Chapter 290: Full Firepower On Musk
Musk is a madman. This madness is not only due to his growth environment but also related to his increasingly severe drug-taking behavior in recent years.
Under the mutual influence of body and spirit, it causes him to become increasingly prone to losing control.
After seeing that NASA is still bloated and directionless, while companies in China have posed a significant threat to NASA, NASA still shows no change and only knows to ask Congress for budget to solve problems, Musk was completely disappointed.
He is very clear that adding budget won’t solve any problems either, because their problems lie within NASA internally. Over the past decades internally, there have been too many Commissioner Smiths from top to bottom, everywhere.
Everyone’s goals are all very noble, with various plans emerging endlessly, each one with more beautiful prospects than the last.
Like the project NASA gave Allen to research Venus, allocating funds to the research institution where she works, for what purpose? To prepare for NASA to go to Venus in the future.
As for when they can go? Unknown. By that time, the project researching Venus geology would have long been forgotten, and Congress’s budget would have quietly vanished.
In the 1960s, investing 100 US Dollars in NASA could immediately bring 30 US Dollars in output, and in the future, these research projects could even explode with benefits far exceeding 100 US Dollars.
Now? Now investing 100 US Dollars may not even match the effect of China Aerospace investing 5 US Dollars.
Musk has been to China. He understands very well the efficiency of China’s ecosystem from systems to companies and the vitality of its manufacturing industry.
And now it seems that the leader of Apollo Technology, that young man named Randolph Lin, has extraordinary talent, and the shortcomings of lacking top-tier geniuses have also been filled.
Musk felt an unprecedented crisis.
At this point, still thinking of taking the conventional route.
In his view, they should use any means necessary to stop China’s lunar strategy.
At the same time, use every possible method to figure out how they did it, their technical details.
Instead of starting another project, first doing a research report on how Apollo Technology achieved it, then spending money to hire an aerospace consulting firm for a proposal, and then optimizing the Artemis program according to the consulting firm’s proposal.
In his view, those aerospace consulting firms in Washington, every single one is a money scam. If they were really useful, Silicon Valley wouldn’t have only SpaceX producing reusable rockets.
“NASA has serious cost overrun behavior. They are filled internally with all sorts of meaningless and unnecessary science projects, 99% of which can be cut.”
On the way back, he started posting on Twitter right in the car.
“The Artemis architecture is extremely inefficient because it is an employment maximization plan, not an achievement maximization plan. We need something entirely new to compete with China!”
Musk felt this wasn’t enough, not enough to cause a sensation.
Because regarding NASA’s bloat and waste, this is almost an undisputable fact among the America public.
Everyone knows it.
He needs a topic that can spark more discussion to incite nationwide attacks on NASA.
What?
LGBT group.
“I don’t understand why inside NASA, they need to spend 14 million US Dollars specifically to build an LGBT group display system, just so that these people can search for ‘they’ or ‘she’ on Outlook or Teams. This group displays not gender, but code names.
That’s right, netizens, you didn’t hear wrong. Just this LGBT group display system in cyberspace cost NASA 14 million US Dollars in budget, maybe more. Last year, NASA’s budget for the Diversity and Equal Opportunity Office, abbreviated as ODEO, was 14 million US Dollars, and they or them, anyway, whatever this office is filled with, they only did this one thing.
And more importantly, this 14 million US Dollars does not include the salaries of ODEO’s 74 full-time employees. If including their salaries, this LGBT group display system may have cost even more!
I don’t believe there is any sexual minority group in the world. There are only two kinds in the world: men and women. Even homosexuals are either men or women. I don’t know what the significance of doing this is.
And most importantly, something that we could get Stanford students to do for 5000 US Dollars cost NASA 14 million US Dollars in budget.
NASA is completely rotten!”
If the previous ones weren’t much, then once this Twitter post was sent out, under America’s current situation, it was a nuclear bomb in the truest sense.
Still that issue: the midterm elections in November 2022. The current time is mid-July, and all parties are preparing for this midterm election.
Musk, at least so far, has publicly supported the Donkey Party. Him openly firing at the Donkey Party’s consensus LGBT is simply timely rain after a long drought for the Elephant Party that experienced the Tumu Crisis in January 2020.
For the Donkey Party, no matter whether Musk’s accusations are right or wrong, they have to be wrong.
What? You dare to be unconvinced? Dare to touch the Donkey Party’s foundation like LGBT? Kid, you don’t want to live?
Senator Elizabeth Warren from the Donkey Party immediately jumped out to issue a statement:
“We are deeply disappointed by Elon Musk’s recent remarks attacking NASA’s diversity efforts.
At a time when we should be thanking all Americans for their contributions to the space program, Musk chooses to spread misleading and divisive information.
NASA’s Diversity and Equal Opportunity Office (ODEO) has played a key role in ensuring the institution is a place where people of all backgrounds can thrive.
The 14 million US Dollars budget allocated to the office supports broad initiatives to promote equal opportunity, not the single system Musk falsely claims.
Furthermore, his remarks on gender and sexual orientation are not only scientifically inaccurate but also harmful to the LGBT community.
We stand with our LGBT colleagues and reaffirm our commitment to creating an inclusive environment that respects and values all individuals.
We urge Musk to learn about the importance of these issues and support efforts to make our society fairer.”
The New York Times published an editorial “Elon Musk’s Wrong Attack on NASA’s Diversity Efforts,” which stated:
“Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur famous for his ambitious space programs, has sparked controversy again.
This time, he targets NASA’s diversity initiatives, particularly criticizing what he claims is 14 million US Dollars wasted on an LGBT display system. However, Musk’s criticism is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of NASA’s budget and the purpose of diversity programs. The 14 million US Dollars allocated to the Diversity and Equal Opportunity Office (ODEO) is not solely for an LGBT display system,
as Musk suggests, but supports comprehensive initiatives aimed at fostering an inclusive workplace. Diversity and inclusivity are not just buzzwords; they are essential components of successful organizations. By ensuring people of all backgrounds feel welcome and valued, NASA can attract the best talent and foster the creativity and innovation needed to tackle the complex challenges of space exploration.
Moreover, Musk’s comments on gender and sexual orientation reveal disturbing ignorance. He claims ‘there are only two genders: men and women,’ ignoring the scientific consensus that gender is a spectrum, as well as the experiences of transgender and non-binary individuals.
As a leader in the tech and space industries, Musk has a responsibility to promote understanding and acceptance, rather than recklessly spreading harmful stereotypes and misinformation. We hope Musk will use this opportunity to learn more about the importance of diversity and inclusivity and support efforts to make our society fairer.”
See that? Whether Donkey Party congressmen or media under the Donkey Party, their rebuttals all seem so powerless, unable to provide actual cases to prove what else NASA’s Diversity and Equal Opportunity Office did besides the online LGBT group display system.
Ask and it’s that ODEO did a lot of work, all of it very effective. Ask what exactly, either they can’t answer or they repeat like a broken record. Anyway, they just did it!
At the same time, Musk’s remarks sparked protests from the LGBT group. They went to protest outside SpaceX headquarters, believing Musk’s behavior is dangerous and ignores the painful experiences of LGBT individuals.
Of course, if there are those who oppose, there are naturally those who support.
For example, the old man who was defeated in the 2020 Tumu Crisis, exiled outside mainstream social media, originally able to post 20 Twitters a day, now has to hide on Truth Social speaking to his die-hard supporters. He posted on Truth Social:
“Elon is a true Patriot. He has excellently pointed out the problems existing in our country!”
This is what they call one encounter of golden wind and jade dew surpasses countless in the mortal realm.
Musk immediately arranged to meet, and after meeting in reality, the two hit it off, just short of becoming sworn brothers.
The disturbance in America made Chinese Internet netizens eat melons fiercely.
Everyone still remembers the last command module launch that took out half of NASA’s high-level officials. This time, Apollo Technology’s Lunar South Pole landing has caused Musk and the Donkey Party to completely break apart.
Under the news of Musk and Donkey Party breaking apart, the comment with the most likes is: “Suggestion: Musk fly straight to Shanghai to seek refuge. Look at Epstein’s fate. Coming to Shanghai is perfect to partner with Ran Shen. You two getting the Mars thing done is more important than anything.”
Chinese netizens are still too kind, already thinking of an escape route for Musk after offending the Donkey Party.
Next is Apollo Technology.
“Apollo Technology is really too bad. Every time you launch a mission, you stir up such a huge commotion on the other side of Earth, breaking apart the Donkey Party’s great general Musk. Every launch doesn’t aim at the White House, but every strike on the White House is so substantial.”
“Feels like if the Moon Base is really built, will America go completely crazy? It’s already like this just with a soft landing at the Lunar South Pole.”
To this day, Apollo Technology being too bad has become a meme on the Chinese Internet, with related sticker packs emerging endlessly under news related to Lin Ran.
To the point that when Pony discusses work with Lin Ran, he will mention:
“Lin Sheng, after joining Apollo Technology, I didn’t expect progress being too fast to also be a sweet worry.
After I came, all my old friends, every one, come asking when we are financing exactly, saying no matter how much, they won’t mind our valuation being high, no amount is too high.
After this South Pole landing, they harass me on WeChat every day, saying even if Apollo Technology’s this round of financing has a valuation going to 100 billion US Dollars, they still want to invest.
No matter how much, they want to invest. Valuation high, they invest a little less; valuation low, they invest a little more.”
Hear the strings and know the elegant intent.
Lin Ran knows Pony is asking about Apollo Technology’s financing matter.
“Pony, regarding financing, last time I went to Yanjing, I talked with them there.
You should also know that we will be in an increasingly important position. Put it this way: in the past, what we showed was technology replication, the strength of the technical team led by me.
But in the end, it was still replication of others’ technology. Starting from the Lunar South Pole soft landing, we went from being imitators in the past to now others imitating us.
So going to the market for financing now is actually not very appropriate. In the end, whether our technology, what we do, or even from a revenue perspective, it’s not very suitable to report to our shareholders.
Simply put, our operation will be a black box, only emitting faint light when executing aerospace missions.
Even our shareholders may not know what we did or are doing.
In this state, after communicating with Yanjing, we all think it’s not suitable for financing.
So regarding financing, subsequently, China Investment Group will do a round of financing. This round they will raise 50 billion in, at a 500 billion RMB valuation, raising 50 billion in.
Then to ensure incentive effects for employees, we will take out 10% of shares as an option pool, and every year, based on operation situation, provide employees with options repurchase opportunities.
In the short term, we have no plans to list.”
Pony understood after hearing, and didn’t say more on this matter, because he completely understood, and it was about the same as his expectation.
Apollo Technology is now solidly a national heavy weapon, and its importance in the future will continue to rise.
No need at all to go to the marketplace for financing, let alone listing.
Like Huawei, ByteDance these companies, without listing, are still behemoths that can stir winds and rains with a single move.
“Good, I understand.” Pony said.
Lin Ran continued: “So on the options side, actually you have very little to do, just design the employee options structure.”
Pony nodded: “I understand, Lin Sheng. Isn’t 10% of shares a bit too much?
10% of shares, even according to China Investment’s this round of financing is 50 billion RMB, in the future I believe its value will only rise higher.
Shouldn’t the first round give a little less, and slowly expand the entire pool later?
Like ByteDance this year they are taking 3 billion US Dollars from shareholders to repurchase stocks, then taking out 1% of the company’s total shares to expand the employee option pool.”
This was news originally to be announced in September, and Pony already knew in advance.
Lin Ran shook his head: “Just 10% then. We are just putting the pool here first to recruit people.
Pony, we now need to massively recruit composite talents in computer field, materials science, and physics, and we only want the top-tier ones.
I’ll also explain to you properly my top-level design plan for Apollo Technology.”
Pony pretended to be serious: “Lin Sheng, please speak.”
Lin Ran said: “Before you joined, I mentioned to you that we are to build a Moon Base. Now after Wu Gang 0001 went to the Lunar South Pole, you should have no more doubts about this.
And you should feel that our launches are particularly smooth, almost without any waves.”
Pony sighed: “Yeah, from my perspective, Apollo Technology’s mission launches feel particularly easy, almost without any setbacks.”
Lin Ran explained: “In the eyes of mathematicians, the world is mathematics. So when something can be solved with mathematics, essentially it has no difficulty.
Going to the Moon or expanding further out, these are all goals. What I’m telling you today is the means, how we do it, how to achieve this goal.
The essence of means are all mathematics. Among them, navigation, control system, communication, these are software.
These we have been recruiting for in the past, but fundamentally we still need to solve the materials problem.
Materials are the core of the core. I hope to include it also in the mathematical domain to solve.
For this, we need to develop an artificial intelligence materials prediction industrial software. The general effect is inputting elements’ physical properties to infer material properties and material synthesis routes, etc.
Pony, as Tencent’s former CEO, you definitely know very well about game physics engines. We can use physics engines to simulate the texture of real elements on computers. Different elements can even interact, forming new effects.
Including the texture of wind blowing a skirt, can be directly simulated by the engine.
Similarly, simulation for material properties is based on a similar concept.”
Pony asked after hearing: “I completely understand. I have a few questions. First, won’t this be too difficult?”
Materials are key, everyone knows. 654SMO model stainless steel can rival nickel-based alloy. Super austenitic stainless steel is still widely used by SpaceX to this day.
The problem is how to do it.
“Of course difficult. We may have to persist for a very long time to possibly have achievements.”
(An article in Science Advances on May 6, 2022, “Machine Learning for Materials Properties: Predictable and Interpretable Multilinear Models.” Science Advances is a sub-journal under Science, used to demonstrate that there has always been related research on using artificial intelligence for materials properties prediction.)
When Lin Ran said this, he was slightly dazed, mainly because he always thought the GraphAI he took as an elective during his PhD was a big pit, and now he was diving headfirst into artificial intelligence materials prediction, an even bigger pit than GraphAI.
This is also an unprecedented challenge for Lin Ran himself.
Aerospace had the entire NASA in the 1960s as its backing; they are Apollo Technology’s backup R&D force, a super-enhanced NASA led by professors.
Materials artificial intelligence, however, needs to completely rely on ourselves.
If you wanted to do this in 1960, you need graphics cards, computing power. At that time, they didn’t even know what deep learning was; it was simply unrealistic.
“Very difficult. From constructing this artificial intelligence, there are very many difficulties. From the computing power level, we can only cooperate with Huawei. This is an even greater difficulty.”
