Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 392: Where the enemy goes, I can go too
Ultraman Sam was completely devastated.

No, what are Chinese companies thinking?

He considered countless possibilities, including Google and META, which could potentially get involved and collaborate with Intel and IBM.

However, these do not pose a threat to OpenAI. After all, OpenAI is number one, and there is a huge difference between cooperating with the number one and cooperating with the number two or three.

His bottom line is $5 million; he wants to squeeze $5 million out of these two companies.

But to his utter surprise, it was crimson.

"Are they really talking about the collaboration between the left and right hemispheres of the brain?" Sam Altman asked with a suspicious look.

Because of Lin Ran's presence and the emergence of the Crimson Chip, Pat Geelsinger has not yet resigned; he remains Intel's CEO, and Chen Liwu has not become CEO, continuing to hold senior management positions.

"The relationship with IBM is that Intel will partner with Crimson, leaving OpenAI with no choice but to choose IBM, or fall completely behind in this race."

Sorry, IBM won't contribute a single penny.

Since Crimson is willing to cooperate with Intel, I believe Crimson will also be willing to cooperate with IBM.

"Isn't it interesting for the crimson and blue giants to team up?" Dalio said seriously.

The negotiations ended hastily, and Sam Altman failed to extract the full benefits from Intel and IBM. Instead, he was cornered by IBM.

It has to be said that Chinese people understand Chinese people best.

Lin Ran originally didn't intend to give Intel a chance, but Chen Liwu changed Lin Ran's mind with just one meeting:

"Mr. Lin, if Nvidia can sell crippled versions of AI computing cards to China, why can't China sell crippled versions of computing cards to America?"

That's right, Chen Liwu has already made his definition.

Even if China makes the best right-brain chip, it will never be able to sell it to America.

We should really question the claims made by Western countries, Japan, and Korea.

It's not impossible that the White House could directly issue an order banning global companies from purchasing the product.

If Nvidia is already making a huge effort to do business in China, why shouldn't Chinese companies try to do business in Europe and America?
Chen Liwu's solution was to cooperate with Intel. Compared to Nvidia, Intel was the real American technology company, with a status only slightly lower than Boeing and IBM. It was not the same as Nvidia, which was not even an American company.

“Mr. Lin, Intel’s first-generation Loihi chip uses a 14nm process, which perfectly matches China’s domestic semiconductor industry chain.”

Whether it's Huawei's 7nm or 5nm process, it still uses ASML's lithography machines, so it can't be considered entirely domestically produced.

Lin Ran was a little embarrassed, and he gently reminded him, "Mr. Chen, China's domestically produced 28nm process is 28nm."

He thought to himself, there's still one to be verified, the domestically produced 28nm process.

This dragon's roar started in 2020 and has continued until now, even with Zhihu's anonymous answer function closed, it still hasn't come to any conclusion.

Lin Ran even privately inquired with relevant parties at Shenhai about the progress of Shenhai Microelectronics' self-developed 28nm lithography machine. When asked, the response was that it was being advanced, but when asked about the specific progress, the response was that they did not know.

That's why he wanted to acquire all of Nikon's technology from Japan, saving as much time as possible.

As for training the team, it is still possible to train the team based on Japanese technology.

Chen Liwu's smile remained unchanged: "28nm, there's no difference between 28nm and 14nm, it's just a 14nm difference, a minor issue."

We at Intel are better at designing and manufacturing 28nm lithography machines.

Mr. Lin, this is what I think: we will place all the production and manufacturing of right-brain chips in China, creating jobs, tax revenue, and technology for China.

The products are exported to Europe and America.

We can also design multiple versions simultaneously, using the most advanced version domestically and a stripped-down version internationally.

"If Kou can go, so can I."

The phrase "If Kou can go, so can I" moved Lin Ran.

Chen Liwu is a Chinese born in Malaysia, where traditional Chinese education has been well preserved.

Yes, it's somewhat humiliating for Nvidia to sell a crippled version of its computing card.

The respect shown by the man in the leather jacket cannot conceal the fact that his behavior actually stems from wanting to make money while disregarding everyone else.

Why can't we do that?

As for the risk of being stolen, this is something we're exploring from scratch.

Because of the partnership with Intel, two different technology lines can be developed.

Chen Liwu's lobbying was quite effective, and indirectly dealt a fatal blow to OpenAI's wavering stance.

"We are willing to grow together with China's semiconductor manufacturing industry, and in the process, we will give opportunities to China's domestic industrial chain as much as possible," Chen Liwu said.

This means that China is cultivating its own complete semiconductor industry chain, and its current progress to 28nm is still a bit short.

What the domestic semiconductor industry needs most is orders and production capacity.

Having production capacity means that your equipment is running, your materials have officially entered the production process, and your entire supply chain can get moving.

As long as the entire chain can rotate, any problems can be solved little by little.

Why has TSMC achieved a de facto monopoly in high-end chips in recent years? It's because they were ahead of the curve, and they relied on Apple's high-end production capacity to support them.

Now, Intel not only provides technical cooperation, but also has on-site Loihi chip manufacturing experience, and is even willing to keep production capacity in China.

Lin Ran couldn't think of a reason to refuse.

As for the White House ban, Chen Liwu's point was that Intel would handle everything, so Lin Ran could rest assured.

In addition, META, Google, and XAI have also made their own moves.

At META headquarters, Zuckerberg scrutinized Nilanjan with a critical eye.

"Nilanjan, why didn't you tell us about the left and right brain structures?" Zuckerberg asked expressionlessly, looking somewhat like a robot at times like this.

Nilanjan has made significant contributions to META over the past year. With the assistance of many Chinese elites, META has caught up with the top tier and is performing similarly to Google's big data model.

This mediocre performance secured his position as META's chief scientist, preventing him from having to return to New York prison.

The problem is that Nilanjan was completely baffled by the new concepts his students were throwing out: "I work in NLP, not hardware architecture design. How would I know about left and right brain chips?"

"I'm sorry." Nilanjan had barely finished saying his apology.

Zuckerberg interrupted him: "No need to apologize. You have to admit that this concept was something you and Lin came up with together. You had a complete thought process and you had a prototype."

Nilanjan thought to himself, "But I..."

Zuckerberg said, "There are no buts, you just have them. In short, our public statements need to be consistent."

We're not trying to compete with Lin for the foundership; we're just looking to hitch a ride.

All you need to do is publicly say that Randolph discussed this concept with you and that you know some of the technical details.

Randolph wouldn't expose you for something like this.

Zuckerberg only cares about the stock price; he wants META's stock price to surge again.

Profits in the capital market are much faster than the hard work of developing a business; otherwise, why would they spend a staggering $100 million to hire you as their chief scientist?

Is it just because you're Lin Ran's mentor that we can ride on your coattails?

Nilanjan asked, "Okay!"

He didn't mention what would happen if Lin Ran really exposed him; at this moment, wishful thinking took over.

Nilanjan knew that his suggestion was futile, which was also one of the reasons. The following week, after attending the White House inauguration ceremony, Pat Geelsinger flew directly to Shanghai and, under the watchful eyes of numerous reporters, signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Pony Ma.
"I believe we will create the world's first AI computing power matrix based on the left and right brain architecture."

I have confidence in Intel, and I have the same confidence in our partner, DeepRed Technology from China!

Sam Altman, who was watching the news from San Francisco, almost smashed his TV. As a result, he had to reluctantly choose to cooperate with IBM. Fortunately, IBM was willing to invest in the research and development of the left and right brain chip architecture. Although he didn't manage to squeeze out a lot of cash, he still got a good deal.

He never expected that China would be willing to cooperate with Intel.

During the Q&A session at Intel and Crimson's press conference, all the reporters in the audience raised their hands.

Everyone has so many questions they want to ask.

"Mr. Ma, Mr. Lin mentioned in his live broadcast that the right brain chip needs to cooperate with Chinese companies. He also named five Chinese companies, including Huawei and Cambricon. Now that your company has decided to cooperate with Intel, does this mean that Chinese companies cannot meet the requirements?"
Do they have any further opportunities?

This is also the issue that Chinese journalists are most concerned about.

"I would like to answer this question. Our cooperation with Chinese companies has been progressing. The right-brain chip we are developing in cooperation with Intel is specifically for the overseas market. I believe that the left-brain and right-brain architecture will be a classic architecture in the computer field, just like the one developed by von Neumann."

Global companies will need right-brain chips, and Intel is a great partner. As for the domestic market, we will still leave it to Chinese companies.

The unspoken implication of Pony was that since overseas markets wouldn't allow sales, they had to find a middleman to partner with. Intel, with its technological foundation, was the best choice, allowing them to profit in the shortest time.

"Mr. Ma, are there differences between domestically and internationally supplied chips, like with Nvidia?"

"It's unclear at the moment. We will fully respect market rules and abide by relevant laws and regulations."

What does it mean to respect market rules and abide by laws and regulations?
Why can't Nvidia sell its most advanced computing cards? Isn't it because of laws and regulations?

If China now has corresponding laws and regulations, then we can only apologize and say that we can only sell you a censored version.

The Chinese reporters in the audience understood the implied meaning and applauded, some even whistling.

The foreign reporter looked bewildered, wondering what the Chinese were so excited about: "Wait, Kevin, what are you so happy about?" one of the foreign reporters asked a Chinese reporter he knew.

Kevin smiled and said, "In the Chinese context, 'yes' means 'no,' and 'no' means 'yes.'"

"Huh? Sorry, I still don't understand."

"You'll understand later."

The conversation between the reporter and Pony continued.

"Mr. Ma, does Mr. Lin already have the specific technology? When can we see an artificial intelligence model based on the left and right brain architecture?"

“I think it will happen very soon, very soon, optimistically this year,” Pony said with a smile.

The more advanced DeepRed's technology becomes, the more Tencent's AI ecosystem will erode the influence of other major internet companies.

In the past, they were utterly defeated by Douyin's ecosystem, but now they have finally been able to stabilize their territory and even launch a counterattack.

"I want to tell everyone that an AI model based on the left and right brain architecture will be more like a human. The first thing we should do is a product similar to an electronic girlfriend."

People can customize their own virtual girlfriend directly on WeChat. I believe this will be a very, very interesting product.

"Mr. Ma, could you elaborate?" The reporter wasn't about to let such a sensational story slip by.

"We named the model based on the left and right brain architecture Homo sapiens, because it is more like a human."

However, the Homo sapiens model needs to occupy a different ecological niche than the Crimson One. Our plan is to have a dedicated Homo sapiens chat box on WeChat, similar to the current intelligent agent. It is your friend, and you can talk to it at any time.

A digital girlfriend is just one purpose; it can also be used as a regular friend.

Then you create his background, including his upbringing, skills, city, and so on—everything is up to you.

In the second world, there will be such a character, similar to the Sims that everyone has played. All the characters created by users will live and interact in the second world.

He is influenced by people in the real world, and he is also influenced by interactions in the virtual world.

For example, if you define someone as a working person, then in the virtual world they will have colleagues, friends, work, and so on. If they are criticized by their boss in the virtual world, they will complain to you.

Behind Homo sapiens lies an entire world, a second world that we and our users will co-create.

Perhaps it will be the cornerstone of the future metaverse.

The reporters in the audience looked at each other in surprise. They had thought that today's questions would only be limited to the crimson and left-right brain models, but Pony had thrown out such a surprise.

The concept itself is not surprising; there are already ready-made products of virtual communities composed of artificial intelligence.

After all, when GPT was first released in 2023, Stanford and Google teamed up to create a Stanford town, a virtual world composed of 25 virtual digital humans with ChatGPT as their code.

They have different identities, personalities, and ages, and live together in this small town, carrying out their own activities like humans and communicating with each other like humans.

(The town of Stanford was once a viral sensation online, or maybe just a brief moment of popularity among tech enthusiasts.)
However, relying on WeChat and being developed by DeepRed and Tencent, the number will be many times larger than that of Stanford Town. Secondly, it is based on the left and right brain model, so it will behave more like a human. Finally, judging from the past phenomenon of large model emergence, who knows what amazing things will be produced this time.

What if this project, as its name suggests, actually creates a Homo sapiens in the field of AI?

"Mr. Ma, when will this plan be launched?"

"Mr. Ma, are you worried about moral hazard?"

"If an artificial intelligence with human-like thinking were to actually emerge, how would you define it? Would it be a person or a program? Would your company choose to destroy it or nurture it?"

"Mr. Ma, is this the path your company sees as leading to General AGI?"

The press conference was completely steered off course.

Reporters from foreign websites pressed for ethical and moral answers, arguing that Crimson's plan carried unimaginable risks and urging them to stop.

After the press conferences by Crimson and Intel, the biggest beneficiary was a company called Talking Tom, a company with a market value of 200 billion. The only thing worth mentioning about this company is that they have the IP rights to Talking Tom.

But this cat last went viral 15 years ago. Now, when it appears in the news, it's always accompanied by the prefix: it was once a sensation.

Why did this cat stock hit the daily limit and become the top stock on Eastmoney's stock forum, with retail investors shouting slogans about its market value reaching 100 billion?

"Who could resist having such an adorable cat in the Second World?"

Because of this, its market value immediately hit the daily limit, with over 200 million shares locking it at the limit.

This is the magical A-share market.

There's nothing that capitalists can't fabricate, only things you can't imagine.

The statements from Crimson and OpenAI, along with the alignment of tech giants in the field of artificial intelligence, have brought the discussion of left-brain and right-brain architecture to a climax.

Because OpenAI is bundled with IBM and Intel with Crimson, the media jokingly refers to this as a showdown between Crimson and Crimson Blue.

The cover of Time magazine featured blue and red giants clashing fists, with the blue giant bearing the image of the American flag and the red giant being a combination of the Chinese flag and the American flag.

Amidst the commotion from the outside world, Lin Ran had no time to pay attention.

However, there was one piece of news that he himself hadn't noticed; it was John Morgan Jr. who personally told him about it:

“Professor, my father will be serving as Special Assistant for East Asian Affairs, and he hopes to visit you in person.”

"Huh? Wasn't your father a playboy for decades? How come he's almost in his grave now, what's he still up to?" Lin Ran asked.

When John Morgan Sr. suddenly appeared, Lin Ran was actually thinking about Jenny. He wondered how Jenny was doing in this world, a question he had never asked about before.

Even if Jenny in this world were still alive, she would be at least eighty years old.

At this age, unless you're a vampire, it's better to cherish the memory than to meet again.

But the appearance of John Morgan still stirred up Lin Ran's heart. He had to at least ask about Jenny's situation in this timeline.

　After finishing the calculation matrix operation for the lunar superconducting chip in the 60s, I will go back to that point. Then I will update more frequently to speed up the process and won't delay it.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)