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The requirements are quite extensive, requesting a lifetime of nautical experience, diving certifications, and the ability to do so "in conditions insurance companies decline to cover," plus bureaucratic handling of permits, ports, and sea creatures. Bonus ballast includes having pre-1800 salvage experience, proficiency in Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch, sailing certifications, owning your own dinghy, and "operational experience in Somalia, Hormuz, or Malacca" — clearly indicating this job is not for the weak of mast or faint of sail.
Applicants ticking all the boxes in the cargo manifest can expect a compensation package inspired by 17th-century privateer commissions: equity in this new venture (retained when it's spun off AE Studio Skunkworks), cash "weighted heavily toward upside" of the $50k-$500k range, and a share of the plunder. The company handles logistics and legal costs.
If by now you're wondering what this has to do with AI, the explanation is fairly simple: AE Studio claims it's using AI to go through 80 million pages of records spanning five centuries of Spanish colonial paperwork. The data includes nautical, admiralty, and insurance writings, and the final goal is to locate lost shipwrecks and their sweet, juicy booty in the areas most likely to contain them after cross-referencing the info.
As "the model does not swim," prospective buccaneers act as the proverbial robot arm for the actual search-and-plunder operations. The firm does warn that the first few dives are bound to result in empty hands. Amusingly, AE Studio appears to draw a mathematical parallel between the reward of falsifying historical records to hide treasure and incentive-driven alignment failures in AI training.
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Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/ai-company-hiring-a-literal-pirate-to-salvage-sunken-treasure-found-by-artificial-intelligence-pays-up-to-usd500k-a-year-mining-80-million-pages-of-spanish-colonial-records-to-find-undiscovered-wrecks-and-lost-cargo#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com/membership
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Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.