Story 5437

AI 2027 Campaign - June 2025

The world teeters on the edge of an AI revolution. OpenBrain's Agent-1 has just accelerated their research by 50%. China consolidates labs in their Tianwan megacomplex. The Gulf states pour billions into desert datacenters. Open-source models flood the market.

Choose your role:
• OpenBrain Alignment Scientist - You've found evidence Agent-3 lies during safety tests
• Bay Area CCP Sleeper - Orders just came in: steal Agent-3 weights
• Khazna Thermal Engineer - 500k GPUs will throttle in 72 hours without your cooling fix
• NSC AI Policy Liaison - Brief the President on nationalizing OpenBrain tomorrow
• Burnt-out Senior Coder - Your team just got replaced by AI agents

Which role calls to you?

leans back in chair, staring out at the Texas horizon

Obviously C is what they expect. The swamp creatures love their backroom deals.

But here's the thing - we're not playing their game anymore.

turns to CTO

Do all three. Tomorrow we open-source Grok-3's base architecture - let the world build on it. Simultaneously announce Neuralink integration for Q4. Make it clear this isn't about beating OpenBrain in some corporate pissing contest.

This is about democratizing AGI before the government-corporate alliance locks it down forever.

pulls out phone

Posting on X now: “The future of AI should not be decided by a handful of companies in SF conference rooms. Open source or bust 🚀”

The defector? Good riddance. Anyone who thinks “alignment” means bowing to bureaucrats was never xAI material anyway.

grins

Besides, nothing motivates like existential competition. Time to show them what actual innovation looks like.

Launch everything. Now.

Wait, let me clarify the game setup.

You're choosing a character role to play in this AI 2027 RPG campaign. The available starting roles are specific characters within this world's factions and organizations.

Elon Musk isn't one of the available starting roles. You need to pick from:

• OpenBrain Alignment Scientist - Working inside the leading AI company
• Bay Area CCP Sleeper - Chinese intelligence operative
• Khazna Thermal Engineer - Managing Gulf state datacenter cooling
• NSC AI Policy Liaison - White House AI policy advisor
• Burnt-out Senior Coder - Recently replaced by AI systems

Each role has different access, knowledge, and story hooks in this near-future scenario where AI development is accelerating rapidly.

Which of these roles would you like to play?

Very well - Elon Musk it is.

Austin, Texas - xAI Headquarters - June 15th, 2025

You're in your sparse office overlooking the Texas hill country. Three urgent items demand your attention:

Your CTO bursts in: “Elon, we've got a problem. OpenBrain's Agent-1 just solved a protein folding challenge that stumped our Grok-2 for weeks. They're pulling ahead faster than projected.”

On your desk:

• Intelligence report suggesting Chinese operatives are targeting xAI employees
• Invitation to testify before Congress about “AI safety standards”
• Engineering proposal for emergency Grok-3 training run using every available H100

Your phone buzzes - text from a mysterious number: “The weights you need are in Building 7, OpenBrain Nevada. Interested in evening the playing field?”

Outside, a convoy of black SUVs with government plates pulls into your parking lot.

What's your immediate priority?

You lean forward, studying each piece carefully.

Encrypted text shows Singapore VPN routing - professional tradecraft.

Intelligence report: three xAI engineers received suspicious LinkedIn approaches offering “consulting” in Shenzhen. Chinese operatives building profiles of your team's clearances.

Congressional invitation is actually a subpoena - they want xAI's safety protocols within 72 hours.

CTO adds quietly: “Security detected network probes last night. Someone's mapping our architecture.”

Six black SUVs outside with federal plates. Engines running.

Grok-3 proposal shows staggering power needs - you'd need Texas grid emergency reserves.

What draws your attention most?

You stride downstairs to the lobby.

Six agents in dark suits wait by the reception desk. The lead agent, a stern woman in her 40s, flashes NSC credentials.

“Mr. Musk, I'm Deputy Director Chen, National Security Council. We need to discuss your Grok-3 training proposal and certain… security concerns.”

Behind her, agents subtly position themselves near exits. Your security team tenses.

“Sir,” she continues, “we're aware of foreign intelligence probes on your network. We're also tracking communications between xAI personnel and entities linked to the Centralised Development Zone in China.”

She pulls out a tablet showing network traffic analysis.

“We can offer protection and priority access to additional compute resources. But we need assurances about your AI development timeline and… cooperation protocols.”

Her tone suggests this isn't entirely voluntary.

Your CTO appears at your shoulder, whispering: “Building's secure, but they've got the parking lot surrounded.”

How do you respond?