Chapter 271: Knowledge = Money

On the 2nd of April, a special guest had arrived at Xing Hai Technologies. He wore a light gray Chinese-style tunic suit with a pair of old-fashioned glasses. Not one hair was out of place. The huge smile on his face made one feel as if the spring breeze was blowing gently onto one’s face.

Chief Tan!

The government had sent their personnel over. And he was rather high-ranking too. In a meeting room, Minister Tan shook his head. He explained how they had been caught off-guard. “Comrade Little Chen, your company had not even given us a heads-up before you announced such a big decision. We were caught totally unprepared by the announcement.”

Chen Jin asked strangely, “Oh, what’s wrong, is there any problem?”

In the eyes of Chief Tan, the question by Chen Jin seemed to be too much of an attempt to look stupid. “Comrade Little Chen, let’s stop talking in circles. The government definitely supports what your company is doing. This is an era where artificial intelligence will permeate all levels of society and all aspects of life. This has great benefits for the future development of all industries and occupations. No one is going to stop it. Everyone wants to embrace a bright future. It’s just that…”

Chen Jin looked at him. “Just what?”

Chief Tan asked him with a squint, “It’s just that all the knowledge, technology, and data are stored in your company’s databases. They’ve all become your company’s ‘assets’. Is that an accurate description?”

“Yes.” Chen Jin nodded. “All data related to the smart products developed on the StarNet platform by users who have bought the Star Brain 4 chip will be uploaded to the Xing Hai Technologies’ databases. These data will be rightly owned by Xing Hai Technologies according to the collaboration rules. But users of the uploaded data can use that data for free forever.”

Minister Tan’s eyes widened and he heaved a sigh. He stopped beating around the bush and said straightforwardly, “So according to what you’ve said, the online statements are correct: Xing Hai Technologies wants to be a monopoly of knowledge; it wants to monopolize all knowledge?”

“No, no, no.” Chen Jin waved his hands. “I don’t like the term ‘monopoly’. This word has a negative connotation. I think it is most appropriate to use the term ‘Guardian of Knowledge’ to describe Xing Hai Technologies.”

Chief Tan rolled his eyes. What was the difference? His expression became serious. “Comrade Little Chen, I think you have not realized the seriousness of the problem! You are moving towards a road with no return. Can knowledge be monopolized by an individual, or even a company? What if this individual uses this knowledge to cause chaos in the various industries and earn all the profits? Is there any industry that can withstand this? Wouldn’t this mean that the particular individual had successfully monopolized all industries?”

“No.” Chen Jin shook his head and said, “Xing Hai Technologies will not enter every industry. We are only involved in a few industries, or we’ll create and grow new industries. We will not destroy the jobs or careers of others. I’ve also guaranteed this at yesterday’s launch event. We will not use the data uploaded by the users to do things that harm the interests of the users. If they are still worried, the state can introduce relevant laws to restrict Xing Hai Technologies from entering traditional industries.” Regarding this point, Chen Jin’s conscience was clear. He had never destroyed any jobs in Z country from the very first production of the Wa-wah robot, to the Bang Bang robot, the Little Star learning machine, and the Xing Hai computer. The products by Xing Hai Technologies had never killed off any jobs. On the contrary, they had created many job opportunities. Of course, the launch of the “Work Assistant” had caused a wave of unemployment in the programming field, but it was quickly solved. However, he had destroyed the jobs of many foreigners who were simply enjoying the fruits of others’ labor.

“No, this is still unsatisfactory!” Chief Tan said sternly, “You still don’t have a clear idea of the nature of the problem. I’m not only talking about the economic aspect, but also the right to the control of knowledge! It is too dangerous if all knowledge is controlled by one person. He would have the ability to influence and control all industries. In reality, he would have ultimate control as an individual and he could do whatever he wanted. He could force any company that relies on smart assistants to do submit to his will. The harm caused by this type of monopoly must be contained at the source!”

Chen Jin raised his head slightly. “So… the government does not support the growth of the ‘Intelligent Age?’”

“It’s not that the government doesn’t support it, but it can’t be monopolized by one company! There must be competition and restrictions.”

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Chen Jin nodded. He understood the meaning of the other party. Minister Tan proposed two solution plans. One, split Xing Hai Technologies into two independent companies. Two, stop keeping the ‘Intelligent Learning Technology’ as their company secret and allow other companies to master it. This would promote the existence of several companies like Xing Hai Technologies in the market.

However, both plans were rejected by Chen Jin. Xing Hai Technologies could not be split up! The ‘Intelligent Learning Technology’ was the most essential technology created by the company; its value was limitless and he would not share it with anyone.

“You…” Minister Tan glared at him. “Young man, no one will support your actions like this. The Anti-Monopoly Department will not tolerate this either. You’ll meet a dead end sooner or later!”

Chen Jin suddenly said, “Chief Tan, I want to ask you a question.”

Chief Tan leaned back on the sofa. “Go ahead!”

“Say, how many currencies will a country issue?”

“Of course there can only be one currency. Wouldn’t things be a mess if there was more than one type of currency?”

“That’s right, and this is true for knowledge as well. Knowledge is the same as the monetary currency. It’s best to be ‘issued’ by only one organization.” Chen Jin explained, “Everyone is emphasizing the danger of monopoly, but they are not clear about the advantages that monopoly can bring. This is especially true for knowledge. If only one company is responsible for the collection and management of knowledge, then the efficiency of collection would be significantly greater than two companies doing the same thing. The content collected would also be more comprehensive. First of all, I will propose a concept. Since all users of smart devices will upload their knowledge to Xing Hai Technologies’ database, my company can be regarded as a bank. A ‘knowledge bank’ that stores knowledge. Let’s assume that there are two ‘knowledge banks’ on the market now. Clever companies will put a portion of their core technologies in Bank A and the remaining portion in Bank B. However, neither Bank A nor B will be able to fully master the core technologies of that company. Once knowledge is dispersed, we will arrive at the universal formula much later. We can put all our knowledge into one bank and let these pieces of knowledge learn from each other, combine, and expand to birth more comprehensive knowledge. This new knowledge can then be combined to form even more powerful technologies. This will undoubtedly mean a great improvement for the whole industry and even the development of our country. Just like the principle of the Little Star learning machine, as long as we have mastered all the pieces of knowledge, the various industries in Z country will develop at an accelerated pace. Major scientific and technological achievements will emerge with the strength and speed of blowouts from a geyser. This is the ultimate form of knowledge-sharing. Everyone can get the best knowledge. Then in order to surpass others and gain a competitive advantage, they would have no choice but to explore higher levels of knowledge and more advanced technologies from the foundations. Under this kind of competition mechanism, the speed of Z country’s science and technology development will definitely be amazing! With this mechanism and at the pace of development, the future of Z country will be unimaginable in 50, 100, or 500 years later.”

They could even rapidly enter the interstellar era and start on their journey to outer space. If the number of knowledge banks was not limited to Xing Hai Technologies, the ultimate form of knowledge-sharing would never be realized due to innate human selfishness. For example, there had been only one knowledge bank in Haierfa since the emergence of the intelligent learning technology on the planet. However, the government had forcibly split it up in order to prevent a monopoly. The knowledge bank was unable to come into its greatest potential. This had caused Nuwa to sigh in lament. She expressed that if the knowledge banks could be unified, Haierfa could have achieved the breakthroughs needed to evolve into a higher civilization before the aliens had sealed off their technology. It would have been impossible for Haierfa to stagnate for hundreds of years. And if only one knowledge bank was established on Earth and all knowledge was unified in this bank, their future would be limitless.

After listening to Chen Jin’s words, Chief Tan’s eyes gradually lit up. His body was straight as a pencil and he trembled slightly. He said with some excitement, “Comrade Little Chen, I may have misunderstood you! I will report this situation to the higher-ups and ask for their comments!” He returned to the capital on that very same day.

…

Two days later, Chief Tan returned and had a discussion with Chen Jin that lasted half a day before coming up with the final solution:

1. Agree to Xing Hai Technologies establishing the “Xing Hai Knowledge Bank.” It is designated as the sole Central Bank, responsible for collecting and managing all data.

2. The State will send special forces to protect the “permanent data center” in Guishan Province that is built by Xing Hai Technologies with an investment of $10 billion from being damaged by others.

3. The State will invest $20 billion to build a “data backup center.” Xing Hai Knowledge Bank must give the State a complete set of backups of all the data in its possession.

4. The State has the right to use all data.

With this, the two sides had successfully reached an agreement (it seemed a little bit like thieves dividing their ill-gotten gains). All obstacles to the “Intelligent Age” strategy by Xing Hai Technologies had been eliminated. The road forward could only be described as smooth.