Top Student at Their Peak-Chapter 834 - 285: An Unexpected Invitation Letter (Part 2)
Hmm, that might mean we need to more swiftly advance the architectural innovation of Windows, particularly in supporting quantum computing.
For example, giving more support to the Azure Quantum team while investing in lower latency quantum network technology. But whether it can succeed, I can’t guarantee."
These are old talking points.
He had written it this way in the report he submitted before.
But there’s no choice, everything is unknown right now, and without understanding the new products that the Huaxia Quantum Simulation Alliance has produced, he can’t really offer any concrete advice.
This answer also left Brad Smith feeling somewhat disappointed; he wasn’t looking for such a generic suggestion.
If there’s no breakthrough temporarily, what’s the difference between saying something and saying nothing? Moreover, those scientists sent to learn in Huaxia were appointed by you, and yet they couldn’t gather any useful intelligence—how embarrassing is that? 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮
But there’s no choice; Brad Smith can’t casually show disrespect in a meeting like this to such a big technical authority.
He could only shift his gaze from Brad Smith to the company’s Chief Product Officer he promoted—Pande Singh.
Though this person isn’t in charge of technology, maybe their technical shortcomings could still offer some useful opinions.
But before Pande Singh could speak, his secretary suddenly walked into the meeting room and whispered a few words to him amidst the gazes of many executives.
Even though he knew how important this meeting was, there’s no choice. Brad Smith had previously instructed that any news from Huaxia should be reported to him at once, no matter what he was doing.
After listening to the secretary’s whispers at his ear, Brad Smith was taken aback, lightly confirmed again, and only after receiving a positive answer did he nod and say, "I understand."
Afterward, the secretary turned and left. Brad Smith glanced at the inquisitive looks of Microsoft’s senior management in the meeting room, suddenly feeling that this meeting was somewhat uninteresting.
Closing his eyes for a moment in thought, and after taking a deep breath, he said, "I just received a formal invitation in my public email from the Huaxia Quantum Simulation Computing Alliance.
Huaxia invites me to attend the launch event of the first-generation Tai Chi Series quantum simulation computer, held in Huaxia on January 1st of next year. Additionally, the Huaxia Quantum Simulation Computing Alliance published an important guest invitation list on their website."
Upon saying this, Brad Smith paused for a moment, giving the senior management in the meeting room time to think before continuing.
"Among them are invited CEOs or chairpersons from Microsoft, Intel, NVIDIA, IBM, AMD, Google, ASML, Ericsson, Facebook, Instagram, and a total of thirteen companies to this product launch event. Do you think we should go?"
People in the meeting room began to exchange glances with each other. What is this? Are they trying to challenge us openly? Who came up with such a bold move?
Generally speaking, product launch events in the tech industry don’t directly invite peers. Let alone CEOs of direct competitors.
It’s not about safety concerns, mainly fear of embarrassment.
Otherwise, if the host on stage blurts out something like ’Our peers are idiots’ at the launch, what expression should these big company bosses below show?
Such level of product launch events are surely live-streamed, and probably by more than one outlet, and you can absolutely trust the professionals in capturing people’s expressions at the scene.
But this time, they have openly invited, and not merely the general manager from Microsoft’s Great China Region, but sent the invitation directly to the global CEO.
Well then, whether to go or not has left Brad Smith feeling quite awkward.
Of course, opting not to go is entirely possible.
After all, a CEO and president of a multinational corporation is very busy. Just saying there’s a scheduling conflict can defuse the situation.
Sending an invitation a month early, not being able to secure the time aligns with common sense.
Yet, Brad Smith felt somewhat unwilling. If he doesn’t go, it seems like admitting fear of the rival.
Moreover, out of courtesy and respect, even if he doesn’t go, he should typically deputize someone to attend on his behalf.
Kevin Scott, who had previously uttered a string of nonsense, took the initiative to speak this time: "I think we can go. Perhaps we could go together. Huaxia is already one of Microsoft’s most important global markets. Since you took office, you haven’t visited Huaxia.
So we could take the opportunity to have a look, maybe learn some things in advance. Even knowing some technical details half a month earlier than others could better aid us in decision-making."
Brad Smith instinctively nodded.
Knowing technical aspects even a little in advance does not drastically influence the technical strategy.
After all, technical advancements cannot be achieved overnight.
For instance, even if Microsoft wanted to forgo operating systems to pivot into search engines, it’s not a matter of a day or two.
But it surely would benefit the company’s finances and stock price. Having some insights beforehand could help in undertaking some actions, releasing information before this product launch to mitigate the impact.
However, thinking about how the Huaxia Quantum Simulation Alliance so openly invited numerous top-tier western enterprises to this launch made Brad Smith feel even more unhappy.
This, at the very least, indicates that Huaxia is extremely confident about the product they are launching this time. Otherwise, considering Huaxia’s penchant for face-saving, they wouldn’t have issued such invitations.
Even if they had issued them, they wouldn’t have posted it so publicly on their official website.
If they’ve done it this way, it’s unlikely they’d lure them to Huaxia just to get rid of them, right? Frankly, in this regard, Brad Smith has considerable confidence in Huaxia.
Such unscrupulous actions are only something that Westerners would do.
However, he didn’t immediately reply to Kevin Scott.
It’s fine to let Kevin Scott go for a visit; whether or not he himself would go demands further thought.
To put it bluntly, he plans to follow the crowd.
Huaxia didn’t just invite them alone, so he wants to first consult with other people’s opinions.
If everyone goes, he’ll join the herd. If nobody goes, he doesn’t plan to partake in this spectacle.
After all, as the president and CEO of Microsoft, maintaining face is essential too.
...
At this point, the decision-makers of these large western tech companies generally were thinking much alike with Brad Smith.
But each had their own unique thoughts.
Not every company has a purely competitive relationship with Microsoft.
Though Microsoft has emerged as the world’s second-largest cloud computing provider and largest gaming provider, these all build upon the foundational advantage of their operating systems.
Without the leverage of operating systems, these business lines would be like a river without a source or a tree without roots.
So there’s absolutely no buffer between them, it’s raw competition. Including companies like Intel, NVIDIA, AMD, they’re in the same boat.
If quantum simulation computers truly seize the market from traditional computers, then it’s straightforward competition on both sides.
But companies like Google differ. Though Google was the first to propose the concept of Quantum Dominance, fundamentally, Google’s stronghold is in search engines and advertisement alliances.
Moreover, after profiting from advertisements, Google’s future labs have a broad layout, so there’s room for cooperation with the Quantum Simulation Alliance.
If quantum simulation devices indeed show superiority far beyond classical electronic computers, then collaborating in search engines and advertisements is feasible, even at the cost of some interests.
Given that in the realm of search engines, Google better understands the habits of Western users. If a collaboration could be achieved, it would be a synergy of strengths.
Hence, relatively speaking, companies like Google that started with application software, and those social media software companies, are actually more inclined towards cooperation.
After all, it’s only a matter of becoming a developer for a new system, provided the other party opens up the interface.
Yes, a single invitation has incited some shifts in thinking among the high-level management of these many companies...
