Reborn in 2010, the AI ​​in my mind is too powerful.

In a Hawaiian restaurant, Zhang Chaoyang ate some unpalatable local food while watching the indigenous girls dancing below, and he felt less tense.

He came to the United States with the determination to beg for help. For Chen Yiran, Sohu offered absolutely nothing of value, no leverage whatsoever; Zhang Chaoyang had no cards to play.

As one of the first evangelists of the Chinese internet, he was once a highly respected figure, having unsuccessfully tried to recruit Robin Li, who was then in Silicon Valley. His speech greatly excited Pony Ma, who went back and founded Tencent.

His MIT background, fashionable attire, and excellent skateboarding skills have made him a synonym for style, avant-garde, energetic, and elegant.

But while he has impeccable taste, he lacks the wolf-like spirit to be truly impressive.

Around the turn of the millennium in Beijing, Zhang Chaoyang spent his days singing and entertaining himself in bars, frequently inviting Jack Ma, who was still in Beijing at the time. Jack Ma was busy with his own affairs, often not finishing get off work until midnight, and would usually only come over briefly for half an hour before leaving in a hurry.

Later, Jack Ma's entrepreneurial ventures failed, and he considered joining Sohu, but Zhang Chaoyang declined because he felt they were not a good match.

In the blink of an eye, more than a decade has passed. The younger generation has become figures to be looked up to, while Sohu has fallen far behind. This forced Zhang Chaoyang, despite his ailing health, to return to the helm to try and save the company.

Zhang Chaoyang's illness was actually quite serious. In May 2011, he suffered severe cerebral hypoxia while climbing a snow mountain. Although he was eventually rescued and did not have many aftereffects, it had a great impact on his mental health, causing him to suffer from severe depression.

For more than two years, he completely gave up his job and tried all sorts of methods, including traditional Chinese medicine, Buddhism, Western medicine, Western psychology, neuroscience, behavioral science, and so on, to find the cause of his anxiety, but the results were not very good.

The company couldn't wait any longer and forcibly called for the big boss to come out of retirement; otherwise, they would lose everything.

Sohu Video currently has little advantage; its only remaining strength is its long-held commitment to acquiring the rights to American TV series. Zhang Chaoyang is using this as a starting point, and they have already secured the exclusive rights to the second season of "House of Cards."

This American TV series is quite influential, directly boosting Sohu Video by selling an 80-second ad slot.

They originally planned to hold a grand exclusive broadcast press conference on February 18th, which would be Zhang Chaoyang's first major public event since his comeback. He even felt that his depression had improved.

Then, on the day of the Lunar New Year, he saw the news on the trending topics that Chen Yiran had invested in Bilibili.

He didn't know what Bilibili was, but he had been following Chen Yiran closely. This was because Sohu's current flagship series, *House of Cards*, was a co-production between Netflix (owned by Apple) and Disney.

After a quick search, Zhang Chaoyang was dumbfounded. A bullet-screen video platform like ACfun wasn't so scary; what was truly terrifying was having a shareholder like Chen Yiran.

It's clear that it will be impossible for Sohu to buy Disney's rights again in the future, and it's even more difficult to buy the rights to other American TV series. Sohu can't compete with them in terms of capital.

He was deeply distressed and increasingly insecure.

However, after actually meeting Chen Yiran, he found that this legendary rebellious kid was actually quite easy to talk to. He treated him to good food and drinks for several days. Hawaii has both delicious food and beautiful scenery, which Zhang Chaoyang thoroughly enjoyed.

Looking at Chen Yiran, whose expression was still relatively amiable, Zhang Chaoyang spoke up: "Brother, you should know why I'm here. Can you help me out? My idea is that Bilibili, right? It's a website for young people. In the future, it can be used to make private videos, like Chinese duck videos, right?"

Then there's Sohu Video, which is like the Netflix of China. From now on, our backends will be interconnected and linked. What do you think?

"Oh? I didn't know the purpose of your visit. I just wanted to give a polite welcome to my Chinese senior and also have a few questions I'd like to ask you."

".........Okay, what's your question? Is it business-related? Do you have any other opportunities for cooperation with Sohu?"

"Oh? No, I heard that you were seeking treatment everywhere a few years ago. I wanted to ask about that. I don't think you, as a physics PhD from MIT, would easily submit to any theory or religious ritual."

Do those inspirational quotes and simple emotional comforts really work? Ultimately, what do you find most useful?

"...Okay, to put it simply, during my two-year seclusion, I realized that I was too arrogant before. I would inexplicably look down on people who took the initiative to approach me, and I felt that they were all approaching me with ulterior motives."

Including money and fame, I used to think that the more money and fame you had, the happier you would be. Actually, I consciously started building my personal brand a long time ago, and I really enjoy being in the spotlight.

I still have some psychological issues, but at least I'm aware of them, and they're gradually changing. For example, I'm not as obsessed with money and fame as I used to be.

"Sohu has quite a few employees! I can't just go bankrupt, can I?"

"Okay, so of all those different ways of self-identification, which one is ultimately the most effective?"

"CBT, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. It's a mainstream form of psychotherapy. I've tried a few, and I think it's the most effective, much better than those Buddhist or Taoist methods. Okay, enough of your curiosity. Let's talk about the problems with Sohu Video. Isn't there any way to alleviate them?"

"You only want to focus on Sohu Video? Don't you have any bigger ambitions?"

"You don't mean AI, do you?"

"Currently, apart from Aurora's products, no other company in the world uses Deepflow to build truly large-scale AI models."

Zhang Chaoyang shook his head: "Because people aren't stupid. Using your framework to create a large AI model to fight against your Cloud? Isn't that a joke? How could anyone be that stupid?"

"But it's different in China. The AI ​​on Apple and Samsung phones still can't be fully used in China. If Sohu is willing to do it, I can let you try it."

Zhang Chaoyang lacked the wolf-like nature, but he was by no means stupid; he immediately figured out the problem.

"You let me do it, but if the government doesn't approve, it still won't pass the review. Even if it's authorized, it's still not the core technology we get, and the higher-ups might not accept it."

"Let's give it a try. Let's define the boundaries clearly, not cross them, and only do basic consumer-facing business. For example, AI support for mobile phones, and some entertainment-related businesses, such as special effects. For me, this is just an experiment, something I'll try out as an opportunity."

"And the price?"

"Sohu Video is helping Bilibili drive traffic, and you are gradually withdrawing from the video industry, transferring all your original copyrights to Bilibili. I recommend you also open an account on Bilibili; the young people there shouldn't reject you."

How much does it cost to license DeepFlow from Aurora?

"Regardless of whether we are operating at a loss, we will aim for 3% of our revenue."

Zhang Chaoyang hesitated. The price was a bit steep, and he knew his own company's situation well. Sohu had practically no technology to speak of, and if they really wanted to get into AI, they would have to invest a lot.

"Let me think about it, okay? This isn't a very safe bet."

Chen Yiran laughed and said, "American dramas are safe, they might not be allowed to be uploaded anytime due to various factors. Besides, even if there are restrictions in China, and eventually even consumer-grade content isn't allowed, it should be fine for you to use it yourself, right?"

Sohu is probably making a living from games now. AI is really convenient for game development. We'll provide technical support after you purchase the Deepflow license. You won't lose out if you use it to develop your own games.

"What if the restrictions were even stricter, and all consumer products that use Deepflow were completely banned from being listed?"

"Then I guess I'll just have to accept my bad luck."

"Alright, I'll have someone come over to discuss the contract with you when I get back to Beijing. Speaking of which, why did you choose Sohu? It's not because Sohu is weaker and easier to control, is it?"

"...How could that be? It's mainly because you're a good person."

After finishing their business, the two started chatting about all sorts of things. Zhang Chaoyang was indeed a nice person; at least, it was very comfortable to talk to him.

He and Chen Yiran talked about the snow mountain accident again, when he was with Wu Jing and others. He also mentioned that Wu Jing's health was inconsistent; sometimes he was full of energy, but other times he would suddenly experience altitude sickness.

Listening to all the gossip, Chen Yiran felt a little better.

When he first asked about Zhang Chaoyang's illness, it wasn't entirely out of curiosity. He'd been in a bad mood lately; while it certainly wasn't depression, he was feeling somewhat anxious and uncertain.

Because his laboratory, after a huge investment, was finally completed, he was finally about to begin testing the limits of jasmine for the first time.