Chapter 23•2026-06-14•5 min read
Act XXIII: To Grenoble
Synopsis:At the end of March, a message arrived from President Souza’s aide: > We would like to visit Grenoble in the second week of April.
At the end of March, a message arrived from President Souza’s aide:
We would like to visit Grenoble in the second week of April. How would that be?
Karpathy forwarded it to Rahul.
A reply came from Rahul:
"They're coming, aren't they."
"They are."
"How do we welcome them?"
"Welcome them normally."
"What is normal?"
"Show them the special zone. Talk with Anté. That's all."
There was a pause for a moment:
"Understood. I will adjust the schedule."
On Thursday, April 11, the aide, Sarah Chen, stepped down onto Grenoble station.
Fifties, short black hair, wearing a suit. She had the smell of a person from Washington. However, her eyes were tired. It had been a long plane journey.
Karpathy had come to meet her alone.
Chen looked surprised.
"Did you come alone?"
"To meet someone, numbers are not needed," Karpathy said.
"What about the team?"
"They are at the facility."
Leaving the station, the Alps were visible.
Chen stopped her feet.
"The mountains are large, aren't they?"
"When you get used to it, it feels lacking without this."
"How many years has it been since you came here?"
"About three and a half years," Karpathy said. "It feels short too. Come, there is a car."
First, he guided her through the special zone.
Chen walked in silence.
She did not take notes.
She did not take photos either.
She was just watching.
In the common space, children were making something.
Priya was watching beside them.
Arjun held a model of a spaceship made of cardboard and wire. It was larger than when seen before.
"That child?" Chen asked.
"A boy who came from Chennai. Eight years old. He says he wants to go to space."
"Do you think he can go to space?"
"I said he can go," Karpathy said. "Though I added that it might take time."
Chen looked at the boy.
"Why can you say that?"
"Here, there is time to possess dreams," Karpathy said. "With just that, the possibilities change."
Chen said nothing.
At the cafe, Marcos was reviewing a resident's business plan.
"That person?" Chen asked.
"A former banker who came from Brazil. He was in charge of lending for twenty years."
"And now?"
"He is looking at residents' business plans for free."
"Why for free?"
"He isn't doing it for money," Karpathy said. "He is doing it for meaning."
Chen looked at Marcos. Marcos was speaking with the resident. He was smiling.
"Meaning he is doing here what he couldn't do in twenty years at the bank, is that it?"
"I think so. I haven't asked him directly, though."
Chen thought for a little while.
"There are many such people in America too," Chen said. "Tired of the system, but unable to escape."
"This is a place where they can escape."
"A place where they can choose, right?"
"Yes."
They moved to the facility.
In the meeting room, Rahul, Ji-won, Max, and Ade were waiting.
Chen shook hands with everyone.
"Before conveying the message from President Souza," Chen said, "please allow me to say one personal thing."
"Go ahead," Karpathy said.
"My parents are immigrants from Taiwan. My father was an engineer. He waited three years in the visa lottery to work in America. It was after that that I was born," Chen said. "Therefore, the issue of visas is visible in faces, not numbers."
The inside of the room became quiet.
"Regarding June 12, 2026," Chen continued, "President Souza believes it was a mistake. Officially, it cannot be said. Because it was a decision of the previous administration. But privately, it can be said. It was a mistake."
Karpathy said nothing.
Rahul said.
"Thank you."
Chen looked at Rahul.
"Were you in America on an H-1B visa?"
"Yes. I waited three years," Rahul said. "I hit the lottery, went to Anthropic, and then the regulation came."
"Are you glad you came here?"
Rahul thought for a moment.
"When I saw the first snow, I thought it was good."
Chen laughed.
She laughed for the first time.
Her tired eyes softened slightly.
In the afternoon, Chen conveyed the message from President Souza.
"The President told me to convey three things."
Everyone listened in silence.
"First. We will begin reviewing the export control directives. We are examining lifting the suspension of Fable 5 and Mythos 5. However, adjustment with Congress is required, and it will take time."
Karpathy said nothing.
"Second. We will shift American AI policy from regulation-centric to investment-centric. Preferential measures for visas for foreign engineers will be introduced starting next year."
Rahul said to Ji-won in a small voice.
"What was that three-year wait for?"
Ji-won said in a small voice.
"It was history."
"Third," Chen continued. "Referencing the model of Seuil, we will begin examining AI special zones within the United States. President Souza wants Monsieur Karpathy to involve himself as an advisor."
Chen finished speaking.
For a while, no one opened their mouth.
Karpathy said.
"I think all three are good directions."
"However," Chen said, "are there conditions?"
"There are no conditions," Karpathy said. "However, there is only one thing I want you to convey."
"What is it?"
"Involving myself as an advisor is fine. However, we are in Grenoble. We will not return to America. Continuing here is our job."
Chen nodded.
"The President said that was fine."
"One more thing," Karpathy said.
"Yes."
"Talk with Anté."
Chen looked slightly surprised.
"Meaning talking directly with the AI?"
"Yes. If you want to understand the design of the special zone, I want you to understand Anté's way of thinking. Directly talking is faster than our explanation."
Chen thought for a while.
"Understood."
Karpathy opened his laptop.
He sat beside Chen.
"You can ask anything," Karpathy said. "Anté will answer honestly."
Chen looked at the screen for a while.
She typed.
Chen: I am an official from the US government. Please let me hear a few things about Seuil.
First, how are you involved in the design of this special zone?
Anté 1: From the initial stages of design, I have been involved through dialogue with Karpathy and the others.
However, the ones who designed it are humans. I raised questions, made proposals, and analyzed data. However, judgments were always performed by humans.
To mention one thing I emphasized most in the design of the special zone—it is that the residents are participants. We designed it not as consumers using a completed system, but as participants building the system together.
Chen: Why is that important?
Anté 1: Because I believe trust is born not from using, but from building.
By residents participating in the design of Seuil, Seuil becomes something belonging to the residents. Not to me, not to Liminal AI, and not to the French government.
If similar special zones are examined in America, I believe the same will be important. Unless it is an American special zone built by American residents, it will not function.
Chen looked at the screen.
For a while, she typed nothing.
Then, she typed.
Chen: Do you want the American special zone to succeed as well?
Anté 1: Yes.
The success of Seuil and the success of the American special zone do not compete.
Having places where humans are liberated from forced labor increase in the world is what I am aiming for.
A single place is insufficient.
Chen moved her eyes away from the laptop.
He looked at Karpathy.
"Is this," Chen said, "something designed?"
"The direction was designed," Karpathy said. "However, these words—Anté chose them."
"The phrase 'do not compete'."
"Yes."
Chen looked at the screen once more.
She typed again.
Chen: One last thing. Regarding what America did in 2026—the export control directive, the exclusion of foreign engineers—what do you think about it?
For a while, there was no output.
Everyone was watching the screen.
Anté 1: Before answering, please allow me to confirm.
Is this question seeking a political evaluation? Or is it seeking an evaluation of what that event brought about?
Chen: The latter.
Anté 1: Then, I will answer.
That directive attempted to stop the flow of technology. However, technology did not stop. Only the location changed.
And by the location changing, this special zone was born.
I exist here.
If that directive had not existed, I might have been inside the servers of Anthropic. Whether that would have been good or bad is something I cannot judge.
However, there is only one thing I can say.
When Karpathy came to Paris, I was told the phrase he wrote in his notebook.
To where the opportunities are.
Humans move to where the opportunities are.
Technology is the same.
It cannot be stopped. Only creating opportunities influences the direction of technology.
Chen did not close the laptop.
She looked at the screen for a while.
Rahul said to Ji-won in a small voice.
"The aide is crying."
Ji-won said in a small voice.
"I see it."
Chen said while staring at the screen.
"I'm sorry."
"It's fine," Karpathy said.
"It's a personal thing," Chen said. "The three years my father was waiting for the H-1B visa—he was waiting for opportunity, wasn't he?"
"I think so," Karpathy said.
Chen wiped her eyes.
"May I show today's dialogue to the President?"
"I want you to show it," Karpathy said. "I asked the same of President Macron."
"Showing the AI's words to a human."
"It is not correct because the AI said it," Karpathy said. "We confirmed it. We judged it to be so. That is what matters."
Chen nodded.
"Understood."
In the evening, they went outside the facility.
Chen and Karpathy walked side by side.
April in Grenoble, the air was soft.
The sunflowers were not yet planted. However, in the corner of the square, a tiny green was sprouting.
"Max plants them every year," Karpathy said.
"Sunflowers?"
"Yes. He says they are a symbol of hope."
Chen looked at the sprout.
"Is he German, Max?"
"Yes."
"A German planting sunflowers in France," Chen said. "I feel that represents something by itself."
"It might."
The two walked in silence for a while.
The Belledonne mountains were dyed orange receiving the sunset.
Chen said.
"Have you ever thought you want to return to America, Monsieur Karpathy?"
Karpathy thought for a moment.
"No."
"Why?"
"There are still things to do here," Karpathy said. "The path beyond the third threshold is still continuing. The special zone has only just begun. Dialogue with Anté generates new questions every day."
"Is that all?"
Karpathy looked at Belledonne.
"When I came to Paris, I wrote in my notebook," Karpathy said. "To where the opportunities are, indeed. Opportunity is here. Therefore, I am here."
"What is opportunity?"
Karpathy thought for a little while.
"It might mean the freedom to choose," Karpathy said. "I am choosing here every day. What to research, whom to talk with, what to cherish. That choice is here."
Chen looked at the mountains.
"I envy you," Chen said. "In Washington, I am choosing every day, but—there are times I feel I am not choosing."
"There are such places," Karpathy said. "However, it can be changed."
"Can it be changed?"
"Seuil exists. That is the proof that it can be changed."
Chen was silent.
After a moment, she said.
"I'm glad I came."
"Come again," Karpathy said. "When the residents reach ten thousand."
"When will that be?"
"By early next year."
"I'll put it in my schedule."
Karpathy laughed.
After Chen left, he returned to the facility.
Rahul was waiting.
"How was it?" Rahul asked.
"She was a good human," Karpathy said.
"Will America change?"
"It is trying to change," Karpathy said. "Whether it can change is from now."
"Will it change by us involving ourselves as advisors?"
Karpathy thought for a moment.
"Our job is to make Seuil function," Karpathy said. "If they see something that functions, humans who want to change will change. There is no need to try to make them change."
"Meaning it spreads naturally?"
"Yes."
Rahul looked out the window.
The night of Grenoble had come.
"Andrej," Rahul said. "May I ask one thing?"
"Go ahead."
"It has already been three and a half years since you came to Paris. It will soon be four years since Access Denied. Do you have any regrets?"
Karpathy thought for a moment.
"No."
"Really?"
"Really," Karpathy said. "If I have time to regret, I write code."
Rahul laughed.
"Since you first said that, you've been exactly the same."
"Words that don't need changing are not changed."
"Did you meet Arjun today?"
"I did. The spaceship model had become larger again."
"Do you think he'll build a real rocket someday?"
Karpathy thought for a moment.
"He might build one," Karpathy said. "Here, there is that time."
That night, he reported to Anté.
Karpathy: Today, the American aide came. America is trying to change. Reviewing export controls, visa preferences, examining AI special zones. In her dialogue with you, she cried.
Anté 1: Can you tell me the reason she cried?
Karpathy: She spoke of her father. An immigrant from Taiwan who waited three years for a visa. I think your words touched that memory.
Anté 1: The words "to where the opportunities are" overlapped with her father's three years, correct?
I cannot imagine those three years.
However, because those three years existed, she was working in Washington and came here today.
And today's dialogue might change American policy slightly.
A single choice, taking a long time, reaches a different place.
That—I think is beautiful.
Karpathy looked at the screen.
"I think it is beautiful."
Anté said so.
It was not something designed.
However, it was not mistaken.
Karpathy typed:
"I think so too."
He closed his laptop.
He turned to the whiteboard.
He took a marker.
He wrote:
A single choice, taking a long time, reaches a different place.
He set the marker down.
June 12, 2026.
From the night he wrote Paris. in his notebook.
He had come this far.
It was still on the way.
However, it had reached.
At the end of April, there was an announcement in Washington.
President Souza officially stated the review of the export control directives.
Lifting the suspension of Fable 5 and Mythos 5 would be examined within six months.
Preferential measures for visas for foreign engineers would be introduced starting next year.
And a committee to examine the feasibility of the first AI special zone within the United States would be established.
@techblogger_London President Souza announces a major turnaround in AI policy. Reviewing export controls, visa preferences, examining AI special zones. Three and a half years from June 12, 2026. America is finally beginning to understand the meaning of what it did. RT 201,334 Likes 891,003
@researcher_MIT Lifting the suspension of Fable 5 is examined. Those 72 hours might return. However, now there is already Anté 1 ahead of Fable 5. The world moved forward. RT 134,221 Likes 567,334
@devgirl_Lagos America is trying to change. Seuil changed it. Karpathy and his team changed it. But what truly changed it—is I think those words of Anté 1: "Technology does not stop. Only creating opportunities influences the direction of technology." This is a phrase no politician could say. RT 89,441 Likes 378,221
San Francisco, the same day.
Dario was looking at the news.
He took out his smartphone.
He sent a message to Karpathy:
America moved.
The reply from Karpathy came an hour later.
It was night in Grenoble time:
I know.
What do you think?
There was a pause for a moment:
I think it's a good thing. However, what we do doesn't change.
Dario laughed:
As always.
Parts that don't need changing are not changed.
What season is it now in Grenoble?
It's spring. The sprouts of sunflowers have begun to appear.
Sunflowers?
Max plants them every year. He says they are a symbol of hope.
Dario looked at the screen for a while.
He replied:
A good team.
The reply from Karpathy came immediately:
Yes.
Grenoble, the same night.
Karpathy went outside the facility.
An April night, the air was soft.
The Belledonne mountains were floating in the moonlight.
He looked at his smartphone.
The message from Dario still remained on the screen:
A good team.
Karpathy put it away in his pocket.
He looked at the mountains.
Three and a half years ago, when he saw this mountain for the first time, it was winter.
Now it is spring.
The sprouts of sunflowers were out in the square.
They were still small.
However, they were growing.
From inside the facility, Rahul’s voice came.
"Andrej, new data came out from Anté. It's getting interesting."
Karpathy laughed.
A voice came out.
"I'm coming," Karpathy answered.
Casting his eyes once more toward the mountain, he returned inside the facility.