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They sit at the table of the giants

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He BYD test track in Zhengzhou It has a 29-meter interior dune certified by Guinness, a 70-meter pool for its amphibious cars, layouts off-road and an impeccable asphalt circuit to step on the accelerator. All designed to impress. And it works. More than a hundred journalists from America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa were summoned to witness an exhibition of strength. There were no big product announcements. The message was different: BYD no longer plays in the league of aspirants. He sits at the table of the giants, he knows it and enjoys it calmly. If the circuit was the muscle, Stella Li was the brain exposed to the media. During the session with three dozen international journalists, the Xataka Legend 2025 He responded bluntly about tariffs, global strategy, competition with Tesla and the future of the combustion engine. And it did so from a position of unprecedented confidence: BYD has sold more than 3.7 million “new energy” vehicles (NEV) as of October 2025. It is the world’s number one in BEV and PHEV combined. In September, it reached third place in global automobile sales – all technologies included –, only behind Toyota and Volkswagen. “Our growth is not a coincidence. We are a technology company that manufactures cars, not the other way around“Li emphasized during his previous speech. BYD employs more than 120,000 engineers and files dozens of patent applications every day. Europe, tariffs and the factory that changes everything When asked about European tariffs – which penalize Chinese electric companies – Li was direct: “The Hungarian factory will be operational at the end of this year. The impact of the tariffs will be zero in the short term. We will be a European manufacturer.” It was a response loaded with symbolism. BYD does not avoid the trade conflict but neutralizes it with local investment. And it is not the only front. Li confirmed that after Hungary will come plants in Brazil, Türkiye and other strategic markets. The lesson is clear: BYD builds where it sells. But Europe will not be just battery and volume. Li announced that YangWang, BYD’s luxury brand, will arrive in 2026, although without specifying models. “We want to bring premium PHEV technology to the market,” he said. “We are still defining which model will be first, but it will be something that the competition cannot ignore.” The veiled reference to the German BMW-Mercedes-Audi trident did not go unnoticed. One of the most interesting revelations of the session was BYD’s dual strategy in Europe. The brand started with a 100% electric bet (BEV), but now openly embraces PHEV technology as a workhorse. “In China, more than 50% of NEV vehicle sales are PHEVs,” Li said. “In some cities, it exceeds 60%. Consumers choose technology DMi because it is better: electric autonomy for everyday life, a combustion engine for long trips, and lower fuel consumption than any conventional hybrid.” The technology that changes the rules DMi 5.0 technology allows consumption of 2.6 liters per 100 km and combined ranges of up to 2,100 km with a single tank and one charge. In Europe, the Signal 6 DMi offers 1,500 km. “It is the perfect solution for markets where charging infrastructure is still limited,” he added. Is the combustion engine going to disappear? “Not in the next few years,” he answered without hesitation. “But in the future. Once more people experience DMi or BEV, the fate will be clear.” Asked about Tesla and the race for world number one, Li avoided the confrontation: “We are not obsessed with rankings. Tesla focuses on pure BEVs, we offer more options. “We believe in coexistence, even cooperation.” In fact, BYD already supplies batteries to other manufacturers. “We are not just a car brand,” Li recalled. “We produce batteries for energy storage, electronic components… You use BYD products in your daily life without knowing it.” That diversification is your secret weapon. The usual thing is to depend on external suppliers, but BYD controls the entire value chain: Blade batteries, motors, electronic platforms, semiconductors… Vertical integration as immunity to supply interruptions. Regarding the brutal price war in China, Li was cautious but realistic: “The competition is bloody. But BYD does not compete only on price. We compete on technology, experience, ecosystem.” How many Chinese brands will survive? “Too many are competing now. I don’t know how many will be left. But I know that competition makes us better.” The issue of national competition is not trivial: there are a brutal number of brands and it seems unlikely that all of them will have a place in a future that points to consolidation thanks to mergers, acquisitions of smaller ones and perhaps others that cannot survive directly. The record that is not just marketing If there were any doubts about BYD’s ambitions in the premium segment, the YangWang U9 Xtreme put them to rest. The electric supercar reached 496.22 km/h on the ATP Automotive Testing Circuit Papenburg (Germany) in September, becoming the fastest production car on the planetdisplacing Bugatti. Driving it in Zhengzhou, although limited to a maximum peak of 160 km/h for safety, was brutal. Total silence, instant thrust, space launch feeling. It is a car that It has a profit above its own sales: It serves to demonstrate that BYD can manufacture whatever it sets its mind to. A few years ago BYD manufactured cheap cars of dubious quality, today they are behind that missile called YangWang U9 and its record: it is the fastest production car in the world thanks to its 496.22 km/h. Image: Xataka. Among all the technologies on display, one stood out for its potential impact: Flash Charging, BYD’s ultra-fast charging infrastructure. With a voltage of 1,000 V and batteries integrated into the stations, the system promises up to 2 km of autonomy per second of charging. And in five minutes, 400 km. “Recharging will be as fast as refueling,” Li promised. Of course, with double hose. And here comes the play: BYD will install … Read more

A very rare element of the periodic table is unleashing a new geopolitical battle with China: Germanio

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China has been weaving, little by little, a network of power around critical minerals: first Rare earthsafter Copper And now Germanio. Although its name barely says anything to the general public, this metal is essential for the defense industry – from the night vision systems of the fighters to the satellites – and for the optical fibers that support the Internet. Today there is almost no market, its price has been quintupled in two years and the origin of the collapse has a clear name: Beijing. The origin of the crisis. Two years ago, China announced controls At the exit of Germanio, Gallium and Antimony in response to the restrictions of the United States and the Netherlands on advanced semiconductors. However, the real blow arrived at the end of 2024: Germanio’s exports collapsed, leaving merchants without supply. Terence Bell, from Strategic Metal Investments, I recognized Financial Times That had been able to buy a gram six months. “The situation is desperate,” he said. Aaron Jerome, from Lipmann Walton & Co, described a devastated market: “Before we could buy 100 kilos; now we are lucky if we got 10, and the triple price.” And Christian Hell, from the Tradition Commercial House, added to the same medium that the demand was “for the clouds” and that he received desperate consultations of companies from the United States and Europe. The figures confirm the collapse. According to a Policy Accelator Silverado analysis cited by Financial Timesbetween January and July of this year, Germanio imports to the United States from China fell 40%. The result has been an unprecedented price escalation: just $ 1,000 in 2023 to almost $ 5,000 in September this year. This is the highest level registered since 2011. A strategic role. The importance of Germanio is not in its geological rarity, but that it is very difficult to extract, since it is obtained as a zinc and coal byproduct. In addition, its use in defense is irreplaceable for thermal image systems in fighters, drones and satellites. In the civil sector, it is used in optical fiber, solar panels and chips. “Finding substitute materials is complicated, because it would imply a complete redesign and a loss of unacceptable precision in military applications,” explained the analyst Caroline Messecar in Financial Times. For these reasons, According to estimates from the Fastmarkets agencyworld demand is around 180-200 tons per year of Germanio. One more piece of a much wider board. In Beijing they have converted critical minerals into geopolitical weapons. At the end of 2024, They prohibited export from Gallium, Antimony and Germanio to the United States, and shortly after added Scandio and Disposioessential in chips, telecommunications and storage. The strategy behind the Asian giant is to monopolize the control of the entire chain. To name a few examples, China has 4% of world copper reserves, but controls 49% of the global refining. “More than accumulating raw materials, China is building an intentional bottleneck in the supply chain,” My partner has detailed in Xataka. The same goes for the Tungsten, where it controls 83% of the world supply and tightened the export controls in February 2025, What fired prices 55%. In simple words: Beijing seeks to be essential. It controls the most valuable link – the defendant – and with it conditions global access to strategic metals of the 21st century. However, its power is not absolute: it depends on importing concentrates from countries such as Chile, Peru or Mexico. If any of those partners change position – Mexico, for example, 50% tariffs have already imposed Chinese products in 2025-, Beijing risks a cut of vital supplies. In addition, this control strategy has a price: Chinese copper foundations work with negative margins and some have had to close. A movement to counterreloj. Before the blockade, Germanio’s great consumers try to move quickly. On the one hand, in the United States, defense giant Larkheed Martin signed in August a direct agreement with the South Korea Zinc to ensure supply, something unpublished so far. Lightpath Technologies, with government support, works in optical alternatives, although its director Sam Rubin warns in ft: “No one is going to redesign an existing system until it is inevitable.” On the other hand, the options are scarce. Umicore in Belgium and Teck Resources in Canada produce some Germanio, but insufficient. Germany He already warns thatif the crisis lasts, its automotive industry could stop part of the production in a matter of weeks. The European Chamber of Commerce has even asked Beijin to release supplies for chips factories. The historical supplier, Russia, has also been out of the board. For years it was one of Germanio’s main sources for the West, thanks to its production associated with zinc and coal mining. However, international sanctions for the Ukraine War cut that flow almost completely. Moscow continues to produce, but its exports are now directed to China and countries that do not participate in the sanctions, According to FT. For the United States and Europe, that means having lost another supply route in the worst possible time, which has further reinforced Beijing’s domain. Looking to the future. In Germany, a group of researchers from the Technical University of Freiberg Work in a method surprising: extract Germanio from plants after fermentation processes for biogas. At the moment, they only achieve some milligrams per liter, but they aspire to reach a gram, which would open the door to a sustainable and local production. From anonymity to key element. Germanio has become a symbol of a new era: that of minerals as strategic weapons. As Financial Times has pointed outdemand does not stop growing while the offer narrows. And the lesson is clear: in an electrified and militarized world, who controls critical minerals will control power. Image | Freepik and Unspash Xataka | Nickel’s paradox: West needs it more than ever for electrification, but China and Indonesia have market dominance

put on the table activate section 301

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Brussels pointed high again: a fine of 2,950 million euros to Google for its advertising business. The European Commission did nothing but reinforce its firm regulator profile in a sector that has been under its magnifying glass for years. On the other side of the Atlantic, The reaction seemed sung. The president had made clear that I saw these sanctions as a direct attack on American companies. That same day he fulfilled his promise: he raised the tone and turned the European file into a issue of political and economic tension. Trump chose an unusual way to answer: threatened to start an investigation under section 301, A reserved mechanism to serious commercial disputes that can lead to tariffs. It was not just criticizing Brussels, but making it clear that the White House was willing to climb the conflict. It is an online threat with a commercial policy marked by unexpected turns, and although it remains to be seen, the message has not gone unnoticed. The Google case becomes another front in the tense transatlantic relationships The Brussels fine It did not arise from one day to another. The European Commission has been investigating Google since 2021 for possible dominant position abuses in the digital advertising sector. The file concludes that the company favored his own ads ecosystemfrom its Doubleck server to its ADX exchange, relegating competitors and hindering the access of editors and advertisers to other platforms. The regulator gave the company 60 days to present a compliance plan and warned that, if not convincing, the option of demanding structural measures is reserved. For Teresa RiberaExecutive Vice President for a clean, fair and competitive transition in the European Commission, the file against Google reflects Brussels’s commitment to a more open advertising market. The curator defended the fine and warned that the company must present a convincing solution if it does not want to face more severe measures. “Today’s decision shows that Google abused his dominant position in advertising technology harming editors, advertisers and consumers. This behavior is illegal according to the EU antitrust standards. Google must now present a serious remedy to address their conflicts of interest, and if it does not, We will not hesitate to impose solid remedies. ” Google’s reaction soon arrived. Technology rejected the Brussels ruling and announced that it will resort to European courts. The message was transmitted by Lee-Anne Mulholland, Vice President and Global Chief of Regulatory Affairs. “The European Commission’s decision on our advertising technology services It is wrong and we will resort to it. It imposes an unjustified fine and demands changes that will harm thousands of European companies, since it will be more difficult to obtain benefits. There is nothing anticompetitive in providing services to buyers and advertising sellers, and there are more alternatives to our services than ever. ” The sanction announced by Brussels adds to three other fines imposed on Google in recent years: 2,420 million in 2017, 4.3 billion euros in 2018 and 1,490 million in 2019 (The latter finally annulled). All are part of a reinforced surveillance strategy on large digital platforms. The trial on possible remedies will begin on September 22, 2025. The United States has no legal capacity to directly reverse a sanction issued by a foreign regulator. American companies operating outside their borders must comply with local standards, and refuse to pay a fine would be a risky movement that could lead to blockages, new sanctions or even its exclusion from the market. The case of Google is registered precisely in that context: a global company subject to the rules of the European Union. As we say, what Trump proposes is to resort to section 301, a tool of US commercial legislation that allows us to open research on foreign policies considered discriminatory. Through this procedure, Washington can impose tariffs, fees or other commercial measures. It is a diplomatic and economic route that does not erase the European fine, but sends a signal and increases the tension. Trump accompanied his warning with an extensive message in Truth Social in which he insisted that Europe is attacking the technology companies of the United States and that the White House will not allow these measures to be answered. Its publication combined criticism of the European Union with a specific example: the fine of 17,000 million dollars that Apple had to pay in the past. “As I said, my administration will not allow these discriminatory actions to remain. Apple, for example, was forced to pay a fine of 17,000 million dollars that, in my opinion, should not have been applied. They should recover their money! We cannot allow this to happen to the brilliant and unheard of US creativity and, if it happens, I will be forced to initiate a procedure of section 301 to annul imposed on these contributing US companies. ” The pulse for the fine to Google occurs when Brussels and Washington They try to consolidate a more stable commercial framework. Trump’s warning adds pressure. If the investigation under section 301 thrives, could unleash a new stage of commercial tensions between both blocks. The next steps draw an uncertain scenario. Brussels will examine Google’s proposals to correct the conflicts of interest detected and does not rule out demanding drastic changes, including a partial divestment of your advertising business. The company, on the other hand, already prepares its resource and anticipates a long legal battle. To this panorama is added the threat of Washington: start section 301. Images | The White House | Pascal Bullan | Greg Bulla In Xataka | OpenAi has just sent a message to its competition: if you do not have 100,000 million, or try it

The state of the ISS is so alarming that the United States and Russia have sat at the table for the first time in eight years

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You have to look back until October 2018 to find the last time that NASA’s top people and her Russian counterpart, Roscosmos, the faces were seen. The launch of the Crew 11 mission has served as an excuse for them to meet again. A meeting to save the furniture. The new general director of Roscosmos, Dmitry Bakanov, traveled for the first time to the United States last week to witness the launch of the SPACEX CREW-11 MISSIONin which two American astronauts, one Japanese and a Russian one flew to the International Space Station. Bakanov took advantage of the trip to meet with NASA’s acting administrator, Sean Duffy. On the table, the future of a space station that ages by leaps and bounds and The road map for withdrawal in 2030. NASA and ROSCOSMOS are needed. In a global context where war and other geopolitical tensions have affected almost all areas of cooperation, the International Space Station and the exchange of seats in Crew Dragon and Soyuz ships remains one of the few bridges standing. But this has been the first high -level meeting in almost eight years, especially since the previous Chief of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, adopted a belligerent rhetoric against his US partners. According to the Russian state agency TassBakanov and Duffy agreed to extend the shared use of the International Space Station until 2028, as well as a joint process for exorbitation in 2030. “The conversation was quite well,” Bakanov said. The US agency Associated Press He says that both leaders pointed out the need to maintain cooperation in space despite their “strong discrepancies” on Earth. They also agreed to seek the approval of their respective presidents for future joint projects, including lunar and exploration of deep space. The ISS falls apart. This “we have to talk” is not accidental. It occurs at a time when the state of the International Space Station is a matter of “deep concern”, as noted by the NASA Aerospace Security Advisory Panel in April. The Committee described the coming years as “The riskiest period“Of the ISS in all its existence. One of the most serious and persistent problems are Air leaks in the Russian module Zvezdafirst detected in 2019. Despite the multiple attempts to repair them, the module continues to lose air, a qualified problem with the highest level of risk of NASA. To this we must also add other ailments of a structure with almost 30 years components. Lack of spare parts for critical systems, space costumes with technology from the 70s that have caused several incidents, and constant problems with bathroomsamong other headaches. Pension plan. The common denominator of these risks is a huge budget deficit. No government wants to allocate more money to the International Space Station when the priority is to finance future lunar missions and commercial stations. More than a shy thaw, the meeting between Bakanov and Duffy represents the imperative need to jointly manage the last years of the ISS, the largest symbol of international cooperation outside the earth. One of the Keys to this approach It is the contract of almost one billion dollars that NASA awarded Spacex to develop a ship that tow the station towards a safe reentry on the Pacific Ocean. Before Spacex, the ISS partners had considered using Russian progress ships for this task, an option that Roscosos seems to have put back on the table. Be that as it may, the retirement of the ISS already has its date insured by the end of this decade. Image | ROSCOSMOS In Xataka | NASA’s Security Committee has launched a forceful warning on ISS: it is in very poor condition

Nothing already starts sitting at Apple’s table. At least if we look at the price of your last phone (3)

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Nothing Phone (3) will have a departure price that starts from 799 euros, a significant difference if we look back with the Phone (1) of 2022. Our partner Ricardo Aguilar could try it in Londonand although he highlighted its multiple and interesting facets such as the new Glyph Matrix, its transparent and alternative design already marks the house, and the peculiarities of its software, there is also a conversation that we have not been able to overlook: the price jump and what this means for the future of the brand. Different, but not in price. When Carl Pei founded nothing in 2021his speech was crystalline: “We want to make exciting technology again.” This is a declaration of intentions and, in my opinion, quite successful, especially if we take into account the short – but intense – travel of the brand. The firm began to be based on a basis that surely you have also thought: the smartphones have become bored. After the launch of his first terminal, Nothing made it clear that we do not have to go through the 1,000 euros ring to find an exciting phone to use and solid specifications (although signatures like Xiaomi have also reminded us of it excellently all these years). The Nothing Phone (1) arrived for 469 euros with a clear proposal: good technical file, differential design and accessible price. A rebel telephone that directly challenged the status Quo de Cupertino and the rest of the sector giants. A fast climb. However, Nothing seems to be testing its users about their prices tolerance. The trajectory of its devices to date regarding the price says it all: the Phone (1) started in 469 euros positioning as a premium mid -range, the Phone (2) It rose to 649 euros, already entering high -end territory, and now the Phone (3) reaches 799 euros, practically at the most expensive flagship door on the market. In just three generations, Nothing has traveled 330 euros on the rise, a climb of 70% that places it to stone shot of an iPhone 15 or a Galaxy S24 (mobile phones of last generation, everything must be said). OnePlus syndrome. The parallelism with the previous business adventure of Pei is inevitable. OnePlus began in 2013 with the motto “Never Settle” and a OnePlus One at 299 dollars that promised flagship specifications at the price of mid -range. Pete Lau and Carl Pei then sold the concept of “Flagship Killer”, the mobile that would wobble Samsung and Apple from below. Seven years later, the OnePlus 9 Pro cost 909 euros, little less than a iPhone 12 Pro. The brand had completed its transformation: as an affordable disruptor to a premium player. Nothing seems to follow a similar road map, even with a higher climbing speed. Range fragmentation also reproduces this strategy millimeter. OnePlus created the Nord series to maintain a medium -end presence while raising the prices of its main series. Nohing has done the same: Phone for the high range, Phone ‘A’ For the medium-high, and CMF For cheaper devices. This segmentation allows to maintain the narrative of “accessibility” while the original positioning is progressively abandoned. The first and true flagship. Nohing justifies the price jump with undeniable technical improvements. The Phone (3) incorporates the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4, a completely redesigned cameras configuration, or the innovative Glyph Matrix with circular micro-read screen. It also maintains distinctive elements such as its transparent design and a software experience that effectively differs from the rest. For Nothing it is The first and true flagship. The crossroads of identity. Nothing is at a turning point. He has demonstrated technical capacity to create competitive and visually distinctive products, but with his main range of devices he faces the risk of being trapped in anyone’s land: too much face to be the rebel alternative, too much niche to compete face to face with Apple and Samsung. The market has already seen this film with OnePlus, which after years of innovation and price escalation, It ended up being absorbed by OPPO and losing much of his original identity. Having an already defined and consolidated strategy, Pei abandoned OnePlus with the desire to direct a more creative approach in Nothing. In fact, the devices that until now has launched the company are the clearest example of that yearning for wanting to flash in a predictable industry and with symptoms of continuity. And now what. The market response to Phone (3) seems to be decisive for the future of Nothing. The firm maintains that it is its first and true flagship, with very complete specifications and a price that is still slightly below the proposals of the high range of Apple or Samsung. The success of this terminal can determine if the direction that Nothing has chosen has been the successful. Although well, everything must be said that It is not the only market in which you have set foot. Cover image | Nothing In Xataka | If the question is how good a European mobile can be, the answer is the Fairphone 6

The AI ​​race seemed to be matching. Openai has just hit the table with a model that points very high

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The career for artificial intelligence had been narrowing for months. Gemini 2.5 Pro, Claude 4 Opus and Deepseek R1 they had managed to cut distances with OpenAi models, presenting increasingly sophisticated reasoning. The overwhelming domain of 2022, when Chatgpt He left the competition bewildered and several steps behind, no longer defines the current board. Today, the fight is direct. But the firm led by Sam Altman It has not been still. It has just announced O3-Proa new reasoning model with which, at least on paper, it intends to reaffirm its leadership position in the industry. It is available from today only for some plans, excluding Chatgpt plus of 20 dollars a month. Access to the most advanced AI has a price. More tools and more context. The O3-Pro model part of the same base as O3but with an additional stage of reinforcement training and more inference resources. It incorporates full access to the tools that have made chatgpt a more useful tool: web search, file analysis, images about Python and customization through memory. These are functions that allow you to adapt the responses to the user’s history, access external sources in real time and solve complex tasks in several steps. Has: Search, code, document analysis and vision Customization based on active memory Context window of up to 200,000 tokens and maximum output of 100,000 More precise, but not faster. Of course, O3-Pro is not a model designed for speed. The answers usually take more than in O1-Pro, but in return promises to offer a plus in precision focused on complex tasks. Openai recommends using it when reliability is more important than speed. So we could say that it is a model designed for those who need things to go well, even if that implies waiting for a few more seconds. In any case, we are talking about AI models, so hallucinations can still exist and can give us erroneous information. Theoretically superior performance. According to internal OpenAI tests, human evaluators prefer O3-Pro against O3 in all tested categories: science, education, programming, personal writing and data analysis. It also achieves better results in academic Benchmarks: in competitive mathematics it rises from 86 % of 93 % O1-PRO, and in programming exceeds 2,700 EL points, compared to the 2,517 of O3 and the 1,707 of O1-Pro. Available now, but not for everyone. O3-PRO is now available for users of the PRO PLAN (200 dollars a month) and the Team Plan, where it replaces O1-Pro in the model selector. OpenAI has confirmed that Enterprise users and educational accounts will have access from next week. At the moment, access to the most powerful models is still restricted to those who pay for the most advanced modalities. The Plus Plan of 20 dollars per month, the most popular among private users, is not mentioned. And everything indicates that, for now, it will be out of this update. Images | OpenAI In Xataka | Someone put Chatgpt, Gemini, Claude and others to play a kind of Risk. The results could not be more disparate

Spain looked at Chinese cars as a salvation table. In the commercial war, the risk of dying drowning runs

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“Spain is in favor of more balanced relations between the EU and China,” with these words Pedro Sánchez, president of the Government, has defended his approach to China before the commercial war that is being freed and during the same. And the automobile sector has a lot to do. “Essential partner”. With those words Pedro Sánchez has defined the relationship that China should have with the European Union. The words have pronounced them during their meeting with Xi Jinping, president of the country. The Spanish is in a round of visits by Asia in which he is stopping in China and Vietnam. Both countries have been severely punished by the United States. China still maintains 125% tariff Despite the 90 -day truce that Donald Trump has granted. Vietnam had been punished with some 46% tariffs. The importance of words. This “essential partner” is not accidental and shows Spain’s approach to China in full tension for the commercial war that are pounding the United States and the Asian country. In fact, the words of the words of the European Union is unmarked as “partner, competitor and systemic rival”, collected by The country. Sanchez needs to play with tact with his statements. Only a few days ago, Scott Besent, secretary of the United States Treasury, said that “I am not sure if it was the prime minister or the Minister of Economy of Spain, who made some comments this morning: ‘Maybe we should align more with China.’ That would be to cut off the neck”, in words collected by The confidential. Xi Jinping, meanwhile, thanked Sánchez for the “firm will” to maintain good relations between the two countries, emphasizing that it is the third time that the president of the Spanish Government visits the Asian country, they point out in The world. The equilibrium game. Spain has encountered the most uncomfortable view at the right time. With the agenda already scheduled, it was seen if the president of the Government would be willing to go to China in the middle of the commercial tension with the United States. The single presence is seen as a Spanish approach to the Chinese side and, of course, It is unmarked from European politics that bets to get wet as little as possible. However, Spain has a good number of Chinese investments in our country. The commercial balance between the two countries It is still very unbalanced In favor of China (we import goods worth 45,174 million euros and export there products worth 7,467 million euros) but China has the key in key sectors. Putting the carpet. Without a doubt, one of the sectors in which Spain wants to influence is the car. China is disembarking in Europe. His commercial war with the United States will force him to disembark in greater force in Europe and Spain is a perfect gateway. With the fees to the electric car, the plug -in hybrids and the Chinese low ranges vehicles have A huge opportunity in countries like Spanish where “electricity” is not so developed. All their companies need to open markets outside China to seek profitability. If the perspectives are maintained, byd will be in 2025 One of the five greatest manufacturers of the world. Given this situation, Spain is clear that it wants to be a very important part of Chinese landing in Europe. The automobile sector is essential for Spain. Not only in its factories, you have to add ports that receive cars, distributors and a Powerful auxiliary and component industry. It is better for us. The biggest problem facing Spain is that it is best to open to China if you want to open your business routes in the automobile sector. When the tariffs of Chinese electric car were voted for the first time, Spain was favorable. A visit to China and a threat of attacking the Spanish pig directly (whose exports to China are key) He changed the Executive idea. But, in addition, other threats float in the air. In Europe, France or Italy remained firm in their favorable vote to tariffs on Chinese electric cars. Then, China ordered to stop investments In those countries and since then we have not had news of new approaches. At the moment, Spain has Chinese investments in different ports To receive and start distributing cars that arrive from Asia, the investment of Chery in Barcelonathe agreement between Catl and Stellantis For a battery plant in Aragon or the Extremadura projects to produce batteries for electric cars. But there are certain problems. In a first reading, it seems clear that if Spain has the opportunity to continue expanding its Chinese investments in the automobile sector to be key in the European car of the future and if you have a threat to its head of withdrawing investments or torpedoing trade between the two countries, the approach to China seems completely logical. The problem is to pull the rope tense, irremediably, on the other. The United States has already warned Spain that its position is not correct and some sectors are (obviously) worried. The direct impact In the automobile industry it is not too high but, for example, shipments to the United States of olive oil They have shot under the threat of tariffs. What can we expect? Given this context, Spain will have to play its cards to several bands. Approach enough to Beijing but without burning. It will be necessary to see if the United States maintains its commitment to tax trade with the European Union with a flat rate or if it extends tariffs by sectors, which can be an indirect attack on a specific country. A good example is the 25% tariff to the car. The United States government has repeatedly decided to pause its tariffs to Mexico or Canada but keeping them in the car market is a clear attack on these countries. Also to Germany, in Europe, which is The country that exports more vehicles to the United States. We will have … Read more

In full struggle with the US for world supremacy, China has hit the 55,000 million table

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The effort that Chinese lithography equipment is making to develop their own avant -garde machines is titanic. And, as expected, the Xi Jinping government is supporting these companies with multimillionaire subsidies. In fact, at the beginning of September 2023 he approved a game of no less than 41,000 million dollars Destined precisely to the companies that produce the equipment involved in the manufacture of integrated circuits. The achievements are already arriving, and are notable. SMIC and HUAWEI have opted, at least for now, for refining their lithographic processes and optimizing UVP lithography machines (deep ultraviolet) manufactured by ASML that they already have in their possession. Other companies, however, have chosen to develop their integration technologies relying on the new teams that Naura Technology, Amec (Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc. China) or Piotech Inc. have taken to point. This is the path that You are following Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. (YMTC), the largest memory chips manufacturer in China. For China it is not a priority only the manufacture of integrated circuits China’s Ministry of Finance has confirmed that the general budgets of the country led by Xi Jinping for 2025 allocate approximately 55,000 million dollars to research in the field of science and technology, which represents a 10% increase compared to 2024. China only spends more money in the defense industry and the payment of interest generated by its debt. During 2024 this budget item was mainly allocated to the development of semiconductors, the artificial intelligence (AI) and space exploration. China needs to have its own UVE lithography equipment as soon as possible to produce avant -garde chips in an autonomous way The 2025 departure will essentially stop the same sectors that received a strong economic impulse of the State last year, but there is an important difference that is not overlooking. The integrated circuit industry received the support of the administration in 2024 and will receive it again in 2025. It is understandable that it is so. There is a lot at play. And it is that China needs to have its own extreme ultraviolet lithography equipment as soon as possible to produce avant -garde chips in a completely autonomous way and without US sanctions and their allies have any margin of maneuver. The other two sectors to which this budget item will go are the AI ​​and the Quantum computersso the industry that will presumably lose some economic support will be that of space exploration. The development of AI and quantum computers is crucial in full struggle with the US by world supremacy. In the country governed by Donald Trump he still carries the singing voice, although Deepseek It is greatly reinforcing China’s position. And as regards quantum technologies the latest milestones that this Asian country has achieved They allow you to look at you to the US. It will be interesting to verify how these strategic sectors evolve for 2025. Image | IBM More information | China Ministry of Finance In Xataka | China prepares the mate to the US: it will have its own UVE lithography team to make chips in 2025

Catalonia wants to triple the number of electric vehicles. Has put 1.4 billion euros on the table to get it

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Salvador Illa, president of the Generalitat, I announced this week The mobilization of more than 1.4 billion euros until 2030 for its impulse plan of the electric vehicle. Catalonia wants to lead The decarbonization objectives imposed by Europeand has several proposals on the table to achieve it. “We have the will, we have talent, we have companies involved and we have a leadership position in the sustainable and automotive mobility sector. Now it’s time to make decisions and adapt with a large degree of self -examination to take advantage of opportunities and capture future investments in clean technologies and intelligent mobility. “He has declared. The plan is cemented on five key axes, which reflect the measures and actions that will be promoted from the Generalitat. Load infrastructure display. The first step is to create a recharge network that can support the ambitious plans of the Generalitat. You want to get promoting an electric recharge network “well sized and capillary, as well as stimulating the demand for load points (with financial incentives to companies, institutions and communities of owners). There are no specific data on how many load points will be necessary for such a high objective, but the Plan details that the availability of sufficient electrical power will be guaranteed through the modernization and expansion of the current network. Impulse for the demand for the electric vehicle. Without a doubt, the most complex objective of the plan is given as The demand for the electric vehicle. You can’t electrify a city if drivers do not want (either They cannot) Go to the electric. Catalonia wants to make the purchase of electric vehicles more affordable through aid, although it does not detail what they will be. It will try to promote the industrial transition of the combustion motorcycle, as well as to increase the use of the electric vehicle in business fleets. To do this, a credit line with “advantageous conditions” for SMEs will be developed. The Generalitat’s own fleet will be electrified, and the price of electrified vehicles will be bonus. Improvement of the perception of the electric vehicle. A somewhat more ambiguous plan is to improve the current perception of this type of vehicles. Catalonia will invest in campaigns to “sensitize citizens”, as well as the business sector. Lead the industry. It is proposed to enhance local production and innovation in batteries, electronic components and smart mobility solutions. The focus on attracting foreign investment, promoting pilot tests of new technologies and talent promotion and promotion. Enhanced with the private. The plan contemplates “effective” governance by coordinating with the private sector. The electric vehicle table will be created, composed of public administrations, private agents of the industrial and energy sector, and mobility companies (recharge points installers, software development, etc.) It is also intended to digitize the procedures to the maximum and reduce the administrative burden to facilitate and decentralize competences. A great ambition, difficult execution. The Catalan government has put an ambitious initiative on the table, which intends to triple the penetration rhythm of the electric vehicle, fold the deployment of load points and favor 150,000 enrollments of electrified vehicles. Figures to be reached on a horizon of less than five years, Image | Toyota In Xataka | Volkswagen Before the unavoidable reality: there is little demand for electric car, there is little demand for Volkswagen FacebookTwitterFlipboardE-mail Topics

Thanks to this table we can finally understand how metals compatibility works

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Materials science is an exciting discipline. It is likely that some people seem unattractive, and it is a respectable opinion, but objectively it is about A very important scientific branch. Its purpose is to study the structure, physicochemical properties and the behavior of the elements with the purpose of Design new materials which can be used in a very wide range of industries. The kevlar used in The bulletproof vests and the diaphragm of some speakers, among other applications; the carbon fiber used in the aeronautical, automobile and sports industries; high performance alloys used, for example, in nuclear reactors and The turbines of the aircraft; or the Carbon nanotubes which are already being used in some electronic devices support the relevance of the science of materials currently. Rufosity matters. And a lot One of the properties that usually study material engineers is roughness. This characteristic identifies often imperceptible irregularities that reside on the surface of a material. To measure them, it is usually necessary to carry out a microscopic analysis, but the really important thing is that this knowledge allows researchers to design and manufacture new components. And it is that roughness is an essential parameter that conditions the performance, durability and applications in which a new material can be used. In fact, there are research groups and companies that are dedicated in body and soul to characterize new materials and measure their roughness. Michigan Metrology It is one of these companies. It resides, as we can intuit, in the state of Michigan (USA), and expressly dedicates itself to measurement, analysis and inspection of roughness and wear of surfaces. To carry out their analysis, it resorts to very sophisticated teams that are capable of precisely identifying the irregularities present on the surface of the materials through a three -dimensional exploration. The table we publish on top of these lines has been prepared by the American mechanical engineer Ernest Rabinowicz, and is the Bible for Michigan Metrology and other companies that are dedicated to material engineering. In fact, it is the authentic protagonist of this article. And it is because it gives us a lot of information about the roughness and sliding compatibility of a good part of the metals that we can find in the periodic table of the chemical elements. Two pieces work better together if they are metallurgically incompatible, or, what is the same, if the metals involved are not dissoluble with each other As you can see, Rabinowicz occurred to be placed on the horizontal and vertical axes of the table the symbol that identifies each metal. And at the intersection between each pair of them appears A very illustrative symbol that identifies whether these two metals are incompatible, partially incompatible, partially compatible, compatible or identical taking as reference their roughness. In the field of metallurgy this information is very valuable. And it is because metals that are compatible from a metallurgical point of view tend to adhere to each other, a process that increases friction and wear. As we can intuit, knowing precisely the degree of compatibility between each couple of metals is fundamental in the design of the sliding interface between two metal pieces. In fact, two of these pieces work better together if they are metallurgically incompatible, or, what is the same, if the metals involved are not dissoluble with each other. Image | Kaboomps.com More information | Construction Physics In Xataka | Copper has reigned in the chips industry for decades. It already has an unbeatable substitute: Ruthenium

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