The End of Technology

People who have no desires are strong.

This is probably Chen Yonggang's mentality at this time.

He really doesn't want to make any further progress. Being able to stay at the University of Sports and Medicine until he retires is already the most perfect life for him.

According to the current development pace of the University, until he retires, he will be the most awesome president in the world since ancient times. There is no one, and he will be included in the history books.

So Chen Yonggang really has nothing to pursue, so naturally he doesn't care about joking with the leaders.

Anyway, it is impossible to approve tens of billions of notes, even if the old leader really has the courage to approve it...

That's even better. For things like appropriation, as long as the money reaches TiDa's account, he has the final say on how to use it.

For example, the administrative building of the University of Sports looked good before. However, with the rapid development of the University, it is no longer that grand and has no characteristics. It would be good to build a new building. Now that the sports university is developing into a comprehensive university, the science building seems too simple. If possible, we can build another twin building and double the enrollment next year.

The situation of Mingzhu Shuangdan University next year is worrying. He has to think about many students and cannot let young students be deceived by schools that are already in name only.

Each and every thing is important, so naturally dealing with the leader is not so important.

Of course, the person on the other end of the phone probably knew what Chen Yonggang was thinking, and after scolding him a few times, he had no choice but to do anything. There was no way, after all, the system still needed someone who could get along with Ning Zi.

Everyone has seen Ning Zi's temper. They all know how difficult it is to deal with, and this guy protects his shortcomings.

There are many people who are unhappy with Ning Zi, but there is nothing they can do about it. Now this young man has become a national treasure-level scientist. He is so willful and has a lot of people accompanying him.

He is extremely capable and the absolute leader in China's future scientific research field. He is defensive, stubborn, willful, reckless in doing things, and dares to flip the table...

All these characteristics are put together, and the leader has no way to gain confidence when facing Chen Yonggang, who is a cutthroat. The most he can do is curse a few words, then hang up the phone angrily, and then find excuses to forgive this principal with mismatched abilities.

What else can be done?

If you really fall out, you might ask to go there if something happens in the future.

…

Of course, it's not just the leaders who have been bothering Chen Yonggang at this time, the principal also has to deal with many partners.

For example, Youwei, especially Apple.

To be honest, for these two quasi-alliance companies, it was also a little sudden for Ning Zi to suddenly announce on its official website that it would share new structure chip technology.

Fortunately, because the relationship is closer, we have obtained first-hand technical information and authorization, and have begun planning the design and production of narrowband chips and radio frequency chips. Both chips are essential to the company's future robotics strategy.

Although the design logic of chips embedded in mobile phones and embedded in robots is different, it can be considered as a familiar path for the group. From their perspective, they actually hope to have more collaborators.

But they still wanted to know Ning Zi's attitude as soon as possible.

As for Apple, the significance of new structure chips is naturally more important.

After all, if the technology can be improved quickly, it means that the A-series chips in a few years can also use this new technology, allowing their own products to have more powerful performance. Therefore, Tim Cook has been actively communicating, hoping that Apple can obtain relevant technologies, but he did not expect that it would be in this form. Like the manufacturers of the World Semiconductor Alliance, they have to invest real money...

Obviously this is extremely unfair from Apple's perspective.

After all, the chip R\u0026D center of the University was built with the help of Apple, so there should be some discounts, not to mention that Apple is considering many aspects and has not joined the World Semiconductor Alliance.

Yes, Tim Cook, who is in his office at Apple’s headquarters building, is very confused.

It would be a lie to say that I have no regrets.

He still remembered that more than a year ago, he made a special trip to China to meet Ning Ju for the upgrade of Apple's intelligent voice service system Siri. He even remembered what Ning Zi said when the two of them were dining in a private room in the canteen of the University of Sports: "Our technical reserves are enough to knock Apple off the altar..."

Really, Tim Cook still remembers how he felt when he heard these words... slightly unhappy, but still somewhat convinced. But based on his scientific common sense judgment at the time, he believed that such an R\u0026D center would not be able to pose any threat to the now mature semiconductor industry chain for at least twenty years.

Therefore, he refused to invest more at that time and share the results of the R\u0026D center in the future. Instead, he chose a more realistic plan and exchanged a R\u0026D center for Ningji’s long-term upgrade services to Siri. Now it seems that Tim Cook must admit that he was too short-sighted.

But who would have believed at the time that this R\u0026D center had just been officially handed over to Ning Zie, and within just a few months, it had produced disruptive results.

Still too careless.

After seeing the announcement on the official website of the R\u0026D center, he wanted to have an in-depth talk with Ning Zi again about the cooperation between Apple and Sports University. He could choose to make more concessions and gain more development basis at the same time. Who would have thought that Ning Zi I went into retreat again and couldn’t contact anyone for the time being.

In order to understand these two words, he called a Chinese engineer in the company and received an ambiguous explanation. But he still understood some things. The engineer found out on Google that before Ning Zi took out the three-dimensional chip with a new structure, he also announced a period of retreat in the research center. After coming out, the chip had a finished product...

So in Tim Cook's understanding, Ning Zi's kind of retreat probably means hiding in the laboratory and using magic without seeing anyone.

He used it once half a year ago, and then China got the chip.

Half a year later he decided to use it again, and God knows what he would come up with this time.

So soon, Tim Cook made a decision. After a year, he decided to visit China again. He only needs to arrange the things at hand within a week before he can start his trip to China. After making his decision, Tim Cook pressed the answering machine on his desk.

"Kelly, update me on your itinerary. I plan to go to the capital of China next week..."

"Oh, okay Mr. Cook."

"Go!"

…

Just when Tim Cook decided to go to China, Cisco's negotiating team finally reached a package agreement with the School of Computer Science of the University of Physical Education after staying in China for nearly half a year. He returned to the United States with a smart software that could subvert the world.

Yes, this negotiation took a long time.

The reason is also very simple. Cisco does not have the ability to upgrade the software in the short term. This requires companies under the University of Computer Science to take on the maintenance and upgrade of the early software. However, at the same time, Cisco is unable and unwilling to transfer users to Share data with each other.

The focus of the negotiation was stuck here. Even though Conan Lamar agreed to the compromise under Ning Zi's instruction, in order to avoid a series of possible problems, the School of Computer Science of the University of Sports and Arts still needed to register a branch in the United States. Responsible for software upgrades, maintenance and data collection.

In short, after half a year of wrangling, the two parties finally reached an agreement and signed a contract.

Cisco is about to have a new lease of life.

But from another perspective, a layoff storm spreading from Silicon Valley has also begun to brew. Artificial intelligence has finally begun to replace humans in high-level work fields, and the first shot is about to begin.

It just so happens that the cooperation with the large chip R\u0026D center is released. This opportunity is perfect.

…

Liu Xinfeng walked into Google's office building in Silicon Valley as usual.

In fact, compared to his Chinese name, colleagues here prefer to call him by his English name, Pete Liu.

To be honest, Peter is quite satisfied with his current life.

The whole world knows that Google is a company that treats its employees very humanely. In addition to high salary, various benefits are also generous. His current annual salary is about 200,000 U.S. dollars. Don’t underestimate this number. This is already more than many university professors.

He is also very satisfied with the canteen provided by the company. It is operated by a Michelin chef and provides delicious meals for three meals a day. The only thing that makes Pete unhappy is that the company stopped cooking meat for one day recently, but there is no problem. Big, the company still offers many delicious pastries and vegetarian dishes.

There is free high-end coffee in the tea room, and you can discuss various technical issues with your colleagues at any time during working hours. You can even fish in an aboveboard way without anyone caring about you.

The company has arranged a rest area, so you can take a nap during lunch break.

The company also helped them pay for insurance that was far better than ordinary people. Apart from the fact that house prices and rents in the Bay Area are indeed a little more expensive, it is not a problem for Pete. He is still young. Give him another two or three years. You should be able to collect enough down payment to become a homeowner.

Compared with the extreme life of domestic students, this relaxed lifestyle is undoubtedly more comfortable.

For Peter, the only trouble is probably that this comfortable life has made him lose the motivation to strive. This has made him not think about improving himself for many years after graduating from Columbia with a master's degree. This is indeed worth it. On reflection, but then again, many of his local colleagues and classmates from the Huaqing Alumni Association are actually pretty much the same.

It is actually difficult to move forward, especially for Chinese people. It is too difficult to get into the technical jobs in core laboratories. And for most people, the current job of a code farmer is also very decent, and it is not that bad to live like this for the rest of their lives.

What Peter hopes most now is to find a girlfriend and get married.

But this is indeed a difficult task in the Bay Area of ​​California.

To put it simply, there are more wolves and less meat. The wages of the coders working here are all about the same, with annual salaries ranging from 200,000 to 300,000. A party with three or five single women can often attract dozens of coders to participate, especially the vast majority of Chinese boys. It is more difficult because the choices are relatively narrow. After all, he still prefers to find a wife who is also of Chinese descent.

There are relatively few female international students, and they seem to have a wider range of choices, and they don't mind falling in love with Westerners. This really gives Peter a headache.

But how can everything in life be perfect?

Anyway, he is still young, only 28 years old, and there is still time to find her hidden in the crowd.

…

As usual, after turning on the computer, Peter did not intend to get into work immediately. Instead, he went to the pantry to make a cup of coffee. Then I keenly realized that something seemed wrong in the atmosphere of the company today. Several Western colleagues were gathering together in twos and threes to chat about something, and many of them had solemn expressions on their faces.

He doesn't like chatting with local colleagues, not because of discrimination. In fact, the working atmosphere in a large company like Google is quite good. After all, they are all highly educated people, and they basically all graduated from Ivy League universities. There are already many international students in these universities, and they have long been accustomed to the exchanges between different ethnic groups.

So the main problem lies with Pete, who is inherently introverted. And under the influence of different cultures, everyone’s laughter is different. Many Americans find things very funny, but he cannot get the point of laughter at all. This happens a lot, just like many Americans like talk shows.

When someone casually told a joke and the colleagues around him laughed out loud in tacit understanding, he was still thinking about what the words meant, and he seemed very unsociable.

Fortunately, there are actually many Chinese people in his department, and he met one as soon as he walked into the tea room.

"Robin, it feels like everyone is not in a high mood today? Is something wrong?"

"Don't you know yet?"

"what do you know?"

"The company may have to lay off people on a large scale. It seems that the top management is making an assessment. Once the results are announced, the company may have the largest layoff in history. Many departments may be laid off entirely, especially those of us who are programmers."

"How can it be?!"

Pete said in surprise.

Although the overall semiconductor industry is not doing well during this period, including news of layoffs from Intel, Nvidia, and IBM, Google is not really a serious semiconductor company. After all, Google's main business, search, mainly profits from advertising. alliance.

As for all other businesses, almost all are planned for the future.

You must know that Google is probably the only company in the world where 10% of the employees are responsible for advertising and support the remaining 90% of the departments.

Why does the semiconductor market downturn affect Google?

"Huh... I don't think it's possible, but I heard that China has developed an intelligent software and is represented by Cisco. This software can be programmed independently. It is said that it can replace more than 80% of the work of ordinary programmers. Of course. I also heard the rumor yesterday, but I can’t confirm it yet.”

"Smart software replaces 80% of programmers' work? Who developed it?"

"It is said to be a product of the newly established Institute of Planning and Science of Yanbei University of Physical Education."

"Ning Zi?"

"Who else could it be?"

The two looked at each other speechlessly.

Speaking of which, the name Ning Zi has really become a nightmare for many people.

Since the beginning of the Mathematicians Conference, it has been stirring the hearts of countless people in the Bay Area, and then it has slapped the world's virtual currency market to death...

They discussed Ning Zi a lot in private.

Especially among the Huaqing Alumni Association in the Bay Area, the name Ning Zi is mentioned almost to the point of making people’s ears tingle.

After all, the love and hatred between Ning Zi and Hua Qing is indeed worth talking about.

But Peter never expected that he would hear such news again today.

What’s even more frightening is that if the news is true, it’s not just a matter of layoffs at Google. If executives decide to lay off employees after evaluation, it means that the efficiency of programming this smart software will be higher than that of programmers like them. Google will use it, and almost all companies that need programming will probably introduce this software.

This also means that 80% of the programmer positions in the Bay Area will disappear out of thin air. You can imagine how fierce the competition for such positions will be in the future.

If you want to be among the 20%, you probably need to be able to do things that smart software can't do, but now they have no idea how far this smart software can do it...

In an instant, Peter's originally good mood fell to the bottom, because he knew very well that there was a high probability that he was not among the 20%.

"Is this news...serious? Robin." Peter asked subconsciously.

"I also heard what John said. He has a friend in Cisco's business department. It is said that Cisco has begun to re-adjust business logic internally. In short, you should work harder during this period. The situation will definitely not be too optimistic. It is groundless. It’s the wind.”

Pete didn't know what to say.

I returned to my workstation with my coffee in hand, wanting to do something, but I still couldn't concentrate.

He didn't dare think about what else he could do if the position of programmer disappeared.

If he had known earlier, he might have continued to do research, and maybe staying in school would have been a good choice. Especially since graduating from Columbia University and returning to China to teach is a plus...

With random thoughts running through his mind, he suddenly heard someone calling his name.

"Peter, pack your things quickly..."

"Huh? I was fired?"

"Why were you fired? Didn't you read the notification on chat? Hurry up and take your computer for the assessment!"

"Oh!" Peter let out a sigh, and quickly walked out of the office area with his computer and colleagues in the department. He followed the flow of people to the elevator, got on the elevator, and all the programmers in the department walked into a medium-sized conference room.

When everyone was seated, he saw the supervisor walking into the conference room with a constipated look on his face.

"Okay, everyone, the company will release a random task next. I need you to go all out and complete this task with the greatest efficiency in the shortest time. No one should take it lightly. In a sense, your performance is... It will determine the future of many people, including mine.

You still have ten minutes to prepare. If you need to go to the toilet or make coffee, you can go now. If you have low blood sugar, you can go next door and eat two pastries. Please hurry up and be back here in ten minutes. I think you can see how serious I am today, so I ask you to be serious too, okay, now start the timer, ten minutes..."