Chapter 276 - 211: A Tall Tree Attracts the Wind

Chapter 276: Chapter 211: A Tall Tree Attracts the Wind

She placed the coffee on Chen Lin’s desk and said casually,

"By the way, have you seen the news? The stock market in the USA crashed!"

"Hm?"

Chen Lin looked up, a hint of confusion in his eyes as he gazed at Yunqing.

"What crashed?"

Yunqing took out her phone, opened a news notification, and handed it to Chen Lin.

"Look, when the US stock market opened today, the AI sector plummeted, dragging the entire tech sector down with it!"

"The news says it’s because of your open-source algorithm. It broke down the AI companies’ technical barriers, leading to panic selling from investors..."

Chen Lin took the phone and looked at the headline on the screen:

[BREAKING! USA Stock Market AI Sector Plummets 15%, Over a Trillion US Dollars in Market Cap Evaporates! Is Huaxia’s Mathematical Genius Chen Lin the "Man Behind the Crash?"]

Chen Lin quickly skimmed the article.

The article provided a detailed analysis of the reasons for the crash—

Chen Lin’s paper, published in JAMS, proposed a brand-new AI algorithm that solved the problem of model hallucination from a mathematical perspective.

And this algorithm was open-source, free for anyone to use.

This meant that the core competitiveness of AI companies that originally profited from their technical barriers, like CloseAI and XAI, had been drastically weakened.

Meanwhile, competitors who were lagging in technology could now use Chen Lin’s algorithm to quickly catch up to or even surpass these giants.

Under these circumstances, investors’ valuation expectations for companies like CloseAI and XAI would naturally plummet.

This had a knock-on effect, causing the valuations of all AI-related companies to drop significantly.

And so, the panic selling began.

The stampede effect of quantitative trading further amplified this panic.

Ultimately, this led to today’s unprecedented market crash.

At the end of the article, it quoted several Wall Street analysts:

"Chen Lin’s open-source algorithm is the equivalent of dropping a nuclear bomb on the AI industry."

"The good days are over for companies that make money off closed-source models."

"The AI industry of the future will enter a completely new competitive landscape."

After reading the news, Chen Lin was silent for a moment.

To be honest, he really hadn’t expected a single paper of his to trigger such a massive chain reaction.

The US stock market plummeting, several trillion US dollars in market cap evaporating...

The numbers were simply staggering.

Chen Lin handed the phone back to Yunqing, his expression complicated.

But Chen Lin quickly sorted out his thoughts.

’I just published a paper.’

’Scientific research is supposed to be open and shared.’

’What do those fluctuations in the capital market have to do with me?’

At this thought, Chen Lin smiled and took a sip of the coffee on his desk.

"Thanks for the coffee." 𝙛𝓇ⅇ

"Hehe, you’re welcome," Yunqing said with a smile. "By the way, the online discussions about you are really heating up."

"Some are calling you the ’Disruptor of the AI Industry,’ others say you’re the ’Champion of the Open-Source Spirit,’ and some are even calling you ’Wall Street’s Public Enemy’..."

"Basically, they’re saying all sorts of things."

Hearing this, Chen Lin waved his hand dismissively.

"Let them talk."

With that, Chen Lin lowered his head again and immersed himself back into his mathematical derivations.

Seeing this, Yunqing didn’t disturb him any further and tiptoed back to her workstation.

...

Meanwhile, online discussions about the US stock market crash had completely blown up.

On Weibo, topics like #USMarketCrash, #ChenLinAlgorithm, and #AIBubbleBurst all shot into the top ten trending list.

Some netizens were gloating:

[Hahaha, Wall Street is finally getting what it deserves? Serves them right!]

[Those capitalists are always thinking about how to fleece investors, and this time they got fleeced by Chen Lin’s algorithm. I’m dying of laughter!]

Other netizens were worried:

[The US market crashed. Are global markets going to suffer too?]

[Hope this doesn’t affect our A-shares...]

And some netizens started praising Chen Lin:

[Chen Lin is a badass! Wrecked Wall Street with a single paper!]

[This is what ’technology changing the world’ really looks like!]

[I propose we give Chen Lin the title of ’The Wall Street Shredder’!]

China’s official state media also reacted quickly, seizing the opportunity for publicity.

"XX Net" published a commentary:

[Open Sharing is the True Path of Technology—A Discussion Prompted by the US Market Turmoil Caused by Chen Lin’s Open-Source Algorithm]

The article stated:

"Science and technology are the common wealth of all humanity. Any attempt to gain excess profits through technological monopoly goes against the laws of technological development."

"The young Huaxia mathematician, Chen Lin, chose to make his research results open-source and share them, which is a true embodiment of the scientific spirit."

"In contrast, certain capitalist groups in Western countries treat technological achievements as private property, attempting to maintain their hegemony through technical barriers. This approach is doomed to be unsustainable."

"The market turmoil caused by Chen Lin’s algorithm proves one thing—the era of technological monopoly will eventually come to an end!"

As soon as it was published, the article immediately caused a huge stir online.

Countless netizens forwarded and liked it:

[Well said! Technology should be open and shared!]

[Those Wall Street capitalists deserve to be slapped in the face!]

[Hats off to Chen Lin! Hats off to Huaxia’s scientists!]

However, amid the chorus of cheers, there were also some dissenting voices.

On Zhihu, someone posted a question:

[What are your thoughts on Chen Lin’s open-source algorithm causing the US stock market crash, and will it trigger a global financial crisis?]

Beneath this question, an economics blogger offered a serious analysis:

[On the surface, this US market crash was caused by Chen Lin’s algorithm, but in reality, the valuation bubble in the AI sector had already grown to a dangerous level.]

[Chen Lin’s algorithm was just the last straw that broke the camel’s back.]

[Even without Chen Lin’s algorithm, the AI bubble would have burst sooner or later.]

[Therefore, it’s unfair to blame Chen Lin for this crash.]

Others raised deeper concerns:

[Although Chen Lin’s intentions were good, he might not realize that his actions have infringed upon the interests of certain big shots on Wall Street.]

[These people are not to be trifled with.]

[Will they take retaliatory action against Chen Lin?]

This answer resonated with many people.

In the comment section, someone said:

[The OP is right. Those people on Wall Street are the kind of sharks who eat you alive and don’t even spit out the bones.]

[Chen Lin has definitely pissed them off now.]

[I hope Chen Lin stays safe.]

...

「Jinmen, 3:00 PM.」

Chen Lin’s phone suddenly rang.

He picked it up and saw that the call was from President Peng Yifeng.

"Hello, President Peng," Chen Lin answered the phone.

"President Chen!" Peng Yifeng’s voice was tinged with anxiety. "Have you seen the news? The stock market in the USA..."

"I have," Chen Lin said calmly.

"Then you..." Peng Yifeng hesitated for a moment before continuing, "This US market crash, although on the surface it looks like it was triggered by your paper, there were definitely capital forces pushing it from behind the scenes."

Peng Yifeng paused, then added, "I’ve received news that this time, the biggest investment banks on Wall Street suffered almost no losses. In fact, many of them made a killing."

"The ones who really lost money were all the small and medium-sized investors."

"What does this mean?" Peng Yifeng’s tone became extremely solemn. "It means the real big players already anticipated all of this!"

"They used your algorithm as a fuse to orchestrate a meticulously planned harvest of AI tech stocks!"

Hearing this, Chen Lin’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"Moreover," Peng Yifeng continued, "what I’m worried about is that they will likely target you next."

"After all, in their eyes, you’ve become a huge, uncontrollable variable."

"From now on, you need to be extra careful when attending any events, whether domestic or abroad. The people paying attention to you are growing in number, and their motives are becoming more complex."

Listening to Peng Yifeng’s words, Chen Lin felt a warmth spread in his chest.

Although President Peng was from Tiansheng Investment, and their relationship was ultimately just that of an investor and an entrepreneur...

...judging from his tone now, he was genuinely looking out for him.

"Thank you, President Peng," Chen Lin said sincerely. "I’ll be careful."

After a few more words, Chen Lin hung up the phone.

He sat in his chair, gazing at the gradually darkening sky outside, his mood complex.

’To be honest, this feeling of being watched and scrutinized is really uncomfortable.’

’But there’s nothing I can do about it.’

’A tall tree attracts the wind. It’s unavoidable.’

Chen Lin took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.

’Forget it. I won’t think about it anymore.’

’I should just get back to my research.’

With that thought, Chen Lin lowered his head again, picked up his pen, and continued to write and sketch on the paper.