Chapter 281: The Invisible Hand (16)
Ha Si-heon's latest "AI Bubble Stress Test" whipped up a small storm in the market. Brexit, exploding smartphones, and the Deutsche Bank scandal—events that would be shocking even if they happened once a year—erupted like a "buy two, get one free" special.
WSB (WallStreetBets) turned into a wild festival.
— "All-in leveraged LONG on Brexit 'Leave'!! 752%!!! The Queen called begging to accept a knighthood if I immigrate... Declined. All hail our only king, Saint Sean!"
— "Everyone laughed when I shorted Deutsche with grandma’s surgery money. Now she’s off to Santorini with her new hip, flexing in a villa. Sean is literally a god from the future!"
— "[BREAKING] Nostradamus breaks out of his grave to kneel before Saint Sean… 'Your bathroom graffiti is more accurate than my prophecy book.' Hands over his title as Oracle."
On the other hand, there were many who missed the opportunity and were now wallowing in regret.
— "I'm so jealous… why did I miss this… Next ti Sean even sneezes, I’m selling my tuition and going all in. Six months off school = enough to found ten universities."
— "The signal was too subtle. Normally he goes, ‘You YOLOers, sell your house and follow !’ but this ti he just raised an eyebrow…"
— "If Pareto had shorted, I'd have slamd ALL IN. Now everyone else is cruising on yachts, and I’m watching waves reflected in my washing machine drum..."
The reason for their failure was clear: Ha Si-heon hadn’t directly incited retail traders this ti. With Allergan or the China yuan war, he had given explicit signals under the na “Pareto” by shorting stocks. But this ti? He did nothing.
Why?
“Because it could’ve distracted people from AI.”
These issues weren’t raised to recomnd new trades, but to highlight the relative risk—to prove AI is safer. And so, only those who analyzed his words at the nanoter scale made profits. Those waiting to be spoon-fed? Missed their chance entirely.
Inevitably, the WSB crowd's debate turned toward:
"Why didn’t Ha Si-heon give us a clear signal like usual?"
— "The great sage seeks equality among all! He wouldn’t have discriminated without reason—there must be a deeper purpose!"
— "What if… this wasn’t a Black Swan after all?"
— “Well, yeah, Deutsche Bank was more of a gray duck than a black swan… And smartphones? Maybe just a slightly injured pigeon.”
A black swan is an outlier—an event that lies far outside the expected distribution and is near-impossible to predict. Once it hits, it shakes the entire world. But labeling recent events as “black swan-level”… felt a bit off. And as soon as that realization set in, the conversation veered into a new direction.
— “So Saint Sean isn’t just predicting black swans?”
— “Then he doesn’t just see outliers—he knows everything within the distribution too? Gray ducks, pigeons, sparrows… anything with wings??”
— “So his brain is a 24/7 live-streaming zoo???”
That shift was huge. Previously, he was seen as soone who could predict disasters. Now? He was seen as soone who could predict everything, disaster or not. There were skeptics, sure, but expectation far outweighed doubt.
— “This is basically an AI moon mission reservation! If Future Prophet Saint Sean is pushing this hard, there's no way it fails!”
— “Just listen to Sean explain the AI revolution. The details are insane. Feels more like he’s recalling sothing he’s already lived… HE'S 100% A TI TRAVELER!”
— “Before eting Sean: -35% return / Now: 1200%! Even my advisor agrees: Sean’s from the future!!”
And as Ha Si-heon scrolled through those reactions… he couldn’t help but feel a pang of unease. Because deep down… those absurd s held so uncomfortable truth.
“…Is this okay?”
Sure, no one seriously believed he was a ti traveler. They weren’t going to lock him in a lab for human experintation. But still, the fact remained: He had just made predictions that defied any known algorithmic pattern. That could raise red flags. It could trigger scrutiny—maybe even insider trading investigations.
“One day, this will be a risk I need to manage.”
But not today.
“Right now, sothing else is more urgent.”
Ha Si-heon put down his tablet and turned to the chessboard. Now was the ti to move the most important piece in the ga. The U.S. governnt.
So, how do you get the U.S. governnt to invest in AI?
“Direct investnt is unlikely.”
The U.S. governnt doesn't just go out and buy shares in specific companies. In the sacred land of capitalism, that would be seen as violating the holy principle of free market competition. Sure, in extre crises—like the financial ltdown—they’ll sotis intervene. But those are rare exceptions.
Most of the ti, governnt investnt takes an indirect form: Tax breaks, subsidies, massive infrastructure support, and ga-scale procurent contracts. These make the governnt a whale buyer. And when the governnt steps in, even shaky sectors beco certified growth assets.
“For a bleeding-edge tech like AI, that’s the best possible outco.”
But for this kind of governnt backing to be possible, one key condition must be t: AI must be designated a strategic asset. A “strategic asset” ans sothing crucial to national security, economic sovereignty, or technological dominance. A core industry that nations will fight to control.
But so far, AI wasn’t officially in that category. The first U.S. governnt AI task force only launched in 2018… There was still over a year left until then. But with all the noise caused by the recent AI wars, surely the governnt’s stance might’ve shifted compared to before the regression?
Just in case, he decided to take a stab.
— “Rejected.”
That was the subject line of Alex’s latest email. Next AI had once again reached out to the U.S. governnt, offering cooperation and support. And once again, they had been flatly turned down.
— “Sa reason as always. They say they’re being cautious because AI could stifle market autonomy and innovation.”
To be fair, this wasn’t their first approach. They had been extending feelers since the very foundation of Next AI—a move planned for exactly this phase.
“Of course, I never expected them to say yes.”
Still, there was a reason they kept trying: Even a record of rejection could beco useful down the line.
Anyway—at that point in ti, the U.S. governnt’s stance on AI was lukewarm. Yes, there were modest investnts via entities like DARPA or In-Q-Tel (the CIA's venture capital arm). But nothing on a ga-changing scale.
The reason?
“Because they don’t have to—yet.”
Governnts declare industries as strategic assets only when they need to protect dominance or catch up. But in AI? The U.S. was miles ahead of the competition. No need for drastic asures when everything’s already working in your favor.
But for Ha Si-heon, getting AI designated as a strategic asset was critical. So… how do you persuade the U.S. to make that move?
“You set their house on fire.”
The U.S. could afford to be relaxed because of their dominance. So flip the script: Introduce a credible rival. That would be enough to trigger urgency. Fortunately, he happened to have just the right contact. He quietly opened his desk drawer and pulled out a business card. Dialed the number printed on it.
— “Hello, this is Yang Weiqing.”
He had expected an assistant to pick up—but apparently, it was the man himself. Smiling politely, Ha Si-heon began:
“It’s been a while. This is Ha Si-heon. Not sure if you rember, but we t once before—when you were still Vice Premier.”
— “…Of course, Mr. Ha.”
“Apologies for the sudden call, Ambassador. I have an important matter I’d like to discuss. Would you be willing to et?”
Ambassador Yang Weiqing invited him to his official residence. But Ha Si-heon declined.
“Unfortunately, I can’t set foot on ‘Chinese territory’ at the mont.”
Ever since the currency war, China had placed him under an entry ban. Publicly, he was still seen as a financial saboteur who triggered market instability. Even though, behind the scenes, he had actually been the savior who cleaned up China’s shadow banking crisis. In such circumstances, of course he couldn’t just casually loiter near the Chinese embassy.
“If it’s okay with you, I’d prefer we et in New York. And if travel’s a hassle, I’ll arrange a private jet for you.”
The location of the eting was his choice—because this one was going to be very important. And the place he picked was 20 Club, a high-end steakhouse in New York, well-known as a discreet hangout for the wealthy and politically powerful. He booked one of its private rooms and finally ca face-to-face with the Chinese ambassador again.
“So, this ‘important matter’… what is it exactly?”
The ambassador seed visibly tense. Can't bla him. The last ti he had called for an “important eting,” they had discussed currency wars and shadow banking. Naturally, the ambassador was expecting sothing just as explosive. But Ha Si-heon smiled to put him at ease.
“It’s not a new issue per se—just a continuation of sothing we discussed before. Rember the topic of AI systems trained on real-world patient dical data?”
He had once requested access to real dical datasets from China—hard to obtain in the U.S.—and now, they needed to establish a Chinese subsidiary to push that plan forward.
“We should begin preparations soon. Would it be okay to move forward starting next month?”
The ambassador paused, thinking.
“Is the parent company for this ‘subsidiary’ going to be Next AI?”
“Nothing’s decided yet. I was hoping we could discuss that today.”
“I see.”
He thought it over a mont longer, then answered honestly.
“If I’m being candid… considering the level of attention Next AI is receiving in the U.S., it would be difficult for China to engage in a ‘joint project’ with them. That could spark unnecessary suspicions, even trigger diplomatic friction.”
“Diplomatic friction?”
“Yes—imagine how it would look if people assud China was trying to lure away Arica’s AI frontrunner.”
‘Sharp.’
That was exactly what Ha Si-heon wanted to happen. He had ntioned it before—the AI war was modeled after the Cold War. There was no Soviet Union, but China made a perfectly serviceable rival. The whole point was to create a sense of urgency that would force both superpowers to dump money into tech without hesitation. And for that, he needed China to appear interested—perhaps even a little predatory—about Next AI.
That would spook the U.S. into flooding AI startups with incentives, desperate not to lose ground. That was the plan… But China was being too cautious. He needed to stage a scene where China was eyeing U.S. AI firms—but the country wasn’t ready to play the part.
‘In 2016, they were still in their “cautious diplomacy” phase. Not quite ready for confrontation.’
So even if it ant disappointing Ha Si-heon, they weren’t about to stir up international tension just to honor a prior handshake. The ambassador added:
“You’re known to invest in various startups. If you collaborate with one that’s a bit more low-profile, things could move along much faster.”
That ant, if I kept trying to push this issue toward collaboration with Next AI, the Chinese side would also deliberately stall for ti. That was unacceptable, so I nodded obediently.
“I see. I wasn’t thinking clearly. Of course, I’ll try to find a solution through a different startup, not Next AI.”
“...?”
When I gave in so easily, the ambassador tilted his head in confusion.
“...That's unexpected. I thought you’d be more persistent.”
“Not at all. I never force soone down a path they’re uncomfortable with.”
There was no need to force it anyway—so why bother? After all, what I truly needed wasn’t a “real” scouting offer. It was enough to give the impression that “China wants .” And now, we were eting alone in a restaurant frequented by many politicians. What would happen if one of those politicians saw us and passed the word to soone in the governnt that “Ha Siheon t with the Chinese ambassador”?
Of course, an ordinary politician might brush off seeing and the Chinese ambassador together as re gossip. But I knew soone who would spread this news faster and more assertively. I had already arranged for a specific person for that exact reason.
“I can’t leave sothing this important to chance.”
Soone with intense interest in . Soone who would be shocked to see seemingly swayed by China’s overtures. And, soone who was in a position to make a direct call to a key figure in the U.S. governnt. Who would that person be?
“Well then, shall we get going?”
After finishing our al, we left the private room and crossed the main hall. And at that mont...
“Sean?”
A familiar voice called out from behind, stopping in my tracks. I turned around… and there was a familiar face. It was none other than old man Kissinger.
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