Money Keeps Piling Up No Matter How Much I Spend

Chapter 179

Translator: DreamscribeThe reactor we were currently pursuing in Guyana was none other than the SMR, known as a Small Modular Reactor.

It should have been developed much sooner, but after the Fukushima disaster, investment in nuclear reactors plummeted, creating a technological gap.

However, with the nuclear boom picking up again, reactors that had been lying dormant were finally stretching their legs.

"Originally, SMRs were targeting their first commercialization around 2030, but with talented engineers flocking to Kwangwoon's project, they say we'll be able to commercialize even faster than that."

The Guyana region had deep, extensive underground facilities from its coal mines, making it an optimal location for building small modular reactors.

"But environmental groups are one thing, and Venezuela is the real problem. After the attack on the Jackson Mobil drilling rig, they've been keeping quiet, watching for America's reaction, but they could launch another military provocation at any time. If they target the nuclear facility through military action... it would be an absolute catastrophe."

That was the biggest concern.

The odds of war breaking out between North and South Korea were so low that their usual saber-rattling no longer moved the stock market.

But Venezuela and Guyana were a different story.

There had been a recent terrorist attack on Jackson Mobil, and even now, armed clashes kept erupting across the border.

If North and South Korea were WWE,

then Venezuela and Guyana were the UFC.

"If Venezuela actually does something insane, the damage would be devastating. Environmental groups and various agencies are all citing that as their top concern."

"So basically, unless diplomacy between Venezuela and Guyana gets sorted out, we're carrying all the risk?"

"Yes. Peace between the two countries needs to be guaranteed before we can develop with any peace of mind."

The problem was how to reconcile two nations locked in a territorial dispute.

On top of that, even if they did reconcile, there was nothing stopping them from fighting again.

But it wasn't as if they could scrap a massive project that had already entered site selection and development stages in cooperation with the IAEA.

While I was racking my brain over what to do, one of the staff quietly spoke up.

"CEO-nim, wouldn't it be better to leave this matter to headquarters?"

"Headquarters?"

"Yes. I understand headquarters put together a strategic team for situations exactly like this, and I've heard that team handles meetings with foreign politicians. Even if they can't solve the problem entirely, couldn't we at least aim for some positive results?"

That was when I felt something stir in my head.

A gut feeling struck me hard and passed through.

I had heard that the team, originally created on my hyungnim's orders to find someone who could take over his grueling overseas trips, had since evolved into what was now called the Strategic Planning Team.

Whether they could actually mediate between Venezuela and Guyana was questionable. Their role was simply to relay messages on behalf of the company and hold meetings, not to broker peace treaties.

But if my Intuition was reacting this strongly, didn't that mean it would have some effect?

"Then please hand this over to the Strategic Planning Team. Make sure there are no disruptions to our nuclear development. Oh, and also, ask the ESG Association to conduct an evaluation of the Guyana side first."

"But CEO-nim, Guyana has a lot of coal mines, and the infrastructure is severely lacking. The conditions are extremely poor. It'll be hard for the ESG Association to give a generous score."

"That's exactly why I want them to do it first. We created the ESG Association, so shouldn't we be the first to set the example? What needs to be improved, how to protect workers' rights, and so on. Tell them to take the criticism head-on and fix everything based on the feedback."

It was true that our Foundation had been the first to propose creating the ESG Association, but since we were doing this, I wanted to do it right.

Wasn't the whole purpose of the ESG Association for corporations to take responsibility with society and the environment in mind? If we ourselves ignored that mission and recklessly destroyed the environment while stripping workers of their rights, that wouldn't be right.

So the idea was to start by getting feedback on the area where meeting ESG standards would be the hardest, and improve from there.

Kwangwoon and the Korean companies currently partnering with us might not be thrilled, but even if the beginning was tough, once things took root, it could build a society where both businesses and workers were better off.

"I'll make sure to relay everything you've said to the companies in Guyana and the ESG Association. Also, CEO-nim, these are proposals that came into headquarters."

Most things were handled at headquarters.

But when they needed my input, they would send a few items my way like this.

"They're all related to Close AI. As you know, we've been integrating XPT across various platforms, starting with the game company Cyclone, to enable development. But now other companies want to partner with us too, given how fast the AI market is changing."

In other words, they wanted to embed our AI into their products or use it during development.

"Currently, XPT can be used both individually and for business purposes, but there are various performance restrictions. These companies want those restrictions lifted. In exchange, they're offering to pay a monthly usage fee."

It didn't sound like a bad proposal.

As I'd heard before, what XPT needed was data.

The more data they collected, the faster they could develop the AI.

"We haven't built an enterprise version of XPT yet, have we?"

"No. Should I tell them to go ahead and develop one properly?"

At that, I felt my head reel even harder.

My Intuition was very pleased with this.

The problem was that my Intuition seemed a little too excited; I had to close my eyes from the dizziness.

"Are you alright, CEO-nim?"

"Ah, yes. Tell them to proceed as planned."

My Intuition, it's a wonderful thing.

But sometimes it feels like an unruly child I can't control.

* * *

"What came down from the Kwangwoon Strategic Planning Team?"

"They want us to resolve the diplomatic situation between Guyana and Venezuela. Apparently there's been a lot of internal debate within Venezuela about the peace agreement, and they want us to sort it out."

The Kwangwoon Strategic Planning Team.

It was a peculiar outfit.

Every corporation had a strategic planning team.

Ostensibly, they were teams that devised strategies based on the company's long-term goals, but in reality, they often served as the chairman's personal fixers.

Put simply, they managed the chairman's dirty private affairs, cleaned up messes caused by second- and third-generation chaebol heirs, and so on.

But Kwangwoon's Strategic Planning Team was different.

For starters, the Kwangwoon Chairman and the chaebol heirs lived ordinary lives without causing scandals.

Jung Jin-ho in particular, the core of Kwangwoon, was the very picture of an upstanding man. So what did the Strategic Planning Team actually do?

Behind the morally upright image that Jung Jin-ho and Hwang Dae-woon projected to the world, the team managed and coordinated every subsidiary under Kwangwoon to ensure their terrifying, ruthless plans succeeded.

"On top of that, the credentials of the people in the Strategic Planning Team are hardly what you'd expect from ordinary corporate employees."

That was also true.

Just looking at the staff placed in the team, their backgrounds were impressive.

People who had worked at Korea's National Intelligence Service and intelligence agencies of various other countries had been recruited into the Kwangwoon Strategic Planning Team, and even operatives from Sentinel had been pulled in and reassigned there.

"So when they tell us to resolve the Venezuela diplomacy issue..."

"It means they want us to root out everyone opposing the peace agreement with Guyana. Socially, or physically."

Sentinel didn't just kill people indiscriminately.

If the target was a politician, they would first dig into whether there was any corruption.

That could be used as leverage for coercion, or all the dirt could be exposed to let them rot in prison.

But if none of that worked, then physical methods came into play.

After all, they say dead men tell no tales.

"But Kwangwoon really is pouring a lot of attention into Guyana. Getting involved in diplomacy and all."

"Obviously. Can't you tell just by looking? Kwangwoon isn't investing in nuclear facilities just to buy and sell energy. They're building their future."

"Their future?"

"The future of nuclear reactors ultimately leads to one thing. Fusion. An artificial sun. But despite other countries pouring resources into development, it's nowhere near practical. Why? Because of spatial constraints, government regulations, and all sorts of real-world barriers. But Guyana is different. There, they can develop freely without worrying about government interference."

And a flood of top talent was pouring into Guyana.

The artificial sun, which supposedly couldn't be developed before 2050 no matter how fast anyone moved, might be born in Guyana first.

An artificial sun.

It was the pinnacle of the clean energy humanity had longed for.

If fusion technology advanced, it would mean virtually unlimited energy with minimal pollution.

"And Kwangwoon would be the first to get their hands on that energy. Now do you see why Guyana is such a critical stronghold for them?"

"So that's what it means..."

On top of that, Kwangwoon was currently using the ESG Association as its front to conduct evaluations in the Guyana region.

"That's the pretext for building infrastructure throughout Guyana and Venezuela. On the surface, it's all for society and the environment, but infrastructure construction is essential for the energy monopoly they're dreaming of."

"And they make sure any talk of environmental destruction from the development goes quiet?"

"Exactly. Once the infrastructure improves, do you think the people there are going to complain about the environment? After experiencing a whole new world, everyone will be singing its praises."

But for all these plans to proceed smoothly, they first had to eliminate the obstacles.

"Bring me the list of everyone opposing the peace agreement with Guyana. We need to see their faces before we can decide who to take out."

Whether the person was decent or not didn't matter.

As long as they stood in the way of Kwangwoon's plans, they were the enemy.

* * *

Close AI had entered a development trajectory unlike anything before.

In the early days, development relied on data painstakingly gathered, but now data was flooding in so fast that the team could focus purely on development.

"An enterprise XPT?"

Close AI CEO Sam Altman tilted his head.

"Yes. An AI with far superior performance to the current publicly available XPT, one that can be adopted not just by Kwangwoon subsidiaries but by other companies as well. They're planning to develop and sell it."

But XPT was currently being developed in collaboration with various Kwangwoon platforms, from gaming to social media.

"PicPic is also running various tests right now using the next version of XPT, which hasn't been released to the public yet."

"Right. That was... the France-related stuff, wasn't it?"

"Yes. They've been spreading content about public opinion on French President Perron and the pension reform bill through Infinite Generation. On top of that, they're also leveraging the AI image and video generation tools we're currently testing to disseminate fake news."

It irked him that the XPT he had developed was being used like this, but he could never let that show.

The one holding the leash on XPT and Sam Altman right now was none other than Kwangwoon.

And what kind of place was Kwangwoon?

An empire built on countless drops of blood.

And it would spill even more blood as it marched toward completing an empire that dominated the world.

To stand against that with some trifling sense of morality and love for humanity?

The future that awaited such defiance was obvious without saying.

"Still, it's not a bad project. If we build an AI exclusively for enterprise use that isn't available to the general public, we could collect a far wider range of data."

"What?"

Sam Altman had realized that this enterprise XPT development wasn't simply about partnerships or revenue.

"Do you have any idea how much money Kwangwoon is pouring into our XPT? Astronomical sums are going into AI development. So why would they suddenly order us to build a separate AI to distribute to businesses? What do you think the intent is?"

"...Wasn't it to acquire data?"

"This isn't something you do just to get data. If the enterprise AI we develop turns out to be overwhelmingly superior, countless companies will adopt it. Governments, too, will rush to use our AI to keep up with the times."

Then Kwangwoon's AI would be embedded everywhere across the globe.

"And as the AI keeps developing, reaching the point where systems can't function without it, do you think Kwangwoon will just sit on that quietly? Or will they use it as a weapon?"

"...!"

If such a world came to be, Kwangwoon would have the power to control any place it wished, at any time, through its AI.

"Kwangwoon isn't trying to dominate the world through outdated, brute-force methods. They're going to control this world easily, through the power of AI technology."

For now it was called XPT, but someday, everyone would come to call this AI by another name.

KW-AI.

The artificial intelligence that rules the world.