Chapter 550 The CEO's Edge
Inside the meeting room, Song Ci sat in the main seat, twirling a Montblanc pen between her fingers, her eyes lowered as she browsed the documents on the table.
Jian Ning spoke up at the opportune moment: "Chairman Song, the investment department has conducted due diligence. Tiantian Express's accounts are clear, and no problems have been found."
Song Ci's gaze lingered on a few key data points for a moment before he nodded slightly, picked up his pen, and signed his name on the last page of the document.
The pen tip scratched across the paper, making a "scratching" sound, marking the official completion of Tengda Group's strategic investment in Tiantian Express.
He closed the document and handed it to his secretary: "Have the investment department complete the follow-up procedures as soon as possible. Efficiency is the top priority."
Jian Ning took the document and silently left the meeting room.
The meeting continued.
Song Ci snapped the pen cap shut with a clear, crisp sound.
"I have spoken with Mr. Ren from Huawei. HiSilicon will develop a custom chip codenamed 'T1' for Tenda."
This chip is designed to process the massive amounts of unstructured data generated by Tenda, including images, voice recordings, social relationship graphs, and more.
The computing power can reach the level of quadrillion floating-point operations per second, and the Tenda software stack has been deeply optimized to ensure compatibility.
Following the press conference announcing the strategic cooperation between China Mobile, Tenda, and Huawei, he held in-depth discussions with Ren Zhengfei.
Huawei leads the chip front-end architecture design, IP core integration, physical layer design, and final tape-out production.
Tenda is responsible for providing core software driver optimization and defining chip performance metrics based on real business scenarios such as WeChat, Weibo, and gaming platforms.
The two combine their soft and hard approaches, work together, and jointly counter international giants.
On the left, Zhang Yong silently wrote in his notebook: "Chairman Song, I've also done the calculations here."
It encompasses all projects including chip R&D, computing center infrastructure, hardware procurement, and R&D teams.
The Nine Chapters Computing Center's first-phase investment is estimated at $1.2 billion. Additionally, I suggest using liquid cooling technology, although this would increase costs by approximately 40%.
A murmur rippled through the meeting room. Nearly 8 billion yuan, and that was only the first phase of investment—it far exceeded many people's expectations.
Zhang Yong tapped the table with his pen to quiet the murmurs.
"Traditional air-cooling systems rely on fan arrays for heat dissipation. These fans are energy guzzlers, accounting for 30% to 40% of the total energy consumption of data centers."
Furthermore, when the CPU and GPU temperatures are too high, they will automatically reduce their operating frequency, resulting in wasted computing power.
Liquid cooling technology allows the chip to maintain its optimal temperature at all times, achieving 100% stable performance output across all frequencies.
Upon hearing this, Song Ci made the decision almost without hesitation: "Let's use liquid cooling technology. Although the initial investment is huge, the long-term benefits will be immeasurable."
The world is now pursuing 'dual carbon' targets, and the approval process for energy consumption quotas is becoming increasingly stringent.
Using traditional air cooling, not to mention the electricity costs, would make it difficult to pass the performance evaluation. Mr. Zhang's suggestion is visionary.
At this moment, an executive sitting in the middle of the long table spoke up to express his support: "Chairman Song and General Manager Zhang have excellent insights."
Within the same space, the density of computing servers that can be deployed using liquid cooling is several times that of traditional air cooling, greatly improving space utilization.
Meanwhile, the liquid cooling environment completely isolates the computing components from air, dust, and moisture, providing a stable and clean operating environment that significantly reduces the failure rate and extends chip lifespan.
He adjusted his glasses and added from a more human perspective, "Moreover, it completely eliminates the enormous noise generated by thousands of high-speed fans."
Engineers' working environment will be fundamentally improved; otherwise, long-term exposure to that environment would negatively impact their health.
Following the sound, Song Ci saw that the speaker was He Chengzhong, the vice president who had replaced Lin Haifeng, who was transferred to MYbank, and was temporarily in charge of YiPay.
A hint of surprise flashed in his eyes. He hadn't expected that this vice president would know so much about liquid cooling technology, and he couldn't help but feel a little curious.
Zhang Yong also glanced at He Chengzhong, a slight thought stirring in his heart.
At a sensitive time when Lin Haifeng's departure is a foregone conclusion and the position of head of Yifutong remains undecided, this Vice President He has been much more high-profile than before.
Song Ci looked around and, seeing that the main topics had been discussed sufficiently, set the tone:
"Regarding the cooperation with Huawei, each department must fulfill its responsibilities. If there's nothing else, the meeting is adjourned."
As everyone began packing up to leave, Zhang Yong leaned forward, approached Song Ci, and whispered:
"Chairman Song, I have something I need to discuss with you and President Wang privately."
Song Ci paused for a moment, then nodded: "Okay." Raising her voice, she said, "President Wang, please stay behind. Everyone else, the meeting is adjourned."
After everyone left, the atmosphere inside the room instantly relaxed from its previous formal and serious tone.
Song Ci leaned back in his chair with a relaxed posture: "Brother Yong, what's up?"
Zhang Yong raised his head, stared at the chairman who was so close to him, and slowly asked, "Chairman Song, do you think chips are important to Tengda Technology?"
Song Ci was taken aback by the question, and subconsciously sat up straight, answering without hesitation: "Of course, it is extremely important!"
Tenda's ambitions, whether it's leading the future in artificial intelligence, connecting the world through social networks, or gaining all-knowing cloud computing, are all built on a foundation of powerful computing capabilities.
And chips are the foundation of computing power; they are the engine of the digital world!
He was well aware that Tengda Technology possessed massive amounts of data generated by products such as WeChat, Weibo, and YiPay.
But data itself is not valuable; the key is to extract insights and intelligence from it.
The engine that completes this "refining" process is the chip.
Therefore, chips are not just important to Tenda, they are crucial, they are its strategic lifeline.
"Chips are the lifeline of the company, a battleground that must be fought over." Zhang Yong's voice was not loud, but it carried immense weight. "But Chairman Song, why did you completely hand over the core lifeline of Tenda's future to Huawei?"
Song Ci was stunned for a moment, then explained, "Letting professional teams do professional things is the most efficient model."
Tenda and Huawei, with their respective focus on software and hardware, each pursuing cutting-edge innovation, are working together to jointly counter international giants – this is currently the optimal path.
Zhang Yong shook his head, his eyes sharp: "Huawei is indeed a company worthy of respect, but it is also an ambitious company."
Last month, they just established 'Huawei Cloud' and invested heavily in it.
Today, our cloud computing and AI complement and cooperate with their chips.
So what about tomorrow? When our business boundaries continue to expand, and when Huawei Cloud becomes one of the world's top three..."
He paused, then emphasized:
"When that day comes, will Tenda continue to use its competitors' chips with peace of mind, or will it switch to them?"
When that time comes, will the massive and complex business system still be able to be switched over?
Wang Jing, who had been listening in silence, spoke up in a deep voice: "Chairman Song, there are no permanent allies, only permanent interests."
Your perspective on Huawei shouldn't be limited to that of a partner; sometimes, you must switch to a competitor's viewpoint and plan ahead.
Song Ci opened her mouth, wanting to refute, but found herself speechless for a moment.
Zhang Yong and Wang Jing's words were like two bolts of lightning, striking into his originally clear and firm strategic blueprint and revealing the dark side and risks he had never considered.
Zhang Yong watched as the confidence and composure on Song Ci's face gradually faded, knowing that his words had had an effect, and sighed deeply:
"Chairman Song, Tengda is building an unprecedented digital empire, but you want to completely hand over the most important foundational chip of this empire to someone else! That won't do!"
Song Ci's expression was incredibly solemn, and Zhang Yong's words resonated deeply. Computing power is the foundation of the future digital world, and chips are the only irreplaceable tool for building that foundation.
A long silence fell over the meeting room.
Song Ci suddenly realized that relying entirely on any single external partner on the ultimate issues of supply chain security and computing power stability is an extremely dangerous gamble.
If Huawei is restricted by sanctions in the future, and its chip production and supply are hindered, what kind of catastrophic chain reaction will occur for Tenda, which relies on Huawei's chips?
Seeing the chairman's ever-changing expression, as if he were caught in a internal struggle, Wang Jing carefully considered her words:
"Chairman Song, my opinion is still that we should promote the diversification of the supply chain. We can also cooperate with other domestic chip design companies, and it is also necessary to maintain a certain amount of international mainstream chip reserves."
Zhang Yong added: "I asked experts, and they said that relying on a single chip architecture for a long time may lock the technological development path and put us at a disadvantage in the future competition in cutting-edge AI and cloud computing."
Therefore, I suggest that Jiuzhang Computing Center adopt a heterogeneous computing architecture to enable different types of chips to work together and be flexibly scheduled.
In this way, if the supply of any single chip encounters a problem, we can quickly shift the computing load to ensure uninterrupted business operations.
Having said that, he looked intently at Song Ci and added the last, and most crucial, line with great emphasis:
"Or, if you really want to take control of your own destiny, why not... just make up your mind and develop your own chips!"
"Self-developed chips?" Song Ci's pupils suddenly contracted, and she looked sharply at Zhang Yong. She never expected that this usually steady CEO would have such great courage and ambition at such a critical moment.
If he takes this path, it means that almost all of his previous arrangements and plans that were deeply intertwined with Huawei will have to be scrapped and started from scratch.
Moreover, self-developed chips are well-known "money-devouring monsters." Once launched, the entire Tengda Group's capital structure, resource allocation, and strategic focus will face huge adjustments, and the risks and difficulties involved are self-evident.
Seemingly seeing through Song Ci's many concerns, Zhang Yong added, "Tengda doesn't need to develop general-purpose chips like Intel and Qualcomm."
We only develop dedicated chips, specifically for our video encoding and decoding, image processing, social recommendation algorithms, and AI inference training.
While the initial investment is substantial, success can significantly reduce the cost of purchasing computing power.
Furthermore, through ultimate hardware and software integration optimization, it can improve the operational efficiency of all core businesses, forming a core competitiveness that competitors cannot imitate!
In an instant, memories of her past life flashed through Song Ci's mind: Google launching TPU, Amazon developing Graviton, and even domestic companies like Tencent and Alibaba eventually embarking on the path of developing their own chips.
The trajectory of history always seems to confirm a certain inevitability.
The last trace of confusion and hesitation in his eyes was completely dispelled, replaced by a clarity and determination that came with sudden enlightenment.
He spoke slowly and deliberately, his voice regaining its usual composure and strength:
“Brother Yong, you’re right! My previous strategic thinking had blind spots, and the strategy must be adjusted.”
The cooperation with Huawei will remain unchanged, and may even be deepened, to jointly develop the general-purpose T1 chip and stabilize the present.
Simultaneously, the "Cornerstone Project" for self-developed chips was launched, targeting dedicated chips for gaming, social networking, and AI businesses—a two-pronged approach!
After a moment's thought, he discussed it with the two of them: "This 'Foundation Project' will be led by you, Yong Ge, with an independent team. Developing chips is not easy, let's take it one step at a time!"
Just then, Song Ci felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Seeing that it was his wife who had opened it, he answered directly: "Hello, Shishi."
"Honey, I...I'm at the hospital, I just got my test results..."
Before Liu Shishi could finish speaking, Song Ci's heart leaped into his throat, and he asked anxiously, "What's wrong, wife? Are you feeling unwell? Is it serious?"
"No...it's not illness." Liu Shishi's voice trembled with joy. "It's...it's pregnancy! Honey, we're going to be parents!"
"Are you sure?" Song Ci exclaimed in surprise.
"Yes, the doctor has confirmed it. The cycle is still short, but all the indicators are normal." Liu Shishi's voice was filled with happy joy.
"Great, great, great! You're pregnant! That's wonderful! Hahaha, I'm going to be a dad!"
Song Ci suddenly stood up, joy surging like a tide, and a bright smile bloomed on her face.
So excited she was almost incoherent, "Shishi, I'll arrange for someone to come and get you right away... no, I'll come myself! How are you feeling? Are you nauseous? Are you tired?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Yong and Wang Jing exchanged a glance, both seeing surprise in each other's eyes.
Tenda, this two trillion yuan technology empire, is finally about to welcome its successor!
At the same time, the two couldn't help but feel a sense of awe. This child was truly born with a silver spoon in his mouth. From the moment he was born, his starting point had already surpassed that of 99.99% of people in the world.
Song Ci's face was filled with an almost silly, happy smile. He spoke softly into the phone, giving his wife detailed instructions. He lingered with her for a while before reluctantly hanging up.
Overwhelmed with joy, he paced back and forth in the conference room, muttering to himself, "I'm going to be a dad... This is wonderful... This is so wonderful!"
Looking at this business tycoon, who revealed such a rare, even somewhat clumsy, genuine side in the face of sudden family happiness, Wang Jing couldn't help but smile.
She thoughtfully took out her phone and sent a message to Jian Ning, Song Ci's chief secretary: "Jian Ning, come over here."
Song Ci excitedly spun around a few times, calmed herself down a bit, and then busied herself sharing the good news with both sets of parents.
"Mom! What wonderful news! Shishi is pregnant! You're going to be a grandma!"
"Mom! You know Shishi is pregnant? She told you? Great! You want to go take care of her? Let's go together, I'll arrange a flight right away!"
After contacting several close relatives one by one and sharing this immense joy, Song Ci discovered that Wang Jing was assigning tasks to Jian Ning, arranging his private jet.
A warm feeling welled up in his heart, and he sincerely thanked her, saying, "Thank you, Sister Jing, you've worked so hard."
Wang Jing smiled gently: "Congratulations, Chairman Song. This is wonderful news."
Zhang Yong stepped forward as well: "Congratulations, Chairman Song!"
"We can discuss the chip issue another day." Song Ci beamed with joy, his whole being seemingly radiant, his eyes shining with an astonishing brightness.
"I want to establish a medical and nursing team for Shishi, and hire Asia's top obstetrics experts, nutritionists, and nurses."
Jingjie, what else do you think we need to prepare? Should we start designing the nursery now? We need to pay attention to environmental protection…
Wang Jingwen gently reminded him, "Chairman Song, you can leave these preparations to your subordinates. Spend more time with Shishi."
When a woman is pregnant, she is emotionally sensitive and needs her husband's companionship and care most. What she is carrying is the fruit of your love.
(End of this chapter)
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