Across the ocean, California's Silicon Valley, Palo Alto.
Inside a certain "T" logo group, Musk Elon was enjoying coffee with two other friends.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows are busy Tesla employees. The three people in the office are dressed casually. Walking on the road, you would think they are just ordinary passers-by.
However, each of them is a well-known figure in the technological world...
"L4 autonomous driving? Are you kidding me?" Elon's eyes widened, and the coffee in his hand dangled in the air.
"This came from several Chinese executives at our Huaguo branch. Roadside News seems to have received some news from the capital, but it has not been confirmed yet."
Wearing a pair of square-rimmed glasses, the man who looked like a scholar spread his hands.
Hassabis, this name may be unfamiliar to everyone, but he has a series of titles and halo.
Game developer, neuroscientist, artificial intelligence entrepreneur...
In addition, he is also the CEO and co-founder of Bone Song DeepMind and the father of Alpha Dog...
"Are you sure this is not a rumor? Well... you know, Chinese people, especially Chinese officials, tend to be a little overjoyed at success."
Elon clearly didn't believe it at all.
Autonomous driving requires huge driving data support, and Tesla has the largest training database in the world. After a long period of model training, it still dare not say that it has touched L4 level autonomous driving technology.
China has not yet even developed a decent self-driving product, so it is impossible to be faster than them.
Of course, if there is a high-precision map and all road data support and guidance on a specific road section, it is not impossible to complete L4 level autonomous driving of several hundred meters, but it is meaningless.
For autonomous driving, completing a long-distance marathon on the playground is a completely different technical concept than completing a 42-kilometer cross-country run on complex terrain.
"Elon, the name of this development company is Baiyeji..." Another man present said.
Compared to the two, this man appears younger. His name is Sam Altman, and he is currently the CEO of OpenAI...
"Bai Yeji? Is that the Bai Yeji who developed the Star Formation and Bajie?" Elon was stunned for a moment.
Not to mention Bajie, which is popular all over the world, the recent defeat of AlphaGo caused quite a stir in Silicon Valley circles.
"Well... yes, although I hate to admit it, our Alpha Dog is no match for them. That star array has an incredibly efficient algorithm." Hassabis said with some helplessness.
Since losing to the Star Formation, they once thought that it was only a small probability event, but after conducting several private challenges in private...
They have never responded to the media rumors.
"The large model we are developing is currently far less intelligent than the other party's AI." Sam Altman also sighed.
Elon came back to his senses at this time, and he narrowed his eyes and looked at his two old friends.
"It seems that when you came here today, you didn't just want to catch up with me?"
"Yes, I think we may now have to face the most powerful opponent in history at the same time."
Hassabis did not deny it and nodded solemnly.
"You know my company is in London. In the past two days, there has been news in Europe that the shipping king John is preparing to cooperate with Bai Yeji and spend huge sums of money to purchase the other party's ship automatic driving technology for his own fleet.
Automated upgrade...
You should know what this means."
Elon raised his eyebrows, "Do you mean to say...that their autonomous driving technology has indeed entered the practical application stage?"
"Otherwise, how could that capitalist, who doesn't see the rabbit but doesn't let the eagle fly, spend real money to buy a pile of rubbish?
I heard that other shipowners have also taken notice and are preparing to organize a delegation to China for inspection.
I think that even if the L4 autonomous driving technology is exaggerated, they must have made a substantial breakthrough in this field!"
Elon was stunned for a moment, looking amazed.
"It's incredible... to enter three fields of artificial intelligence at the same time, and all of them have amazing products coming out.
How did this Bai Yeji do it? Are they rich?"
Deep Mind, Open AI, Tesla.
The three parties can be said to represent three research directions for artificial intelligence.
That is, neural networks, large language models and visual models.
With the support of huge funds and the world's top talents, these three companies can almost be said to be at the forefront of technology in the world.
However, a small company with no background suddenly emerged, threatening the technological leadership of the three parties at the same time...
To them, this is simply unbelievable!
"Well...it does not rule out that the other party has obtained the secret support of China, otherwise we cannot explain the source of the other party's technology.
I heard that their core technology developers are still in the confidentiality stage, and apart from a codename of ‘Demon Hunter’, the outside world knows nothing about them.”
"If possible, I really want to meet this developer. If I can recruit him, that would be great." Ultraman said regretfully.
"Haha! Don't think about it. No country can release such a genius."
"The mysterious ancient Eastern country is indeed full of magic... but the rapid development of artificial intelligence is not a good thing for mankind." Elon frowned at this time.
“Yes, the more I study AI, the more I realize how scary AI is.
Do you know, my laboratory has just developed an AlphaFold protein prediction model, believe me, it will not take long to subvert the entire traditional medical world!" Hassabis said with emotion.
Elon looked worried. "Yes, the intelligence level of modern humans is leveling off because there are not enough newborns.
At the same time, computer intelligence is growing exponentially, just like Moore's Law on steroids. "Biological brainpower" will soon be dwarfed by "digital computing power."
If the new AI learning system can ingest information on its own, learn how to produce results and output them on its own, it can even upgrade its own code and develop new capabilities...
If this continues, the 'singularity' moment may come soon.
Unless we build a sufficiently secure firewall, artificial intelligence will replace humans sooner or later, turning our species into ants or even going extinct..."
Hassabis doesn’t seem to think so.
"If one day the intelligence of machines and even the consciousness of machines surpass humans, what does it matter? This is just the next stage of the evolution of civilization."
"Human consciousness is a precious candle in the universe, and we should not let it go out!" Elon said firmly.
"You are too sentimental. You are a 'speciesist' and only favor the survival of your own species."
"Well, yes, I support putting humans first. Who doesn't love their own race?"
"I support Elon on this point. You know, I am a survivalist." Ultraman interjected.
"In this case, you should insist on making the laboratory technology open source. Have you forgotten the original intention of us naming it 'Open AI'?"
"Hey! Elon, since you are worried about the rapid development of AI, why do you insist on open source technology?"
“Because the best firewall to prevent humans from abusing AI is to allow as many people as possible to have AI.
AI is the most powerful tool ever created by mankind, and it should not fall into the hands of ruthless monopolies!
A large number of independent AIs are more secure than a small number of AI systems controlled by some large companies. Only a large number of competing systems can check and balance each other.
Just as humans work together to fend off human bullies, a swarm of independent AI robots will work hard to stop evil robots instead of being unable to fight back.
For us, the real reason for making OpenAI open is to allow more people to build their own systems based on its source code, and to put the power in the hands of more people.
We hope to have a Linux-like version of artificial intelligence that is not controlled by any one person or company to counter Google's growing dominance in this field.
And now you actually want to bring in Microsoft and transform it from a non-profit organization to a profit-making enterprise, from open source to closed source? This is so stupid!"
"Hmm! I agree with Elon, Ultraman, this is really a bad idea."
"Bullshit! You're just worried that our introduction of Microsoft will pose a threat to your bone songs!
Elon, only by introducing Microsoft can our technology develop rapidly. They have promised to invest 5 billion US dollars and have massive computing power support. Do you know what this means?
This means that we are likely to become a company with a market value of more than 10 billion US dollars!"
"I donated 100 million US dollars to this non-profit organization, but I didn't want it to turn into a for-profit company with a market value of tens of billions of US dollars. Ultraman, your approach is unethical and illegal!"
"Okay Elon, don't be so high-sounding. If you really have no selfish motives, why would you ask us to merge into Tesla as a whole and improve your intelligence level?
Do you plan to spend 100 million to get technology worth billions of dollars?
To take a step back, even if I agree, do you think Kuromiya will agree? Do you think this is just my decision?"
"That's why I strongly object. You know that the chatbots and AI systems you develop are likely to be indoctrinated with certain political ideas.
Especially since they are produced by Microsoft and Bone Song, they are likely to be hostile to humans!
In our hands, at least it is completely open and transparent!”
"Elon, you are too idealistic. Isn't there any risk in completely open source according to what you said?
The human world is already full of wars and conflicts. Don’t you think your actions are like nuclear proliferation?
This will instead accelerate the collapse of the stable order of mankind and lead to the destruction of mankind!"
"Maybe, my goal is just to increase the probability of safe development of AI. In my opinion, AI's destruction of human civilization is a high probability event.
That’s why I founded SpaceX to build a sustainable human colony on Mars.
Unfortunately, according to the current development speed of AI, the time window left for me may be greatly shortened..."
"You are too pessimistic. This is simply 'escapeism'!"
"OK OK!"
Seeing that the conversation was about to turn into a fruitless argument, Hassabis quickly spoke up to stop it.
"Although we have some conflicts in the concept of artificial intelligence, I think the top priority now is not to think about the more urgent potential threat of the White Nights?
It’s enough to be the leader in AI technology in a single field, but if the other party can really integrate AI technology in so many fields, the products created by then may be world-shaking products.
This will not be a good thing for Guge, Microsoft, or even Tesla."
"Hmph! I welcome any strong competitor." Elon raised his chin proudly, but still added, "Of course, I am not opposed to open cooperation."
"Yeah! That's what I mean too." Ultraman nodded.
"Elon, what do you think?"
"Ha! Don't think I don't know. You are all developing an interactive model similar to 'Bajie'. As for your ideas, you should have discussed them in private, right?"
"Yes, I admit it, but our products are not perfect yet, and their safety still needs to be investigated.
Originally, the board of directors planned to launch the first product at least three years later, but now it seems that this speed must be accelerated.
Otherwise, once the other party becomes the dominant player and occupies most of the market, this first-mover advantage will be enough to create a huge competitor comparable to Guge."
"What are you going to do?"
"The two of us are ready to conduct certain technology exchanges to speed up each other's model development.
If possible, we also want Tesla’s models and data resources, provided that technology is shared. Your new energy empire should also need the blessing of interactive artificial intelligence.”
"Hmm... Tesla's data resources are not suitable for interactive models. I have a new idea."
"what idea?"
"What do you think... of acquiring Twitter?"
"Huh? This is a good idea. The massive data resources on Twitter are enough to take our model to the next level!"
"I will ask the board of directors to come up with a plan..."
"..."
This conversation lasted until late at night...
A certain little butterfly didn't know that because of the flapping of its wings, the world's most powerful Western AI technology alliance was born...