Poor Professor Hinton was stretched upright, lying in a small space created between two beds. Of course, he was not being tortured, but he had to use this weird and crude method due to physical reasons.

Las Vegas is located in the desert, and the air is thin and dry. For Hinton, who is 65 years old and extremely weak, this long-distance trip is extremely dangerous, and he is also very worried about what he will do in the desert.

Getting sick in different environments.

The hotel bed made him uncomfortable, so Hinton asked Ilya and Alex to take the cushions off the pullout sofa against the wall, place them on the floor between the two beds, and use the hotel's ironing board and

Fill the gaps with other debris, then soak a few towels with water and put them on top to create a simple "awning".

Every night, Hinton sleeps in such an awning. The water-soaked towels will make the air more humid, making him feel more comfortable. The cushion underneath is relatively hard, which can also relieve the symptoms of his waist.

This is why Hinton insisted on conducting remote auctions. He didn't want people to see what he was doing to stay healthy. It would be too embarrassing or embarrassing.

When Li Rui and others came to negotiate yesterday, the two "vice presidents" Ilya and Alex tidied up in advance. Since there are no guests visiting today, Hinton can rest peacefully in the awning.

Hinton was also a little surprised when he heard Ilya's report.

Their so-called company has no assets, just three people, and the technology they just developed is actually worth 15 million Mg yuan?

Although Hinton doesn't care too much about money, he is still very happy to see that his persistence over the years has been recognized financially.

Alex said: "Microsoft offered 14 million Mg, Google offered 13 million Mg, and DeepMind offered 5% of the shares... How much are their shares worth?"

Ilya shook his head and said: "I don't know...but the things they are studying are very interesting and are close to our ideas."

"London is too far away. I heard that it rains all day long and the food is not delicious. It may be a problem for the professor's health." Alex said.

Ilya was convinced, and then asked Hinton: "Professor, can I announce the highest price now?"

Hinton said: "Okay."

Soon, all four competitors received notifications, and the current highest offer is 15 million magnesium yuan.

This price actually did not surprise everyone. None of them thought that the auction would end in one or two rounds. Almost everyone set the psychological price at 20 million magnesium yuan or even higher, so no one hid it.

Tucked away, Microsoft and Google simultaneously raised the price to 20 million Mg in the next round, and DeepMind also offered 8% of the shares.

"Wow!" Ilya and Alex crowded in front of the computer screen and got really excited after seeing the quotation of 20 million magnesium yuan.

You know, they are still three people crowded into a standard room, and this is the cost borne by the neurips conference, otherwise they may choose a hotel with worse conditions.

Professor Hinton's salary for teaching at the University of Toronto is not high, which is at the level of the ordinary middle class. Ilya and Alex have no income for the time being and rely entirely on Professor Hinton's research funds. They suddenly discovered that

The value of the small company formed by the three of them has reached 20 million yuan. It is inevitable that they will be a little bit proud to be able to make a lot of money.

Even Hinton was slightly moved: "It's really a good price."

"Is this the value of science?" Alex said with excitement.

Ilya asked: "Professor, continue?"

"According to the rules, let's continue. I'm also a little curious now about how much money they have to pay." Hinton said with interest, even ignoring the dull pain in his waist.

"Ding dong", an email was received in Ruidu's mailbox.

Yu Kai quickly clicked it and said with a smile: "You are right, someone actually offered 20 million, but I don't know if it was Google or Microsoft."

Li Rui just said that one of Microsoft and Google will definitely give an offer of 20 million. This is also a test to detect the strength and determination of unknown competitors.

Being able to invest more than 20 million yuan in a technology that does not know how long it will take to produce commercial results, or whether it can produce results, means that the other party must be a company that is at the forefront of the times and has outstanding strength and excellent financial status. And such

Companies looking at the Internet industry, with two hands basically counting, basically after the next round of quotations, everyone will be in semi-clear competition.

In Microsoft's room, Lu Qi mused: "Let's wait and see what our competitors offer. If there is another one that is higher than us, I suspect it will be Google, Facebook, or Amazon."

In Google's room, Eustace and Dean gave a light slap and said, "Let's see if the other party is Microsoft or Facebook!"

The third round of quotations began. This time Microsoft and Google did not quote, while Ruido and DeepMind gave new quotations.

"Ruidu gave a quotation of 25 million magnesium yuan, and DeepMind holds 13% of the equity, and they made it clear that this is their highest bid." Ilya said after reading the email.

Hinton said: "It seems they are quitting."

There are three competitors left, but they don't know it.

Seeing that the bid had risen to 25 million, Google was not too surprised and quickly raised the offer to 30 million, while Microsoft fell into long-term thinking.

Lu Qi went to make a phone call and chatted for thirty minutes. When he came back, he looked a little serious.

They probably guessed their competitors, but it made Microsoft hesitate a little, wondering whether they should continue investing.

In recent years, Microsoft has made frequent investment mistakes and has wasted more than tens of billions of dollars. This has caused serious dissatisfaction among shareholders. They even questioned Ballmer's vision and believed that Microsoft should focus on its core business instead of making acquisitions like a headless fly.

Those projects that have no potential are just like scavengers, picking up garbage!

Taking into account the feelings of shareholders, Microsoft has been relatively cautious in its recent investments, especially since artificial intelligence has not yet seen commercial opportunities, which has made them hesitate.

"Microsoft has also withdrawn, and now Google's asking price is 30 million."

Five minutes before the quotation deadline, Microsoft sent an email stating that it was temporarily withdrawing, and Ilya reported the situation to Hinton.

"So we're left with Redo and Google?" Hinton asked.

Ilya said: "That's right, do we still want to continue?"

Hinton thought for a moment and said, "That's it for today. I need some time to think."

Li Rui was not surprised when he received the notice that the auction was suspended and would resume tomorrow. He also needed time to launch a psychological offensive against Hinton.
Chapter completed!