Chapter 371 Everyone has their own agenda

Chapter 371 Everyone has their own agenda

Chapter 371 Everyone has their own agenda
Jiang Miao and his wife Lin Shuya were traveling in Borneo.

Across the ocean.

Deep in the Rocky Mountains near California.

An artificial intelligence company called "New Eden" has a very hidden artificial intelligence research and development base here.

In an office deep inside the base.

A middle-aged white man with an elegant face and a light blonde slicked back hair is a well-known artificial intelligence expert in North America in recent years. He is also the chief technology officer of New Eden Company in North America. His name is Erwin Hansen.

Sitting opposite him in the main seat was a middle-aged man with a slightly plump figure, black hair and bronze skin. His name was Neil Silver, and he was the chairman and CEO of New Eden Corporation.

Besides the two of them, there was a skinny, round-faced, white middle-aged man wearing a pair of oval glasses and looking shy and reserved. His name was David Turing, and he was also an expert in the field of artificial intelligence. He was currently one of the main researchers at New Eden Company in North America and a classmate of Irwin.

At the same time, David Turing’s ancestor was Alan Mathison Turing.

Alan Mathison Turing was a famous computer scientist, mathematician, logician, cryptographer and theoretical biologist in the United Kingdom. He is known as the father of computer science and artificial intelligence.

At this time, the three of them were discussing the new law recently introduced by the Asian Federation.

Neil Silver, one of the company's major investors, looked at the company's two core research leaders with a scrutinizing look:

"Erwin, David, how big do you think the risks of artificial intelligence are?"

David Turing suddenly became nervous and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

Erwin Hansen, who was familiar with his old classmates, knew that David was conducting a high-intensity analysis in his mind at this time, but he did not intend to let David speak. Instead, he raised his head and chest, and then looked into Neil Silver's eyes with confidence:

"Mr. Chairman, nothing is without risk, but if we do nothing, what future do we have for mankind?"

"In other words, you admit that there are risks in artificial intelligence research?" Neil Silver narrowed his eyes slightly, making it difficult to see his expression at this moment.

But Erwin Hansen said calmly: "Mr. Chairman, you have been misled by the Asian Federation."

"..." Neil Silver did not say anything. Instead, he took out a box of chocolates, tore off a piece of aluminum foil, and put a piece of highly sweet dark chocolate into his mouth.

"Are you thinking? It seems that he still hopes that this project can be maintained, and I need to give him a reason, or an excuse to convince himself." Erwin Hansen touched his nose and continued with a smile:

"The Asian Federation now has intermediate artificial intelligence, while we in the North Atlantic Federation only have elementary artificial intelligence. If we stop researching, we will always lag behind the Asian Federation in the field of artificial intelligence."

Listen to Erwin's statement.

David on the side did not refute, but expressed his consent with silence.

Neil seemed to be persuaded and the pace of chewing chocolate in his mouth slowed down a lot, but he still didn't make a decision.

"If we are worried about the risks, we can discuss stopping the research after we have reached the intermediate artificial intelligence stage. After all, we don't even have intermediate artificial intelligence right now, so it is unnecessary to think about the possibility of artificial intelligence getting out of control."

Hearing this, Neil was also convinced and nodded slightly. After swallowing the chocolate in his mouth, he slowly said:

"Erwin, how long do you think it will take us to develop a mature intermediate artificial intelligence? How much more funding will it cost?"

"If we continue with the current situation, since Asia prohibits the export of high-performance chips, we can only use Intel chips. With an annual investment of US$2 million, it will take about 10 to 15 years to enter the intermediate artificial intelligence stage."

"So long?" Neil frowned.

Although New Eden has investments from the Morgan Consortium, the Locke Consortium, and the California Consortium, he has also invested a lot of money himself. If he cannot speed up the research and development time, he may not survive for more than a decade.

Irwin, who understood the other party's idea, said: "If we can increase the annual investment to 5 million US dollars, it will only take about five years to achieve intermediate artificial intelligence."

"Increase investment..." Neil frowned again. He was thinking whether he should release some original shares and then attract investment from several consortiums.

But for Neil, doing so was a decision that required a careful weighing of the pros and cons.

After all, no business founder wants to lose control of the company, but if he keeps holding the original shares, other powerful shareholders will definitely not increase their investment.

Although he has other businesses that can provide New Eden with approximately 1.3 million in funds each year, there is still a huge gap from the annual funding of 5 million.

Seeing Neil's doubts, Erwin reminded him:
"Mr. Chairman, you should know that we are not the only company in the field of artificial intelligence research within the North Atlantic Union. For example, large Internet companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Oracle are more powerful than us."

"If we wait for more than a decade, their intermediate AI will have already been put on the market. By then, our results will become worthless and our previous investment will be irrecoverable."

After being reminded by Erwin, Neil suddenly came to his senses: "You are right, I am too obsessed with the shares. I will find a few behind-the-scenes investors as soon as possible and release 50% of the shares in my hands in exchange for sufficient investment."

"Mr. Chairman, you have made the right decision." Erwin's face was full of smiles.

David on the side was a little slow to react. He didn't expect that his old classmate could convince the chairman in just a few words. Although he still had something to say in his heart, when he saw the current situation, he felt that it would be inappropriate to say it at this time. So he continued to remain silent while struggling.

Alvin and Neil talked for another ten minutes before ending the meeting.

Coming out of the chairman's office.

David pulled the collar buttons of his shirt to cool his hot chest a little, and let out a breath.

A can of Coke suddenly appeared beside him. He took the Coke from Erwin, opened it, and took a big gulp, which not only cooled his hot head, but also replenished the sugar consumed by frantically analyzing things.

"Hic...Thanks."

"Don't think too much. Let's wait until the intermediate artificial intelligence research is successful, then we can talk to Neil about the threat of artificial intelligence!" Alvin said meaningfully, and he also opened his bottle of Coke.

David calmed down, and now he was facing an old classmate he was familiar with. He was no longer nervous and reserved, but said with some concern:
"Erwin, I think there are indeed considerable risks in current AI research. You should be aware of this. After all, our research direction is different from traditional AI."

"Haha, David, you think too much. Without high-performance chips, it is difficult to create a strong artificial intelligence that is out of control." Irving argued with a fake smile. Faced with his old classmate's explanation, David hesitated to speak, but when he thought about the energy they put into this project, he felt it was difficult to say anything.

If Chairman Neil really feels that the project is too risky and shuts it down, he will also be affected.

Erwin was worried that David was too stubborn and would tell Neil something bad, so he talked about their ideals for college:

"David, I know you have always wanted to prove the future of artificial intelligence. After all, your ancestors are pioneers in this field. If we can succeed, the future of the North Atlantic Union will definitely be better. We can create a better future for mankind."

"Okay!" David was also convinced, but he still added cautiously:

"Although the probability of AI losing control is very small at this stage, we still need to make some preparations to minimize the possibility of losing control."

"No problem, I'll listen to you." Alvin breathed a sigh of relief and patted David's shoulder with a smile on his face.

After sending David back to the laboratory, Erwin returned to his office with a gloomy look on his face.

Looking at the photo of him and David on the desk, Erwin's eyes sank into a haze for a moment. He drank Coke one sip at a time, and no one knew what he was thinking.

After a while, he opened the shutters.

Looking at the Rocky Mountains in the distance, a hint of sarcasm suddenly appeared at the corner of his mouth: "David, you are indeed a genius, but your brain is a little slow! People like you are not suitable to live in this world."

Several luxury cars slowly left the parking lot of the research base and drove onto the township road in front of the base.

"Leaving? Neil..."

He looked long and watched Neil's car disappear at the end of the road.

Turning around, he opened the safe under the bookshelf. After entering the password, several leather notebooks and a box of hard drives appeared inside.

He took out one of the notebooks, opened it, and began to think while browsing some of the contents. Then he wrote down some of the thoughts he had thought about using secret symbols that only he knew.

More than half an hour later, Alvin stopped writing, leaned back on the soft chair, and a trace of fatigue and helplessness appeared on his face.

'One last piece of the puzzle...'

After relieving his fatigue, he suddenly closed his eyes, his body trembling slightly, and hurriedly took out a bottle of oxycodone controlled-release tablets from the drawer, poured out one and put it in his mouth, then picked up the half-drunk can of Coke and drank the medicine and the Coke together.

It took him more than twenty minutes to recover.

"Huh... Damn it!" Erwin's face was gloomy. He then opened the laptop on the desk and watched the medical promotional video from Seris.

The above is a new therapy for treating glioma. The current success rate can reach 99%, the five-year survival rate is about 80%, and the 10-year survival rate is about 50%.

Although he didn't want to give up the work he was doing, if he continued, he would only have two years at most, which was obviously not enough.

After thinking it over for a while, Erwin made up his mind to go to Seris to seek treatment. Even if it couldn't cure him, at least he could extend his life by a few years.

However, as a scheming person, Alvin knew that he could not leave his post for a long time, otherwise Neil would definitely find someone to replace him.

So he had to find a reasonable excuse for himself.

Then he looked at the laptop screen, which showed information about some companies:

Neuralink was founded in 2016. It is a company dedicated to the development of implantable brain-computer interface devices. It implants the devices into the brain through robot-assisted surgery. It pursues functions such as high bandwidth and rechargeability, with the goal of achieving direct communication between the human brain and computers.

Elvin was annoyed with the company: "What a pity! If that guy hadn't gone to play House of Cards, his company wouldn't have been suppressed so much. Now the company's brain-computer technology is still the same as it was a few years ago, with no obvious progress."

Then he looked at the second company.

Blackrock Neurotech, which was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, is a leading global supplier in fields such as neural engineering. Its Utah array implants have been used in human research since 2004. In 2021, the Move Again BCI system was recognized as a breakthrough device by the FDA. It has extensive expertise in brain-computer interfaces and multiple technical specialties.

Then there is the third one.

Named Synchron, it was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in New York. It was spun out of the University of Melbourne. It is the world's first brain-computer interface company approved by the FDA to conduct clinical trials of permanent implantable devices. Its Stentrode brain-computer interface is implanted through blood vessels, without the need for craniotomy, and is used in areas such as neurological recovery.

However, this company has recently been completely banned in North America due to issues in Australia.

Next is a company called Kernel, which was founded in 2016. It is a full-stack neurotechnology company that focuses on precise cognitive technology and non-invasive brain-computer interface systems. It has developed Kernel Flow, a tool that can measure neural effects.

Finally, there is Paradromics, a company headquartered in Austin, Texas, that is currently committed to developing high-data-rate invasive brain-computer interface technology. Its product Connexus is designed for long-term daily use to help patients with severe connectivity disorders restore communication and physical function.

After seeing the products of these companies, Alvin was greatly disappointed. In fact, this was not the first time he had looked at the official website interfaces of these companies.

Every time he finished watching it, he was disappointed because it was far from the product he needed.

But then, Alvin looked at several brain-computer related companies in the Asian Union. There were many products that met his requirements. It was a pity that these products were prohibited from export, and even within the Asian Union, they were strictly controlled.

With the strength of New Eden Company, it is impossible to obtain these products.

But it's also a very good excuse.

He sent Neil an email, saying that he needed to go to Asia to investigate relevant new technologies, and that he was going to Asia on a business trip for three to four months.

Neil was still on the road and didn't think too much about it. He was still worried about attracting investment, so he approved Alvin's business trip application.

After receiving the reply, Erwin showed a morbid smile on his pale face, and then called three of his men who had been with him for a long time and asked them to go to Asia with him.

After all, he was going to have surgery this time, so he would definitely need someone to accompany him. He also needed to deal with Neil to avoid being discovered by the other party, so he would definitely need to bring a few trustworthy people to Asia.

(End of this chapter)