Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 354 A Galaxy of Stars: A Large Model

"Isn't this normal? For us, HK$4 million is an astronomical figure; we may never earn that amount of money in our lifetime."

But for Ran Ge, this was merely a bonus in his deal with John Morgan Jr. John Morgan Jr. wasn't short of money, and neither was Ran Ge.

When they returned to their cramped apartment that evening, a tiny space so narrow that it was difficult to even turn over, Lee Yi-cheong and Seo Hyun complained about what they had seen and heard recently. Seo Hyun's reaction was unusually calm.

"That's right, Ran Shen is the world's best in mathematics, aerospace engineering management and technology research and development, and artificial intelligence."

While someone might be able to rival him in a single identity, no one in the world can compare to him when all three identities are combined.

Moreover, he could definitely rank in the top five for each of them. There may be more than five people who have contributed more than him in the field of pure mathematics, but the one who is in his prime can definitely rank in the top five.

Such a unique talent in the world, and an old office building in Central, can indeed only be considered a trivial gift.

I can understand that. There's really nothing unbelievable about it. It's just that I've always known that Ran Shen is amazing. He's on various wealth lists, with a net worth of hundreds of billions of dollars. Bloomberg, Forbes, and others even gave Ran Shen a few question marks, meaning they didn't include him in their evaluations.

Neither Apollo Technology nor DeepRed are publicly listed companies, and their primary market operations are not open or transparent. The entire fundraising process was not disclosed to the public, hence the question mark.

These institutions all say that even the most conservative estimate would be no less than hundreds of billions of dollars.

But this is just an estimate, a number. No matter how big the number is, I still don't feel its reality.

Right now, in the hot and humid summer of Hong Kong Island, I'm visiting the owners one by one, negotiating in turn. I've been to that office building more than once. The old-fashioned decor, the worn-out elevators, the smell of roast meat outside, the dust kicked up by cars—all of this has only happened recently.

The memory lingers in my mind. Our entire team put in a tremendous amount of effort, all for the sake of giving John Morgan Jr. a little surprise when he communicated with the God of Fire.

This is the power of wealth, and also the most authentic portrayal of how wisdom is transformed into real-world influence.

Do you know how this feels?

Especially now that I'm living in a cramped apartment in Hong Kong, and Burning God is the same age as us."

Li Yiqing's tone was filled with emotion.

Xu Xian's voice came from the other end of the phone: "Brother Qing, of course, of course I understand how you feel."

I've never told you this before, but the big problem my supervisor assigned me for graduating with my PhD was solved remotely for me by Ran Ge after just one glance at it and he immediately started a Zoom meeting on the spot.

I suspect he just read the question and then knew what to do.

I think Ran Ge has integrated mathematics into his instincts. After witnessing it firsthand, I believe that the old saying in the mathematics community that Poincaré was the last mathematician to make all of mathematics his field of study is wrong.

At least, Ran Ge is that kind of person. I don't know who will be the last one, but Poincaré is definitely not one of them.

So what I'm trying to say is that this isn't much more exaggerated than a simple wealth gap.

Xu Xian thought to herself, "I've already experienced the shock you went through."

"So it's all just a drop in the ocean. If you always compare yourself to freaks, I think your mindset will become distorted."

"Qing-ge, your undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degrees from Peking University are already very impressive."

Li Yiqing explained, "No, no, no, you misunderstood what I was trying to say."

I'm not seeking comfort, nor am I feeling frustrated. I just want to vent and share what I've seen and heard.

Furthermore, after this experience, I have absolutely no desire to work in finance again.

Although I can't become a figure like the God of Burning, who can change the fate of countless people with just a breath, like you told me, your college roommate contacted you just to stay in Crimson.

But I also want to give it my all.

In essence, finance is a service industry; you either have your own resources or you become a resource broker.

Otherwise, even if you are exceptionally talented and incredibly successful in trading, making billions through stock trading, that kind of life is still very boring. You'll only be dealing with numbers, just like the Great Gatsby, being swept up by consumerism.

A successful entrepreneurial journey is what makes life truly interesting.

Even if you can't become a dragon that breathes clouds and mist, you should at least strive in that direction.

I plan to find a promising company to work for first, and then start my own business.

Only in this way can life be interesting enough, even if I fail, at least I've tried.

In Hong Kong, where a 100-square-meter apartment is considered a luxury home, this is simply not for me.

Xu Xian sensed great ambition in the other person's words and smiled, "Then I wish you success in advance."

Xu Xian could completely understand the other person's mentality. Just like after Lin Ran solved his big problem, he only lay down for half a year before going to his mentor to ask for another big problem to work on.

"Mr. Lin, this is our financing plan. Please take a look."

Song Nanping knocked on the door and entered Lin Ran's office.

Lin Ran took the document titled "Apollo Technology Financing Plan" and asked, "Has Pony seen it?"

Pony is the president, while Song Nanping has been demoted by half a level to vice president.

He replied, "I've seen it. This version is a modification based on Pony's proposal."

Apollo Technology is a privately-owned enterprise registered in China, whose main business covers high-tech manufacturing, aerospace equipment manufacturing, and infrastructure construction.

Because they skimmed off the Morgan family, they got $30 billion, $10 billion from the Saturn V rocket, and $20 billion from the Burning One rocket.

The latter is more expensive than the former because the Saturn V's key engine technology was not transferred at all, while the Combustion 1 was transferred as a whole, including the engine technology.

In the future, whenever General Aerospace has a need for lunar missions, it will have to place an order with Apollo Technologies to buy Saturn V engines.

To be honest, it would be much cheaper to buy the entire casing and all that stuff from China than to make it ourselves.

Although John Morgan Jr. still has a lot of enthusiasm and wants to make it in America, he still wants to make it in America.

But Lin Ran felt that sooner or later, the other party would not be able to stand it and would choose the development path of buying rather than building, completely surrender, and directly transport the Saturn V from China to America's port.

Therefore, Apollo Technology was not short of money at this point in time.

With John Morgan Jr. around, they have ways to ship things like Nvidia's latest AI computing cards first to Singapore, then from Singapore to Hong Kong, and finally to the mainland.

However, these US dollars were all held in Hong Kong accounts, so Apollo Technologies ultimately decided to raise 200 billion RMB from the market.

China is currently facing a very awkward situation.

They have money, Yanjing has money, the residents have money, but they can't spend it.

Residents are afraid to spend money, and bank deposits are increasing year by year.

Beijing also has money and tries every means to stimulate consumption. While consumption can be stimulated through vouchers and shopping subsidies, ultimately, creating jobs and upgrading industries requires businesses to do it.

Money doesn't know how to flow into suitable companies; it can only circulate aimlessly within the banking system.

Now, with the emergence of promising aerospace companies like Apollo Technology, Yanjing is willing to invest 200 billion yuan just in its spin-off, Deep Red.

So this round of financing seems to be a case of Yanjing (a major Chinese investment firm) eagerly trying to give Apollo Technology 200 billion yuan.

"Wasn't it supposed to be a financing briefing and then negotiations one by one? But looking here, it seems the private placement parties have already been decided."

In this report, the targeted investors were led by an investment fund under the China Development Bank, with companies such as CICC and CIC participating, and Pony allocated 5% of the financing quota.

"That's right. Yanjing's point is that, since it won't be financing from private capital anyway, it's all financing between state-owned enterprises, to avoid making things difficult for you."

At that time, local state-owned investment institutions from your hometown, such as Yuexiu Capital and Shenzhen Capital Group, will try to bother you through various connections.

Local organizations in Shenhai, like my former employer Shenhai Science and Technology Investment, also tried all sorts of methods to visit me.

To avoid such a situation, Yanjing simply designated these three companies as representatives of state-owned assets. "Song Nanping explained."

Lin Ran gave a wry smile, knowing that this was highly likely: "That's certainly true, I can only say it was well-intentioned."

The financing plan that Song Nanping brought was very well written, and they even made adjustments to the voting rights allocation issue that they thought Lin Ran was most concerned about.

That's the A/B share model, where the voting rights of one B share are equal to those of 10 A shares.

This is also how major domestic internet companies ensure that the founding team can still maintain firm control of the company even when their shareholding has fallen below 20%.

Not only do these three state-owned institutions hold A-shares, but Shenhai Science and Technology Investment will also transfer its shares to these three state-owned institutions, which will then be converted into A-shares.

In the final outcome of the plan, Lin Ran held more than 70% of the voting rights in Apollo Technology, ensuring absolute control over the company.

After reading it, Lin Ran nodded: "Let's do it this way. I don't have many objections."

The people in Yanjing thought Lin Ran cared, but in reality, Lin Ran didn't care at all.

Whether or not he actually has control has little to do with the regulations, but rather with the wishes of Yanjing.

If Yanjing is willing, then even if he only has 10% of the voting rights, he will still have control of the company. If Yanjing is unwilling, even if he has 90% of the voting rights, he will not be able to make any decisions.

Just like Jack Ma made a mistake on the Bund in Shanghai, he immediately disappeared from the Simplified Chinese internet scene, and his control over Alibaba and Ant Group plummeted. Only professional managers were seen, and Jack Ma's voice was nowhere to be heard.

This is still a private enterprise; there's no need to say more about companies like Apollo Technology.

Lin Ran knew very well that as long as he was still alive, he would always have control of the company firmly in his hands. After he was gone, if his descendants did not have the ability to do so, it would be a curse rather than a blessing.

After a brief chat with Song Nanping, he got up and went to the conference room. Summer vacation had begun, and the students in the Lin Ran Mathematics Class at Jiaotong University had finished their final exams. Everyone was in place and ready to begin their summer internships.

Yes, without exception, all 60 students applied for internships at Crimson.

Currently, Crimson and Apollo Technology share an office space. After all, Crimson only has a little over two hundred employees left, which isn't even enough to occupy a whole floor, so there's no need for a separate office area.

When the outside world learned that Lin Ran's math class students could go directly to Crimson for internships, and that there were no entry requirements and everyone could go, they went completely crazy.

This year's college entrance examination even saw a provincial top scorer declare that he would apply to Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Shanghai Jiao Tong University even won two IMO gold medals this year, which is something that would normally only be awarded to Yenching University.

This has made Fudan University, a fellow university in the same city, extremely envious. Tongji University, on the other hand, isn't so envious. Tongji graduates can go to Apollo Technology, which is a perfect match for their respective fields. Tongji didn't even expect to be in the top 3 anyway.

"Hello everyone, I see that you are all very excited about being able to intern at Crimson."

I want to tell you all that your internship at Shenhong won't be like what you'd do at other internet companies, doing menial tasks. I will assign you a complete project, with the cooperation of Shenhong employees—the ten Shenhong employees you see here.

Lin Ran pointed to the ten employees sitting on the right side of the conference room. They looked noticeably more mature, but not by much.

These engineers working on artificial intelligence are all very young.

"They will lead you all to create a large-scale artificial intelligence model based purely on the humanities."

The required scope includes simulating sociological scenarios, analyzing psychological experimental data, evaluating political policies, and making economic model predictions. It should be limited to the humanities and social sciences, requiring sufficient expertise, and the model should be able to reach the level of human experts on specific tasks.

I named this model "Shining Stars".

Huh? This is a topic that no one expected.

You can see this kind of demand abroad, but it's incredibly rare in China. What use are large models, limited to the humanities, in specific fields?
No one could have imagined it.

For Lin Ran, this is exactly what he needs. The reason it is named "Shining Stars" is to symbolize that when this model is placed on the far side of the moon in the future, it will be able to illuminate the stars of humanity.

In other words, when America attempted to secede from the Bretton Woods Agreement on her own in 1971, when even economists didn't know what that meant, a constellation of stars could provide guidance.

When Soviet Russia was in trouble, suffering economic hardship, and with high oil prices gone, a constellation of stars shone brightly, able to tell them exactly what mistakes they had made.

When it comes to China, there's nothing wrong with China.

In short, it was a constellation of stars.

"I can briefly tell you what your work might cover, and from what angle I would approach it if I were to do it."

The most important thing is actually data. Data needs to focus on high-quality, field-specific texts, such as philosophical and ethical texts, metaphysical works, sociological theoretical research and field investigation reports, political science policy documents, and data texts.

To find these, you need to know where to find paper indexes and open resources. If that's not enough, you need to purchase data from journals in the field.

Once the open data collection is complete, if needed, contact the General Affairs Department to acquire the right to use the complete database from relevant journals.

I anticipate needing to secure at least 500 billion tokens to ensure professional depth.

After determining the data, it needs to be cleaned to remove noise, repetition, and biased content.

Some texts may be very popular, with many citations or downloads, but in reality, the content is worthless, and this requires everyone to judge.

This is the work to be done in the data phase. In the model development and training phase, you can directly use Deep Red for training. You don't need to develop from scratch. Just let the staff assist you in training based on the existing model.

If you are not satisfied with the training results and need to adjust the model, you can try it yourself first. If you have any questions, you can email me and I will arrange a time to answer them for you.

My goal is to encourage everyone to develop a sufficiently neutral, objective, and professional model that can provide a sufficiently professional answer to any social issue raised by external parties.

If it's good enough, I'd consider selling it to Weibo to become an independent and objective third-party opinion on social issues on Weibo.

So, everyone, your work is very meaningful.

Lin Ran was actually thinking to himself, "Everyone, this is not just meaningful, it is extremely meaningful. It may change the course of an entire era and change the entire world."

As for why not do it yourself?
Since Lin Ran will be staying in this time and space for a long time, he doesn't want to spend time specifically working on this. Giving it to his students is just right, given the existing resources of Shen Hong, as a practice project.

It's not something that has to be finished this summer. It will be treated as a research project and will be continuously pushed forward. If it can't be finished this year, it will be continued after a new batch of students come in. The quality of students at Jiaotong University is getting better every year, and the threshold for Lin Ran's Mathematics Class is also getting higher every year.

He plans to stay here for about seven years, which is more than enough time.

"Through this topic, everyone will be able to access almost all the work required for large-scale artificial intelligence models, which I believe will be of great help to everyone, both now and in the future."

After the final "Stars Shine" was released, its impact in the 1960 timeline is not discussed here, but on Weibo, it was like a cesspool being blown up. Many bloggers began to criticize this large model for being neither objective nor neutral, nor a so-called third party, but rather a manifestation of Lin Ran's personal will.

Even when the students who were involved came forward to explain, they were still attacked by the group.

This was something that neither Lin Ran nor the students present had anticipated.

　The chapter I missed yesterday will be added today or tomorrow.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)