It may sound like a joke, but it is not. Pexplexity published an official statement entitled “Bullying is not innovation”, in which it accuses Amazon of intimidating it so that users of Comet stop using the tool as an intelligent shopping assistant on the marketplace.

According to the startup, the objective of the online retail giant is to eliminate users’ rights in order to sell more advertisements now and to partner with AI agents designed to exploit users in the future. “It is not just harassment: it is madness,” the document asserts.

In response, Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon, stated that Perplexity should respect its wish for the shopping agent to avoid its website, in order to “ensure a positive customer experience.” According to the executive, external AI agents lack personalization and purchase history, and therefore provide inaccurate prices and incorrect delivery times.

Who holds the power: users or the Marketplace?

Here, the discussion goes beyond a mere corporate dispute: can you use your own AI assistant to shop on Amazon, or only those that the marketplace approves? According to Perplexity, the answer Amazon is delivering is a clear “no.”

Let us recall that Amazon has its own AI-based shopping assistant, Rufus, which we have recently discussed, and which has not gained much popularity worldwide. In fact, the country most suspicious of the tool is the United States itself, birthplace of Amazon. Despite having been launched less than two years ago, the marketplace has not succeeded in securing natural and frequent use of Rufus among its users. The arrival of Comet further complicates its plans to strengthen its native assistant.

In this regard, Perplexity asserts that, although websites have always had the right to block bots attempting to crawl them, it is not unusual for major technology companies to try to impede potentially disruptive tactics employed by new competitors. “Amazon generates tens of billions annually by selling advertising space on its marketplace, a highly profitable source of revenue that would decrease if people began to use agents to shop instead of browsing themselves,” it argues.

The influence of an AI Assistant on purchase intentions

Perplexity poses the same question: “The rise of agentive AI presents a choice: will this technology empower users to control their digital lives, or will it become another tool for corporations to manipulate and exploit them?”.

The startup maintains that tools such as Comet enable users to save time, make better decisions, and simplify the purchasing process, since these assistants are not distracted by advertisements nor are they swayed by sponsored products. They go straight to the point.

Amazon justifies its decision with reasons related to quality: it claims that external assistants provide unreliable data, incorrect delivery estimates, and prices that might be outdated.

Perplexity denies this and views it as a means of stifling innovation and maintaining complete control over how consumers navigate and make purchases within its platform: “The Comet Assistant quickly finds and buys the item for you, saving you time for more important tasks (…) But Amazon does not care. It is more interested in showing you advertisements, sponsored results, and influencing your purchasing decisions with upsells and confusing deals.”

How AI Agents should be

According to Perplexity’s perspective, personal agents represent the future of online navigation. “They are distinct from crawlers, collectors, or bots. A user agent is your AI assistant: it has exactly the same permissions as you, acts only when you request it, and solely on your behalf,” it explains, and adds that in order for user agents to fulfill their true purpose, they must be private, personal, and powerful in order to be genuinely useful for users.

Therefore, in response to Amazon’s demand, Perplexity asserts that it will not be intimidated and will continue to fight for users’ rights. “People love our products because they are designed for them. User freedom and choice are at the heart of everything we build,” it states, while addressing a pointed comment at Jeff Bezos: “Amazon also forgets how it became so large: users love it. They want good products at a low price and delivered quickly. Agentive shopping is the natural evolution of that promise, and people are already demanding it. Perplexity demands the right to offer it.”

Photo: Gemini

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Google remains the most visited website on the planet. This is confirmed by the Digital 2026 report produced by We Are Social and Meltwater, in which data from Similarweb was analyzed, collected between June 1 and August 31, 2025.

While previous editions of the study were released at the beginning of the year reflected in the report’s title, We Are Social has decided to change its approach and is now publishing the report months before the start of that year. Thus, Digital 2026 was published in October 2025 in order to serve as a useful guide for companies as they develop their digital strategies for 2026.

Therefore, by the end of 2025, the Top 10 most popular websites on the internet are comprised of the following:

1. Google.com
2. YouTube.com
3. Facebook.com
4. Instagram.com
5. Chatgpt.com
6. X.com (formerly Twitter)
7. Reddit.com
8. WhatsApp.com
9. Bing.com
10. Wikipedia.org

However, there are many more conclusions that can be drawn from this ranking, especially if we expand the list to the top 20 most popular websites on the internet. In this case, the results are as follows:

When comparing this ranking to the previous edition (Digital 2025, which considered data from September 1 to November 30, 2024), we see the Top 4 ranking with positions for Google, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram has remained stable. The only new entry into the top 10 is Bing.com, now in ninth place, following an impressive leap from 18th position in the previous edition. For its part, Yahoo.com has exited the top ten and now occupies the twelfth spot.

The rise of Chatgpt.com from position 8 to 5 highlights the increasing popularity and prominence this generative AI has gained over recent times. This trend becomes even more evident if we look at data from the Digital 2024 report, when Chatgpt.com did not even appear within the top 20.

The ranking also reveals that adult content websites continue to lose relevance within the top 20: Pornhub remains in 19th place, after its decline from twelfth in the previous edition.

For comparison, here is the ranking from Digital 2025 of the websites with the highest number of visits worldwide:

Social networks lead the list of the world’s most visited websites

The report shows that, on average, internet users spent 10 minutes and 10 seconds browsing Google (42 seconds less than in 2024), with a total of 83.3 billion visits. In contrast, YouTube succeeded in capturing users’ attention for an average of 20 minutes and 8 seconds (one second longer than the prior year).

Facebook recorded 11.9 billion visits, with an average length of stay on the site of 10 minutes and 11 seconds. The social network continues to see a decline in user attention, revealing that the upward trend seen in the previous edition after two years of decline was merely a temporary illusion.

Instagram registered an average visit time of 8 minutes and 28 seconds (10 seconds less than in 2024). Meanwhile, WhatsApp dropped from fifth to eighth position and logged an average user session of 9 minutes and 57 seconds (5 minutes and 13 seconds less than in 2024), in addition to achieving a total of 3.84 billion overall visits.

For its part, X remained in sixth place and achieved an average visit duration of 12 minutes and 49 seconds (32 seconds longer than in the previous edition).

• How many Internet users are there in the world

The most visited types of websites worldwide

According to data from the Digital 2026 report, during the second quarter of 2025, 94.1% of internet users worldwide connected to chat and instant messaging platforms, the same proportion (94.1%) that used social networks.

On the other hand, 80.3% visited web search engines or dedicated portals, 75.1% accessed email services, and 74.5% visited sites related to shopping.

The most searched terms on Google

According to data collected from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, “Google” and “YouTube” are the most searched terms. Rounding out the Top 5, “You” ranked third, “Weather” held fourth place, and “WhatsApp” came in fifth.

Photo: Depositphotos

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Had you heard of Rufus before reading this article? If your answer was “no,” then you are among the majority (and we had already warned you). According to a study conducted by Remazing in collaboration with Appinio—titled the “Amazon Shopper Report 2025”—70% of Spaniards are unaware of the existence of Rufus, Amazon’s virtual shopping assistant powered by artificial intelligence.

Globally, this lack of awareness is even greater: 72% of respondents have never heard of him, and only 15% actually interact with the tool, which demonstrates that it has not yet become an organic part of the customer journey within the marketplace.

The data is the result of 1,000 surveys conducted among individuals aged 16 to 65 in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

What is Rufus, and what can you do with it?

In early 2024, Amazon introduced Rufus as an AI-driven shopping assistant that has complete knowledge of the platform’s entire product catalog, customer reviews, community questions and answers from the marketplace, as well as all the general information on the site.

With all these foundational data points, Rufus is able to answer questions about products, compare items, make recommendations based on the conversational context, or provide information about current or past orders.

Does it work well? Let us say it is not 100% reliable, but it is certainly useful for straightforward and specific tasks that can save you a significant amount of time. So, if you have never used it before, I recommend giving it a try. To use Rufus, you simply need to ask a question or click on one of the frequently asked questions that will appear beneath the product images:

73% of online shoppers are not aware of Rufus

Worldwide, only between 20% and 33% of respondents are familiar with Amazon’s AI assistant. In the U.S, the figure stands at 33%, placing the country before other countries such as the United Kingdom (26%) and Italy (28%). France is the country with the lowest level of awareness regarding Rufus, with only 20% of shoppers cognizant of its existence.

While 28% of those surveyed claim to have heard of Rufus, only 13% use it on a regular basis. This reflects a gap between awareness of the tool and its effective integration into the purchasing process. In fact, 58% of respondents indicate that they never or rarely use it.

Search, evaluation, and comparison

Rufus is valued primarily during the initial stages of the purchasing process. Forty percent of users utilize it at the beginning of their search, underscoring its usefulness for product discovery, and 46% employ it to evaluate specific products.

Additionally, 39% use it to narrow down their options during the mid-funnel phase, while 26% rely on it for final confirmation before completing their purchase.

Only 6% use Rufus after completing their transaction, clearly indicating its main strength as a decision-support tool rather than as a decisive factor in the final purchase.

Why is Rufus not used more frequently?

The low usage rate of Rufus may be attributed to several factors, although it is likely that the primary issue is that users have not yet perceived a significant improvement in the purchasing process as a result of its use.

Of the 75% who had heard of the assistant and completed a purchase, only 17% attribute the transaction directly to Rufus’s influence, even though 37% state that the assistant provided valuable information. This indicates that Rufus serves more as a supporting role in the decision-making process rather than as the primary driver.

Twenty-five percent of users have not purchased anything suggested by Rufus yet, and 21% completed a purchase but felt that Rufus had no impact, underscoring the opportunity for growth in converting engagement into action.

In this context, Francesco Magnanimi, Global Sales Lead at Amazon, explains that “We all expected Rufus to have a stronger impact on consumers’ purchasing habits, especially in the United States, where it was launched much earlier than in Europe. While its start has been slow, innovation cannot be halted, so we should expect further developments in the coming years.”

The perception of Rufus is positive

Sixty-two percent of users who have tried Rufus indicate they trust it, with a distrust rate that does not exceed 12% in any of the countries included in the analysis. In Europe, trust levels are even higher: in Germany, 70% trust Rufus, while in Spain, the figure is 68%. By contrast, in the United States, only 54% express trust.

Nevertheless, there is still a considerable proportion of users—particularly in markets such as the United States (36%) and Italy (34%)—who remain neutral about the tool’s effectiveness. This reflects an opportunity for Amazon to reinforce its value and performance in order to increase adoption.

Artificial intelligence support in purchasing decisions

Despite the fact that Rufus has not been a disruptive factor, the majority of consumers report a willingness to use artificial intelligence in their online purchasing decisions. Sixty-nine percent of respondents approve of AI-generated product descriptions; 64% view AI-generated videos positively; and 63% value images of products generated by this technology. Even AI-generated images in advertisements received an approval rating of 60%.

Photo: Amazon

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Since its launch at the end of November 2022, ChatGPT has evolved at a dizzying pace, incorporating new capabilities and modifications that have enabled it to deliver a better service. As its artificial intelligence has grown, OpenAI has introduced different plans and pricing options to meet the needs of every type of user.

ChatGPT Plans in the Era of GPT-5

Following the launch of GPT-5 in August 2025, the landscape of ChatGPT’s various plans and pricing changed in order to adapt to the new context. In general, it can be summarized that GPT‑5 is the new standard, serving as the default model in ChatGPT for all registered users, replacing previous versions such as GPT‑4o, o3, GPT‑4.1, GPT‑4.5, and GPT‑4.

Let us now bring some order to these options 😉

1. ChatGPT Free

This plan, completely accessible at no cost to any user, offers access to the GPT‑5 model, with limited usage compared to the paid versions. Through this plan, you may interact with ChatGPT, upload files and images, and receive enhanced responses utilizing real-time web content. In addition, you have the ability to generate images and perform data analysis, although there are certain restrictions regarding the quantity and depth of interactions. Once you have reached the limit, you will begin to use the GPT-5 mini model.

What is that limit? You may send up to 10 messages every 5 hours. Upon reaching this limit, chats will automatically use the mini version of the model until it is reset. Free users also have access to one GPT-5 Thinking message per day.

Furthermore, you will be able to explore the GPT Store (although you cannot create customized GPTs), but the available voice model is standard only, with no access to advanced features. This plan is ideal for those wishing to utilize the artificial intelligence tool for personal use without extensive requirements, taking advantage of the basic capabilities provided.

2. ChatGPT Go

This is the most recent plan launched by the company. Priced at $5 per month, it is designed to be an affordable paid option for individuals who are already familiar with the free plan and wish to unlock increased access to this AI’s primary tools.

ChatGPT Go increases the usage limits of the features included in the free plan (advanced reasoning with GPT-5, message uploads, image generation, advanced research, and memory) and permits the creation of customized GPTs. However, OpenAI has not yet specified the exact usage limits for this plan.

3. ChatGPT Plus

With a price of $20 per month, ChatGPT Plus is designed for users who seek to enhance their productivity and creativity in projects through the use of AI. This plan offers all the features of the Go plan, but with greater capabilities and fewer restrictions.

Although certain limitations remain regarding messaging, file uploads, advanced data analysis, and image generation, ChatGPT Plus allows you to send up to 160 messages every 3 hours using GPT‑5, after which it switches to the mini model. Nevertheless, during periods of high demand, these conditions may be temporarily reduced.

You may also manually select the GPT-5-Thinking model in the model selector, with a usage limit of up to 3,000 messages per week. Once the weekly limit has been reached, a pop-up notification will be displayed and GPT-5-Thinking will no longer appear in the menu.

Other notable features included in this plan are limited access to Sora 1, ChatGPT’s AI video generator, and the ability to use the programming agent Codex.

4. ChatGPT Pro

The ChatGPT Pro model costs $200 per month and is intended for experts, professionals, and researchers who require advanced capabilities in the field of artificial intelligence.

ChatGPT Pro integrates all the advantages and features of the Plus plan, but with additional improvements, such as unlimited access to GPT‑5 and advanced reasoning models. Users on this plan may utilize models such as GPT‑5 Thinking and GPT‑5 Pro, which are optimized for answering complex queries with greater computational power, improving performance in scientific, mathematical, and programming tasks.

Moreover, ChatGPT Pro provides expanded access to Deep Research, advanced voice mode, and the opportunity to experiment with new OpenAI research projects, such as the Operator model.

5. ChatGPT Business (formerly Team)

The price of this plan varies depending on whether you choose the annual payment option ($25/month per user) or monthly ($30/month per user). ChatGPT Business is designed for teams and small to medium-sized companies, with the ability to support between 2 and 149 users.

It includes all the features of ChatGPT Plus and imposes fewer restrictions (although some remain) regarding web browsing, data analysis, video, and image generation. ChatGPT Business users can utilize GPT‑5 as the default model, with access to advanced features and a higher usage volume compared to the free plans. Additionally, ChatGPT Business contains an administration console for workspace management and guarantees that submitted data will not be used to train the AI model.

As with the Plus plan, a Business user may manually select the GPT-5-Thinking model in the selector, with a usage limit of up to 3,000 messages per week. Once the weekly limit is reached, a pop-up notification will be displayed and GPT-5-Thinking will no longer appear in the menu. This plan also provides access to GPT-5 Pro.

6. ChatGPT Enterprise

This is the plan you should choose if ChatGPT Business is insufficient for your company’s needs, as it has the capacity to serve more than 150 users. The price for this plan is determined based on the specific needs of your company, so you will need to contact the OpenAI sales team for a personalized quotation.

ChatGPT Enterprise provides all the capabilities of the Business plan, but with additional improvements, such as higher message limits, an expanded context window allowing longer inputs and larger files, as well as enterprise-grade privacy and advanced data analysis features. Users also receive priority access to OpenAI models and experts. In addition, it offers 24-hour priority support.

7. ChatGPT Edu

In May 2024, OpenAI introduced ChatGPT Edu, an option designed for universities so that all campus members (students, professors, and researchers) are able to benefit from advanced artificial intelligence capabilities. This model is now based on GPT‑5 and provides access to its features, with fewer restrictions than the free plan.

ChatGPT Edu includes advanced capabilities such as data analysis, web browsing, file integration, and the option to summarize documents. It also enables the creation of customized GPTs, which may be shared within university workspaces. Furthermore, this model includes enterprise-level administration and security controls.

Regarding pricing, OpenAI does not set a fixed rate and requests that universities contact its sales team in order to obtain a personalized quotation. This suggests that the plan’s cost will be adjusted depending on the specific needs and characteristics of each educational institution.

Photo: Canva and ChatGPT

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This year, Google has decided that its 2025 Halloween Doodle will represent a dual celebration. On one hand, this creative redesign of the company’s logo commemorates the October 31st holiday, and on the other, it marks the 45th anniversary of the iconic video game Pac Man.

Help Pac Man complete all 8 levels

As could not be otherwise, this year’s Halloween Doodle features a mini-game in which you must help Pac Man complete eight mazes in various haunted houses. Although this entertaining mission will only be accessible from Google’s homepage today and tomorrow, you will always be able to play it through this link.

• You may also be interested in: This is Google’s Halloween Doodle for 2024

In order to enjoy some time with this new version of the arcade classic, you only need to access Google from any device and click on the Doodle. Please note that depending on the device you use to play, the controls will be somewhat different: from a computer, you may use the keyboard arrows; from a mobile phone, you must guide Pac Man by moving your finger across the screen.

For this special occasion, four of the eight mazes included in the game are unique haunted house designs developed in collaboration with Bandai Namco Entertainment, the parent company of Pac Man.

“Your mission is to guide PAC-MAN through these festive levels, helping him devour every dot and avoid the iconic, colorful ghosts: Blinky, Inky, Pinky, and Clyde. Pay close attention to the interior of each haunted house, as its layout directly reflects the personality of the ghost who inhabits it. Collect power pellets to turn the tables and pursue the ghosts yourself,” explains Google.

As an additional note, let us inform you that, although Google has taken this occasion to honor Pac Man, his 45th birthday was actually celebrated on May 22 of this year. Yes, Pac Man is a Gemini, and it does, indeed, suit him rather well.

Photo: Google

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In case you have not yet heard, OpenAI has just launched another product to add to its portfolio: ChatGPT Atlas, an AI-powered browser designed to function as a proactive personal assistant. It is capable of understanding the context of the website you are visiting and assisting you in real time with summaries, contextual searches, and task automation.

With this announcement, the company led by Sam Altman, who personally officiated the launch, seeks to compete with other technology companies that have already integrated AI into their browsing systems: Gemini and Google, Comet and Perplexity, or Copilot and Edge.

In this article, we shall address the six key questions about ChatGPT Atlas: what it is, who can use it, how it operates, what sets it apart, what additional features it offers compared to ChatGPT, and other pertinent questions.

1. What is ChatGPT Atlas

ChatGPT Atlas is, in essence, a web browser created by OpenAI that merges the traditional browsing experience with the conversational artificial intelligence of ChatGPT. Instead of merely displaying web pages, Atlas allows the assistant to “reside” alongside your browser window and assist you in interacting with the contents you are viewing. According to the official launch page, the concept is that you browse as usual, but with “a person / AI” next to you who understands what you are viewing and can assist you. Its interface is reminiscent of a modern browser (tabs, favorites, navigation modes).

2. Who can use ChatGPT Atlas

If you have macOS, you can already use it free of charge. You simply need to visit this link and follow the installation steps. It is available to users of the Free, Plus, Pro, and Go versions worldwide, and in beta for Business users. The advanced “Agent Mode,” which allows the AI to execute complex tasks (such as automating a purchase or a reservation), is restricted to ChatGPT Plus and ChatGPT Pro subscribers. If you are a free user, you will have access to the AI integration, but more advanced automation features require a paid subscription.

OpenAI has already confirmed that it is working on versions for Windows and for mobile devices (iOS and Android), so they are expected to be released soon.

3. How does Atlas work?

Atlas is based on the Chromium engine, and its key capability lies in allowing the AI, while you are browsing, to function as an additional layer: when you are on a webpage, it installs a ChatGPT panel or functionality that understands the content, its context, and enables you to ask questions or request actions directly from there. The AI can “read” what you are viewing—in the sense of processing the page—and assist you in summarizing, rephrasing, comparing, or drawing conclusions without the need to copy and paste or switch applications.

This means that the AI is not merely an add-on but a fundamental part. You can invoke it (much like a spirit of Sam Altman) at any moment through a sidebar that enables you to converse with the model and request actions based on the current page’s content. For example, if you are reading an eCommerce trends report, you may ask it in the sidebar: “Give me the three most important growth data points” without needing to exit or copy the text.

4. How does Atlas differ from a traditional browser such as Chrome?

The primary difference lies in its contextual capacity and its agentic nature. Whereas a traditional browser is limited to displaying pages, enabling tabs, bookmarks, extensions, and so forth, Atlas adds a persistent conversational layer that includes:

• Contextual Memory (if the user consents): it remembers the pages you have visited and the information you have already provided, using that context to offer you more personalized assistance.
• Agent Mode: it can perform actions within the web environment, such as clicking, filling in fields, navigating on your behalf to complete a task, and even automating certain operations.

This “browser + AI” integration is what places it in a different category.

5. What additional features does Atlas offer that the ChatGPT chatbot does not possess?

By operating within the browsing environment, Atlas gains capabilities that the pure chat version cannot provide. For example:

• In-Context Editing and Assistance (Cursor Chat): you may request that ChatGPT assist you in composing an email in Gmail or revising a draft directly within the editing window of that platform, without the need to copy and paste text between windows.
• Interaction with Web Elements: “Agent Mode” enables it to interact with buttons, forms, and menus on the web to execute complex tasks, something that is impossible for an external chatbot.
• Natural Language Search in History and Bookmarks: you can ask the AI to search your browsing history or bookmarks with phrases like: “Where did I save the website for the SEO tool that Juan recommended to me?”

6. What about privacy?

ChatGPT Atlas assists you in exploring the web with ChatGPT, but you retain control over what it remembers about you, how your data is used, and the privacy settings that are applied as you browse. To this end, OpenAI has included specific tools:

• Browser Memory Control: you may deactivate “memories” at any time. By doing so, the browser will cease storing details of your browsing or the tasks you performed for future use.
• Incognito Mode: when enabled, the user is temporarily disconnected from ChatGPT. In this mode, the browser does not save any activity records nor utilize that information for model training purposes.
• Data Usage for Training: users have the option to prevent their browsing data from being used to improve ChatGPT models. Control over what the AI learns from you is explicit and manageable within the settings.

By default, your data is used for the development and improvement of OpenAI’s products. Nevertheless, as explained, users may disable this option in the browser’s privacy settings. This is a crucial feature for those with substantial amounts of sensitive information involved in their daily browsing.

Do you have any other questions about Atlas? Leave them in the comments below 👇

Photo: OpenAI

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On October 20, an AWS outage caused half of the Internet to shudder. Fortunately, WordPress does not rely on Amazon Web Services infrastructure to continue operating, which allowed us to report the event firsthand. However, the AWS outage demonstrates how fragile the intricate web of interconnected services that underpins the digital world truly is. From Netflix to Canva, including AI tools such as Perplexity and games like Fortnite, millions of people experienced how a localized problem somewhere in Virginia could ruin their day.

But… what if instead of AWS, it had been Microsoft Azure? Or Google Cloud Platform? In whose hands does the stability of the Internet lie?

The striking reality of the global cloud market

The global market for cloud services is growing at an unprecedented rate, driven primarily by demand for the infrastructure required to support AI. In fact, analysis by Gartner projects that worldwide spending on public cloud services will reach $723.4 billion in 2025, which represents a year-over-year growth of 21.5% compared to 2024.

Nevertheless, the defining feature of this ecosystem is not simply growth, but rather the extreme concentration. The market is dominated by an oligopoly of massive providers: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud (GCP). These “Big Three” collectively control more than 60% of the global cloud infrastructure market. In fact, if we broaden the analysis, the global infrastructure is controlled by just five major companies (AWS, Microsoft, Google, Alibaba, and Oracle), which account for 70% of the market.

This concentration, intensified by the fact that the majority of leading providers are headquartered in the United States, creates a risk of systemic concentration. Critical global services—including defense, banking, and governmental infrastructures—have migrated to these platforms, rendering them highly dependent on the operational continuity of these providers. Operational failures, such as the AWS outage, have demonstrated that a disruption in a single provider can affect financial stability and business continuity on a macro scale.

The Cloud, a dangerous oligopoly: the power of three

According to estimates for the second quarter of 2025, the distribution of global cloud infrastructure market share is clearly concentrated as follows:

• Amazon Web Services (AWS): It maintains its established leadership with a 30% market share. Its leading position stems from being the market pioneer and offering the most comprehensive and mature platform, sustaining a hard-to-match ecosystem advantage. AWS provides hosting and cloud computing services to more than one million companies worldwide, including well-known organizations such as Amazon, Disney+, Tinder, and Netflix, among others. In 2024, AWS’s net revenue increased 19% year-over-year to $107.6 billion (€103.52 billion).
• Microsoft Azure: With 20% of the market, Azure leverages its deep integration with Microsoft’s enterprise products to maintain its position. Its growth strategy has focused on providing hybrid solutions and capitalizing on synergies with productivity tools and AI development.
• Google Cloud Platform (GCP): With a 13% market share, GCP stands out for its data analytics and machine learning (ML) capabilities. For organizations prioritizing these areas, GCP often offers tools and performance superior to its competitors, although its smaller market share may translate into a more limited ecosystem of third-party tools.

As you can see, the “Big Three” control over 60% of the market, while the rest of the global competitors hold much smaller, residual percentages. In fact, the massive investment required to operate large-scale data centers and lead innovation in generative AI constitutes a formidable barrier to entry, ensuring this oligopolistic structure persists or even strengthens in the future.

Thus, secondary competitors seek out niches that the Big Three cannot fully satisfy, generally focusing on aspects such as sovereignty, latency, or cost. For example, Oracle has positioned its infrastructure for the AI era. Its differentiation lies in the provision of over 200 AI and cloud services at the edge, within client data centers, and across other clouds. In this way, it enhances data privacy and low latency requirements through a distributed infrastructure.

The impact of the cloud on critical sectors: defense, finance, and digital sovereignty

The widespread adoption of cloud services has extended to strategic sectors such as defense and finance, solidifying a structural dependency on the largest providers. AWS and Microsoft Azure currently manage essential infrastructure for governments and security agencies worldwide, including the U.S. Department of Defense, NASA, and European ministries. These platforms host classified data and ensure critical operations, which means that, ultimately, the availability and security of national services depend on private corporations.

In the financial sector, the cloud has become the foundation of banking modernization. However, the concentration of services with just a few players introduces systemic risk: a prolonged outage or a security failure at a single provider could simultaneously affect multiple institutions and jeopardize economic stability. For example, the AWS outage affected the Mercado Pago service, a digital payments and e-wallet platform created by Mercado Libre and prominent in countries such as Argentina, causing significant disruptions to standard operations.

And, of course, these vulnerabilities are compounded by geopolitical challenges. Most leading providers are subject to U.S. jurisdiction, raising questions regarding data sovereignty and the operational resilience of other countries. In response, Europe is promoting “sovereign cloud” strategies and multi-cloud architectures to diversify risks and regain control over its critical infrastructure.

Image: Gemini

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Amazon is a vast company whose business spans areas as diverse as eCommerce/marketplace, advertising, logistics, hardware, artificial intelligence, and video and music streaming. However, among these business areas is one that, while less well-known to the general public, is of extreme importance both for the company itself and for thousands of other companies around the world. Are you familiar with Amazon Web Services?

A major AWS outage

The collapse of multiple services worldwide due to the outage of Amazon Web Services (AWS) once again highlights the enormous dependence the global digital infrastructure has on Amazon’s cloud. On Monday, the disruption caused widespread failures and massive disconnections that affected millions of users in Spain and across the globe—and it is quite likely that you have been impacted as well.

What exactly happened?

As explained by Amazon itself, the failure originated in the AWS region US-EAST-1, located in Northern Virginia (United States), one of the most critical areas for Amazon’s global infrastructure. In fact, Amazon referred to an “increase in error rates and latency across various AWS services”, which resulted in cascading interruptions.

Around 11:30 AM Spanish time, AWS explained that there was “an issue with the Domain Name System (DNS) that prevented many services from locating and communicating with the DynamoDB database. This affected other services and global services that rely on US-EAST-1.” Shortly thereafter, AWS reported that “We are seeing significant signs of recovery. Most requests should now be successful.”

Imagine AWS as a gigantic office and DynamoDB as the central filing cabinet where everyone stores and retrieves crucial information: for another AWS service to use the cabinet, it needs its extension number or exact location. The DNS system (Domain Name System) serves as the telephone directory or internal directory of that office. When the error occurred, whenever an employee (another service) asked the directory, “What is the extension number for DynamoDB?” the directory could not provide the correct IP address.

Since the services could not obtain DynamoDB’s address, they were unable to locate or communicate with it, and many AWS services depend on DynamoDB for basic operations (such as identifying users, checking their permissions, or determining where to look for certain data). When they could not “find” the central filing cabinet, these services failed in succession. They were unable to perform their tasks and crashed. Given that the affected region (US-EAST-1) handles many of AWS’s functions, the failure spread to global services that, even if physically located elsewhere, still required that central address.

However, the situation did not resolve as simply as it might have seemed. Around 4:15 PM(CEST), AWS again warned of significant failures affecting multiple services, once more creating a sense of uncertainty throughout the sector. Nevertheless, according to reports from Down Detector, the chain reaction of disruptions was comparatively less severe.

Who was affected by the outage worldwide?

The failure demonstrated the high concentration of digital services that rely on Amazon’s platform, resulting in daily applications and platforms in Spain ceasing to function properly.

• Amazon Services: Both the Alexa voice assistant and the Prime Video streaming platform experienced connection issues.
• Online Payments: Redsys also faced problems. This is particularly serious for online commerce: it is the company that acts as the principal technological intermediary and manager of electronic payments in Spain, serving as the backbone that allows card transactions—whether in-store or online—to be conducted securely and quickly throughout the country.
• Video Games: Highly popular platforms such as Fortnite and Roblox.
• Productivity: Tools such as Canva, the language-learning application Duolingo, and the video call platform Zoom reported access errors or downtime. Some users also mentioned others such as Klaviyo, Asana, or Teachable.
• Artificial Intelligence: AI-based assistants and services such as Perplexity were also affected, as Perplexity’s CEO himself admitted in a tweet.

Perplexity is down right now. The root cause is an AWS issue. We’re working on resolving it.

— Aravind Srinivas (@AravSrinivas) October 20, 2025

The immense power of Amazon Web Services in today’s digital market

Amazon Web Services (AWS), launched in 2006, is a cloud services provider offering everything from infrastructure technologies such as computing, storage, and database management to emerging technologies like machine learning and artificial intelligence. This enables existing applications to be migrated to the cloud more quickly, easily, and cost-effectively and allows for the creation of virtually anything one can imagine.

AWS provides cloud hosting and computing services to more than one million companies worldwide, including some of the largest corporations and many of the world’s most-visited websites, all of which depend on AWS to function properly—such as Amazon itself, Disney+, Tinder, Netflix, among others. Therefore, an outage of AWS servers can cause serious disruptions in the global digital business landscape, destabilizing not only Amazon’s internal operations but also the functions of hundreds of tools and websites, potentially compromising the overall stability of the digital ecosystem. At present, Amazon Web Services controls approximately one third of the global cloud market, placing it far ahead of its closest competitor, Microsoft’s Azure, as well as Google Cloud.

This enormous customer base resulted in net revenues for AWS rising by 19% year-over-year to $107.6 billion for Amazon during fiscal year 2024. 

The problem with global dependence on AWS

As previously mentioned, AWS’s worldwide popularity means that any type of unforeseen incident can substantially compromise the proper functioning of numerous websites across the globe. This was clearly demonstrated, for example, in December 2021, with the six-hour interruption of AWS services.

On December 11, Amazon’s cloud services provider experienced an outage that disrupted several of the company’s operations throughout parts of the United States. The outage lasted approximately six hours, affecting a range of websites, applications, and digital tools associated with the platform. Among those affected were smart products such as roombas, home assistants, security systems, and others. According to the company’s statement, the situation was caused by an error in an automated process.

“An automated activity intended to scale the capacity of one of the AWS services hosted on the primary AWS network triggered unexpected behavior from a large number of clients within the internal network. This resulted in a significant surge in connection activity that overwhelmed the networking devices between the internal network and the AWS primary network, causing delays in communications between these networks.”

According to the company’s report, the outage even affected Amazon’s own ability to identify the root cause at the time, as their monitoring tools and primary internal controls were themselves experiencing the effects of the outage.

Image: Depositphotos

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If you find yourself overwhelmed by the sheer number of new developments related to AI released each day (on this website, we keep you updated with the most relevant news, though I am afraid these are only a small fraction of everything happening in the sector) and feel that you are missing out or being left behind in this revolution, it is likely that you are interested in pursuing education in this field.

If that is the case, and you are over 18 years of age and a student, you are in luck.

Google will make some of its main AI tools available to millions of students across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa through the Google AI Pro plan. As you will see, included among these are some of the most popular tools, such as Gemini 2.5 Pro and Veo 3.

Google AI Pro Plan for university students

Google has announced the availability of a 12-month subscription to its Google AI Pro plan at no cost for university students over the age of 18 in multiple markets, including Spain. However, if you are interested, the deadline to register for this promotion is December 9.

This plan includes:

• Gemini 2.5 Pro. Google’s most advanced AI model for queries, image analysis, and assistance with writing and tasks. Provides fast and advanced help with assignments and written work.
• Deep Research. A tool to generate detailed and synthesized research reports from hundreds of web sources. Saves time on complex research with referenced reports.
• NotebookLM. A “thought partner” for organizing ideas and documents, now featuring additional audio and video summaries. Enhances organization, analysis, and synthesis of personal information.
• Veo 3. A tool to transform text or photos into eight-second cinematic videos with sound. Accelerates creative work and audiovisual projects.
• Nano Banana. An advanced model for transforming and editing images, enabling the creation of impactful visuals. Facilitates conceptual design, mockups, and the visualization of abstract ideas.
• 2 TB of storage. Expanded space for Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos. Ample storage for notes, projects, and university documents.

Google emphasizes that the purpose of AI is not only to provide answers, but to “deepen understanding and develop critical thinking skills.” To this end, it has also launched Guided Learning, a new mode in Gemini that acts as an interactive learning companion. Guided Learning is designed to lead the student through questions, step-by-step support, and interaction, in a manner similar to that of a personal tutor.

Thus, students may use it to break down complex mathematical problems, structure arguments, start an essay, prepare for exams, receive support with assignments, or self-assess through interactive quizzes.

AI for Educators

In parallel, Google has also launched Gemini for Education, a version designed for the educational community, and has incorporated Gemini in Classroom (available free for all editions of Google Workspace for Education) with more than 30 new features to help teachers plan more efficiently and create engaging content.

Image: Gemini

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Walmart has taken a step toward the future of retail by announcing a new strategic collaboration with OpenAI, which will allow its customers to shop directly through ChatGPT using the Instant Checkout functionality. This initiative seeks to combine Walmart’s speed, pricing, and product assortment with the personalization and predictive capabilities of artificial intelligence.

• ChatGPT enables purchases on its platform with its Instant Checkout feature

From Search to Conversation: a proactive shopping experience

Until now, their eCommerce experience was limited to entering terms into a search bar and browsing through long lists of products. However, Walmart intends to change that drastically. According to Doug McMillon, Chief Executive Officer of Walmart Inc., the goal is to provide a more engaging, contextual, and multimedia-rich shopping experience by using tools such as Sparky and this new partnership with OpenAI.

This approach aligns with the concept of agentic commerce: a model in which artificial intelligence evolves from being reactive to becoming an active assistant that learns from the user, anticipates their needs, and offers solutions even before the user begins searching. It marks a leap toward a more intuitive and efficient experience, where one can plan a meal, restock household essentials, or discover new products simply by having a conversation with a chatbot.

“We are excited to collaborate with Walmart to simplify everyday shopping. This is just one example of how artificial intelligence can make daily life easier,” stated Sam Altman, CEO and Co-Founder of OpenAI.

AI to optimize every link of the business

However, this transformation is not limited to the shopping interface. Walmart and Sam’s Club already apply artificial intelligence across all areas of their operations. From optimizing the product catalog—which has enabled reductions in fashion production timelines by up to 18 weeks—to improving customer service, which has seen a 40% decrease in resolution times.

Additionally, they are advancing the digital literacy of their workforce through AI training programs. Walmart was one of the first companies to adopt OpenAI certification and has begun implementing ChatGPT Enterprise among its internal teams, focusing on a strategic and responsible use of the technology.

• ChatGPT Plans and Pricing: Which one you should choose according to your needs

This “people-led and tech-powered” approach, as described by the company itself, emphasizes that the use of artificial intelligence is not intended to replace human interaction, but rather to remove friction from the purchasing process and make each interaction smoother, faster, and more satisfying.

Image: Nano Banana

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