Astra(OpenAI最新AI模型名), the latest artificial-intelligence model from OpenAI, is a technological leap forward and an aesthetic jump backward(技术向前一大步，审美向后一大跳), going by its promotional video. The clip begins with grainy(有颗粒感的，画质粗糙的) footage from 1979, of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology researcher testing voice-command software. Cut to the present. The Eames chair(伊姆斯椅，20世纪中期现代主义设计经典) and projector screen remain. But now workers assemble presentations and fiddle with(摆弄，拨弄) contracts via dictation as they pace around the brown carpet. Another chills out(放松，休息) by building and playing a rocket-ship game. The whole thing is, in a word, retro.
从宣传片来看，OpenAI最新的人工智能模型Astra在技术上是向前的一大步，在审美上却是向后的一大跳。短片以1979年的颗粒感画面开场，一位麻省理工学院的研究员正在测试语音指令软件。镜头切到当下。伊姆斯椅和投影幕布还在。但如今，员工们一边在棕色地毯上踱步，一边通过口述来整理演示文稿、修改合同。另一个人则靠搭建和玩火箭飞船游戏来放松。一言以蔽之：复古。
A retro revolution is under way(正在进行中) in Silicon Valley. Outside Elon Musk’s diner in Los Angeles, a homage(致敬，敬意) to 1950s Americana, can be spotted at least a few Cybertruck(特斯拉电动皮卡，造型棱角分明)s, Tesla’s beefed-up(加强的，增强的) version of the 1981 DeLorean. Palmer Luckey founded not just Anduril(防务公司，名字取自《指环王》宝剑), a defence firm named after the sword from J.R.R. Tolkien’s middle-earth, but also ModRetro, which makes replica(复制品，仿制品)s of video-game consoles from the 1990s. Andreessen Horowitz, the world’s largest venture-capital firm, has re-branded itself in the art-deco(装饰艺术风格，1920-30年代流行) style. Anyone who’s anyone(所有重要人物，但凡有点身份的人) has an opinion on the fallen beauty of the world. The boss of Stripe, a giant payments firm, has given out grants to projects in search of “new aesthetics”. But many more techie(科技人员，技术宅)s think the answers lie in the past.
一场复古革命正在硅谷展开。在洛杉矶埃隆·马斯克那家致敬20世纪50年代美国风情的小餐馆外，至少能看到几辆Cybertruck——特斯拉对1981年DeLorean的强化版。帕尔默·拉基不仅创办了Anduril——这家防务公司的名字取自J.R.R.托尔金笔下中土世界的宝剑——还创办了ModRetro，专门复刻20世纪90年代的游戏机。全球最大的风险投资公司安德森·霍洛维茨已将自己重新包装成装饰艺术风格。但凡有点身份的人，都对这个世界逝去的美有自己的看法。支付巨头Stripe的老板出资资助那些寻找“新美学”的项目。但更多科技人认为，答案就在过去。
Some dismiss all this as the mid-life crisis(中年危机) of an industry whose power has outgrow(长得比……快，超出)n its casual look. Much has been written about Mark Zuckerberg’s tough-guy transformation, but he still works at “1 Hacker Way(Meta总部地址，象征黑客文化)”. Sam Altman, boss of OpenAI, rarely uses capital letters in his earth-shaking(惊天动地的，影响深远的) correspondence. The glass boxes techies live and work in are far less grand than those of tycoon(大亨，巨头)s past: a visit to the soaring art-deco tower General Electric(通用电气，美国工业巨头) erected in Manhattan or the kitsch(媚俗的，庸俗的) castle William Randolph Hearst(美国报业大亨，赫斯特城堡主人) built in California would make any billionaire consider refashioning himself as a mid-century mogul(巨头，大人物) or a neo-classical titan(巨人，泰坦).
有人把这一切斥为这个行业的“中年危机”——它的影响力早已超出其随意的外表。关于马克·扎克伯格硬汉转型的文章已经很多，但他仍在“黑客路1号”办公。OpenAI的老板萨姆·奥尔特曼在那些惊天动地的通信中很少用大写字母。科技人生活和工作的玻璃盒子，远不如昔日大亨的宅邸气派：只要去看看通用电气在曼哈顿建的那座高耸的装饰艺术风格大楼，或者威廉·伦道夫·赫斯特在加州建的媚俗城堡，任何亿万富翁都会考虑把自己重新包装成20世纪中期的巨头或新古典主义泰坦。
The times they are a-changin’
时代正在改变