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In the finale of Silicon Valley Richard tells interviewers that he still has the entire code base of Pied Piper's distributed internet on a thumb drive. But he is not able to locate it.
My question is two-fold.
Did Jian-Yang steal the thumb drive?
Are there going to be more seasons about the missing thumb drive or is it just a symbol of how people steal each others' techs in actual Silicon Valley?
Well I have found my answer and it's directly from Alec Berg's Interview with Entertainment Weekly
The episode — and series — ends with a cliffhanger of sorts as Richard is unable to find the thumb drive. What did you like about going in that direction? Was it your way of leaving the door open for a continuation in the future, or just more of a fun little thing for fans to theorize about?
I will be perfectly candid that we have no grand plan to return, but we were joking about it, like, “Oh, that’s the Silicon Valley movie, the search for the thumb drive.” We just like the idea that they create this doomsday device and then, in the end, Richard forgot where he put it. It just seemed like a funny place to end. But if it leads to something… look, I love this cast and I love this show, and if there were an opportunity at some point and it felt right to do more with them, I’d do it in a heartbeat. But there are no plans to do that, and that was not the design or seed of any new project…until it is!
It's not revealed who (if anyone) has taken the thumb drive. I think the missing thumb drive is just meant to show that Richard still is not entirely in control, and there still is some danger than someone else may release the Pied Piper AI on the world.
However it's very unlikely to be taken by Jian-Yang. Jian-Yang is impersonating Erlich Bachman and looks like he has taken all his money.
We can see this from the conversation between Richard, Monica and Jian-Yang at the party:
Jian-Yang: Richard, congratulations. It's your very close friend Jian-Yang, and I would like you to give me free shares of Pied Piper.
Richard: Okay, Jian-Yang. Uh well, you had plenty of opportunity to invest.
Monica: Still do. Yeah, you can buy Pipercoin.
Jian-Yang: Monica, two men are talking business. You can find your broom and fly away.
Monica: Suit yourself. I just checked the ledger, and the coin we issued to Erlich was just sold for $20 million.
Jian-Yang: Richard, is the mean lady right? Errich is now fat and rich?
Richard: Uh, yeah, I guess.
Jian-Yang: Where is he?
Richard: I don't know. Tibet still, maybe.
Jian-Yang immediately walks off and discards his Pied Piper hat on the floor.
Then at the end of the episode, when the documentary crew try to reach Erlich:
Interviewer: Are you Erlich Bachman?
Jian-Yang: Yes. I'm Errich Bachman. I can show you ID. That's my face. I was a-fat, but now, I'm a-not fat.
The implication of this scene is that Jian-Yang is rich off Erlich's $20 million, not somehow off the thumb-drive.
S06E07 Exit Event was advertised as the Series Finale, and much took place as a documentary 10 years into the future. It seems likely that there will be no more episodes.
Well, I feel the thumb drive was stolen by Monica, Dinesh, Gilfoyle.
Remember those two are running a "Successful security company" and Monica works for the "NSA".
Gavin Belson took it.
In this episode all the characters seem resigned to the respective courses taken by their lifes and careers.
But it is difficult to think of Belson accepting to remain as a "romance author and philanthropist" for the rest of his days. He would carry out a thorough inquiry or spying through Hendricks' stuff, finding that thumb drive and keeping it, so that he could use it in the future for whatever purpose he may think of.
(Of course it would not be him personally taking the thumb drive, but his devoted and skilled henchman Hoover - the Mike Ehrmantraut of this series-).
Laurie Bream took it, got caught (maybe by Monica, since Monica knows the true capability of the Pied Piper AI and was hinted to work for the NSA), hence the reason why she is in a medium/maximum-security prison wearing an orange jumpsuit. If Laurie Bream is in prison for some "normal" white-collar crime, she would most likely not be in a maximum-security prison and would probably be wearing a tan jumpsuit.
