Six months.
In the world of deep learning, six months can be an eternity. Long enough for a paradigm to shift, for a new architecture to render the old one obsolete. Long enough to tear a fallen empire down to its foundations and build a new one in its place.
The auditorium buzzed with the low, expectant hum of a thousand invited guests—academics, investors, developers, and the kind of journalists who wrote for journals with subscripts in their titles. The stage was minimalist: a single lectern of polished aluminum and a vast, seamless screen behind it that displayed a simple, elegant logo—a stylized ‘Æ’ that looked like a bird in flight. Aethel Labs.
I stood in the wings, the cool, conditioned air a stark contrast to the warmth of the stage lights. Alexander stood beside me, not as a h
