperscalers invest in AI startups and AI startups spend that money on the infrastructure of those same hyperscalers. Anthropic can’t afford it… and yet they do it. Estimates suggest that Anthropic’s server costs could reach 20 billion dollars only in 2026. The company is not yet profitable, but demand for its model family Claude continues to grow strongly in the business segment, which forces it to secure long-term computing capacity before infrastructure shortages prevent it from doing so. The agreement with Google adds to another recent one with CoreWeave and the forecast of securing almost a gigawatt of additional capacity through Amazon chips before the end of the year. Almost symbiotic relationship. Alphabet is at a time of maximum competitive pressure in AI. Your cloud business grew by 36% last year, and Anthropic is one of its most intensive clients. Losing that relationship, or seeing it migrate to other providers like AWS, would be a significant blow. Furthermore, with an Anthropic valuation that Bloomberg situates around 800,000 million dollars, and with a possible IPO Before the year is out, Google’s accumulated stake in the company could become one of its most valuable financial assets. It is not just infrastructure: it is also a capital bet. Cover image | Wikimedia and Fortune Brainstorm Tech In Xataka | If at some point NVIDIA has to choose between giving its best chips to the US or China, its choice is very clear.

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