skyrocketed

If with chatbots energy consumption had already skyrocketed, with agentic AI this consumption is multiplied by 136.5

by

For a time, one of the controversies surrounding the consumption of artificial intelligence had to do with water. Some time later we learned that the calculations (even consuming a lot) They were not accurate and we begin to look at something so worrying: the tremendous amount of energy What data centers, and AI, need to function. It is something that is endangering the energy integrity of some countriesbut as AI approaches adolescence and agentic stagewe will enter a new phase. That of obscenely multiplied consumption. In short. The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, or KAIST, has conducted a study in which he has quantified the energy cost of AI agents. Unlike a chatbot, which is a system to which we make a request, it gives us a result and that’s it, an agent is a chain of operation in which the software performs different actions autonomously. That, obviously, implies that the hardware that is moving that software spends more time doing things In the study, they measured the energy consumption of both chatbots and agents and concluded that, using a large-scale language model comparable to current commercial AI services, a single complex request to an agent consumed 348.41 Wh of electricity. depending The agent and model you use will also consume more or less. For example, a framewoprk called LATS used 62.1 times more energy in tests compared to an AI chatbot, while one on Meta’s Llama-3.1 Instruct 70B model consumed a peak of 136.5 times more per query. GPUs waiting (and consuming). There is another key, and it is time. Those queries consume more energy because more resources come into the picture and have estimated that agents take up to 153.7 times longer than conventional chatbots to process responses. During that time, GPUs remain idle more than half the time, but still consume electricity. They are not at full capacity, but they are “on guard” waiting for the response from external tools and websites so, when that response arrives, they start processing the data and performing the corresponding action. This issue of stopped GPUs is not new and a few weeks ago it was noted that the vast majority of the equipment that the hyperscalers had purchased They were doing nothing most of the time. The electrical network. And the problem is projection. Currently, this technology is in the era of chatbots, but the industry is moving towards agents. Right now platforms like Nvidia’s Vera Rubin just for that, and when they come into play, the study’s projection is that energy demand will reach an equivalent to half of the electricity consumption of the entire United States. It is estimated that in 2023, US data centers “barely” consumed 4.4% of the national total and will double by 2030, but KAIST’s estimates far exceed previous forecasts. Redesign. While those data centers continue to grow, the power grid cannot say the same. Renewables are not enough to satisfy the voracity of AI and we must resort to nuclear, gas and even coal and, in Europe, already we are seeing reactions of some countries that either move new data centers away from their large cities or reject them outright. The reason? Saturated networks and data centers that would have a demand greater than that of the population itself, generating problems in the energy infrastructure. It doesn’t look like the hyperscalers are addressing these issues because, as Jensen Huang himself, CEO of Nvidia, pointed out some time ago, it remains more than five years of wild investment in infrastructure for AIbut the South Korean study commented that a solution to energy demand would come from a redesign of the entire network. From microchips to AI models and the electrical infrastructure of data centers themselves. As if that were simple, and even more so now that Big Tech is in the race to deploy AI agents in both business and consumer applications. We’ll see if the power grid can keep up with that pace. In Xataka | Talking about artificial intelligence is talking about energy, and the fashionable term is ‘bragawatts’

In 2016 Colombia signed a historic peace agreement. Then the area dedicated to cocaine cultivation skyrocketed

by

In Colombia the 11-24-2016 It is one of those dates that sneak into history books and that schoolchildren study for generations. Or at least that’s what was expected a decade agowhen (after years of negotiations and a complicated procedure with steps forward and back) the Government and the FARC signed a Peace Agreement which was intended to mark a turning point in the country’s history of drug trafficking and violence. The reality today is that the Colombian coca map may be different from that of 2016, but it has not retreated. Quite the opposite. Taking stock. The second round of the Colombian teams will coincide almost with the tenth anniversary of the agreement signed in 2016 by the FARC-EP and the Government, then headed by Juan Manuel Santos. With that backdrop, this week the British newspaper Financial Times public an extensive analysis in which he examines how the cocaine business, drug trafficking and violence in the country have changed over the last decade. And the result is not exactly good. If it had to be summarized, it could be done like this: more hectares of cultivation, greater yield, more business and less ideology. Change of actors. One of the key ideas that leave bouncing FT is that, far from ending drug trafficking and coca cultivation, the 2016 agreement has only served to change its protagonists. The place that the far-left insurgent organization once occupied FARC It is now distributed to armed groups more motivated by the search for profit. From discourse based on politics we move on to business. Not only that. The logistics chain has become fragmented and specialized, although in the new map they would stand out above all three great actors. One is the National Liberation Army (ELN), left-wing guerrilla organization that expands its influence to Venezuela. Another group is made up of former members of the FARC who are dissatisfied with the 2016 pact and who now act as dissidents. The third protagonist is Gaitanista Armyalso known by its acronym (EGC) or as Clan del Golfo, formed by right-wing paramilitaries. For the director of the Ideas for Peace Foundation (FIP), María Victoria Llorente, the latter is “the largest criminal organization in Colombia.” What exactly happened? That the State has not achieved occupy the place left by the FARC, which has translated into a huge opportunity for other organizations interested in drug trafficking. Toby Muse, reporter and author of ‘Kilo’, summed it up not long ago in an interview with ABC: “The FARC had control of many of the places where coca was planted. When they lowered their weapons they clearly told the Government: ‘Now this territory is yours. A minimum of law must be introduced and the peasants must be protected. That is the peace process. This territory is now yours’. The Government was unable to take control. Other groups did so and it generated a new cycle of violence.” Click on the image to go to the tweet. The figure: 253,000 hectares. Geoff Dyer and Joe Daniels, the reporters who sign the report of FT, have not limited themselves to collecting testimonies from experts and locals. In their chronicle they also slip some figures that help understand how the coca map in Colombia has changed since 2016. Of all, perhaps the most resounding are the UN estimates on the cultivated area: between 2018 and 2023 there would be increased by around 50% until reaching 253,000 hectares. This growth has also been accompanied by another just as solid in the production of pure cocaine hydrochloride. A questionable balance. Just a few days ago, President Gustavo Petro assured that the Executive expects that the area with coca crops this year will be around 253,358 hectares, which, he insisted, represents a reduction compared to 2025. In any case, it is still higher than what was expected. the UN calculated in 2022 and questions the success of the policies promoted a decade ago by the Executive to encourage farmers to abandon coca plantations. In 2017, for example, the Transnational Institute (TNI) informed of how a “crop substitution plan” to, through economic incentives, eliminate 50,000 hectares of coca in just one year. Only part of the ‘photo’. It is not just that the cultivated area has increased. In its 2024 report, the UN also points out a noticeable increase in the yield of cultivated hectares, a phenomenon that coincides with the decision of the Government of dispense with of aerial fumigation with glyphosate as a tool to eradicate coca plantations. The decision was made a decade ago due to its impact on the environment and the health of the population, but the Petro Government has had no choice but to reverse and recover fumigations with the help of drones. More sophisticated. In general the analysis of Financial Times points out that new generations have ‘professionalized’ coca production in Colombia, betting on new varieties of crops, more efficient agricultural practices and more sophisticated processing. Even the laboratories have been improved. The British media reports that, taking advantage of their control of the territory, some groups have even gotten into other businesses, such as illegal gold mining. Beyond Colombia. That coca production increases by Colombian forests It has effects beyond the country or even South America. In your ‘World Drug Report 2025’the United Nations recalled that in 2023 the production, seizures and consumption of white powder had reached “new highs”, confirming itself as “the fastest growing illicit drug.” According to their calculations, production shot up almost 34% between 2022 and 2023 and consumption went from 17 million users in 2013 to nearly 25 million in 2023. hunted caches before reaching its destination, but so does production, something that has even been felt in the quote of the bales. The reflection in Europe. In the global chain they are on one side the big producers (Colombia, Peru and Bolivia) and on the other the main consumer markets. In the latter, important changes can also be seen, something that it is clear in … Read more

AI has skyrocketed Nokia shares by 140%. Now comes the hard part

by

For years, Nokia seemed to be trapped in our memory as a company from the past: indestructible mobile phones, the ‘Snake‘, recognizable tones and a fall which ended up becoming a warning for the entire technology industry. But that image is somewhat unfair. Nokia did not disappear when it lost its step in the smartphone market. The company continued to exist, far from the consumer’s showcase, in a less visible and much more difficult to explain business: the networks, the infrastructure for operators and the technology that allows modern communications to work. And now, suddenly, AI has put it back on the map. The stock market turn. According to BloombergNokia shares have risen more than 140% so far this year, a move that has made it the fourth best value in the Stoxx Europe 600 and has taken its shares to levels not seen since 2008. The key is that investors are beginning to read the company in a different way: less as a traditional supplier of telecommunications equipment and more as a piece of the infrastructure that can sustain the rise of AI. Not for phones, but for their optical equipment for data centers. The important clarification. The signature of the rise is Nokia Oyj, not to HMD Global. The difference matters because HMD is the company that has marketed mobile phones under the Nokia brand under license, while Nokia Oyj is the listed Finnish company. The separation point came in 2014, with the sale of the mobile division to Microsoft. From then on, the Nokia name continued to circulate on two different levels: as a recognizable brand for many consumers and as an industrial company within the global telecommunications market. An assessment that becomes complicated. The stock market euphoria has left Nokia in a delicate position: the more a stock rises, the harder it is to justify what comes next. Information from the American economic media places its 12-month forward P/E, the relationship between the share price and the expected profits for the next year, at about 36 times, more than double the approximately 17 times at the beginning of the year. The data that cools the enthusiasm is another: the part linked to AI and cloud, which is fueling much of the new narrative, barely represented 8% of the group’s sales in the first quarter. The technical piece. Nokia’s appeal lies in a layer that often falls beneath the more visible narrative of AI. While much of the conversation revolves around chips, models and applications, data centers also need optical networks to move information quickly between computing systems. The purchase of Infineraa company specialized in optical networks, gave Nokia more muscle in that field and now seems like a particularly timely operation. Added to this are three signals collected by Bloomberg: sales linked to AI grew by 49% in the first quarter, the company raised its forecasts in April for segments exposed to cloud clients and NVIDIA made an investment of 1 billion dollars. The bottom ballast. The enthusiasm for optical networks does not erase the size of the business that Nokia already had before investors began to read it in terms of AI. The mobile networks division still contributes more than half of total sales and, according to the information cited by the American economic media, works with lower margins than the part more linked to cloud and artificial intelligence. That weight conditions any optimistic reading. Operators have reduced spending in recent years and Nokia has also suffered important contract losses in the United States, so the company is not starting from a blank slate. The real test. For years, the big question around Nokia was whether anyone would look at it again as anything more than a memory of another technological era. That part, at least in the stock market, has already happened. The problem is that investors do not forgive second chances when they become too expensive: after a rise of more than 140%, the company no longer only has to prove that it has exposure to AI, but that that exposure can be converted into orders, revenues and margins. The story is attractive again. Now the most difficult thing remains: for the numbers to be up to par. Images | NOKIA In Xataka | Huawei has found a way to counteract US sanctions: overcoming Moore’s Law

The number of tourists to Antarctica has skyrocketed 1,000% in 30 years. There are those who believe that the real boom has not yet arrived

by

The hantavirus crisis has served so that, at least for a few days, much of the planet remembered COVID-19 and what was exposed that there is a hyperconnected world and a changing climate to the expansion of pandemics. Also (even if only glancingly) to remember a phenomenon that has been gaining strength for years in a silent, discreet, but forceful way: the tourist exploitation from Antarctica. The MV Hondius was promoted like a cruise to remote destinations departing from Ushuaiastarting point also of the vast majority of ships traveling to the southern pole. He interest in Antarctica by the MV Hondius shipping company (Oceanwide Expeditions) is no coincidence. There are more and more signs that suggest that polo is becoming an important tourist asset… and (above all) on the rise. A percentage: 1,120%. Antarctica may be one of the most remote places on the planet, but that has not left it off the radar of the tourism. On the contrary. For some time the data of IAATOthe International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators, show that the region has never been busier. The annual balances may register slight fluctuations, but the curve they draw when the focus is opened and the last three decades are analyzed shows the growing popularity of the destination. The latest evidence has been provided The Vanguard in an article in which he leaves out a key fact: during the 2024 season, more than 122,000 people visited the continent, which represents an increase of 1,120% compared to 30 years ago, when the statistics did not exceed 10,00 visits. Is there more data? Yes. To be more precise, the last balance from IAATO shows that if in the 1993-94 season the number of disembarked passengers barely reached 8,000, in 2013-14 it already exceeded 27,700 and in 2023-24 it was close to 78,900. In parallel, the number of those who only travel on cruise ships, without setting foot on land, has also been increasing. If in 2013-14 there were 9,700 people, last season they exceeded 43,200. Looking ahead to the 2024-2025 season the body calculates a slight decrease in the number of travelers who do not get off the boat and an increase in those who do. The first would remain at 36,769, the second at 80,434. Added to these are 938 “deep field” visitors, as those who fly to the interior of the region or board a ship to explore the Antarctic Peninsula or the islands are called. USA, the big market. IAATO statistics allow us to go further and analyze, for example, the nationalities of travelers who stop in Antarctica. The Americans are in the lead, with 44.6% in 2023-24, followed far by the Australians and Chinese, who each take almost 8% of the pie. The British, Canadians, Germans, Argentines and Brazilians also stand out, although IAATO has identified visitors of more than 200 nationalities. As for what they do there, the vast majority (98%) of tourist trips focus on the Antarctic Peninsula during the southern summer season and They depart from Ushuaiasouth of Argentina. Activities offered upon arrival include zodiac trips, landings and (more rarely) kayaking, climbing or overnight stays. IAATO graph with the flow of visitors between 1993 and 2002. IAATO graph with the flow of visitors between 2011 and 2024. Looking to the future. The flow of tourists may have skyrocketed in recent decades, but could fall short in the coming years. At least that’s what the researchers who have just published believe. a study on “Antarctic tourism management” in Journal of Sustainable Tourism. In it, the team led by Dr. Valeria Senigaglia slips two pieces of information. First, verify the boom of visitors in the last 30 years: from less than 8,000 in 93/34 to more than 120,000 in the 2023/24 season. Second, he warns that if the model is not rethought, the number of tourists could quadruple in the next decade until reaching almost half a million people annually. “If the number of visitors grows at the average annual growth rate recorded between the 1992-1993 season and the 2023-2024 season (a constant annual growth rate of 14.0%), the total number of visitors is expected to almost quadruple in 10 years, reaching approximately 452,000 in the 2033-2034 season,” specify the paperwhich also recalls that approximately 65% ​​of the more than 120,000 tourists who currently take cruises to Antarctica travel on ships that allow disembarkation, operations that tend to concentrate at the same points. An invisible footprint. That Antarctica arouses curiosity and there are people who want to know it or even visit it is, a priori, nothing bad. The problem, like warn the authors of the report, is the impact that this growing flow of tourists can have on a particularly fragile ecosystem. Although all the details are taken care of during the landings and IAATO demand tourists not to touch or feed local wildlife or damage plants, their presence poses certain environmental risks. For example, Elie Poulin, from the University of Chile, warns in The Vanguard that tourism can unintentionally spread exotic species. It comes with someone transporting them without knowing it. “Widespread degradation”. “The risks are real. An invasive species of grass has established itself on one of Antarctica’s South Shetland Islands, while bird flu has reached the Subantarctic Islands, where it has had a devastating effect on the seal population,” warned Dana Bergstrom has long been an expert in Antarctic ecology. This is without taking into account the environmental footprint left by cruise ship traffic or frequent disembarkation in certain areas. “A major concern is that the cumulative impacts of tourism will interact with alterations in weather patterns, snowmelt, ocean currents and nutrient cycling caused by climate change, leading to widespread habitat degradation and declines in wildlife populations and diversity,” insist Senigaglia. Review the guidelines? The reality is that visiting Antarctica is still not the same as traveling to any other tourist destination on the planet. Since 1991 there has been a protocol of environmental protection of Antarctica that … Read more

While we were looking at gasoline, the Iran crisis has skyrocketed the price of asphalt. And the roads of half the world are already suffering from it

by

A few months ago we published in Xataka an article with the following title: Spanish roads have a problem in 2026: repairing a kilometer of asphalt is more expensive than ever. It was February 26, 2026. In it we analyzed the problem that Spain had encountered. Our roads, prepared for a hot and dry climate (especially in the southern half) had suffered very intense days of almost constant rain. It didn’t take long for the holes to appear and neither did the complaints in the media and social networks about the supposed poor condition of the roads. Trying to understand if this is really the case or not and why it is estimated that the State needs to invest some of 13,000 million euros to fix themwe looked to see if it had become more expensive the price of asphalt in recent years. Something that, indeed, was reflected in the aforementioned article. But this, as we said, was published on February 26. Two days later, on February 28, we woke up to the news that the Government of the United States and Israel had launched a joint bombing offensive against Iran. The rest, we already know. Crisis in oil supplya battle for open and close the Hormuz canal and fuel increases for passenger cars and airplanes. But there is something that has also risen. And that something is called asphalt. More expensive than ever (now yes) And in less than three months, which seem to have lasted a lifetime, the headline has become outdated. At the end of last month, Asefma (Spanish Association of Asphalt Mixture Manufacturers) already warned that the price of asphalt was skyrocketing. According to this association, in March alone the average price of asphalt had risen 8.2%. Nothing compared to April, when it did so by 49.3%. He overrun of the final product is due, above all, to the increase in the price of bitumen that acts as a binder for asphalt and is where the increase in the price of oil has the most impact. Asefma has come to consider that the increase in the price of asphalt was putting at risk the viability of the signed contracts or even whether they will be fulfilled or completed if the works have already begun. The truth is that, beyond the possible pressure measures of the employers’ association that defends the interests of its associates, the price of asphalt has skyrocketed inside and outside our country. To understand why asphalt has become more expensive you have to understand what makes it up. The pavement of our roads is made up of dirt and stones that are compacted. They serve as a base but also cushion the weight placed on them to delay the breaking of the asphalt. This asphalt is a bituminous mixture that uses bitumen of different intensity depending on where the road is going to be built. Those that resist heat better tend to be less flexible and those that drain better tend to be more flexible. Therefore, the latter They can melt when temperatures are very high. All components have been affected by the increase in the price of oil. To begin with, the earth and stones have to be transported by heavy vehicles with very high diesel consumption, precisely the fuel that has become most expensive. The same thing happens with the refinement of bitumen or asphalt (what we ultimately step on). If energy costs rise, the price of this product rises. But, in addition, the price of bitumen is closely linked to the price of oil. This product is made from the densest oil in the barrel, the least usable in energy terms and the most expensive to convert into fuel. This product is what is refined to obtain bitumen and, with bombs falling on Iran and the subsequent response on neighboring countries, the production and export of raw materials It has been very diminished, obviously. The American company Victory Paving figure in an increase of between 2 and 3% in the price of asphalt for every 10 dollars that a barrel of oil rises. They also argue that the shortage is greater because the rise in energy costs has an impact on a drop in the production of refineries and these usually prioritize the production of diesel and gasoline over asphalt refining because the fuels are more profitable. Richard Hudock, president of Derry Construction Co., pointed out to the American media who had never suffered a crisis so serious in the 42 years that they had been working, ensuring that the impact of the price of oil on the raw materials and fuel to be able to operate their vehicles put their job at risk this summer. In Argus They point out that the situation in Africa is no better. They point out that the bitumen that reaches countries like South Africa has become almost exclusively dependent on trade with Greece and Türkiye, once the Middle East tap has been closed. This has caused the price of each freighter to triple. If the price of asphalt has grown in the United States, South Africa and Spain, doubts have also grown about what to do in these cases. In the first of these countries It has been proposed to delay the patching of certain streets or highways. But this can cause the problem to worsen and, even if the price of oil falls again in the future, the damage will be deeper and the investment to be made would have to be larger. And the problem is that in the United States, the United Kingdom and Spain we face the same problem. The winters In all of these countries it has been very cold or very rainy, so the condition of the asphalt has been compromised. In BBC They report that the United Kingdom had already increased the budget to repair its roads but that the increase in the price of oil has put this item in check. The result, as … Read more

donations from parents to children have skyrocketed

by

In the offices of Valencian notaries there is a procedure that has been gaining weight in recent years, and at an astonishing speed: the donations from parents to children who want to have their own home. Since 2019, the region’s members have confirmed a “boom” both money deliveries (they have almost quadrupled in just over five years), and home transfers, an operation that has also multiplied. The objective is always the same: to help young people get their head into a market increasingly expensive…and inaccessible. It makes sense if we take into account if we see who buys in the region. What has happened? That the Notarial College of Valencia wanted to accompany the presentation of its new statistical portal (a tool valid for the entire country) of a series of data on the residential market in the region. Among all of them there are three especially interesting ones that are connected to each other. The first is the gradual rise in housing prices, the second is the negligible weight that young people have in the buying and selling market and the third is the boom in donations from parents to children, both of houses themselves and of sums of money. How much is donated? Increasingly, this shows that family support has become a key ‘key’ for young people to open the doors of the market and make the leap from tenants to owners. The data is clear. And they leave little room for doubt. According to Valencian referees, home donations from parents to children have doubled between 2019 and 2025: from 3,015 they have gone to 7,776. In short, they have skyrocketed 158% in five years. That’s if we’re talking about properties themselves. If we look at monetary donations, those that are based on money and that facilitate the payment of deposits or the signing of mortgage loans, the increase has been even more pronounced. How much have they increased? Those kinds of donations have almost quadrupled. If in 2019 Valencian notaries managed just under 3,000 operations in which parents gave money to their children to facilitate the purchase of a residential property, last year that figure had already climbed to almost 11,100 operations. 279% more in just five years. This boom was registered in all provinces. In Valencia it went from 1,647 to 5,370; in Alicante, from 844 to 4,012; and in Castellón from 432 to 1,712. Regarding the average amount of donations, in 2025 they exceeded 75,000 euros. Does it only occur in that region? No. In fact, the data from the General Council reflect that it is a fairly widespread trend in Spain. In 2025 the group processed more than 225,300 donations throughout the country, a data that can be analyzed from several angles. To begin with, it is the highest indicator since at least 2011 and far exceeds the 85,300 operations a decade ago. If that were not enough, it marks a clear upward trend: between 2023 and 2024 donations registered an increase of 15.2%, a drift that was consolidated with another 13% in 2025. At the end of 2025 the General Council I already warned that donations and inheritances were “consolidating themselves as instruments of access to housing”, a phenomenon that connects with an even larger trend: the Great Wealth Transfer. His statistics were again incontestable. Home donations went from 32,623 in 2017 to 54,735 in 2024. Residential property inheritances also drew a similar curve: from 335,888 they rose to 403,854. What is the reason? To answer that question we must recover the two keys that we pointed out at the beginning of the article: the increase in housing prices and how this increase has been closing the doors of real estate agencies to young people. Again according to the data managed by notaries, the cost of residential m2 (both in new and second-hand homes) has skyrocketed in the last decade in the Valencian Community. In 2025 it stood at 1,676 euros, 69.1% more than in 2013, when that same indicator reached minimum levels dragged down by the brick crisis. If we look at the specific case of Valencia, per m2 is even more expensive: 2,489 euros. In Alicante it has climbed to 1,889 and in Castellón to 1,297. How does that affect young people? More expensive prices require a greater capacity for savings and debt, something that is not always within the reach of young people. Especially if they are tenants before making the leap to owners. In 2024, a study by Infojobs concluded that Spaniards spend on average 47% of your salary gross payment of the rent for your home, which far exceeds the spending threshold recommended by experts and strangles the ability to save. With this backdrop it is explained that donations and inheritances have come to play a key role as a springboard to make the leap to owner. Who buys? The ‘photograph’ provided by the notaries is once again quite clear. In 2007, young people between 18 and 30 years old they accounted for 21.58% of home purchases in the region. Now that percentage has plummeted to 8.39%, even below the national averagewhich is around 9.6%. As a reference, foreign buyers represent 36.9% of the total, although their weight is not the same throughout the territory. In the province of Valencia it represents 21.97% of the total buyers, while in Alicante it accounts for 51%. Images | Northleg Official (Unsplash) and Giuseppe Buccola (Unsplash) In Xataka | If the question is “why doesn’t Spain build more houses”, the brick industry has the answer: it is not profitable

has skyrocketed its production and is about to say goodbye to imports

by

Although officially the war that is grabbing all the headlines these days is the conflict between the United States, Israel and Iranthe reality is that global geopolitics is such a hornet’s nest that the whole world is rearming itself. And while Europe discovers that it is missing essential things as ammunition opqualified personnel to manufacture themChina reaches this critical moment in an almost unbeatable position: the army of its great rival depends more and more of the Asian giant and is also just a breath away from being self-sufficient. The document of “Trends in international arms transfers, 2025” published a few days ago by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, collects the trends, changes and main actors in the global trade in heavy weapons between the periods 2016-20 and 2021-25 and makes one thing clear: in weapons, China cooks it and China eats it. China’s change. While the global volume of arms transfers has grown by 9.2% in the 2021-25 period, China has remained the fifth largest exporter in the world (with 5.6% of the global share). But his way of interacting with the market has changed radically: he now sells more and buys much less. 10 years ago China was the fifth largest arms importer in the world and today it barely appears in 21st place: it has dropped out of the top 10 for the first time since 1991. It is not that it has disarmed by any means. In fact, is producing fighters as if there were no tomorrow and that’s it has surpassed the United States in the production of nuclear submarines. The thing is that you no longer have to buy what you make at home abroad. This is how global arms imports are distributed: the 10 largest importers and the rest. China is in that rest. SIPRI Why is it important. Because China is the second military power in the world in spending (according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies) and that a country of its size and investment stops depending on the foreign market is further confirmation of the maturity of its industry. And reduce his Achilles heel: if he does not depend on anyone for weapons, there is no pressure to try to cut off his supply. Without going any further, one of China’s first measures in the tug of war over tariffs was to tighten its control framework for rare earths, essential for weapons. On the other hand, China’s influence is not only measured by its borders, but by who depends on it: we have already seen how it is essential in the United States supply chain, but the SIPRI report highlights how it stands as the pillar of Pakistan’s defense, is the largest supplier of weapons to Sub-Saharan Africa and is opening new markets in Europe (Serbia). Global context. The SIPRI document places this change in a context of global rearmament, especially in Europe (where there are 210% more imports) and direct competition from the United States. According to the report, the US arms export policy towards Asia and Oceania is partly determined by its objective of containing the influence of China, highlighting key recipients such as Japan, Australia and South Korea. From ‘Made in Russia’ to ‘Made in China’. China has reduced its imports between 2016 and 2025 by 72%. Historically, the Asian giant was dependent on Russian technology, but not anymore. Of course, Russia continues to be its main supplier: it accounts for 66% of the total imported. After the end of the Cold War, Beijing continued to depend on Moscow and its technology, but throughout the 1990s there were key moments for this turning point in Chinese strategy, such as Yinhe’s trauma in the Malacca Strait either the Taiwan Strait crisis of 1996 in which American military superiority and the need to build its own defense industry were evident. China is rearming. Beijing already has the largest navy in the world in terms of number of ships, according to the US Department of Defense and has established itself as the reference in the deployment of hypersonic missiles. At the strategic level, the Pentagon plans that China will have more than 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030. If We analyze your most recent budgetwhich grew by 7.2%, technological self-sufficiency and scientific innovation in defense appear as the absolute priority to break any external dependence. What it means for the rest of the world. For Russia it obviously means losing its largest and most loyal historical client. According to SIPRI data, the fall in Chinese purchases has dragged Russian exports to historic lows, aggravating the crisis in its defense industry. For the United States it is a poisoned candy: while Washington tries to reinforce its allies in the Pacific, it faces a rival that sets a pace of industrial and technological production that today is difficult for them to follow. For figures like Pete Hegseth, China is no longer just a competitor, it is the pacing threat: the threat that sets the pace and scale to which the rest of the world must try to adapt. Countries geographically close to China are also accelerating their purchases, driven both by US reinforcement plans and their own fear. The question is how long they will be able to sustain this pulse, because, in terms of industrial mass and speed, today no one seems capable of keeping up with China. In Xataka | The US has a problem in its military career: China has “infiltrated” its army’s supply chain In Xataka | The US has a very serious problem with its F-35s: China is producing fighter jets beyond its capabilities Cover | CCTV, SteKrueBe

In 2022, the gas crisis skyrocketed the price of electricity in Spain. In 2026 we have a “green shield” but also a serious problem

by

Just when in Spain we began to breathe a sigh of relief, convinced that we had overcome the inflationary trauma of 2022 “after cutting energy ties” with Russia, history repeats itself. This week a “black Monday” began that has shaken international markets. This time the epicenter is not in eastern Europe, but in the Persian Gulf, after the recent attacks that have been forced to paralyze QatarEnergy facilities. The impact on our country has been devastating. According to data collected in OMIEthe price of electricity in the wholesale market has jumped 60% in just 24 hours, climbing to 90.14 euros per megawatt hour (MWh). To put it in perspective, this represents a 1,300% increase in price compared to what we paid just a month ago. The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has already warned that We must prepare for a “long war” with serious global economic consequences. And the fear is already palpable in the street with the long lines that yesterday we observed of drivers trying to fill their tank at gas stations low cost before prices continue to rise. If the gas goes up, why does the electricity go up? To understand why a conflict thousands of kilometers away makes our electricity more expensive almost instantly, you have to look at how our system works. As explained The Confidential in a very didactic way: the European electricity market is “marginalist”. This means that the most expensive technology that needs to be used to cover the demand of a specific day is the one that sets the final price of all energy. If the sun or wind is not enough and the gas plants have to be turned on, all electricity is paid for at the price of gas. And the gas, right now, is trapped in a war funnel. As we have already explained these days20% of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) and 25% of the world’s oil transit through the Strait of Hormuz (the epicenter of the current tension). Any threat of a blockade in that area generates a domino effect that triggers reference prices in Europe. The energy expert Joaquín Coronado explained in LinkedIn that this panic is already real: The prices of electricity futures for the rest of 2026 have suddenly risen by 24%. As he himself points out, “only the price of gas has changed,” but that is enough to drag down the entire system. The hit in the pocket. All this macroeconomics lands directly in the bank account of citizens. As pointed out The Countrythere are more than 11 million users in Spain who have regulated rates (the PVPC for electricity and the TUR for gas) who will notice this increase almost immediately, since their contracts reflect the daily fluctuations of the market. The calculations about what this crisis is going to cost us are already on the table: The OCU, in statements to The Newspaperestimates that if these prices are maintained, the average electricity bill with a regulated rate will jump from the 62 euros we paid in February to around 82 euros in March. An increase of 30% in a single month. A platform report Roams figures the monthly impact about 12 euros extra for electricity (17% more) and increases of up to 18% on the gas bill. The worst scenario is drawn the comparator Selectra: If the conflict drags on and we return to the panic levels of 2022, the electricity bill could skyrocket by 200%. But energy is just the first domino. Financial Times collect warnings from the chief economist of the European Central Bank (ECB), who already assumes a short-term rebound in general inflation. As oil rises, transportation rises: from fuel at the pump (gas stations already assume extra costs of 12 cents per liter) to maritime freight of goods and plane tickets, which on some routes to Asia have quadrupled in price. So, are we the same as in 2022? The good news is that we are not exactly at the same starting point as when the Ukrainian war broke out. As analyzed elDiario.esSpain today has three “mattresses” that cushion the first impact: the arrival of spring (which reduces the use of heating), some reservoirs 83% full (which allow generate a lot of hydroelectric energy cheap) and an electric mix where more than 50% of energy is already renewable. Furthermore, the PVPC formula was recently renovated so that it does not depend only on the daily market, softening the extreme peaks a little. The bad news is that we have exchanged one problem for another. To stop depending on Russia, we throw ourselves into the arms of the United States. As the economist José Carlos Díez warns in the chain Vibe Zero44% of the gas we consume today comes from the US. This places us in a position of extreme vulnerability to the new geopolitical “black swan”: the anger of Donald Trump. The refusal of the Spanish Government to give up the military bases of Rota and Morón for the offensive against Iran has caused Trump to threaten to cut off all trade with Spain. If the United States turns off the tap on LNG ships, José Carlos Díez warnsSpain does not have the physical capacity or infrastructure to replace a supplier that gives us almost half of our gas from one day to the next. The social shield and our pending duties. Faced with the threat of the crisis becoming entrenched, the Government is already moving. According to Expansion, If the conflict lasts more than four weeks, Pedro Sánchez’s Executive has on the table reactivating the “social shield” of previous crises: reductions in VAT on electricity, fuel discounts and direct aid. However, fiscal patches do not hide the underlying problems. In Xataka We have put our finger on two great absurdities of our system. On the one hand, we are an “energy island” since we have seven regasification plants capable of receiving ships from all over the world and helping Europe, but we do … Read more

The number of new apps coming to the App Store has skyrocketed. We have a culprit: “vibe coding”

by

The arrival of tools based on generative artificial intelligence has caused a real explosion in mobile application stores, especially since we have development environments with AI that allow us to create and deploy applications without needing to know programming. According to data from venture capital fund Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), new apps launched in the iOS App Store in the United States increased 60% year-on-year in December, after remaining practically stagnant for the previous three years. The accumulated year-on-year growth in the last twelve months reaches 24%. The person responsible has a name: the “vibe coding“, that way of programming in which AI does much of the work. What is happening. 2025 has been the year in which “sensation programming” has exploded. And it is that in environments of ‘agentic programming‘ or vibe coding, just explain to an AI tool what application you need and the machine takes care of writing the code. Platforms like CursorBolt, Google AI StudioClaude Code or V0 have democratized app creation to the point that anyone with an idea can turn it into a working prototype without writing a single line of code. This opens many doors, as thousands of new developers without technical training are publishing applications in stores. That’s also a problem. Going back to 2008. As points out a16z, the situation evokes the early days of the iPhonewhen Apple launched its SDK and in a matter of months went from 500 applications to downloads that exceeded 1,000 million. That ecosystem ended up generating hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue. Here the phenomenon is even more overwhelming, since the creation of applications is no longer ‘limited’ to experienced developers, which means that in an afternoon we can create any simple app, as long as we know what to ask of the AI. Image: a16z The problem. Things are clear: you will not be able to create a complex application in one sentence. And now he told us Miguel Ángel Durán, a software engineer known as midudev, in March of last year: “don’t think that just saying something without knowing anything about programming is going to give you the next Airbnb.” As my colleague Javier Pastor mentioned some time ago, the case of Leoa user who created an entire SaaS platform with vibe coding and even got paying customers, perfectly illustrates the risks, since two days after bragging about his achievement, he had to ask for help because his app displayed public API keys, had an easy-to-jump paywall, and crashed his database due to basic programming errors. Quality matters. “You can do very basic things. We have tried Cursor, Bolt, etc., and you reach a level that one may think is advanced, but in reality what usually happens is that they are cloning a Github repository and changing its colors,” we say. counted Some time ago Daniel Ávila, co-founder of CodeGPT. There is a flood of low-quality apps, much more than before, since now many more inexperienced people can easily publish them in any app store. And the problem is that many of these applications do not even reach the prototype level, being unfinished products that work superficially and then end up accumulating all kinds of technical errors. Even worse if the app has a paywall. Between optimism and caution. “Vibe coding is super interesting to extend the prototyping of ideas and empower people,” we say. explained last year Nerea Luis, doctor in computer science. But he also recognizes that “it has risks” because completing these projects requires knowledge that neither the user nor the AI ​​possess. On the other hand, Omar Pera, Chief Product Officer of Freepik, was more optimistic: “vibe coding turns top engineers into 2x or 3x engineers.” Does it democratize access to application development? Yes, of course. The problem comes when the AI-generated application of someone without experience goes from a project to learn, as a hobby, or as an app development for one’s own use, to a project that encompasses more ambition and seeks to attract many clients. Cover image | James Yarema In Xataka | We believed that the AI ​​talent war is about engineers and developers. Actually, it’s about plumbers and electricians.

It just went public and its value has skyrocketed by 688%

by

A few days ago we said that the Chinese company Moore Threads Had an Amazing Stock Market Debut. Today history repeats itself with Meta X, a GPU manufacturer and another of the companies that wants to hold the title of “the Chinese NVIDIA.” If Moore Threads already surprised by shooting up 500% in the stock market, MetaX has just said “hold my cap.” MetaX goes public. We have talked about the company in the past and today they are in the news because, as we said, they have gone public following in the footsteps of Moore Threads. The market response has seen its share price skyrocket from 104.66 yuan to a whopping 824.50 yuan, an increase of 688% that has raised its valuation to 280 billion yuan, almost $40 billion. According to South China Morning Postis the third most successful Star Market debut so far this year. Why is it important. The market reaction to companies such as MetaX or previously Moore Threads highlights the interest in creating domestic alternatives to NVIDIA chips. Furthermore, it happens at the moment when The US has given permission for NVIDIA to sell its H200 chips. Although there are companies that prefer American chipsthe appetite for creating competitive alternatives is fierce. MetaX. It was founded just five years ago by three former AMD employees, including Chen Weiliang, the company’s current CEO. Its main product is GPUs intended for training and executing AI models. Just like NVIDIA, MetaX operates under the ‘fable’ modelthat is, they do not have factories and what they do is design the GPUs from their headquarters in Shanghai, so that they are manufactured in third-party plants such as TSMC’s in Taiwan. Compatibility. Its first GPU intended for AI training, the C500, was launched in 2023 and stood out for its compatibility with CUDA, NVIDIA’s programming platform. This allows them to run existing software without having to rewrite the codeis the same path that Moore Threads took with its own GPUs. The new model, the C600, is about to enter mass production and the C700 is already in the development phase. They also have the N line, which are more basic chips for inference and video processing. Power. They count in Nikkei Asia that MetaX has recognized that its technology is still behind what NVIDIA offers, but by how much? The C500 GPU offers 15 TFLOPS of power, which is about 75% of the power of the NVIDIA A100. In the case of the N100, it offers approximately 50% power of the NVIDIA A30. It is far behind the American giant, but that has not stopped investors. A big ‘but’. Not everything is so pretty. MetaX is in the same situation as many AI companies: it is not yet generating revenue. So far this year they have invoiced 1,230 million yuan, a figure that is five times that of 2024, but with losses of 345 million. Moore Threads is in a similar situation and despite its big IPO, it warned investors that its chips have not yet generated revenue, which caused the share price to drop 20%. In the end it seems that the high expectations about the AI ​​boom are not just an American thing. Image | MetaX In Xataka | Moore Threads is the real NVIDIA of China. So much so that the US considers it a threat

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.