“996”、攝像頭，硅谷高管來中國看到了什么？
一名中國科技業(yè)高管說，自己每天工作14至15小時，每周至少工作六天。另一位高管表示，他每天只要醒著，都是在工作，必須要強(qiáng)迫自己通過看電影放松。
The reaction from a group of Silicon Valley executives: Wow.
對此，一群硅谷高管的回應(yīng)是：哇哦。
“We’re so lazy in the U.S.!” blurted Wesley Chan, a venture capital investor, on the first day of what would be a weeklong journey into the Chinese technology scene.
“我們在美國太懶了!”在參觀中國科技界為期一周行程的第一天，風(fēng)險投資人韋斯利·陳(Wesley Chan)不禁說道。
Work habits weren’t the only sharp difference between the Valley and China. By the end of the week, a group of American executives and investors found an alternate tech universe. It resembles Silicon Valley superficially. Look closer, and it becomes a futuristic yet closed-off world that can be equally impressive, alienating and dystopian.
硅谷和中國之間的鮮明差異不只是工作習(xí)慣。到了那一周快結(jié)束的時候，這一群美國高管和投資人看到的是另一個科技世界。從表面看，它和硅谷很像。靠近看，就會發(fā)現(xiàn)它變成了一個具有未來感卻又封閉的世界，這個世界有著同等的精彩、疏離和反烏托邦。
Chinese technology executives, they found, were even more driven and more willing to do whatever it takes to win. But that comes with major trade-offs, and punishing work schedules are only the beginning. They found Chinese tech executives to be less reflective about the social impact and potential misuse of their technologies, a potentially worrisome quality in a country with loosely enforced privacy laws, strict government censorship and a powerful domestic surveillance apparatus.
他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，為了贏，中國科技高管更有動力，更愿意不惜一切代價。但這樣做要做出很大的妥協(xié)，繁重的日程安排只是最起碼的一部分。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，中國科技高管不怎么反思技術(shù)帶來的社會影響，以及技術(shù)被不當(dāng)使用的可能性，在一個隱私法得不到嚴(yán)格執(zhí)行、政府審查嚴(yán)密以及擁有強(qiáng)大國內(nèi)監(jiān)控機(jī)構(gòu)的國家，這種特征可能令人擔(dān)憂。
“It was impressive to see the pace of innovation in China,” said Mark Goldberg, a partner at Index Ventures, a venture capital firm. “Some of the newer technologies, like facial recognition software, can be very powerful, and will need to be deployed thoughtfully — not just in China, but also in the West.”
“看到中國創(chuàng)新的速度令人印象深刻，”指數(shù)創(chuàng)投(Index Ventures)合伙人馬克·戈德伯格(Mark Goldberg)說。“其中一些比較新的科技，例如人臉識別軟件，可以非常強(qiáng)大，應(yīng)用時需要考慮周全——不僅是在中國，在西方也一樣。”
In August, Mr. Chan, Mr. Goldberg and 11 other Silicon Valley investors and start-up founders took a trip to Beijing and Shenzhen, two cities that are competing for the title of the Silicon Valley of China. Organized by the venture capital firms Basis Set Ventures, Index Ventures and Silicon Valley Bank, it was intended to help them understand how China has become a tech rival to the United States in barely two decades.
8月，韋斯利·陳、馬克·戈德伯格和其他11名硅谷投資人、初創(chuàng)企業(yè)創(chuàng)始人前往北京和深圳，如今這兩個城市正在競逐“中國硅谷”的名號。這趟旅行由風(fēng)險投資公司基組風(fēng)投(Basis Set Ventures)、指數(shù)創(chuàng)投和硅谷銀行(Silicon Valley Bank)組織，意在幫助他們理解中國是如何在不到20年里，就在科技方面成為了美國的對手。
Silicon Valley once saw China as a copycat, but it now has some of the world’s biggest and most powerful internet companies. It has more unicorns, or privately held companies with valuations of over $1 billion, than the United States. The China offices of venture capital firms like Sequoia Capital now manage bigger funds than their American headquarters. Silicon Valley luminaries like Michael Moritz of Sequoia Capital have been urging American entrepreneurs and investors to learn from China’s work ethic, ambition and technological advances.
硅谷曾經(jīng)將中國視為模仿者，但如今中國擁有一些世界上最大、實力最強(qiáng)的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)公司。中國擁有比美國更多的獨角獸公司，也就是估值在10億美元以上的私有企業(yè)。像紅杉資本(Sequoia Capital)這樣的風(fēng)投公司在中國的辦事處管理的資金比美國總部的還要多。而像紅杉資本的邁克爾·莫里茨(Michael Moritz)這樣的硅谷名人一直在敦促美國創(chuàng)業(yè)者和投資人向中國的工作倫理、野心和技術(shù)進(jìn)步學(xué)習(xí)。
The Americans got upfront lessons on how quickly China embraced mobile phones, electronic payments and video streaming, and how intensely it has pursued artificial intelligence.
這些美國人得以近距離地了解中國如何快速接受了移動電話、電子支付和視頻流，以及中國在怎樣大力致力于人工智能。
“I live in San Francisco, but I find it helpful to visit the other parallel universe from time to time,” said Lan Xuezhao, founding partner of Basis Set Ventures, who was born in China and visits the country every year. “To some degree, it’s like looking into the future.”
“我住在舊金山，但我發(fā)現(xiàn)，時不時去另一個并行發(fā)展的世界走走很有好處，”Basis Set Ventures創(chuàng)始合伙人蘭雪棹說;她出生在中國，每年都會回去看看。“在某種程度上，這好像是看到了未來。”
It started the moment the group members entered their rooms at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Beijing’s central business district, where a notice listed some of the websites they would be unable to access “due to Chinese internet regulations”: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Google, Bloomberg and The New York Times.
這個未來始于代表團(tuán)成員入住北京中央商務(wù)區(qū)柏悅酒店(Park Hyatt Hotel)房間的那一刻，房間里的一份通知開列了“由于中國互聯(lián)網(wǎng)監(jiān)管”他們無法訪問的網(wǎng)站：Facebook、Instagram、Twitter、YouTube、谷歌(Google)、彭博社(Bloomberg)和《紐約時報》(New York Times)。
Online payments represented another telling metaphor. Mobile payments are almost ubiquitous in the biggest Chinese cities, but setting up an account requires a local mobile number and a Chinese bank account.
在線支付代表了另一個強(qiáng)有力的隱喻。移動支付在中國最大的城市里已經(jīng)幾乎無處不在，但建立賬戶需要有當(dāng)?shù)氐氖謾C(jī)號碼和中國的銀行賬戶。
One afternoon they were desperate for caffeine and spotted a Luckin Coffee outlet, an up-and-coming Chinese brand, in the canteen of Bytedance, the A.I. information and entertainment powerhouse. But Luckin takes orders only on its mobile app. At the cashier-less convenience store at the headquarters of JD.com, the online retailer, an employee paid for their snacks with his own phone.
一天下午，代表團(tuán)成員想喝咖啡，他們在人工智能信息和娛樂巨頭字節(jié)跳動的餐廳里，看到了在中國前程似錦的瑞幸咖啡的一個門市部。但瑞幸咖啡只能通過其移動應(yīng)用在線購買。在網(wǎng)絡(luò)零售商京東總部的無出納員便利店里，一名員工用自己的手機(jī)為代表團(tuán)成員的零食付了款。
“China’s internet is a walled garden,” Mr. Chan said. “No one can break in unless you’re from here.” “中國的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)是一個墻內(nèi)的花園，”韋斯利·陳說。“沒有人能打入，除非你來自花園里面。”
Within that walled garden, everything seemed to be moving at an extraordinary speed. While Silicon Valley start-ups raise funding every 18 to 24 months on average, the group was told that the most successful Chinese companies do it every six months. It isn’t unusual for a hot start-up to raise funding three to four times a year.
在這個墻內(nèi)花園里，一切似乎都在以驚人的速度改變。硅谷的初創(chuàng)企業(yè)平均每18至24個月籌集一次資金，但這個代表團(tuán)了解到，最成功的中國企業(yè)每六個月就籌資一次資金。對于一家熱門初創(chuàng)企業(yè)來說，每年籌集三到四次資金并不罕見。
“Every time I go to the U.S., I feel that I’ll need to grow 10 times faster,” said Alexander Weidauer, a founder of the Berlin-based A.I. chatbot developer Rasa and the only member of the group not from Silicon Valley. “Now I feel I’ll need to grow 100 times faster. The pace in China is crazy.”
“每次去美國時我都覺得，我需要以比現(xiàn)有速度快10倍的速度增長，”亞歷山大·魏德爾(Alexander Weidauer)說，他是代表團(tuán)里唯一的一名非硅谷成員，是總部設(shè)在柏林的人工智能聊天機(jī)器人開發(fā)商Rasa的創(chuàng)始人。“現(xiàn)在我覺得，我需要以快100倍的速度。中國的速度很瘋狂。”
Their hosts kept reminding them of the advantages China had over the United States in A.I. development. China’s vast population and loose privacy laws give them access to much more data. A.I. companies also have considerable government support and are willing to pay more for top talent.
他們的東道主不斷提醒他們，中國在人工智能發(fā)展方面比美國有優(yōu)勢。中國龐大的人口和不嚴(yán)格的隱私法讓中國公司能夠獲得更多的數(shù)據(jù)。人工智能公司還得到相當(dāng)多的政府支持，愿意為頂尖人才支付更高的薪酬。
“The U.S. competitive edge over China may not be long,” Kai-Fu Lee, chief executive of Sinovation Ventures and former head of Google China, told them. “In fact,” he added, “the Americans now have the information disadvantage.”
“美國對中國的競爭優(yōu)勢可能不會持久，”創(chuàng)新工場(Sinovation Ventures)首席執(zhí)行官、谷歌中國前負(fù)責(zé)人李開復(fù)對他們說。“事實上，”他補(bǔ)充說，“美國人現(xiàn)在處于信息劣勢。”
But it was also obvious to the group what China was missing. For starters, everybody is Chinese. Even in its early days, Google had employees from 39 nationalities speaking 40-plus languages.
但在代表團(tuán)成員看來，中國缺失的東西也顯而易見。首先，這里只有中國人。即使在創(chuàng)立之初，谷歌的員工也來自39個國家，會說40多種語言。
“China is a bit homogeneous,” said Mr. Chan, an early Google employee. “You don’t find as much the perspectives of the world here compared to Silicon Valley.” “中國有點同質(zhì)化，”韋斯利·陳說，他曾是谷歌的早期員工。“與硅谷相比，你在這里找不到那么多觀察世界的視角。”
Then there’s the work schedules. The Silicon Valley natives were introduced to the Chinese start-up concept of 996: Work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week. Once they got over their shock, they had to ask: Does that punishing schedule make sense?
再就是工作時間表。這些硅谷人初次聽到996這個中國創(chuàng)業(yè)理念：工作時間是早9點到晚9點，每周六天。他們從震驚中緩過勁來后不禁問道：這個令人筋疲力盡的時間表有道理嗎?
“I’m not worried so much about my portfolio companies not working as hard as the Chinese companies,” said Mr. Chan, now a partner at Felicis Ventures. “I’ll worry when they’re less creative and less efficient.”
“我不太擔(dān)心我投資的公司不如中國公司這么努力工作，”韋斯利·陳說，他現(xiàn)在是法利思創(chuàng)投(Felicis Ventures)的合伙人。“當(dāng)它們的創(chuàng)造力和效率降低時，我才會擔(dān)心。”
While China is becoming more innovative, many members of the group said they believed — and some of their Chinese counterparts agreed — that the United States still leads in some areas.
雖然中國正在變得更創(chuàng)新，但代表團(tuán)的許多成員說，他們認(rèn)為——他們的一些中國同行也同意，美國在某些領(lǐng)域仍處于領(lǐng)先地位。
Although some Chinese tech companies can look very Silicon Valley-esque — with sprawling campuses that include dining halls, gyms and nap rooms — their preferred management style is still top down and results-driven. Unlike Silicon Valley, smart underlings have less freedom to start something new.
盡管一些中國技術(shù)公司看上去可能非常像硅谷式的公司——巨大的園區(qū)里有餐廳、健身房和休息室——但它們喜歡采用的管理方式仍是自上而下、以績效為導(dǎo)向的。與硅谷不同的是，聰明的下屬很少有自由去開始一個新的東西。
Underscoring their admiration for strong leaders, the Chinese technology figures told the Silicon Valley group that many in China idolized the Uber founder Travis Kalanick, who resigned as chief executive last year after the company was embroiled in various scandals. The reason: In his battles with a bigger local rival, Mr. Kalanick could be as aggressive and scrappy as a Chinese boss.
中國科技行業(yè)人士對這個硅谷代表團(tuán)說，許多中國人崇拜優(yōu)步(Uber)創(chuàng)始人特拉維斯·卡蘭尼克(Travis Kalanick)，這突顯了他們對強(qiáng)大領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者的欽佩。去年，公司卷入各種丑聞后，卡蘭尼克辭去了優(yōu)步首席執(zhí)行官的職務(wù)。中國人崇拜卡蘭尼克的原因是：在與當(dāng)?shù)匾患腋蟮母偁帉κ执驙帄Z戰(zhàn)時，卡蘭尼克表現(xiàn)出與中國老板一樣的氣勢洶洶和好斗。
There was very little discussion about the consequences of Chinese companies’ ruthless focus on growth and the social impact of the technologies they develop — criticism Silicon Valley now faces. The visitors asked how Chinese companies dealt with the issues of censorship and algorithm-driven social media, but their hosts either seemed puzzled by the questions or brushed them off.
基本上沒有人討論中國企業(yè)無休止地追求增長，以及它們所開發(fā)技術(shù)的社會影響問題——硅谷目前正面臨這方面的批評。當(dāng)參觀者問中國公司如何應(yīng)對審查和算法驅(qū)動的社交媒體時，他們的主人要么對這些問題感到困惑，要么表示不屑。
Technology itself is neutral, some of the Chinese executives said. It depends on how people use it — an argument that Silicon Valley companies used to make.
接待他們的一些中國高管說，技術(shù)本身是中性的。技術(shù)取決于人們?nèi)绾问褂盟?mdash;—這是硅谷公司以前的論點。
And then there was the surveillance. Chinese companies have little choice but to cooperate with Beijing’s growing efforts to track the daily lives of its own people. Some, in fact, make money off it.
再就是監(jiān)視的問題。中國企業(yè)別無選擇，只能與中國政府合作，不斷加大跟蹤本國人民日常生活的努力。有些公司實際上就靠這個賺錢。
Still, the Silicon Valley delegation did not expect facial recognition technology to be so widespread in Chinese life. Companies they visited used it at office entrances and at retail kiosks inside their facilities. They also saw demo videos of how the Chinese police could use the technology to monitor potential crimes in crowded public spaces and learn how many criminals had been arrested.
盡管如此，硅谷代表團(tuán)以前并未料到人臉識別技術(shù)會在中國人的生活中如此普遍。他們參觀的公司在辦公室門口，以及公司內(nèi)部的零售亭都使用了這種技術(shù)。他們還看到了一些演示視頻，展示了中國警方如何使用這個技術(shù)監(jiān)控?fù)頂D公共場所的潛在犯罪，還了解到用這個技術(shù)逮捕了多少犯罪分子。
After grasping how prevalent the cameras were, they started counting them. Even the van they rented from the hotel in Shenzhen had a handful of cameras installed, blinking from time to time to signal that they were on.
知道了攝像頭的普遍程度后，他們開始數(shù)攝像頭。就連他們從深圳酒店租來的面包車上也裝了好幾個，這些攝像頭不時地閃爍，表明它們在工作。
Then, like many people in China, they got used to it, as if the cameras weren’t even there.
然后，像許多中國人一樣，他們習(xí)慣了攝像頭，就好像這些攝像頭根本不存在似的。
