Balaji 閉幕：哈薩克合作備忘錄與 Network School 募資

0:00開場

0:00好，最後用一些我覺得蠻有趣的內容收尾，好嗎？最好的留到最後。基本上，我覺得今天到目前為止很 awesome。不知道你們喜不喜歡。接下來呢？All right, so just going to wrap up with some, I think, some pretty fun stuff, okay? Saved some of the best for last. So basically, I think that was pretty awesome. I don't know if you guys liked everything so far. So what next?

0:23network state 的核心想法是：你可以創立理想中的社會，這整本書的重點；或者你可以找到理想中的社會，這是 dashboard 的重點。例如你可以做 citizenship migration，像 Henley、IMI、CitizenX。So the core idea of the network state is that you can found your ideal society. That's the whole point of the book. Or you can find your ideal society, and that's the point of the dashboard. So, for example, you can do citizenship migration like Henley and IMI and CitizenX.

0:42你可以找既有社會，像 Citizenship in the Bitcoin Age 等等，�有 Zuzalu。或者找新的，也就是網路上的 network states，到 Network State Dashboard 上找一個新社會。You could find an existing society. Like, you know, the Citizenship in the Bitcoin Age and so on and so forth, and Zuzalu. Or you could find a new one, which is, you know, network states of the internet, and go and get a new society off of the Network State Dashboard.

0:59這就是我們在做的事：被治理者的同意、選擇、自由、liberty。同意、合作、decentralized democracy，用腳、用錢包、用選票為不同 startup societies 投票，每個都有你進入時簽下的明示或默示 social smart contract。That's what we're all about, which is the consent of the governed and choice, freedom, liberty. Consent, cooperation, and decentralized democracy, where you're voting with your feet, your wallet, and your ballot for all these different startup societies, each of which has an explicit or implicit social smart contract that you're signing by entering.

1:22你從兩黨制，有些國家是一黨制，過渡到千社群制，才有真正的選擇。第三種東西就是要有這千個社群。我們從創立網路公司、網路貨幣，走到網路社群。And so you have a transition from, you know... The two-party, or in some cases one-party system, to the thousand-community system, so you have true choice. So that's the third kind of thing, basically, to have those thousand communities. We go from starting internet companies and internet currencies to internet communities.

1:42我說第三種東西時：Netscape，第一家網路公司，1994。Bitcoin，第一種網路貨幣，2009。我們能不能創立網路社群？這能不能成為一件事？我們能不能把這些 internet tribes 印出來？這是問題。現在我們邁下一步，Network School 會變成非常認真的學校。And really, that's, you know, when I say the third kind of thing, you know, Netscape, first internet company, 1994. Bitcoin, first internet currency, you know, 2009. Can we start an internet community? Can that be a thing? Can we print out these internet tribes? That's the question. So now we're taking the next step, and Network School is going to become a very serious school.

2:05我們要幫哈薩克建成 digital state，也建 network state 的基礎。意思是什麼？你們看過一些了。我們簽了一系列協議，本質上把 network 和 state 融合。先是國家層級，等一下你們會看到 campus、coin、college、consulting、placement、company incubation 等一整串，基本上為 internet-first 學校和 internet-first 社會打下基礎。We're going to help build Kazakhstan into a digital state and build the foundations of the network state. So what does that mean? So you've seen some of this. We've signed a series of agreements that essentially fuse network and state, right? So first, the country level, and as you're going to see, for campus, a coin, college, consulting, placement, company incubation, a whole flurry of things have basically set the foundations for essentially building an internet-first school and internet-first society.

2:32簽約三層布局

2:32首先，如我們所知，我們和哈薩克共和國簽了協議。我們要在 Astana 建 tech hub，在 Alatau 建 crypto city，在哈薩克本身建 digital state。So first, as you know, we signed this agreement with the Republic of Kazakhstan. And we're going to be building a tech hub in Astana, a crypto city in Alatau, and then a digital state at Kazakhstan itself.

2:43哈薩克的角色是提供許可，某種意義上也是平台；我們是資本、人才、執行力，這組合可能非常好。第一步：我們搬進 Astana 的新 campus。來放一段有趣的影片。And Kazakhstan's role is to provide the permits and, in a sense, the platform, and then we're the capital, the talent, the execution, and that combination could be very good. Step one. We moved into our new city campus in Astana, Kazakhstan. Here's like a fun video.

3:06我會放幾段有趣的影片。開始。Hello, Kazakhstan。很酷吧？讓你們感受哈薩克是什麼樣子。它 poised 成為 Dubai North，有全球 visa 計畫。I'm going to play a few just, you know, fun videos. Here we go. Hello, Kazakhstan. So that's pretty cool. That gives you a sense of what Kazakhstan is like, okay? And so it's poised to become Dubai North. It has a global visa program.

3:38我們和他們合作加直飛航班，我們認為可以把 Astana 變成真正的 tech hub。這是 Astana 當地人報名的畫面。Astana 其實是 hyper-growth city，用年輕人的話說，mogs San Francisco。We're working with them to add nonstop flights. So we think we could turn Astana into a true tech hub. And here's, you know, some shots of just people signing up in Astana itself. Now the thing is, Astana is actually a hyper-growth city that, as the kids say, mogs San Francisco.

3:58這個詞存在一陣子了，現在更流行。這張圖顯示，若看 Astana 居民數，其實已是 San Francisco 的兩倍。I mean, this word has been around for a while, but it's more popular now. This graph shows that if... You know, if you look at Astana's number of residents, it actually is now double San Francisco.

4:11大約 10 年前就超過 San Francisco，下圖顯示蓋房子的速度是 San Francisco 的 100 倍。若這是兩家公司，紅線是 incumbent、藍線是 disruptor，Astana 現在比美國只有四個城市大：New York City、LA、Chicago，還有 Houston。It passed San Francisco about 10 years ago, and in the bottom graph, it builds housing at 100x the rate of San Francisco. And if those were two, you know, companies, and the red line was the incumbent and the blue line was the disruptor, Astana is actually now bigger than— Only four American cities are bigger: New York City, LA, Chicago, and I think Houston.

4:36大概等於美國第五大城市，對吧？這就是 hyper-growth city 的樣子。在我看來是下一個 Dubai、下一個 Singapore，而且真的很美，乾淨、 spotless。除非親眼看到，否則很難相信。去過的人通常都覺得非常 impressive。It's like the fifth-largest city in the U.S., right? So this is what a hyper-growth city looks like. It's, in my view, the next Dubai, the next Singapore, and it's also really beautiful. It's like, you know, spotless, clean. Amazing. You just won't, you know, you won't even believe it unless you see it. It's just like, you know, anybody who's come up there really, really finds it very impressive.

4:59STEM 學位與部長影片

4:59代表你可以蓋出乾淨、漂亮、便宜、快速，比許多西方人以為可能的快很多。所以那是帶人過去的好地方。第二步：我們正在取得 accreditation，可以發真正的 STEM 學位。就像 Harvard 從 Massachusetts Bay Colony 的一間教室起步，變成 Massachusetts，再變成 earlyAnd so it means you can build spotless, beautiful, inexpensive, fast, you know, much faster than many Westerners think possible. So that's why that's like a really great place to bring people. Now, step two: we're actually gaining accreditation to issue real STEM degrees, okay? So just like Harvard started as a one-room schoolhouse in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and from that, Massachusetts, and then built, you know, what became the early

5:23U.S. 等等，學校這種 wetware engineering 其實很關鍵。我們會變成真正的學校。我放一段 Kazakhstan 高等教育部部長 Sayasat Nurbek 的片段。開始，準備好了嗎？U.S. and so on and so forth, a school—the wetware engineering—is actually really a key thing. So we're going to become a real school. So I'm going to play a clip from Minister Sayasat Nurbek, who's the Minister of Higher Education and Science in Kazakhstan. So here we go. Ready?

5:37早安，來自 Astana, Kazakhstan 的問候。我是 Sayasat Nurbek，哈薩克科學與高等教育部部長。我很高興宣布，我們已正式和 Network School 簽署 MOU，要建 internet-first 學術機構，計畫發展成可授予完整學位的大学。Good morning, and greetings from Astana, Kazakhstan. I am Sayasat Nurbek, Minister of Science and Higher Education of Kazakhstan, and I'm thrilled to announce that we have officially signed a memorandum of understanding with the Network School to build an internet-first academic institution, one that we will plan to turn into a full degree-granting university.

6:02哈薩克正快速成為歐亞的學術重心。我們已對全球知識開放邊界，40 所國際研究型大學在我們土地上設分校。Network School 由 Stanford PhD Balaji Srinivasan 創立並捐贈，會結合傳統學術的 rigor 和網路的速度。Kazakhstan is rapidly establishing itself as the academic center of gravity in Eurasia. We have already opened our borders to global knowledge, hosting 40 international research-intensive universities that have built branch campuses on our soil. Founded and endowed by Balaji Srinivasan, a Stanford PhD, Network School will combine the rigor of traditional academia with the speed of the internet.

6:33第一，我們改為以考試畢業，不以在學時間。與其逼學生連續 48 個月上課，我們把 48 個月分散在 48 年，建 residential learning communities，每季只聚會一週。我們仿效醫學的終身學習，讓成員持續跟上新科技。First, we are shifting to graduation by examination, not duration. Rather than forcing students to spend 48 consecutive months in a classroom, we are spreading those 48 months over 48 years by building residential learning communities that meet for only one week per quarter. We are modeling the continuous, lifelong learning seen in medicine, keeping our members constantly abreast of new technologies.

7:04第二，我們取消孤立的紙本 diploma。學生會取得可攜、可證明的 skill passports，基於 blockchain 和可數位驗證的 cryptographic credentials。透過 Omni University academic mesh，Network School 學生可接入全國大學網路和分校課程，自建流動、客製化的學習路徑。Second, we are eliminating the siloed paper diplomas. Students will earn portable, provable skill passports based on blockchain technology and cryptographic credentials that are digitally verifiable. Through our Omni University academic mesh, Network School students will be able to tap into the courses of our entire national university network and branch campuses, building their own fluid, customized educational pathways.

7:36AI 導師與就業媒合

7:36但 access 只是方程式的一半。要真正為 post-AI 時代準備學生和參與者，這個 network 會由我們專有的 one-to-one Socratic teaching agent 驅動。我們部署 AI，不是當寫作文的捷徑引擎，而是不斷質疑假設、要求 productive cognitive struggle 的知识夥伴。But access is only half the equation. To truly prepare our students and participants for the post-AI age, this network will be powered by our proprietary one-to-one Socratic teaching agent. We are deploying AI not as a shortcut engine to write essays, but as a relentless intellectual partner that questions assumptions, demands productive cognitive struggle.

8:02Network School 會招募全世界的 dark talent，沒有資源或訓練的人，努力讓任何有資質的學生透過獎學金得到便宜、 ideally 免費的教育，並協助就業，從 tech job 開始。Network School will recruit the dark talent of the world, those without the resources or training, from all over the world, and it will work towards getting any meritorious student an inexpensive and ideally free education via scholarships, thanks to our donors and partners, and towards placing them in a job, starting with a tech job.

8:27最終，Network School 的目標是確保 post-AI 時代的學生有正確的 wetware，我們大腦裡、仍在任何 AI prompt、任何 AI 挑戰上游的 software。我們期待在哈薩克建 Network School，再把模式擴展成全球的 school network。Ultimately, Network School's goal is to ensure that students in a post-AI age have the proper wetware, the software in our brains that is still upstream for any AI prompt, any AI challenge. We look forward to building Network School here in Kazakhstan, and then scaling this model around the world into a network of schools.

8:54謝謝 Balaji 的信任，The Speed of Trust，Covey 有本很好的書。開始工作吧。TL;DR：on-chain diplomas，你可以真正證明 credential，對吧？好。第三點，我們會變成真正的學校、真正的 STEM academy，會非常 awesome。So thank you, Balaji, for your trust, for the The Speed of Trust. There's a great book by Covey, and let's get to work. TL;DR: on-chain diplomas, so you can actually prove your credential, right? Okay. Third point. So we're actually going to become a real school. We're going to become a real STEM academy. It's going to be pretty, pretty awesome.

9:15我們和 Kazakhtelecom 等公司簽約安置畢業生。關鍵想法是：通過考試，得到工作。我們會依學習技能的速度畢業。So we signed with companies like Kazakhtelecom to place grads. And the key idea here is: pass an exam, get a job. And so we're going to be graduating people based on really just how quickly they can learn skills.

9:29不是固定四年。四個月學會，很好。但你必須參加嚴格的 offline exam 證明你學會了。這有點像和 Kazakhtelecom 的交易。它有 18,000 人，像 Verizon，其實也和 Starlink 合作。基本上想成 Stanford 垂直整合了 career development center 和 McKinsey，所以會Not four years fixed. If you can learn in four months, wonderful. But you have to take a rigorous offline exam to prove you've learned it. And so this is a little bit like, you know, the deal with Kazakhtelecom. It's got 18,000 people. It's like the, you know, Verizon, or actually it works with Starlink. Just on this, basically, think of it as Stanford was vertically integrated with its own career development center and McKinsey, so it would.

9:52build and place，對吧？好。我們最近簽了這個。我們也在哈薩克招募 venture capital 和 startups。這是 Shervin Pishevar，Uber、DoorDash 等公司的早期投資人。我認為 Shervin 會在 Astana 設 operations，未來幾個月、幾年還會有更多投資人宣布。It's like build and place, right? Okay. So this, you know, we signed this recently. We're also recruiting venture capital and startups in Kazakhstan. So this is Shervin Pishevar, early investor in Uber and DoorDash and many other companies. And, you know, my view is, you know, Shervin is going to be setting up operations in Astana, and many other investors are going to be announcing over the months and years to come.

10:17全球人才與移籍潮

10:17我認為我們才剛處於全球 redomiciliation 浪潮的起點。若 tech billionaires 得在短時間內離開 California 和 Washington，他們住了 20 年、貢獻了 literally 數十億美元稅收，那很多人也得離開找新家，公司也要找新家。My view is we're just at the very start of a global wave of redomiciliation. If, you know, tech billionaires had to leave California and Washington on short notice, places they'd lived for 20 years and contributed literally billions of dollars in tax revenue, then many other people are going to also have to leave and find new homes, as well as homes for their corporations.

10:37整家公司 express redomiciliation 會非常非常重要。我們才剛開始，招募 VC 和 startups 到哈薩克是 major piece。Binance 也要去那裡，已公開宣布，你們還會看到更多。還有招募全球人才到哈薩克。想想這個。我告訴 Niall 他會有最後發言，但我先說一句，對，確實是。And so express redomiciliation of entire businesses is going to be very, very important. So we're just beginning that, and recruiting VCs and startups to Kazakhstan is one major piece. Binance is also coming there. That was announced publicly, and you're going to see a lot more. And then recruiting global talent to Kazakhstan. Now think about this. You know, I told Niall he was going to get the last word, but I will say something, which is, yes, it is.

11:02歷史上 U.S. 確實吸收了很多 talent。最近拿 visa 變難很多，包括 student visa。因此 arbitrage opportunity 打開了。哪個國家會擁抱從全球 selectively 招募 talent 的模式？你們可以看這張圖，我不放影片，這是 Astana Hub Instagram 上談It is true that historically the U.S. absorbed a lot of talent. Recently, it's become much harder to get visas, for student visas, to the U.S. And because of that, an arbitrage opportunity has opened up. What country will embrace that model of selectively recruiting talent from around the world? And so you can watch this clip. I'm not going to play a video, but this is just a still on the Astana Hub Instagram where they talk about.

11:25他們多快能為我們社群成員辦 visa。成員來自 Latvia、India、Japan、America，世界各地。哈薩克 obviously 會篩選，要確認有 talent，但沒有 minimum income。Singapore、Dubai 是很棒的國家，但常依 income 或 net worth 篩選。How quickly they're able to get visas for our community members. And, you know, they're coming from Latvia, from India, from Japan, from America, and all over the world. And Kazakhstan, obviously, they filter. They want to make sure that they're talented, but there's no minimum income. So, you know, places like Singapore and Dubai, amazing countries, but they often filter on income or on net worth.

11:50那會選到 30、40 歲、比較 established 的人，也可以。但 dark talent 呢？護照弱、但 work ethic 或技能或 talent 強的人，誰來招募他們？And that selects for somebody in their 30s or 40s, a little bit more established, which is fine. But for the dark talent of the world, the people who have weak passports, but they have strong work ethics or strong skills or strong talent, who would be able to recruit them?

12:04你得 somewhat enlightened，也得能 bet on 還不 legible 的人，還沒成就但有 potential。And you have to be somewhat enlightened, and you have to be able to have some way of betting on people who are not yet legible, you know, who haven't yet achieved something but have potential.

12:14這就是 venture capital 在做的事。你 bet on 還沒成功的人，因為你想幫他們成功。我們在招募全球 talent 到哈薩克，想帶數千人、再帶數萬人過去。That's what venture capital does. You bet on people who haven't yet made it because you want to help them make it. And so we're recruiting global talent to Kazakhstan, and we want to bring thousands and then tens of thousands of people there.

12:26當然我們也把本地 Kazakhstanis 安置到全球工作。不是零和，你可以同時做。要建 global tech company，你雇本地和全球 talent，賣給世界，本地也 work。And we're also, of course, placing local Kazakhstanis into global jobs. So it's not a zero-sum game, you know. You do the whole thing at the same time. To build a global tech company, you hire local and global talent, you sell to the world, and it also, you know, works locally.

12:42Alatau 發幣與融資

12:42通過考試，得到工作。第三步。你們剛聽完 Alatau City Authority 負責人講話。我們和 Alatau City Authority 簽約發 coin 來 bootstrap 城市。想像若 REIT 買了 Stanford campus 土地，Stanford 帶人進來、填滿 Palo Alto、Silicon Valley、San Francisco，社群能 capture 一部分他們創造的價值。So pass an exam, get a job. Now, step three. So you just met, you know, you saw the head of the Alatau City Authority just spoke right before me. We actually signed with the Alatau City Authority to issue a coin to bootstrap the city. And so imagine if a REIT, a real estate investment trust, bought the campus land for Stanford, and then as Stanford brought people in and it populated Palo Alto, and then Silicon Valley, and then San Francisco, that the community actually captures some of the value they create.

13:13Stanford 幾乎像 tree rings，從全球帶人來、沉澱在附近，但不 capture 那價值。你可以 capture。而且若人們持有 stake，不是 San Francisco 50 萬美元的房子，而是 SF coin，他們就不會是 NIMBY，會是 YIMBY，不會反對更多開發，會支持，因為希望整區價值成長，對吧？You know, Stanford is almost like tree rings, where it brings people from around the world and it deposits them nearby, but doesn't capture that value. You could, though. And moreover, if people owned a stake, rather than owning, let's say, $500,000 in a house in San Francisco, if they held the SF coin, then they wouldn't be NIMBYs, they'd be YIMBYs, because they would say they wouldn't be against further development, they'd be for it, since they'd want the overall area to grow in value, right?

13:43一些 crypto 想法，我們要投影到實體世界，用來 bootstrap 這個新的 crypto city，這是總統 initiative，有憲法地位。我很興奮。終極 real-world asset 會是 crypto city，然後是 network state。最後，Polychain 領投 Network School，估值 20 億美元。So some of the crypto ideas, we're going to project them into the physical world. We're going to use them to bootstrap this new crypto city, which is a presidential initiative. It has its own constitutional status. So I'm very excited about this. The ultimate real-world asset will be the crypto city, and then the network state. So, and finally, last but not least, Polychain is leading a round in Network School at a $2 billion valuation.

14:06這是 Olaf Carlson-Wee，Andreessen Horowitz、Coinbase 等參與。我們在 endow 新型 internet-first institution。Olaf 來了。Hi，我是 Olaf Carlson-Wee，Polychain Capital 創辦人兼 CEO。Polychain 是 cryptocurrency 領域的 multibillion-dollar 投資公司，超過 10 年，seed 了十幾個 decacorn outcomes。Here is Olaf Carlson-Wee, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Coinbase, and many others. So we're endowing a new kind of internet-first institution. Here's Olaf. Hi, my name is Olaf Carlson-Wee, and I'm the founder and CEO of Polychain Capital. Polychain is a multibillion-dollar investment firm operating in the cryptocurrency space. We've been around for over 10 years and have seeded over a dozen decacorn outcomes.

14:33我們的做法是不只投 incremental improvements，而是 completely new paradigms，解法不只是比現有世界好一點，而是用新 business model 或新 technology 完全不同地 approaching 問題。The way that we've done this is by investing not just in incremental improvements, but rather in completely new paradigms, where a solution is not just a slight improvement over what exists in the world today, but uses a new business model or new technology to approach the problem in a completely different manner.

14:55所以我很高興宣布，我們今天領投 Network School，Andreessen Horowitz、Coinbase 和 Balaji 本人參與，專案估值 20 億美元。Balaji 和我做朋友、合作超過 10 年。我們 2013 年第一次見，那時我在 Coinbase 做 customer support，Balaji 還不是 Andreessen Horowitz 的 general partner。So I'm very excited to announce today that we are leading an investment round into Network School alongside Andreessen Horowitz, Coinbase, and Balaji himself that values the project at $2 billion. Balaji and I have been friends and collaborators for over 10 years. We first met when I was customer support at Coinbase in 2013. This was before Balaji was even a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz.

15:23Olaf 談數位與實體退出

15:23這段時間裡，在我們的關係中，我們常談 Bitcoin 如何 catalyze 一種從既有金融體系的 digital exit，並由此創造 worth trillions 的 crypto economy。那不是對既有金融體系的 incremental improvement，而是用 technology 在體系外從零建。Over that time period, in the course of our relationship, we've talked quite a lot about how Bitcoin has catalyzed a sort of digital exit from the existing financial system, and through that created this entire crypto economy that's worth trillions of dollars. That wasn't an incremental improvement to the existing financial system, but rather a technological approach to building something completely outside of it.

15:51同樣地，這是我看 Network School 的方式。Network School 在建 native to internet 的新形式 human organization。它讓我們把 social media network 和 human organizational logic 印到實體世界。就像 human society 很多已圍繞 internet 和 software 在數位世界組織，這是組織 human society 在實體世界的大步。Similarly, this is how I view Network School. I think that Network School is building a new form of human organization that's native to the internet. It allows us to print out the social media network and human organizational logic into the physical world. So just in the way that much of our human society has been organized around the internet and software in the digital world, I think that this is the big step in organizing human society in the physical world.

16:24我相信 Network School 提供 peaceful exit，進入 parallel system，回頭看會覺得 obvious。Bitcoin 開頭的 digital exits 和 digital alternatives 已建出 multitrillion-dollar industry。I believe that Network School offers a peaceful exit. into a parallel system that we will look back on as being obvious. These digital exits and digital alternatives started by Bitcoin have built a multi-trillion-dollar industry.

16:41但我們的 physical world 呢？若不想從內部 fix system，而要 exit 並建新 system，我們在數位世界 sort of 有，也建了 worth trillions 的 crypto economy。But where is our physical world? If we don't want to fix the system from within, but rather have an option to exit and create a new system, we sort of have that in the digital world and have built a crypto economy that's worth trillions of dollars around it.

17:00但 physical world 呢？這當然是我認為 network state 概念如此重要的原因。對我來說 obvious，隨時間在 internet 上組織 human 的 logic 會 manifest 在 physical world。But where is that in the physical world? And this is, of course, where I think the concept of the network state is so important. To me, it's obvious that over time, the logic that organizes humans on the internet will manifest itself in the physical world.

17:15這就是為什麼 network states，對我，我覺得 hindsight 會很 obvious。我們會回頭看，它們是 organizing principle，讓我們把 social networks 印到 physical world，把 native to internet 的 human organization manifest 成真正的This is why network states, to me, I— I think will be quite obvious in hindsight. We will look back at them as the sort of organizing principle that allowed us to print out social networks into the physical world, so that we can take the sort of human organization that's native to the internet and manifest it physically in a sort of network state that is really

17:43邀請加入 ns.com

17:43internet-native，儘管是 unified geographic location。很酷吧？好，我們要建 Astana Tech Hub、Alatau Crypto City、Kazakhstan Digital State，來 ns.com 一起建，好嗎？來參訪，那裡可以 apply。告訴朋友，來看看，因為我們真的會做，好嗎？internet-native, even though it's a unified geographic location. Cool. Pretty cool, right? All right, so we're going to build the Astana Tech Hub, the Alatau Crypto City, and the Kazakhstan Digital State, and come build with us at ns .com, okay? Come visit, and you can apply right there, all right? So tell your friends, come visit, check it out, because we're going to actually do it, all right?

18:16非常謝謝大家，希望你們今天玩得開心。Thank you very much, and I hope you guys had a great time today.