Turing's Last Surviving Manuscript

I

At the end of 2022, Oasis Capital began adding two AI-focused discussions to its weekly schedule. Near the close of one session, Jin Jian asked excitedly: "This is truly a great era. Who started it?"

"Turing. Alan Turing proposed the Turing test, transforming the question of whether machines possess intelligence from an undefinable proposition into an evaluable technical paradigm."

"Then we need to find something that best embodies the Turing spirit, and let it witness China's Turing."

"Like what?"

"A manuscript?"

"He lived through World War II and died very young. That seems difficult."

"Then let's see who can send out this TS."

II

We severely underestimated the difficulty of this sourcing effort.

In 2023, through extensive inquiries, we gradually connected with various Turing-related collectibles: typewriters he had used, early computing devices, first editions of papers... most held by European private collectors or within the American museum system.

Once, a colleague sent an excited message: "Found two books Turing used, both signed on the last page."

"Not quite right. We want something from when he was actively thinking. Not a signature — a thinking manuscript."

III

Over the following two years, the team systematically engaged with the global auction ecosystem. From analysts to manuscript specialists, from regional offices to Asia-Pacific management, every possible lead was verified one by one. As we continuously built out industry nodes, deal flow gradually became engineered. We established connections with all four major "FA" institutions globally: Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams, and Guardian.

Everyone knew there was a Chinese institution searching for Turing manuscripts.

Mid-year, we received definitive news: a complete manuscript with Turing's signature would appear in a global auction. This might be the only work to surface in the past three years.

Preliminary work was quickly completed. Budget, process, on-site arrangements — all ready.

On auction day, we tracked results in real time, but in the final minutes, an anonymous buyer rapidly completed bidding. When we attempted to place another bid, we missed the optimal window.

Timely information, flawless execution, key decision-makers aligned — yet the other party didn't "take our money."

Post-mortem, iterate, and set out again.

IV

We knew such opportunities arise only once every three to five years. So we shifted strategy, from "auction" to "secondary purchase": we contacted every Turing collector we could find, drafting numerous emails hoping they would transfer their manuscripts to us, to inspire more entrepreneurs forward.

On the morning of September 23, after nearly two years of frequent communication, an email from New York arrived. The message was simple and direct: A private collector was willing to sell a complete Turing letter manuscript. Three pages, original envelope unopened.

This was a manuscript Turing wrote in the year before his death to his student: at the time, Lionel was just 17, a mathematically gifted student who had independently developed a new algebraic form called "Rebmun" (Number spelled backwards). Turing, then a professor at the University of Manchester, was deeply impressed upon receiving the letter. He explained concepts in group algebra, posed questions for further thought, praised Lionel's research for its solid reasoning and imagination, and encouraged him to devote more time to it.

Original letter text: "Your case differs slightly from group algebra in that when your basis elements are multiplied you do not get another basis element but ± another basis element. I suggest you try allowing arbitrary real number factors instead of just ±, for example this table (a 3×3 matrix was included in the letter)... I suggest you try: find all such 'group algebras with factors of six basis elements' of this kind."

This is a memorial that can represent the Turing spirit.

Private negotiation, documentation, payment. The manuscript traveled from London to New York, was then sealed and transferred to Hong Kong, and finally returned to Shanghai.

V

Today, this letter is displayed at Oasis Capital's Shanghai office.

When he wrote that letter, Alan Turing was 41, nearly twenty years after proposing the "Turing machine." By then, Turing could have simply ignored a letter from a young student. Yet he still read through it line by line, worked through the calculations, made corrections, and encouraged every truth-seeker.

This is Turing: plain-spoken, patient, thoughtful.

Later, Turing personally recommended Lionel to the University of Cambridge, enabling this student from an ordinary family to gain admission to a prestigious institution. Lionel lived up to expectations, growing through Cambridge to become the founding director of the "Land Use and Built Form Studies" (The Martin Centre), and subsequently serving as professor at the University of Waterloo, The Open University, and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Unfortunately, one year after his reply, Turing passed away.

Lionel regarded this reply as a turning point in his life, and treasured it until his own death in 2018.

This reply became the last surviving manuscript from Turing's lifetime. Preserved behind the ink: plain-spokenness, patience, thoughtfulness.

In the AI era, such qualities become even more important: models update at high speed, conclusions are constantly overturned. Entrepreneurs need even more to remain plain-spoken, patient, and thoughtful in this world of uncertainty.

Today, this manuscript has arrived in Shanghai, China. Perhaps this is also a metaphor — a metaphor that a century later, Turing will witness a new generation of founders here building further upon his foundation, a metaphor that he will witness the next "Turing" emerging from China.

This is the charge and blessing Turing left for us.

Welcome all companions in the AI era to visit the Oasis office, and say hi to this century-old manuscript.

We can only see a short distance ahead, but we can see plenty there that needs to be done.

— Alan Turing

Celebrating Vitality

With thanks to all partners who provided support and assistance in the "Turing Project" over the past three years

Christie's New York

Christie's Hong Kong

Bonhams Asia

Sotheby's Asia