From legendary short seller to god of American capital

Chapter 338 Nothing is truly undeniable.

Chapter 338 Nothing is truly undeniable.

Matthew was just joking, trying to lighten the mood with a correct but pointless remark. But Larry took on a different meaning from it.

Larry suddenly remembered AI from his previous life. Before he transmigrated, AI had already begun large-scale development. Initially, people viewed AI as something very mysterious and highly advanced—

But soon, someone discovered AI's fatal flaw: it is prone to data corruption and hallucinations.

The fundamental architecture and training methods of large language models, along with human usage patterns, contribute to the system's fragility.

Because AI itself isn't thinking; it's just calculating related probabilities. For example, it knows that Paris and the French capital appear frequently, but it doesn't understand what "capital" actually means, nor does it know that Paris has the Eiffel Tower.

Data pollution is easier to understand because the training data for AI includes misinformation, biases, conspiracy theories, and a large amount of fake news.

The fundamental purpose of large models is to achieve smoothness, not realism.

Therefore, as long as the pollution is eliminated at its source, AI can easily output a consistent answer that the person causing the pollution wants to elicit.

Sometimes AI doesn't lie intentionally, but is designed to avoid silence. It would rather make up a reason, even one that seems absurd, than say "I don't know."

Therefore, current large-scale AI models inevitably produce unreliable results.

This is understandable to a rational person, who can also understand that the problems with AI are unavoidable.

When Matthew mentioned deception, Larry happened to think of AI search—prompted by Matthew, Larry's instinctive reaction was to "pollute the source of information".

After all, news reports at this time mostly relied on the reporter's side of the story. It wasn't even an era of "a picture is worth a thousand words" anymore; it was the era of sensationalist journalism, where the more outrageous the claims in the newspapers, the more readers they attracted.

Furthermore, Larry suddenly deduced another answer: the data pollution and illusion problems of AI are actually highly similar to the structural flaws in contemporary media.

Although the two technologies differ, they share a fundamental vulnerability in the information production mechanism: the pursuit of "traffic" and "smoothness" outweighs the adherence to the truth!

Reporting the news a minute faster means a surge in traffic and huge profits. Under such temptation, how can the media uphold the truth?

AI will cite non-existent Lancet papers to support pseudoscience, and the media will publish incorrect photos of suspects—even if these are later proven false, the traffic has already been generated, so at worst, they can just apologize!

Similarly, the media will never say "I don't know," especially when faced with drastic market changes. They won't say that the market changes were caused by unknown factors, but will instead fabricate details, over-interpret, and forcefully attribute causes, then package this "timely explanation" with "expert analysis" or "rumors"!

Their shared logic is: the vacuum must be filled, even if it's just through fantasy!

If this is the case with mainstream media, imagine what it's like with independent media!

Are American media outlets now more ethical than independent media?

On the contrary, true investment masters, or true wisdom, should begin with the four words "I don't know".

Having figured this out, Larry couldn't help but smile! Because almost instantly, it knew exactly what to do—

That is—at a critical juncture in the market, polluting the sources of information in the media!

So, the modern, wise media, composed of intelligent people, will naturally weave a set of narratives for the public.

"Hallucination".

Nothing is impossible to fake! As long as I have the will and the money.

However, this will take time, requires preparation, and patience to wait for the right opportunity.

Thinking of this, Larry smiled and patted Matthew on the shoulder. "I already know what to do next, but don't rush! Let's go back to the futures exchange first."

When Larry rushed back to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the trading session for the day had just ended.

Because only members are eligible to enter the trading hall to trade, most ordinary investors like Larry are unable to enter the venue.

Larry could hear the noise in the trading floor gradually subside, and many floor traders came out one after another. Some went straight to their order counters to settle their orders, while others found the order holders waiting in the outer room to settle their orders.

Larry craned his neck in the crowd, searching for the broker he had just chatted with. However, with traders pouring out of the trading floor, he couldn't see him at all.

Larry stopped a young, inexperienced floor trader and asked, "Excuse me, may I take your trading order?"

The young agent hesitated for a moment, then said, "Yes, that's possible, but I don't have time right now. I'm currently working on a client's request. Please come directly to my office counter and wait for me."

The young broker pointed to a counter in the northwest corner of the trading floor.

Larry said goodbye to him and headed straight for the counter. As soon as he got to the counter, Larry was surprised to find that all the agents at the counter were red-haired Irish immigrants.

There was a sign hanging in front of the counter: FP Stone.

"Hey guys, I need to find a few agents to hire!" Larry greeted the group.

A chubby, bald man stepped out from behind the counter and greeted Larry, "I'm the boss! We accept commissions from individuals, but we also charge a 1.5% commission."

"Okay, let's talk!" Larry then walked up to the boss and told him about his plan to entrust them with some Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) trading commissions in the future.

Old Stone nodded and said, "Your request isn't difficult, but it's more complicated if you want to make the request remotely—it requires sending a telegram."

"Send the telegram then. I'll try to finalize the commission as soon as possible to give you some breathing room." Larry tapped the table with his fingers. "If you're satisfied, produce your contracts, and I'll have them signed!"

The people behind the counter exchanged glances, all feeling that this customer who had come to them so readily had been too agreeable. But since he had come to them, there wasn't much else to say.

Stone & Co. signed a contract with Larry and left their telegraphic address. Larry then took out a check and stingily wrote $1500 on it.

After all, when starting a commission, both parties need time to get to know each other. Also, when you're in a different place, you don't want to show off your abilities too much.

One advantage of brokers in Chicago is that they can bring leverage, up to five times, which means they can make three or five deals with just $1500.

Before leaving, Larry solemnly emphasized one point: "No off-exchange hedging! All my warrants must be guaranteed to be traded on the Chicago Board of Trade. Otherwise, I have the right to take the contract to court and sue you—"

Old Stone smiled as he accepted the check, quickly assuring everyone, "Don't worry, sir! Our brokerage firm always keeps its promises."

After leaving Stone Brokers' counter, Larry went to two other brokerage firms and signed the same agency agreements, issuing checks for $1500 each time.

Coincidentally, at the very last brokerage firm, he ran into the same person he had given five dollars to during the day.

When the other party learned that Larry was there to make a request, he immediately boasted to his boss that the client had come because of him.

After Larry signed the contract, he pulled the familiar agent aside and quietly asked, "Is Cargill having some kind of trouble? Otherwise, how could his boss stay in Chicago for so long instead of going back to Minnesota?"

The broker blinked and said, "Sir, your observation is very insightful—it really impresses me. Cargill is facing a lot of debt risks right now. They expanded too quickly recently. But now the farmers renting their warehouses can't pay, and old Cargill can't recover his costs. He's particularly worried about how to deal with the banks' collection efforts."

Larry nodded and instructed, "Be sure to tell me if there's anything going on! You're my first-level agent, and if you're well-informed, you'll be paid extra."

"How much?" the other party hurriedly asked.

"I'll pay $15 for every good news message!" Larry promised.

This is already quite a lot, and the other party nodded quickly upon hearing this condition.

In total, Larry paid $4500 to obtain brokerage licenses from three brokerage firms.

This was Larry's preparation for a major shift in futures prices later on. This kind of on-site boss...

Hiring agents directly makes it easier to spread information than it did with Lehman Brothers.

Tuesday, October 6th.

Larry and Matthew arrived at Adler & Sullivan Architects again.

The two pushed open the door and entered, the doorbell ringing.

A young assistant stood up and looked at them. After a moment, he recognized Larry as a customer who had been there before.

"Mr. Sullivan is still in the drafting room. Please wait a moment while I go and call him."

The assistant darted into the inner room.

A moment later, crisp footsteps echoed on the wooden floor of the hallway.

Sullivan came out carrying a large blueprint. He paused in the hall to make sure Larry was in the right direction before walking toward Larry with a solemn expression.

"Sir—what's your name again?" Sullivan suddenly asked.

Larry Livingston.

"Oh, right! Mr. Livingston, this commission of yours is really—" Sullivan shook his head and smiled wryly for a while, then spread out the architectural design blueprints on the table.

"I'm already unconventional enough, but you guys are much more radical than me—okay! This is my design."

Sullivan's fingers traced patterns on the blueprint, and the fine lines and markings on the drawing slowly emerged from his fingers.

Sullivan's finger stopped at the central courtyard. "Mr. Livingston, this is the very soul of the entire Garden of Light!"

Larry leaned down for a closer look and saw that the courtyard was an irregular octagon. The edges were outlined with terracotta reliefs depicting vines and leaf veins, which complemented Sullivan's signature organic decorative style.

This is the circular residential complex of four buildings, constructed according to Larry's specifications. Larry's initial vision resembled a lavish neighborhood, but Sullivan's artistic vision was superior, as he transformed the central courtyard into the heart of the entire complex.

"I designed a special reflection angle that allows low-angle winter sunlight to shine through the glass dome into the corridors of each floor—look here."

Sullivan pointed to the blueprint and explained the technical details one by one.

But Larry was concerned with the overall layout. Apart from the service building, the four buildings each had their own style, and none of them were exactly the same.

In particular, the street-facing urban wing is equipped with connecting shops, which gives the entire community a complete set of functions.

The service building includes a boiler room, laundry room, and carriage parking area, and can provide any necessary conveniences for customers.

Creative centralized heating and hot water systems are very useful, but this is also the first time Sullivan has designed such a home-based solution directly.

The cross-sectional view of the room shows that Sullivan was indeed ingenious, arranging everything in an orderly manner.

"Look at these balconies. Each floor has a different design, creating a visually appealing, staggered effect. The lower-level balconies are deep and wide, perfect for placing tables and chairs and enjoying the courtyard view; the upper-level balconies are more airy, featuring openwork cast iron railings; and on the top floor, in the viewing salon, I designed 360-degree panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows, where residents can admire the entire Boston skyline!"

Larry nodded repeatedly; this design really suited his taste.

Sullivan paused for a moment, his tone becoming more enthusiastic, "What I'm most proud of is the design of the service system. The three-story service building brings together all the necessary facilities, and through underground passages, service personnel can deliver food and mail directly to each household without passing through the residential areas."

Each unit has its own independent steam heating and hot water system, meaning that even in frigid Boston, residents can enjoy constant temperatures and comfort during the winter, as well as 24-hour hot water.

"That's fantastic!" Larry nodded repeatedly in approval as he looked at the blueprint.

"I also referenced the bathroom design of Chicago's newly built Palace Hotel and made sure to include electrical outlets in every room."

The presentation lasted a full 20 minutes. Matthew stood to the side listening attentively, while Larry nodded more than he asked questions, clearly very satisfied with Sullivan's arrangements.

When Sullivan finally put down the blueprints and picked up his now-cold tea, Larry stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the Chicago skyline.

After a moment of silence, he turned to Sullivan, his eyes gleaming with a captivating light. "Mr. Sullivan, your design has exceeded my expectations. You not only understood my needs but also imbued these buildings with soul. However, I have one small design element that I need you to refine—"

Sullivan was a little surprised and asked, "What kind of design do you want?"

"Since it's a garden of light, I need you to set up lighting that's angled towards the walls so that this beautiful city can be seen from a distance at night without obstructing the residents' view."

Larry was actually talking about lighting. People's ideas about light bulbs are very primitive now, and they can't even imagine what this kind of lighting effect would look like on a building.

But Larry's original intention in doing this real estate project was to be cool—and then create a sensation, so as to make a good start for future real estate projects.

How can you make a house stand out from the crowd?

Larry's only idea was to use lighting, making sure the ambient lights were bright enough to make his neighborhood look unique!

Therefore, it is both a suggestion that fits the concept of a garden of light and a necessary feature that makes the community a focal point.

Sullivan lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then looked at Larry with a wry smile. "Young man, you've shown me another possibility in architecture. Okay! You win!"

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