technological

Earning $180,000 a year is no longer enough to live in San Francisco. The AI ​​boom has eaten up the technological middle class

by

In San Francisco you can earn $180,000 a year and not make ends meet easily. The AI ​​boom It is making what would be a huge salary anywhere else become mere pocket change, preventing entry into an impossible real estate market and a standard of living unattainable for the majority. Silicon Valley’s dream is to move. In it New York Times They tell the story of Katrine Razniak, a LinkedIn recruiter, and her partner Adam Woodbury, a software engineer. They have been in the city for five years and earn 180,000 and 185,000 dollars respectively, but despite this they are not able to get something as basic as an apartment for two. They spent months looking for a one-bedroom apartment to move in together on a budget of $5,000 a month, but it was impossible. They say they saw one for $5,200 and the waiting list already had 30 interested parties an hour after the open house. Buying a house is not an option either: The median home price is $1.7 million.. Given this situation, the couple is considering moving to another state where their salaries would allow them to live as an upper class. The new elite. While Katrine Razniak and her partner have to continue living in shared apartments, there is a new technological upper class that can afford to live comfortably in the city. They are the new millionaires of the AI ​​boom, employees of companies like OpenAI and Anthropic, with stratospheric valuations and stock options. In October of last year, when OpenAI was worth $500 billionwe already talked about that the city’s real estate market was exploding. Employees began selling stocks and buying homes like there was no tomorrow, causing prices to skyrocket. There is no improvement in sight. Not even a year has passed and Sam Altman’s company worth 852 billion dollars and Anthropic aims for 900 billion. To put it in context, when Uber went public in 2019 it was worth 82 billion, we are talking about ten times that amount. The imminent IPO of the two companies, added to the recent IPO of SpaceX, aims to create new fortunes, until 20 new billionairesaccording to estimates. Working in technology is no longer a guarantee of success in San Francisco, now you have to work in AI (and own stocks). It’s not just the rent. The median salary in San Francisco is also higher than the rest of the country and has been growing over the past six years, going from $153,000 to $196,000 today. However, everything else has also gone up. Aside from housing, life in general isn’t exactly cheap either. According to data from Cost of Living Indexthe cost of living in San Francisco is 65.6% higher than the rest of the United States. Katrine Razniak says her monthly spending has grown by $1,000 without changing her lifestyle, causing her and her friends to replace restaurant outings with home-cooked dinners. The housing problem in San Francisco. Spain is going through a housing crisis unprecedented, but we are not the only country facing this situation; Canada, Germany, Mexico, China o The United States are also suffering from it. In San Francisco specifically, the housing market is absolutely broken. As we said, the average price of a home is 1.7 million dollars, more than triple the national average of $450,000, and the rent is already the most expensive in the entire country, even ahead of New York. The demand is very high and the construction of new buildings is stagnant and the little that there is at a decent price ($5,000 a month is decent) flies in a matter of seconds. Image | photoholgic in Unsplash In Xataka | Sleeping capsules for 800 euros a month: the housing shortage in San Francisco is reaching the extreme

Europe has realized that nothing matters in technological sovereignty if it does not spend money on something crucial: defending its submarine cables

by

There is a type of technological infrastructure that is invisible, but that has become essential in recent years: submarine cables. Conflicts like those of the Red Sea either the ukrainian war have shown that the seabed is a new battlefield. Damaging submarine cables havoc can be wreaked, and the European Union has just outlined its plan to strengthen the security and resilience of these cables. The goal? Track and stop threats in real time, but also repair underwater cables that enemies have attacked as soon as possible. Plan of action. In recent months, Europe has been weaving a plan to protect its submarine cables. These cables carry most of the world’s Internet traffic (an estimated 99%), but also other essential goods such as energy, vital when we want to tackle offshore energy. Hence the importance and, obviously, why the attacks also focus on them. Only in the first months of 2025 were more than a dozen submarine cables cut which seem few, but it really is something that can wreak havoc. And, therefore, Europe started to define an Action Plan with four main categories of action: Prevention: carry out risk assessments coordinated by countries and prioritize the financing of “smart” cables with redundancy. Detection: improve the monitoring capabilities of sea basins such as the Mediterranean or the Baltic to obtain a situation picture in real time. Response and recovery: strengthening rapid repair capacity and improving EU crisis protocols to act in a coordinated manner when a cable is damaged. Deterrence: use diplomacy and ultimately sanctions to respond to hostile acts. With global partners, promote a pact to encourage “cable diplomacy.” Repair of a cable Quick response. But of course, if deterrence does not work, we must act, and more recently, the European Commission has announced the steps to reinforce that strategy that aims to ensure that a damaged submarine cable causes as few headaches as possible. With an allocation of 40 million euros, the Commission seeks to guarantee a rapid and effective response to disturbances of submarine cables in emergency situations through adaptable modules. These modules, like repair kits, will be strategically positioned in various sea basins so that, in the event of a cable break, the ships repairing the cables will have quick access to these modules. It is one more step in a strategy that already had a first pilot call for 20 million euros a few months ago and whose objective was to finance modules in the Baltic Sea. Booster. Another measure will be the installation of the first two regional cable centers. In the Baltic, a Regional Center will be opened that will be responsible for strengthening surveillance and response mechanisms. The idea is that, with an allocation of 2.5 million euros, the information exchange platform and the capacity to both detect and prevent threats to maritime infrastructure will be improved. Finland will be the coordinator of the center together with Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Latvia and Sweden. On the other hand, in the Mediterranean, another center will be supported with 3.3 million euros. The task will be to make decisions, exchange information in real time and the same as in the Baltic: anomaly detection and coordinated response to incidents. Italy will be the coordinator together with Greece, Cyprus and Malta. With the first regional cable centers, Europe moves towards enhanced capabilities, strengthening our ability to detect threats, act faster and respond together – Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice President for Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy Next steps. In the end, these two strategies are part of a much larger plan in which they had already been assigned 595 million euros to 74 continental connectivity projects. In February of this year, the Commission also advertisement a package of some 347 million euros exclusively for submarine cable projects (construction, monitoring and repair), which shows that it is a strategic, basic infrastructure that fits in with the technological sovereignty plan that Europe is pursuing after seeing associations with allied countries weakened in recent years. Image | What’s Inside? In Xataka | A third of the world’s population cannot read this: the UN reveals that 2.9 billion people have never accessed the internet

that of technological sovereignty

by

The latest Anthropic model, Fables 5it’s amazing. That is, at least, what we know thanks to the evidence we have been able to see. Because one thing happens: Anthropic has deactivated Fable 5. In response to a order of the United States that dictated that Anthropic must suspend access to these models for any foreign citizen inside and outside the country, the AI ​​company turned off Fable 5 and Mythos 5 completely last June 12. Europe has not been slow to respond, but it is really great for keep pushing your message. That of technological sovereignty. In short. That Anthropic and the United States are not on a honeymoon is evident from the mess with the Pentagon and the Department of Defense, but what happened in these last few hours goes one step further. Citing national security concerns, the United States issued an export control directive to suspend access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 to any foreign national, whether inside or outside the United States. This is already serious, but in addition, the company states that it is something that includes Anthropic’s national employees. In response, the company disabled the two models to ensure that that order is met. The United States’ motivation for giving the order was that they had discovered (or that Amazon had informed them about it) a bug in Fable 5 that allowed ‘jailbreaking’ the model, a vulnerability that Anthropic reviewed and which they believe is also in other publicly available models. Europe responds. Beyond the repercussion for the company, it is something more serious: once again, the United States dictating what a citizen of another country who pays (or who does not pay, because right now it is in the free trial phase) can and cannot do a product from a private technology company. And this has been great for Europe to continue strengthening its position on technological sovereignty. The European Commission has not been slow to position itself, stating that it is evaluating the practical implications of the export control directive implemented on Anthropic, pointing out that the measures should not be discriminatory against partner countries. Commission spokesperson Thromas Regnier points out that, while the new generation of AI models offers advantages for cyber defense, it also raises cybersecurity concerns. “This episode is another example of why Europe needs to strengthen its technological sovereignty” – Thomas Regnier, spokesperson for the European Commission However, he considers that contingency measures should not be discriminatory against partners and takes the opportunity to remember the European position of recent months. In the statement, Regnier states that the Commission is “closely examining the practical consequences of this measure for European users” and concludes by reinforcing the message of technological autonomy: “this episode is one more example of why Europe needs to strengthen its technological sovereignty.” Sovereignty. This term will be one of the star words of this year because recent events are leading several countries to strengthen their own ecosystems. The United States has the big technology companies, but China has already put its plan to become the leading world power on the table. And Europe has arrived later in the race, but has gotten fully into it. With the threats of the United States of leave NATOhe Donald Trump’s aggressive language against allied countries and the dependence on American technology like SpaceX In the war between Ukraine and Russia, Europe has realized that it must change the chip, betting again on technological infrastructure. That includes from chip development to its own AI models, through the rearmament announced last year and the boost to the aerospace arm. Slow independence. Beyond the message from the European Commission, other parliamentarians have pronounced about it. Aura Salla, MEP for Finland, pointed out that “Europe cannot continue to increase its technical potential by relying on access that can be cut off by a foreign government overnight”, reinforcing that European message. own The New York Times A few days ago, he echoed the European plan to reduce dependence on American technology, alluding to the tense relationship with the Trump administration and mentioning that 80% of the digital products, services, infrastructure and intellectual property of the countries of the Union depend on companies such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft. Now, these changes, unlike turning off a model like Fable 5, cannot be made overnight. They are slow and require a complex resilience process that, however, can be accelerated driven by actions such as those taken last Friday by the United States. In Xataka | The technological basis of quantum computers was developed in Europe: what happened so that we lost the race in the long term

It is called Galileo, and it is the backbone of the EU’s technological independence

by

when you open Google Maps or use any application that requires location services, your phone is connecting at that very moment to a handful of positioning satellites that are orbiting our planet. We commonly refer to this type of technology as GPS, but chances are that of all the satellite constellations your phone connects to, some of them are European, and It is not technically “GPS”. In Spain, many of the times we access the phone’s location we do so through the Galileo satellite constellation, which has been operational for almost a decade. The European Union is strengthening this technology and shielding it from interference for a reason: technological sovereigntysomething that is beginning to appear more and more on the EU political agenda. What is Galileo, and why it is not the same as GPS. Galileo is the European Union’s global navigation satellite system (GNSS), funded by the European Commission and developed together with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the EU Agency for the Space Program (EUSPA). There are four operational global GNSS: GPS (United States), GLONASS (Russia), BeiDou (China) and Galileo, the only one under fully civilian control. According to the European Commission itself, its open service offers an accuracy of one meter, up to four times better than traditional GPS. What the user calls “GPS” on their mobile phone is, in reality, GNSS, that is, a cocktail of signals from several constellations that the chip in your phone combines to fix the position. Your mobile phone already navigates with Galileo, and for years. Galileo began initial services in 2016 and opened to the public shortly after. From 2022, according to EUSPA, all smartphones sold in the European single market are required to be compatible with Galileo. Today there are more than five billion users around the world that connect to this constellation, according to ESA dataand the main chip manufacturers (Qualcomm, Broadcom and MediaTek) integrate Galileo as standard. If you want to know which satellites your phone is currently using, there are applications that allow you to find out, such as GPSTest. Importance for the EU. Galileo does not replace GPSis like a complementary layer that provides a certain strategic autonomy that until recently did not exist in Europe. If we think about it, satellite positioning is today a critical service in sectors such as civil aviation, road transport, agriculture, telecommunications, the E-Call emergency system of cars, financial transactions, etc. The European Commission esteem that approximately 10% of the EU’s annual GDP already depends on satellite navigation, which explains why it has spent more than two decades building its own constellation. Service improvements. Galileo is being strengthened and modernized over time. In December last year, ESA and Arianespace Two Galileo satellites were launched for the first time on board the European rocket Ariane 6This is curious because several previous launches had been carried out with SpaceX’s Falcon 9. There are still four first-generation satellites pending launch, and this year they will begin to be deployed the Second Generation (G2)developed by Airbus Defense and Space and Thales Alenia Space, with fully digital payload, electric propulsion, better atomic clocks and inter-satellite links. In parallel, in July 2025 it entered into operation the OSNMA service (Open Service Navigation Message Authentication), which adds a digital signature to Galileo signals to detect attempts to spoofing (the sending of false signals) in a context in which there is increasing signal interference in conflict zones. In fact, Rodrigo da Costa, executive director of EUSPA, counted that Galileo has become the first GNSS in the world to offer global authentication of its open signals. And now what. What is coming are more satellites, more services and better precision. Galileo’s High Precision Service (HAS), free and available globally, now enables precision of the order of 20 centimeters with compatible receivers (not directly from our mobile). The Second Generation will reinforce robustness against interference and open the door to more demanding applications such as autonomous driving. Cover image | Xataka and ESA In Xataka | Who can do more, Google or seven small Dutch companies together? Europe is on the verge of discovering it

the technological leap begins to fit when you see how the color changes

by

He Samsung R95H Micro RGB It was there, on, surrounded by the lighting of the room and with a very clear idea behind it: to show how far the company wants to take its new commitment to image. This morning, in Madrid, I was able to see it up close during a meeting with Samsung Electronics Spain in which Pablo Requejo, director of the TV Area, presented it as “the latest evolution in image technology.” We are not yet talking about a reviewbut a first contact to understand why the South Korean company wants this television to function as a showcase for its new Micro RGB bet, first presented at CES 2026. Here the first reasonable question appears: what is Micro RGB and why Samsung is giving it so much prominence. The name can lead to confusion, especially because it is very reminiscent of Micro-LED, a technology that we have been hearing promises about for years. But the difference is important. Micro-LED works without backlighting: each pixel emits its own light through small inorganic RGB LEDs. The OLED also emits light per pixel, but using organic compounds. Micro RGB doesn’t do that. What it proposes is to continue within the LCD field, but with a different backlight, made up of small LEDs that seek to improve color and light control. Requejo explained it from a very visual idea: “In micro RGB, each of the LEDs have the three native colors, red, green and blue.” The manager summed it up with another idea: by using Micro RGB, the company maintains that it can reduce dependence on traditional color filters and get closer to “spectacular colorimetry.” He also insisted on the size of those LEDs, “the size of a human hair”, a simple way to tell why Samsung wants to sell this technology as more than just a minor evolution. Technical sheet of the new Samsung R95H Micro RGB Samsung Micro RGB R95H panel 4K MICRO RGB LCD, 165 Hz VRR (100 Hz Native) resolution 3,840 x 2,160 sizes available 65, 75 and 85 inches image processor Micro RGB AI Engine Pro hdr HDR10+ sound 4.2.2 channels 70 watts (RMS) Dolby Atmos connectivity 4 x HDMI 2.1, 2 x USB-A, 1 x Ethernet, 1 x optical digital audio output, 1 x RF, 1 IC jack Wireless One Connect Ready compatible (for connections without visible cables) wireless connectivity Wi-Fi 6E Bluetooth 5.3 operating system One UI Tizen energy label Class E typical consumption 148 watts maximum consumption 390 watts dimensions 1658.8 x 1019.2 x 349.1 mm (with base) weight 31.8 kg (with base) price From 3,698.99 euros Micro RGB wants to open a third way between Mini LED and OLED The first image impression goes exactly where Samsung wants to take the conversation: color, brightness and sense of impact. As we can see from the photos, the 75-inch unit was not in a dark room, but in a demo with lots of light around, and yet the image did not appear washed out or washed out. The tones were strong and the panel conveyed that idea of ​​a high-end television that enters through the eyes before entering through the technical sheet. It remains to be tested with varied content and own measurements, but as a first visual contact it is convincing. Pablo Requejo, director of the TV Area at Samsung Electronics Spain, during the presentation of the company’s new range of televisions in Madrid Contrast was one of the sections that I was most interested in observing, precisely because this technology continues to be based on an LCD base. Live, the result was solid: blacks looked convincing, brightness didn’t seem to eat into dark areas, and the image maintained a reasonable separation between highlights and shadows. But this is one of those areas where a presentation is not enough. The night scenes, the subtitles on a black background, the viewing angles and the blooming They are tests that need time and specific content. Samsung bets on a sober base The version that we were able to see does not need a striking base to look like a high-end television. It achieves it in another way: with minimal frames, a very clean front and a simple central base that fulfills its function without taking the eye away. That decision makes a lot of sense because the important thing here is the screen, not what supports it, and Samsung seems to have sought precisely that: that the design accompanies without competing with the image. In the photos and live you can see that minimalist intentionwith the logo reduced to an almost testimonial presence. The reflection-free screen completes the proposal. In gaming, this Micro RGB promises. The presence of HDMI 2.1 It is important because it opens the door to improvements designed for very common problems when connecting a console or PC to the television. VRR allows you to synchronize the screen refresh rate with the signal from the console or PC to reduce cuts or jerks in the image. ALLM It can automatically activate low latency mode when it detects that we are playing. The Samsung logo is reduced to an almost testimonial presence, integrated into the lower part of the frame Added to that is a maximum refresh rate of 165 Hz, which means that the screen can update the image up to 165 times per second when the signal allows it. Compared to the traditional 60 Hz, the jump aims for a smoother imagewith less blur and a faster response, something especially useful in action, driving or shooting games. It is worth mentioning it because it is an important part of the technical section, but in this first contact I was not able to test it with a game: there was no console connected to the television. It will remain for a possible in-depth review to see how all this translates into real use. In software, the proposal goes through One UI Tizenthe layer with which Samsung wants to organize the experience … Read more

China and Nvidia star in the “great technological divorce” of 2026. A bureaucratic hell that is erasing it from the market

by

Talking about Nvidia is talking about artificial intelligence glue. The GPU giant has invested millions financing cocompanies like OpenAI or Anthropicbut along the way has not forgotten startups or to make purchases for strengthen your position in the market. The problem is that it is missing out on a potential $50 billion market: China. Because Nvidia is eager to enter China, but it is trapped between bureaucracy, the Trump Government, Xi Jinping’s Government, and the smuggling of its graphics cards. The great divorce. In a very short time, Nvidia has gone from dominating the Chinese GPU market for artificial intelligence to losing it completely. The restrictions of the Trump Administration and the intensification of the trade war between the powers left Nvidia out of the game. Either it would adapt its GPUs and create less capable versions of those it sold in the West or it would not be able to sell in China. For a time, Nvidia was selling the H20 to adapt to the new rules, but it is something that has taken its toll. As AI needs demanded more powerful GPUs and own chinese industry with Huawei, Cambricon and Moore Threads was developed, Nvidia was being left out of the game. Official quota. In the middle of last year, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang pressed Donald Trump to see reason: it was better for Nvidia to be able to enter China both to make money and to slow the accelerated development of the domestic industry, one that Western restrictions had given wings to. In the end, the US gave in previous tariffs of 25% and one condition: all GPU orders from Chinese companies to Nvidia would be reviewed one by one. There is a problem: the US body in charge of reviewing these export licenses has decreased by 20% in recent months, which is causing delays of months when it comes to fulfilling an order. From when a Chinese company asks for Nvidia GPUs until they are given an answer, the ‘chinese dragons‘They have already released some product. The result? Huang points out that Nvidia has gone from being a leader in China to have a 0% quotapainting the situation as a true drama and pointing directly to the strategies of both China and, above all, the United States as the cause of his company falling into the offside of the large Asian market. Furthermore, it is China itself that encourages its companies to, to the extent possible, use Chinese hardware that they is developing at accelerated rates. “Official” fee. But the fact that Huang claims that his market share in China is 0% does not mean that there are no GPUs for AI in China because it seems that there are H100, H200 and even B200 due to something very simple: smuggling. Despite the proprietary technological solutions they are developing, it is evident that a large part of the AI ​​industry is built with Nvidia GPUs and that implies that the tools are very well optimized for them. There are several occasions in which Nvidia AI chip smuggling networks have been reported, with modest seizures on occasions (just tens of millions of dollars) and somewhat larger seizures on others (hundreds of millions in a few months). Chinese companies obtain these chips through indirect routes from Hong Kong and Singapore and, although Nvidia tries to trace the origin, the clandestine flow and opaque chains make the task complex. trapped. Someone is lining their pockets and that someone is not Nvidia. And the problem is that Huang’s pressure had an effect, but the solution they gave him is not as agile as the market needs. Returning to the issue of bureaucracythe United States Office of Industry and Security, which is responsible for reviewing these export licenses, reduced its workforce by 19% in 2024. Specifically, those who develop standards linked to the semiconductor industry and review licenses have decreased by 20%. The result is an average of 76 days to resolve export requests, something that is extending so far this year and which is disastrous news for both Nvidia and others deeply involved in the AI ​​segment, such as AMD. From China, things are not much better, since companies must make it very clear why they need Nvidia AI chips and cannot meet their objectives using national alternatives. Jensen, almost excluded. In any case, it is evident that Huang does not like to be missing the AI ​​party in China, in the same way that he is going to miss the new trip of Donald Trump and other executives to a summit between Trump and Xi Jingping that will be held between the 13th and 15th of this month. Or so it seemed. This is an event in which conversations will focus on agriculture and commercial aviation, so a priori Jensen didn’t have much in mind. But of course, alongside Trump are CEOs like Elon Musk, Cristiano Amon or Tim Cook, among others. And, although it seemed that he was not invited, as we see in South China Morning PostIn a message from Trump on his social network, it was confirmed that Huang will finally accompany him on the trip. In the end, it’s about money. Jensen Huang doesn’t want China to have the best chips because He wants to save those for the United States.but it is a very large market in which Nvidia can offer chips strategically: it makes money while making companies opt for its product instead of that of the Chinese companies themselves. In Xataka | Nvidia’s superpower is not having money, it is making everyone work for it: Foxconn is the latest to join

In the war of humanoid robots, those from the United States dance and those from China work by the piece. It is not a technological issue

by

The United States and China are fighting a technological battle with two very clear strategies: one visible and the other invisible. The invisible is that of the artificial intelligence, the fight between models and the basic technological development. The visible one is the creation of data centersthe development of next generation networks and robotics. Because it is the robots that are at the center of that technological race between the two powersbut while one country shows them jumping, the other is making them work. The difference is not technology or money: it is state support. However, as with so many things, there is a trick to it. Priority. China has put robotics at the center of its technological development program for the coming years. The new Five-Year Plan, the roadmap in which the country points out the objectives that it will try to achieve over the next five years, robotics is in a privileged place next to the development of the chip ecosystem or the 6G networks. This is a state issue, a national priority that marks a deliberate shift from assembly line robotics, the ‘simple robots’ of traditional automation, to one with built-in artificial intelligence and a greater range of functions they can perform. Humanoid robotics is not new and, in fact, Boston Dynamics is the company that has been demonstrating its products for years. But while the demonstrations by American companies consisted of making their vehicles dance or do somersaults, humanoid robotsChina has been showing them at sporting events and in impressive showsbut it is also putting them in front of stores. to work. There are already stores in Beijing that are operated by humanoid robots. They are independent, serve users and do not need human supervision (unless they are like this japanese robot). They are also turning them into guides in museums and stores, but beyond that public-facing work, there are important groups that are incorporating humanoid robotics into their workforce. An example is CATL. The electric vehicle battery giant began deploy humanoid robots at its Zhengzhou plant. Their task is one considered high risk for human workers: connecting high-voltage battery plugs on an assembly line. The robots are made by a startup called Spirit AI and feature a vision-language-action AI model. According to the company, they are having 99% success in connections, they triple the work that a human can do and, obviously, they do not need breaks. But it is not only private companies that are deploying this technology. The State Electricity Grid Corporation has intended 6.8 billion yuan, about 1 billion euros, to acquire 8,500 robots with AI. The intention is to deploy them in 26 regions to inspect and maintain power lines. It has a trick. Returning to the comparison with the United States, there is something that stands out: the valuation of the companies. While Chinese powers like Linkerbot are valued at 6,000 million dollars, the American Figure is valued in 39,000 million. The key is that Figure has shipped far fewer units to the market, something largely dominated by Chinese companies. Analysts expect both countries to develop markets of similar size, but China currently leads by far in the early commercialization of humanoid robots. Now, not all the mountain is oregano and, in the last report of the International Federation of Robotics highlights that, although China is dominating the deployment of robots globally (humanoids and non-humanoids), the mass market will still take several years to arrive. According to that document, there are more than 150 humanoid robot developers currently operating in the Chinese market, a market that will represent in 2025 more than 85% of the 15,000 humanoid robot installations worldwide. USA represents 13%. However, what the IFR also says is that much of that deployment remains limited to demonstrations or pilot projects, not a replacement as such for the human workforce. That is to say, there are companies that are already using robots on a large scale (the examples of CATL and the State itself), but within the figures that are used to talk about this Chinese dominance also include those pilot programs or robots that are dedicated to playing sports and dancing, as in the United States. Need. In any case, there is something undeniable: China is betting very hard and very quickly on robotics, be it humanoid or that of the ‘robodogs’ that are already using in military forces or in divisions of firefighters. And the reason is that the country is facing a precipice: that of the demographic pyramid. The accelerated aging of its workforce, together with new generations that are not willing to work for a decent wage, are accelerating the implementation of robots to improve productivity and efficiency in various sectors. China is not the only one. Japan is also experiencing with robotics in day-to-day jobs because it faces the same problem of population aging. And Samsung, part of a South Korea that is also experiencing a demographic crisis, has already indicated that it has a great plan underway to automate its factories with humanoid robots controlled by a central AI. In Xataka | In China they are not satisfied with creating advanced robots: a company has developed a head that gestures like a human

the new front of the technological cold war

by

The great Achilles heel of the energy transition in Europe is not in sight. It’s not the photovoltaic panels or the windmills, but the hidden chips and processors that make them work. Aware of this risk, the European Union has decided to shield its electrical network with a drastic measure. Companies that want to set up renewable projects with community money will have to look for alternatives: Chinese technology is, for the moment, out of the game. The veto, in detail. Brussels has made public his plan to veto European financing for renewable energy projects that use key equipment manufactured in countries considered “high risk”: China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. The target of this prohibition has a very specific name: investors (or converters). Simply put, these are critical electronic devices that act as processors for photovoltaic plants. Its function is to transform the direct current generated by solar panels into the alternating current that finally reaches our homes and businesses. The measure, de facto, is already underway. financial institutions They have until May 15, 2026 to notify the Commission of the projects they have in their portfolio. As of November 1, the veto will be total for any new facility that aspires to receive community funds, especially those coming from the European Investment Bank (EIB). And why now? As pointed out Expansionthe Community Executive has framed this decision under the umbrella of “economic security” and protection against strategic dependence, distancing itself from those who see it as a mere protectionist industrial policy. The scope of this guideline is capital. As detailed pv magazineis not only limited to traditional solar parks, but extends to vital Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS). This is a blow to the Asian giants, which usually sell integrated solutions that combine batteries and power electronics. To this fence must be added a strict “anti-cheat law”: the regulation does not contemplate significant exceptions and will affect even those inverters that are physically manufactured in Europe, as long as the parent company is controlled by entities from these risk countries. The ghost of the national blackout. The forcefulness of the EU responds to a tangible fear. The Commission bases its veto on intelligence reports and classified information provided by several Member States that warn of a very serious threat: cyberattack and “remote shutdown.” Since the investors are connected to the internet and manage critical operational data of the electrical grid, a foreign actor could use them as a Trojan horse. Siobhan McGarry, Commission spokesperson, has been blunt: “In practice, this could involve a remote shutdown of Member States’ networks, causing national blackouts.” This is not science fiction. The great blackout that Spain and Portugal suffered on April 28, 2025 empirically demonstrated the vulnerability of the network. Although acts of deliberate sabotage were ruled out at the time, the official report from the European grid (ENTSO-E) concluded that the collapse was directly linked to a large voltage swing caused by the unexpected disconnection of photovoltaic inverters. This precedent has revived in Brussels the ghosts of 5G and the decision to corner firms like Huawei and ZTE in the telecommunications sector. A shot in the foot for Spain? Brussels’ theory is firm, but it collides with an uncomfortable reality: the overwhelming dependence on the Asian giant. According to data provided by SCMPChina currently controls 80% of the global inverter market, with brands such as Huawei and Sungrow leading the world ranking. In Spain, the scenario is even more monopolistic. As revealed by the European Solar Manufacturing Council (ESMC)that close to 70% of the inverters installed in our country are of Chinese origin. Huawei alone accounted for 36.5% of installations in 2023, followed by Sungrow (29.7%) and GoodWe (14.5%). Despite warnings from Brussels, the Spanish Government maintains a divergent position and continues to certify dozens of Huawei devices for use in sensitive networks, assuring its allies that they do not pose a risk. However, the shock wave of the European veto is already breaking projects at the national level. As we explain in Xatakathe Generalitat of Catalonia has recently had to backtrack on the award of its public network macro project (XCAT) to the alliance formed by Sirt and Huawei. The fear of having to dismantle the infrastructure in less than a year to comply with new European regulations has left a 127 million euro contract up in the air. Unfounded fear of costs? There are many open questions. Will this veto paralyze renewable deployment in Europe due to lack of supply or cost overruns? The European industry assures that there is no reason for panic. According to the ESMCthe current production capacity in the EU exceeds 100 GW annually (compared to a demand of about 65 GW). Furthermore, the Commission points to Japan, South Korea, Switzerland and the United States as reliable alternative suppliers. Regarding the economic impact, the data dismantles the myth of a drastic increase in prices. As stated Euronewsthe cost of inverters barely represents 5% of the total budget of a solar park. An analysis by Wood Mackenzie It is estimated that replacing Chinese components Western technology will only increase the total cost of large-scale projects by 2%. A “minimal extra cost”, according to Brussels, in exchange for shielding the network. The “boomerang effect.” This strategy of Western isolation has a silent but gigantic parallel consequence. By expelling China from European energy and telecommunications networks, Beijing is being forced to create a 100% autonomous technological ecosystem. Chinese entities, such as Tsinghua University or Huawei itself, are registering an unusually high volume of patents in photolithography to be able to manufacture its own cutting-edge chips without depending on the European ASML. In parallel, they are building solid alternatives to Western Artificial Intelligence standards (like NVIDIA’s CUDA monopoly). By closing the door, Europe and the United States could be incubating a totally uncontrollable and independent global technological competitor. Outrage in Beijing. As expected, China’s reaction has been immediate. The Chinese Chamber of Commerce in the EU (CCCEU) has … Read more

Turning off notifications 24/7 is no longer rude, it’s the new technological self-care

by

In 2026, hyperconnectivity has reached unprecedented levels. However, in the midst of this constant noise, a paradoxical cure has emerged: ignoring those we know and love has become the new secret to a happy and peaceful life. As the magazine details Wiredwe are witnessing the rise of a digital tribe known as the “maximalists of the Do not disturb“. They are users who have decided to keep their phone notifications silenced 24 hours a day, seven days a week. What was once considered a serious breach of the social contract—the tacit obligation to always be available—is now a viral trend. On platforms like TikTok, videos celebrating “monk mode” or the non-stop use of “Do Not Disturb” mode rack up millions of views. In the comments, the debate rages: while some applaud it as the definitive act of self-care, others criticize it as a terrible lack of respect for others. What has happened to our availability? The norms of social etiquette have changed drastically over the last fifteen years. If at the beginning of the last decade the golden rule was “don’t call anyone after 10 pm”, the current rule seems to be “don’t call anyone, ever”, as I already warned The New York Times. Telephone calls without prior notice by message or email have come to be considered intrusive, uncomfortable and even alarming; Nowadays, if the phone rings suddenly, we instinctively assume that a misfortune has occurred. To stop this intrusion, users have taken the tools of their own operating systems to the extreme. The technical difference that has facilitated this radicalization is key: while the traditional silent mode turns off the tones but allows the screen to continue lighting and vibrating, settings such as “Do Not Disturb” mode or “Sleep Mode” act at a deeper level of the system. These tools block vibration, dim the screen light, and hide visual alerts, eliminating any physical interruptions. According to account Wiredfor many this habit began as a survival mechanism during the 2020 pandemic, when their entire lives were reduced to the screen. After discovering the peace it brought them, they decided to never turn on the notifications again. Personal limits versus social cost. Living in a silent digital limbo has profound psychological implications. Turning off notifications is a declaration of autonomy; Those who do so are not building a wall to isolate themselves from the world, but rather installing a “door” that they only open when their schedule and mental health allow it. But this position requires paying a social toll. Announcing that you live in “Do Not Disturb” mode is almost like declaring that you were vegan in the 90s: it is often perceived by those around you as a self-righteous or rude attitude. Friends, partners, and family members often get frustrated when they don’t receive immediate answers. For this reason, the maximalists of silence have learned that preventive communication is key to explaining that this is not a personal attack, but a necessary barrier. Paradoxically, this digital isolation improves relationships in the physical world. By not paying attention to a bright screen that demands their attention, these people demonstrate an absolute presence in face-to-face conversations, generating bonds of greater depth and trust. Expert support. Science supports this need for disconnection. The cost of always being available is very high and directly affects our mental and cognitive health. The studies warn of three major impacts: Symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity: An investigation, published in Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, has shown that constant interruptions caused by smartphones can cause symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity—associated with ADHD—even in the general population that does not suffer from this disorder. Simply having alerts on maximizes these interruptions and increases inattention levels. Stress due to job fragmentation: A study of University of California, Irvine revealed that when people are constantly interrupted in their tasks, they try to compensate by working faster. However, this accelerated pace comes at a severe price: one experiences increased workload, higher levels of stress, frustration, time pressure, and tremendous mental effort. Cognitive leaks: Adrian Ward, professor at the University of Texas, ensures that cognitive ability It is significantly reduced just by having the smartphone within reach, even if it is turned off. Added to this is that each notification causes “cognitive hiccups” of about seven seconds, splintering our attention. Once concentration is broken, it can take the brain more than 23 minutes to regain it. The digital paradox. Despite its benefits, silencing your cell phone is not a panacea for everyone. Previous research suggests that, for some people, turning off alerts can cause anxiety about missing something important (the well-known FOMO). This anxiety causes users to interrupt themselves more frequently to check the screen, resulting in a net increase in distractions. At the same time, the trend has been quickly absorbed by the market. An article from Guardian criticized how “productivity gurus” on TikTok they had commodified the #monkmode (monk mode), selling it as an isolated and somewhat melancholic self-optimization formula, forgetting that the human mind also fights against forced hyperconcentration. Finally, we come to a technological irony of our time. Recent clinical protocols, like the essay published in Frontiersevaluate the use of mobile applications mindfulness (like InMind) to combat work stress, burnout (burnout) and improve the engagement of office workers. In the middle of 2026 we depend on applications within our phones to cure the anxiety that that same device generates in us. The rebellion of silence. As we move into 2026, putting your phone on permanent silent has gone from being a simple setting in the settings menu to becoming a statement of intent. As they conclude in Earthis a reminder that human attention is a finite and extremely valuable resource, to be spent by conscious choice and not by the beep of an algorithm. In the end, as summarized by the testimony collected by Wiredgiving up immediate availability in the era of “always connected” is perhaps the most peaceful … Read more

Europe is taking its technological independence so seriously that it is aiming for the most ambitious goal: NVIDIA

by

Europe cannot continue to be the technological vassal of the United States. With that powerful message, the CEO of Mistral presented a few days ago a roadmap with which he considers that Europe can take the pulse in the technological race of artificial intelligence. The warning came just when several companies are defining the future of European technological sovereigntyand one of those companies is Euclyd. It is seeking 100 million euros, is backed by one of the ASML bosses and has a clear objective: to stop depending on NVIDIA. And it’s not the only one. Euclyd. We have already talked at length about ASML. Although when we talk about the technology industry we have names like Intel, TSMC, NVIDIA or Qualcomm more present, ASML is the Dutch company that manufactures the most advanced machines for manufacturing semiconductors. Without it, the technology industry would not be what it is to the point that China is investing everything in having its own ASML. Well, Bernardo Kastrup is the former director of ASML and, in 2024, he founded Euclyd. This startup is backed by former ASML CEO Peter Wennink, and, according to CNBCis looking for financing to raise the necessary capital to start mass manufacturing chips. 100 times more efficient than NVIDIA. In this new round of financing, Euclyd is seeking $100 million and the goal is to create inference chips for AI. These chips are designed so that the models use what they learned in the training phase and are optimized for high speed, low latency and, above all, much lower energy consumption than the training ones. And that is where the ambitions are maximum. Euclyd, based in Eindhoven, claims that its ‘Craftwerk’ chip system is 100 times more energy efficient for AI inference than NVIDIA’s Vera Rubin chips. This is very good, but the comparison is a bit bulky because Vera Rubin, which is the new generation from NVIDIA, is not a pure training or inference platform: it is optimized to do both. European movement. But hey, Euclyd is currently raising the money with an eye toward delivering inference chips to its first two customers by 2027. And it’s not the only one. There are others such as the British Olix, Optalysys and Tactile, the French Lago or the Dutch Axelera that have raised more than 800 million euros to date. That is from the private sphere, since Europe has the FAMES pilot program which has 830 million euros to finance this type of projects. It is an extremely modest amount if we take into account what is moving on the other side of the pond, but between financing chip companies, renewables and European data centersis a sign that the feeling that Europe must fend for itself is there. world movement. The interesting thing is that this does not respond only to Europe’s feeling of technological sovereignty. It goes further, pointing to the great whale of AI: NVIDIA. Whatever company we think of, surely part of its hardware – or all – belongs to NVIDIA. own Mistral reached a very juicy agreement with the company led by Jensen Huang to be able to acquire thousands of GPUs, but the industry is already seeing what happens when all the eggs are in the same basket. That is why NVIDIA has its potential greatest rivals among its clients. Goal, tesla either amazon They buy from NVIDIA, but at the same time they are developing their own chips. The Chinese giants want NVIDIA chips, but they also develop their alternatives with local companies. All of this is creating more shadowy companies such as Texas Instruments, Marvell or Broadcom to do business, since they are the ones those who turn to They do not want to depend so much on NVIDIA. Google. In fact, just as startups developing AI chips are appearing in Europe, in the United States an ecosystem of companies is developing that are raising billions of dollars. Two examples They are Cerebras Systems, which is valued at 23 billion or MatXfounded by former engineers from Google’s TPU development team. Google itself, whose TPUs are manufactured by Broadcomthis searching an agreement with Marvell to diversify its inference chip business. NVIDIA responds. There is a phrase that has always made me laugh, that of “you think the police are stupid”, and applies perfectly here. NVIDIA has also been realizing for some time that it must diversify and has stopped injecting obscene amounts of money to only a few companies to go on to support other smaller onesbut promising. This way you get clients in the curious circular AI financingas well as continuing to be the one who leads the segment. But in addition to investing in others, she invests in herself. In March, he invested 4 billion a photonics company to make optical interconnection systems for next-generation data centers. They are also investing more than 18,000 million in R&D and winning juicy contracts with both TSMC as with Samsungwho make the chips for the company’s AI platforms. In the end, if all markets have something in common, it is unbridled spending. Europe, China and the United States have embarked on a race in which there is no end in sight and that will perhaps have its greatest test when Anthropic and OpenAI go public this year. In Xataka | Europe thinks that it is the one who wants to become independent from US technology companies. It’s actually the other way around.

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.