sell

Omoda and Jaecoo already sell more cars than Citroën, Nissan or Ford in Spain. And they are very clear that their secret is not in the price

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In the first half of 2026, Omoda has sold 13,208 cars according to data from Anfac. Jaecoo has placed 6,590 units on the market. Between both companies there are only six cars on the market (the Omoda 5 and Jaecoo 5 have electric versions) but their numbers are higher than those of Citroën, Ford or Nissan, companies more than established in our country and that have been great bestsellers. AND Francesco Colonnesevice president of Omoda&Jaecoo Iberia, is very clear about why. Shot. “This year we will reach close to 40,000 units.” That is the objective they have within Omoda&Jaecoo for our country, according to Colonnese who has expressed his reading of the market in The Country. The numbers, of course, point to this because in the first half of the year they already touched 20,000 units, already close to just under more than 25,000 units with which they closed last year. The situation of Omoda and Jaecoo is just the certification that three Chinese companies have arrived in Spain to occupy a relevant position in the market. Its cars are the basis of the almost 14,000 units that Ebro has put on the market so far this year. BYD has already registered 22,860 units (double than last year). MG, the leader, is in a technical tie with last year, signing 25,137 units. And in Europe, which was still resisting Chinese brands, BYD already sells more cars than Citroën. “They have to get their act together”. The reasons why Colonnese believes that Chinese manufacturers are gaining ground in Spain are very clear: “European manufacturers have to step up. When someone arrives who raises the level of quality and technology in cars, you have to try to provide the same service; you can’t stay with what you have because, suddenly, you go from being super modern to super old, from technological to analog…” In his words, the vice president of Omoda&Jaecoo Iberia defends that price is not the only reason why its cars are growing at a devilish rate. “It’s not that the customer buys from us for 3,000 euros less, but because we provide double the electric range. Until the Chinese arrived, until we arrived, (the plug-in hybrids) had 40-50 kilometers of electric range, now they have 150 kilometers.” a good business. This defense of the plug-in hybrid makes a lot of sense for the company. At this time, Omoda has sneaked in the Omoda 7 and to Omoda 9 among the 10 best-selling cars with this technology in Spain. Cars that, as we told you in these tests (previous links), we liked for their low consumption and high technological load. Yes, but. Although Colonnese assures that its customers buy them for “the quality of our cars, which have technology everywhere, something that was not common in the sector”, the truth is that Omoda&Jaecoo, like the rest of the Chinese brands (five of the 10 best-selling plug-in hybrids in Spain are Chinese), offer products much cheaper than the competition. Equal equipment, as we tell in this BYD Seal U testthere is no possible comparison with other models. But part of this advantage in the market comes because Chinese cars with combustion engines, unlike electric cars, do not pay the extra tariffs that were imposed in 2024. They have become, as we already warned, the Trojan horse with which to quickly gain market share. The times. What is indisputable is that Chinese manufacturers are monetizing investments and arrival in our country in record time. Their cars offer a more technological image that quickly adapts to current customer tastes. That, in a world that advances at a devilish pace, is key because a car has been designed for a decade if we add the development time and the time that this car had to be on the market. From Chery (owner of Omoda&Jaecoo) they have long defended that That ability to adapt and solve problems is key. Instead of launching a car that is as refined as possible but developed over years, what Chinese manufacturers prefer is to launch a very solvent product and apply subtle changes if necessary in record time. These very short development times are what are dynamiting the industry and putting traditional manufacturers on the ropes. At Toyota they are clear that they need to be more agile to compete and The Renault Twingo has been designed in China to have it on the market as soon as possible. Photo | In Xataka | Europe has focused on stopping Chinese electric cars. The real threat is in its cars with combustion engines

“Microsoft built the concept of office work because they wanted to sell more software”

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For many, the office work and spending eight hours a day in front of a screen is little less than a unnatural torture for the human being. In fact, this type of “knowledge work” is a relatively recent inventionwhich has been evolving as an adaptation of technology to the world of work. Aravind SrinivasCEO of Perplexity has gone a little further by ensuring that office work is an invention by Bill Gates to carry out his plan to bring a PC to every desk. Srinivas developed his hypothesis during his interview at the Joe Rogan Podcast and even left the presenter confused. “Microsoft built the concept of office work because they wanted to sell more software.” Gates’ dream Srinivas links the creation of office jobs directly to the Microsoft founder’s historical obsession with putting a computer in every house and on every desk. “That idea of ​​putting a PC on every desk and making you glued to it was Bill Gates’ vision,” explained the Perplexity CEO. It’s no secret. Gates himself has repeated that same idea for decades: he wanted a computer in every house and on every desk. In fact, his vision of the future of computers was published in the specialized press of the time even before Microsoft sold its first BASIC. Rogan, in his direct style, summed up the merit of Gates’ plan with a powerful phrase: “Wow, genius. What an achievement, because they certainly nailed it.” The truth is that it is difficult to contradict him. Few business strategies have changed the daily routine of billions of people as much as the arrival of computers and office automation in the world of work. A masterstroke from Microsoft Srinivas’s thesis is that the 9 to 5 job in front of a screen was not a natural evolution of employment, but a Microsoft business plan so that people used computers all day. The more hours and more people worked in front of a screen, the more software licenses were sold. According to the manager, the office routine was designed to create a daily dependence on Word and Excel, starting in schools, so that companies would then pay for these licenses. The juiciest part of the interview is the contrast between the two founders. According to Srinivas, Microsoft’s goal was never design. “It was not about making computing beautiful, as Steve Jobs conceived it,” he said verbatim, marking the difference with Apple. Jobs was pursuing something else: machines almost obsessive in their aesthetic care, which he himself defined as ‘insanely great‘. Microsoft, on the other hand, sold hardware to put software on top of. The more time you spent in front of the screen, the more licenses you needed. Microsoft’s business was not about creating a beautiful product, it was about generating dependency of your tools to sell licenses. Microsoft invented Office, not the office Despite Srinivas’ shocking statements, Bill Gates did not invent the eight-hour day nor office work. Its history comes from long before, from workers’ struggles of the 19th century and laws like Fair Labor Standards 1938 in the United States. What is true is that, as Rogan pointed out, “this type of lifestyle is something very recent that we have come to accept as normal.” The scientific evidence testifies that, with the arrival of computers and technology, the productivity at work skyrocketed. That Microsoft won that game by contributing to the increase in that productivity It is undeniable. Word, Excel or PowerPoint have been training entire generations since school. When these students arrive at their first job, they already know how to use those tools and companies pay for the license without thinking twice. In Xataka | Companies have returned to the office to improve productivity: a McKinsey study is not so clear Image | Unsplash (Jan Baborak), Flickr (European Parliament), Xataka

sell more cars than Citroën in Europe

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It is no secret that Chinese car brands They are conquering Europe. For a few years now, the streets have been filled with cars from companies such as BYD, Omoda, Jaecoo, Leapmotor, MG and many others. And it makes perfect sense, since they have come with their entire arsenal at truly competitive prices and loaded with technology. You have to go to last review of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) to really see how much they have achieved in a very short time. And in the case of BYD, the firm has registered more cars than Citroën during the month of May in Europe (specifically in the group formed by the European Union, the EFTA countries and the United Kingdom). According to the agency’s data, the Chinese manufacturer registered 32,380 units compared to 31,665 for Citroën. The difference is small, but it has symbolic weight, since it is the first time that a Chinese brand overtakes such a historic name in European motorsport. In detail. He BYD growth It is being truly groundbreaking, especially outside its domestic market. And in May of this year, its registrations shot up by 136.6% compared to the same month in 2025, raising its market share in the EU+EFTA+UK region to 2.8%, compared to 1.2% a year ago. Citroën, on the other hand, closed the month with a decline of 1.6%. Of course, it should be said that the bypass occurs in the EU+EFTA+UK region, because if we look only at the figures for the European Union, Citroën is still ahead, with 29,227 registrations compared to BYD’s 26,017. But the distance has shortened considerably compared to last year. The driving force behind this expansion has been above all in Italy, France and Germany, where BYD has multiplied its sales, while in the first five months of the year the Chinese brand already has 135,307 cars registered in this region, 145.2% more than in 2025. And BYD is not the only one. Chinese brands as a whole reached a market share of 10.7% in Europe in May, their all-time high, according to data from Automotive News. Chery has skyrocketed its registrations by 244.1% and Leapmotor, backed by Stellantis, has multiplied them by more than five, with a growth of 465.1% in the EU+EFTA+UK region. Even Tesla, although it is not Chinese, has benefited from that same push towards electrification, with an increase of 107.9% thanks to the arrival of the new Standard versions of the Model 3 and the Model Y. Although the tariffs that the European Union imposed on Chinese electric companies in 2024, something that has partially stopped this offensive, Chinese brands continue with overwhelming growth. And now what. The context in which this surprise occurs is that of a European market in full transition towards electrification. According to ACEA data, between January and May 2026, battery electric cars already represent 20% of registrations in the European Union, compared to 15.3% a year ago, while hybrids continue to be the most popular option with 37.8% of the market (in the latter it must be taken into account that the microhybridswith more prominence of the gasoline engine than the small battery as a whole). On the other hand, the sum of gasoline and diesel has fallen to 30.1%. And on this board, increasingly favorable to electrified vehicles, BYD and the rest of the Chinese manufacturers have an advantage due to their specialization in these technologies. Cover image | BYD and Citroën In Xataka | On July 1, buying on Shein, Temu or AliExpress will be more expensive: Europe imposes a fixed tariff of three euros for small packages

HBO Max brings to Spain an advertising system that identifies the clothes they are wearing on the screen to try to sell them to you

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You have already gotten used to paying a cheaper rate on your subscription in exchange for watching ads. That model is about to take a new turn: artificial intelligence to detect which objects are “saleable” from what appears in the series you watch, to try to sell it to you. Similar to Prime Video advertising that leads to the corresponding sale on Amazon, but a step further in terms of sophistication. What does it consist of? Warner Bros. Discovery announced on June 19 that HBO Max will launch in Spain and other European countries, such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the Nordic countries (in addition to Brazil and Mexico in America), before the end of 2026, a new advertising format called Moments. The system uses artificial intelligence to detect the objects that appear on the screen during a series or movie and inserts advertisements linked to those objects in real time: if the protagonists use a bicycle, the advertisement can be for that bicycle, or an equivalent one. If the scene takes place on a flight, the following commercial break may carry an airline commercial. Those responsible. The system is developed by the American company KERV.aiwhose technology already works with different applications for Disney, Hulu, Paramount, NBCU, ESPN, Samsung Ads or Vevo. Its proposal is object-by-object analysis of audiovisual content: it not only identifies the general theme of a scene, but also the specific visual elements that appear in it, with sufficient precision to correlate them with specific advertiser products. 25,000 moments. According to Warner, the system has already identified 25,000 moments in the HBO Max catalog where these types of ads can be activated. Thematic categories available to advertisers include cooking, fashion, beauty, luxury goods, fitness or well-being. In the United States, where Moments is already active, Warner has recorded a 19% increase in viewer engagement and a 13% increase in purchase intent compared to conventional advertising formats. Juicier than product placement. The fact that a brand pays for its car to appear in a movie or its soft drink to be on the protagonists’ table requires a prior agreement between the brand and the production team, negotiated before filming. It is effective, but expensive (also at the organizational level). Moments, however, works on top of existing content. The AI ​​detects the item and makes it part of advertising inventory. It is very attractive for advertisers and the platform: content shot five years ago can generate advertising impacts today. All this theoretically, of course: no one has signed in blood that the series and films are not going to begin to modify their future content to try to get closer, precisely, to a 2.0 version of the product placement traditional, which worked with the same premise: what you see can be bought. Amazon arrived first. In May 2025, Amazon announced in its annual presentation to advertisers a format of pause ads contextual for Prime Video. Amazon’s AI analyze the scene at the exact moment the viewer presses pause and generates in real time an ad with dynamic copy adapted to what appears on the screen. The difference with HBO is obvious, and in favor of Prime Video’s business: jumping from an ad to Amazon does not pose any problem for the viewer: according to company data88% of Prime Video viewers in the United States have purchased from Amazon, allowing you to introduce purchasing habits data into the equation. No cookies. Warner, in fact, sells just the opposite. Moments’ press release highlights that the system uses “contextual signals instead of personal data”, meaning it uses a “privacy-first” design. Warner lacks the personal data that Amazon has, so it embraces this advantage for the user: it does not require tracking the user between sessions or building a profile. Moments doesn’t know who you are, only what you’re seeing at any given moment. Advertisements on platforms streaming It is, increasingly, a very juicy business. According to studies As of August 2025, 45% of Netflix’s consumption in its ad-supported markets was already occurring from the ad-supported plan, up from 34% a year earlier. HBO Max recorded an increase of ten percentage points in the same period. That is, the proportion of viewers who watch streaming with advertising it does not stop growing, and Moments arrives at a time when this advertising inventory is crying out for more sophisticated ways to cajole the viewer. In Xataka | All streaming platforms are including ads in their programming. And they reveal a great crisis in the sector

apps that don’t sell anything

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There are few guilty pleasures as satisfying as online shopping: that exciting moment of searching until you find what suits you best and then put it in the cart. You’ll enjoy it later, when it reaches your hands. Or not, because in reality the process itself is almost more enjoyable than the product in question. Not to mention something obvious: to buy you need to have money in your account and not need it for other purposes, such as paying rent or eating. If you can’t afford the real experience, South Korea’s youth has found a way of tricking the brain into releasing that dopamine from shopping: apps that sell nothing. Fake it until you make it. What is happening. He Korean Times collects the phenomenon of dopamine sites and its operation in two types of apps: those for food delivery and those for smoking breaks, in which you have a virtual cigarette with other people with that banal conversation typical of the occasion. Thus, you can consult menus, select items to add to the cart and know delivery times or restaurant ratings without closing the transaction. And you can also say, if you prefer, something like “Tuesday, you’re sick of shit” in a virtual room. Kim Heon-sik, a professor at Jungwon University, connects these apps that do not sell anything with the culture of Muk Bangin which people watch other people eating tremendous amounts of food. Curiosity, voyeurism and satisfying the gluttony of whoever is on the other side of the screen without having to put anything in their mouth. The vicarious satisfaction at its finest. Tap to go to the post Why is it important. On the one hand, these dopamine sites function as a snitch on the mental health of a generation: in South Korea, digital exhaustion and smartphone dependence are already public health problems. documented with a star risk factor: anxiety. On the other hand, they reveal a disconnection between two worlds: the economic and the neurological. Delivery and ecommerce apps have been refining their interfaces and experience for years to enhance the impulse to buy: infinite scrolls, exclusive offers for a limited time (spoiler: they never end), incessant dripping of notifications… the “technology of persuasion” that coined Tristan Harrisformer Google designer. The result is that according to neurosciencedopamine is released in anticipation, not upon receiving the order. Dopamine sites do exactly the same thing, but at zero cost, something ideal for a generation that cannot afford that expense. Context. That deliberate design of apps and the release of dopamine can lead to a shopping addiction… if you have the money. The point is that Korean youth do not have it: a recent report from Bank of Korea portrays their dangerous situation. Every year that a young person spends without work reduces their future salary by 6.7%, their debt has increased and the proportion of them living in precarious housing went from 5.6% in 2010 to 11.5% in 2023. OECD confirms that the Korean youth employment rate is below average and that they practically wait in line to access large companies or the public sector. This structural problem already has a name: Sampo generationwhich refers to the three renunciations of this youth, love, marriage and being a father or mother, caused by unstable jobs and high educational debts. In detail. The psychological mechanism behind those apps that sell nothing It is well documented: The brain does not distinguish well between the process of asking for food and the simulation of asking for it, so dopamine acts mainly in that search and anticipation phase, not when receiving the reward. That’s why the fake app works: it gives the reward system what activates the process without having to swipe the card. Regarding smoking break apps, more of the same: this study on loneliness in Korean adults found that those young people most exposed to the digital environment reported significantly higher levels of loneliness than previous generations. Seeing that there are more people online at the same time, even if they are complete strangers and you don’t talk to them, activates the feeling of social presence, which reduces anxiety. Yes, but. The Korean Times report echoes few testimonies about this phenomenon, but there is no data on how many people use these apps or how frequently. Even if it were a trend, the million-dollar question is what effect these apps that sell nothing have: it is true that they have no impact on the wallets of those who use them and that they occasionally provide relief, but also that they do not help solve the problem behind: anxiety, loneliness and dependency linked to a precariousness of their life expectations. In Xataka | A Ferrari ‘on the go’: the trick of Generation Z in Japan to have a supercar In Xataka | The new fashion trend among Gen Z comes from South Korea and is called “Acubi”: a subversive minimalism Cover | Fish Huang and Gemini

China had not updated its EREV standards for nine years. Now that they sell a million a year, they are going to catch up

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The EREV (extended range electric vehicles, for its acronym in English), are beginning to have a lot of prominence in China. So much so, that in the country they have changed the regulations, publishing a complete review of their technical standard. This new revision, QC/T1086-2026, replaces a 2017 regulatory framework and will come into force on November 1. And it is that with more than 1 million units sold Every year in the country, the Chinese market begins to assimilate this type of vehicle that, outside of this region, is still relatively unknown to us. Why does it matter? The previous standard, in force since 2017, described the requirements in a mostly qualitative way, since the manufacturer defined its own specifications and the regulatory framework barely provided specific figures. Nine years later, the market has changed a lot. And according to industry data collected by CarNewsChinasales of EREVs in China exceeded one million units in 2024 and reached 1.2 million in 2025. So with those figures, it is logical to think that the regulations had to be revised. What the change consists of. Until now, the rules were somewhat vague, so this regulation aims to take a closer look at some EREV specifications and standardize them. An example is how much energy the gasoline engine delivers in each millisecond. And to give us an idea, now in the smallest generators (up to 67 HP), the maximum margin of error that will be allowed when delivering energy will be just 1.5 kW. For the most powerful engines, the deviation may not exceed 3%. That is, the motor must deliver energy to the battery more precisely and efficiently. According to CarNewsChinathe thresholds have been set based on real production data from manufacturers and suppliers, with the aim that all major manufacturers on the market can meet them without difficulty, but that lower-performance designs are left out of the standard. EMC and noise. One of the most relevant new features of the standard is the introduction of specific electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and noise and vibration (NVH) tests. The first extended range cars were basically standby generators that started when the battery was depleted. Today’s systems now have integrated energy management components that work in constant coordination with the battery, electric motors and vehicle control systems. This greater integration requires more demanding standards in electromagnetic interference and acoustic comfort. In fact, more recent models like the Aito M9which HIMA launched last May with up to 890 HP, or the IM Motors LS8 EREV, with 430 km of electric range, already reflect these changes, and are examples that have served to develop this new regulation. Durability for long term use. The standard also introduces two durability tests: a test of 750 hours with alternating load and another of 100,000 start-stop cycles. Both were developed with real-world usage data and damage equivalence models, and are designed to simulate approximately 300,000 kilometers of real-world driving, including urban conditions with frequent starts. Who is driving the market. The ecosystem of manufacturers that has driven this revision in the regulations includes both established brands and newer manufacturers. Li Auto, Seres, Deepal and Leapmotor have expanded their EREV offerings, while premium models such as the Aito M9 have helped position the technology in high-priced segments. Zeekr, Geely’s electric brandhas gone even further with the Zeekr 9X and 8X, since the former exceeded 50,000 accumulated deliveries in a few months after its launch and is scheduled to be exported to the Middle East, Central Asia and Europe during 2026. Cover image | HIMA In Xataka | This Aston Martin DB9 was sold for $57,000, but the craziest thing is not its price: it is the two flamethrowers it hides

Young people are stopping drinking beer like crazy. That’s why Mahou wants to sell you water as cosmetics

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On May 28, social networks in Spain woke up flooded with pink, lychee and promises of beauty. That day YUZZ saw the lightthe new business adventure of the influencer María Pombo in alliance with the brewing giant Mahou San Miguel. Under the motto Here You Glowis presented not as a simple drink, but as a revolutionary concept of fun skincare: a soft drink that “takes care of you on the inside so that you shine on the outside”, formulated with hyaluronic acid and vitamin C. The deployment was massive: the strategy started with mystery videos, a WhatsApp channel that was fuming with thousands of followers looking for clues and culminated in an experience pop-up in the heart of Madrid. However, beyond the indisputable success of the call, the launch uncovers a striking contradiction: that of an industry traditionally linked to nightlife and beer trying to bottle the idyllic universe of health, cosmetics and well-being. Why does a brewery sell beauty? Beer is beer you might be thinking. However, the alcoholic beverages sector is going through a moment of profound transformation in the face of the decline in consumption among new generations. This is where they make the leap towards functional soft drinks, since it responds to an unstoppable global trend. In fact, the wellness market It already moves 480,000 million dollars in the United States, with annual growth of up to 10%. Europe follows in the same wake, and Mahou is looking for its piece of the pie. But to connect with Generation Z and millennials It is not enough to launch a product; a narrative is needed. This is where María Pombo comes in. The industry is witnessing an evolution of influencer marketing, it is no longer about paying a well-known face to hold a can, but rather a “shared business model” based on co-creation. Pombo has been involved from day one, sharing the development process organically with her more than four million followers. This drastically reduces the consumer’s natural resistance to conventional advertising. The label under the magnifying glass. While marketing works perfectly, the scientific community has raised eyebrows when analyzing the list of ingredients. Can you really drink cosmetics? According to Dr. Emiliano Grillo, specialist in Dermatology, is blunt in the magazine Cuore: “There is no way for you to eat the skincare“. The expert warns that, for oral hyaluronic acid to have a real impact, it would require much higher doses than those anticipated in this type of recreational formats. But the biggest problem with YUZZ is not what it promises, but what it hides: sugar. Although the brand prides itself on being a low-calorie drink without sweeteners, nutritionist Paola Sánchez explains in the same medium that each can contains about 10 grams of sugar, the equivalent of two cubes, from the concentrated apple juice that serves as a base. The pharmacist Mencía Hermosa goes one step further and points out the paradox of the product: the consumption of sugars is directly involved in the glycation process, a mechanism that damages collagen and “contributes to skin aging.” That is, the soft drink could be torpedoing the effect it promises to generate. For her part, the pharmacist and disseminator Lena de Pons dissects the formulation in Infobaedenouncing that “the narrative sells more than the evidence.” De Pons clarifies that YUZZ is governed by food regulations, not cosmetics. Legally, they can only claim that it helps collagen because it covers 15% of the Nutritional Reference Value (NRV) of vitamin C, a tiny amount. “A fruit salad has more antioxidants,” says the expert ironically, also regretting that the word “science” is used in the campaign without providing independent studies that support the bioavailability of its formula in the body. The undeniable triumph of narrative. At the end of the day, the reality of YUZZ depends on the lens through which you look. If we evaluate it under the rigor of dermatology, trying to replace a cream with a soft drink is nonsense. As a timely and recreational alternative to a mixed drink with alcohol or a traditional soft drink loaded with artificial additives, it is an option that the experts themselves consider acceptable. But in the corporate field, the move is masterful. How to conclude Article 14in a saturated market where attention is the rarest commodity, getting an entire country to debate about your brand is the greatest success. Mahou and María Pombo have made the initial impact. Now they face the real challenge: to demonstrate that this cross between a brewery and skincare It has enough commercial history to survive on the shelves once the noise of social networks has died down. Image | instagram Xataka | It’s cheaper and less anxiety-inducing: ‘solo-maxxing’ is Generation Z’s answer to the stifling dating industry

Western brands are looking for the perfect car. Their way of achieving this is to sell us renowned Chinese cars

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There was a day when China lured Europe with the promise of vacant land and cheap labor. Today those days are over. Today the automobile industry has taken the road back. Today, more and more Western manufacturers are partnering with Chinese companies. And the reason is obvious: to sell you a rebuilt Chinese car as your own. What is happening? That traditional manufacturers are assuming Chinese technology to simply sell their product to you cheaper. A product that has little of its own and a lot of Chinese, for better and for worse. The reasons They are different: Pressure to jump to the electric car Complications in making that leap (either due to monetary issues or internal difficulties) Duty A Chinese technology that is above Brands that are on the verge of bankruptcy For some of these reasons (or the sum of several), more and more traditional manufacturers are intertwining with Chinese companies to advance their products. Products that, as we say, are sometimes pure Chinese cars “disguised” as Western. The Stellantis case It is the most recent but far from unique. It is also probably the most complex. The automobile conglomerate has faced serious financial complications in recent years. The cost reduction in many of its models led to the PureTech scandal. With the obligation to manage 14 brands, some of them have lost all types of identity. And their partnership with Leapmotor has shown them that they can get a lot of juice out of the Chinese electric car. During the presentation of its latest strategic plan, the company confirmed that they have reached an agreement of 1,000 million euros with the Chinese manufacturer Dongfeng to produce Peugeot and Jeep cars in China. They will be New Energy cars (NEV). This is what they call electric cars and plug-in hybrids in China. At the moment, not many more details have been given but a key detail does seem confirmed: These are cars designed to be sold in China and exported. That is, they are not cars manufactured in China whose main market is Europe. This suggests that they will probably be entirely Chinese cars that adopt the design language of these two Western brands. Chinese production is not the only one that is compromised. The agreement opens the possibility for European plants to produce Dongfeng cars, specifically the Voyah brand. This allows Stellantis to keep the work committed in its plants (specifically, the Rennes plant in France is targeted) and Dongfeng could sell these electric cars without paying tariffs, as is happening right now. But in addition to this latest news, China has become more and more rooted in the bowels of Stellantis. Since 2023, this automobile conglomerate manages the distribution and sale of Leapmotor outside China. This company is one of those that seems to have greater potential when it comes to selling electric cars at a low price. For now, Stellantis has already confirmed that some of these cheap cars will be produced in Europe. Specifically, Figueruelas (Zaragoza) has been one of the chosen locations. This plant, therefore, will carry out small electric cars from Peugeot, Citroën and Opel and, in parallel, those from Leapmotor because they do not share a platform. However, the latter has already begun to be debated. Tianshu Xin, director of Leapmotor International, pointed out a few weeks ago that “Leapmotor vs Stellantis They are two independent manufacturers and have their own platforms. However, one of the strategic objectives of this alliance is to generate synergies, which could include platforms and their components. “About 65% of Leapmotor components are manufactured in-house, and there are synergies that would allow Stellantis to use Leapmotor parts in its future platforms,” ​​in words reported by forumelectriccars. A few days ago Stellantis presented its STLA Onethe new modular platform that will replace STLA Small for segments B, C and D. This leaves the door for the smallest size, that of segment A, just where the new Citroën 2 CV will arrive, which has fueled rumors about a greater presence of Chinese components or software in the car. To this we must add that A new Opel electric car from 2028 will have Leapmotor technology but German dress. And the relationship between Stellantis and China does not seem to end here. In recent days the rumor has gained strength that the automobile conglomerate could look to JAC for a collaboration to move Maserati forward. The Italian sports car firm has already thrown away billions of euros in its jump to the electric car and JAC manufactures luxury cars together with Huawei in China. Producing them would allow Stellantis to put an electric Maserati on the street without taking more risks. Are you sure it’s western? That a car uses Chinese technology and is re-bodied like a Western one does not have to be bad in itself. In fact, automotive conglomerates such as Stellantis or the Volkswagen Group have made their synergies between brands one of the keys to building their success. However, in some cases yes it can be a problem. When a brand boasts of being different and unique, it has a problem if it only uses a “disguise” to camouflage that what is under its body comes from outside its factories. This is what can happen to Maserati and what Mazda is playing with. Until now, the Maserati customer has bought Maserati because, quite simply, their product was a Maserati. Italian elegance with a heart inherited from Ferrari to conquer a public that preferred its cars to, for example, Porsche. When you buy this type of car, not only buy numbersbuys an aesthetic and a sound and boasts of going against the grain compared to the majority German options such as Porsche or Mercedes. Just give up the engines ferraristas It was a serious problem for his image.. The Mazda 6e and CX-6e have a Chinese heart and soul despite the fact that the brand defends the Japanese philosophy in both cars If Maserati only … Read more

China can’t buy the best Nvidia chips. So Alibaba has decided to connect theirs and sell them as if they were one

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Alibaba does not want its infrastructure artificial intelligence (AI) continues to depend on Nvidia technologies. Little by little, the largest technology companies in China are assuming the request that Xi Jinping’s government made them at the beginning of October 2024: as far as possible They had to use chips produced in China. Ten months later this recommendation became a requirement. And the data centers that belong to the State throughout the country had to use at least 50% Chinese integrated circuits on their servers. This scenario especially favors Huawei, Moore Threads and Cambricon Technologies because they are Top AI GPU Manufacturers from China, but it also works great for Alibaba. In fact, Alibaba Cloud, its cloud computing subsidiary, has taken a very important step forward. A few days ago it presented a new chip for AI, the Zhenwu M890, and made official a very ambitious itinerary that describes what solutions it will develop over the next three years. This GPU has been designed by T-Head, the semiconductor division that Alibaba founded in 2018. It incorporates 144 GB of HBM3 memory and achieves an interconnection transfer speed between chips of up to 800 GB/s. As we are about to discover, this last feature is essential in the strategy that Alibaba has developed to compete in the AI ​​hardware market. Alibaba is going to spend $53 billion on its infrastructure According to Alibaba, the performance of its Zhenwu M890 chip is triple that of its predecessor. Additionally, it has been designed to perform well both during training of cutting-edge AI models and during inference. An important note: inference is broadly the computational process carried out by language models with the purpose of generating responses that correspond to the requests they receive. Alibaba wants to compete face to face with Nvidia in the deployment of infrastructure for data centers However, there is another relevant fact that is worth not overlooking: in medium precision operations (FP16) the Zhenwu M890 chip reaches 0.6 petaflops, a performance comparable to that of Nvidia’s A100 GPU and three times higher than that of the H20 chip. On the other hand, the ICN Switch interconnection chip allows link up to 128 GPUs M890 so that they work in unison. Alibaba assures that this architecture makes these GPUs work as a single chip, which, on paper, will allow it to compete head-to-head with Nvidia in the deployment of infrastructure for data centers. Regarding the itinerary that will follow until 2028, this Chinese company has anticipated that it plans to launch the Zhenwu V900 during the third quarter of 2027. According to Alibaba, it will implement its own significantly improved parallel computing architecture, will have three times the performance of the M890 chip, will be supported by 216 GB of memory and will reach an interconnection transfer speed of 1,200 GB/s. The Zhenwu J900 will arrive during the third quarter of 2028 with another major architectural leap. This roadmap It reflects that Alibaba goes all out. In fact, it has also announced that it will support this plan with an investment in 380 billion yuan (about $53 billion) over the next three years. Is the largest engagement of its kind in history of the company. Additionally, T-Head is planning its IPO to fund a more aggressive infrastructure investment program, which would put it in direct competition with Cambricon Technologies and Huawei’s Ascend line in the domestic AI chip market. Image | Alibaba More information | Alibaba | ChinaDaily In Xataka | Nvidia has to deal with the absolute distrust of several US legislators. Your plan in China is in danger In Xataka | The US wants to end Chinese AI chips sold abroad. And China knows how to defend itself

Spotify has spent months deleting music made with AI. Now he wants to sell it as a premium product

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In just a few weeks, Spotify has been changing its position on AI-generated music: months ago it removed more than 75 million fraudulent tracks, launched a distinctive seal so listeners knew when there were human hands on the other side, and tightened its filters against synthetic spam. But the turn came in the talk for investors on May 21, where it became clear that what worries Spotify is not AI, but generating income with it. The precedents. Let’s start with the moves Spotify has made to control the rampant presence of AI on the platform. In September 2025 the company revealed that had removed more than 75 million fraudulent leads of its platform in the previous twelve months. Many of the AI ​​actions were malicious: massive raises designed to steal royaltiesunauthorized voice clones and content which the company’s own executives called “slop.” By then Deezer had detected that it received more than 30,000 AI-generated tracks per day, and that up to 77% of its reproductions were fraudulent. Just a few weeks before the meeting with investors, on April 30, Spotify launched the “Verified by Spotify” seal, a verification mark that distinguishes human artists from the artificial ones, which are increasingly proliferating on the platform. To achieve it, musicians must demonstrate authentic activity, have linked social media accounts and concerts on the agenda (something that, as we have said over the last few months, does not guarantee anything, given the latest successes of AI-generated music, which have their following on networks and their continuous stream of releases). Deals with Universal. The main news before shareholders is a licensing agreement with Universal Music Group, the largest record label in the world, which will allow Spotify Premium subscribers create covers and remixes with generative AI of songs from the artists participating in the agreement. The tool will arrive as a paid add-on to the usual subscription. It was already known that Spotify was considering charging up to an additional $5.99 per month for a “Music Pro” tier with superfan features. Co-CEO Alex Norström said that with this tool, “one song would become 10,000 songs.” The agreement contemplates a revenue sharing model with participating artists, and it was made clear that participation will be completely voluntary by the musicians. This announcement is no surprise: we already knew that Spotify was working on AI products with Universal, Sony, Warner, Merlin and Believe, but without a closed legal framework. Universal had previously licensed its catalog to smaller AI platforms, such as Udio, Klay Vision and Stability AI, but here it is already we enter in the 761 million monthly active users and 293 million paying subscribers. Long live AI. In an interviewNorström made it clear that, faced with multiple tools that allow songs to be manipulated without permission, they want to be the “legal” and “controlled” option. Norström affirms that the synthetic music market already exists and that trying to stop it would be useless, so he proposes regulating it from within, with agreements between labels and platforms, and turning it into a source of income for all actors. To combat AI content that “makes you feel good in the moment” but ultimately leaves the user feeling like they’ve “wasted their time,” Spotify offers verified authors and artists who charge for it. High tension. The announcement comes at a time when many powerful players are beginning to understand the extent of what they are risking. On May 13, a week before the investor meeting, famous producer Jack Antonoff (he has worked with Taylor Swift, Lorde and Lana Del Rey) posted on Instagram against those who use AI to make music. Norström acknowledged in the interview that there is “some negativity out there” regarding AI and called it “reasonable,” although he added that it is due to “poorly aligned AI.” swerve I mean, potify has spent months arguing that the problem with AI in music was fraud, spam, and impersonation. Now it announces that the same synthetic content, controlled and profitable, may be desirable. As we said in our analysis of the algorithmic model that Spotify has built for years linked above, the platform has been encouraging listening that prioritizes the state of mind over the identity of the artist for some time. That is, the ideal breeding ground for synthetic music. All that was left was monetization. In Xataka | We put Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music to the test: music streaming has changed and there is no longer an obvious winner

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