Chapter 870 I Want HiSilicon
Nope?
Nope?!
Wang Zhengfei was stunned by Lu Zhou’s reply, and he didn’t respond for a while.
Lu Zhou saw CEO Wang’s look of disappointment. He sipped some tea and said, “Graphene transistors are not my research direction. There are other scholars in this area. I only solved some problems regarding graphene Mott insulators. I guess it’s a small theoretical contribution.”
Calling it a small contribution was underselling it. After all, the theoretical calculations made during the Mott insulator research played a decisive role in the research of graphene semiconductors.
Therefore, it definitely wasn’t just a small contribution…
It was more like a medium contribution.
Nevertheless, the graphene transistor was the work of Professor Wu. Even though Lu Zhou, as the head of the institute, had the right to claim this research as his own, Lu Zhou would never do something like that.
Wang Zhengfei looked at Lu Zhou with a muddled expression.
After a while, he nervously smiled and asked, “Sorry… I don’t understand what the insulator is… Is that related to the carbon-based chips?”
Lu Zhou was too lazy to explain. He knew that the CEO wasn’t interested, so he just nodded and replied, “Sort of.”
Suddenly, Wang Zhengfei’s eyes lit up again.
Who invented the technology wasn’t important. That wasn’t what he was concerned about. Even if he did know the inventor, he wouldn’t risk his lithium batteries contract just for this new technology. Not to mention the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study had the patents.
In the academic world, theses were the king, but in the industry, patents were the king!
Whoever had the patents had the right to establish a relationship with a production company.
Wang Zhengfei raised his teacup and said, “Academician Lu, on behalf of my colleagues in the Chinese semiconductor industry, as well as all of my employees, I would like to thank you! Cheers to you!”
Lu Zhou was stunned.
He wasn’t surprised by CEO Wang’s compliment. After all, Lu Zhou was well aware of how nutty his technology was.
However…
This a** kissing caught him off guard.
“CEO Wang, you’re too kind.” Lu Zhou coughed and raised his teacup as well. He said, “The carbon-based chip breakthrough was the cumulative work of the entire project team… Also, didn’t we say we’d only talk about business?”
“Haha, I couldn’t help it.” Wang Zhengfei awkwardly rubbed his head and said, “Let’s talk business.”
Even though Lu Zhou knew CEO Wang was putting on an act, he decided to ignore it.
He paused for a second and continued, “We all know the impact carbon-based chips will have on the semiconductor industry. This is our best choice for entering the semiconductor field. If all goes well, graphene will provide a function similar to lithium-sulfur batteries. Beijing should have already held a meeting on how to properly develop the carbon-based semiconductor industry. I’m sure the National Development and Reform Commission has already made plans.”
Wang Zhengfei had a look of surprise.
“You know this already?”
Lu Zhou sipped some tea and said, “I was the one who proposed this plan.”
Of course, when it came to the centralized management implementation, market penetration plan, and other specific policies, those were created by the National Development and Reform Commission, the State Administration for National Defense, and other government departments.
After all, the Chinese capital industry didn’t give them a good impression. The situation always became a swarm and scramble, where the winner would take all and the loser would take none.
Carbon-based chips were the future of the Chinese semiconductor industry. The high-level leaders didn’t want this technology to be dominated by one company.
Wang Zhengfei was shocked by Lu Zhou’s words.
He had heard rumors about Professor Lu, the Nobel Prize and Fields Medal winner. He heard that even the Communist Party of China listened to his suggestions.
However, he didn’t expect Lu Zhou to be this strong…
The entire semiconductor industry…
This means hundreds of millions of investment and financial allocation, as well as hundreds of thousands of jobs! Especially since the semiconductor industry is labor-intensive!
Wang Zhengfei really wanted to ask where this industry cluster would be, but he didn’t ask.
What’s the point of asking?
What am I, going to buy land there?
Who would dare to do that?
It’s better to stay safe and not ask.
Lu Zhou paused for a second before asking, “CEO Wang, you want to talk about carbon-based chips with me, right?”
“Yeah…” Wang Zhengfei nodded and said, “You have strong research and development capabilities, whereas our industrialization capabilities in the semiconductor and electronics industry are world-leading. I hope to be able to cooperate with you on carbon-based chips production. This is a win-win for both of us.”
Lu Zhou nodded and continued, “I agree, but it seems like you don’t really know what graphene chips are.”
Wang Zhengfei smiled and asked, “Oh? Why do you say that?”
CEO Wang was in disbelief.
He didn’t know a lot about mathematics, that was true.
But when it came to graphene chips, he had consulted with numerous industry experts. He wasn’t an expert himself, but he knew a lot more than the average person.
The next words that came out of Lu Zhou’s mouth shattered CEO Wang’s confidence.
“Carbon-based transistors can be used to build more than just carbon-based chips. Have you heard of Majorana fermion?”
“Majorana fermion?”
Lu Zhou nodded.
“Yeah, it’s a unique type of fermion. Its antiparticle is itself. Doesn’t that sound interesting?”
CEO Wang didn’t think it was interesting at all, but he still put on a curious face.
Wang Zhengfei smiled and continued, “It does sound interesting… Where is it on the periodic table?”
“It might be a little difficult to find it on the periodic table.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “It only exists in superconductors in the form of quasiparticles.”
Wang Zhengfei: “???”
What the hell?
He began to wonder if Lu Zhou was just toying with him.
Lu Zhou knew that there was no point continuing. He didn’t want CEO Wang to keep pretending to be interested.
Lu Zhou sighed and took a sip of his tea.
“I know you’re not interested.”
He paused for a second and continued, “Forget about Majorana fermions… What about quantum computers?”
Wang Zhengfei: “…?!”
Quantum computers!!!
The moment he heard the words come out of Lu Zhou’s mouth, Wang Zhengfei held his breath.
His eyes were filled with excitement, and he stared at Lu Zhou as he said with a trembling tone, “Quantum computers… You’re saying… that kind of quantum computer…”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but the quantum computers I’m talking about are called topological quantum computers. I think Microsoft is doing research on it, but unfortunately, even though they have made some progress on algorithms theory, they haven’t been able to find a suitable material.”
Wang Zhengfei instantly realized what was going on.
Forget about the fermions and quasiparticles…
Lu Zhou is trying to tell me something!
“So that material is that…”
Lu Zhou gave him a look.
Wang Zhengfei subconsciously stopped talking.
He finally realized what was going on.
The reason why the Communist Party of China took this matter so seriously wasn’t just because they wanted to create industry clusters, but also to go against the laws of the market, to centralize and impose closure on the industry clusters…
“Graphene is the most suitable material … It might not have been that way before, but it is now. A zero-energy Majorana fermion forms in the vortex core region of the interface between the three-dimensional topological insulator and superconductor. The existence of the nanofermions creates the possibility of constructing topological qubits.
“If someone can master carbon-based chips production, not only will they dominate the semiconductor industry, but they will also have control of the future computing industry.”
Lu Zhou drank some tea and looked at him.
“Do you want to work together then?”
Wang Zhengfei was excited at Lu Zhou giving him this opportunity, but he quickly calmed down.
He realized what Lu Zhou was doing.
The reason why Lu Zhou was rambling on about scientific stuff wasn’t to humble brag… Instead, Lu Zhou was placing all of his chips on the table, and he wanted to ask for something in return.
If he spoke first, he would be the sucker.
But…
He couldn’t refuse the things Lu Zhou was offering.
He didn’t want to give this opportunity to his competitors.
Wang Zhengfei unclenched his fists and took a deep breath. He suddenly loosened his shoulders.
He put on a warm smile on his face and took the initiative.
“What do you want?”
With Lu Zhou having the absolute advantage, there was no room for him to bargain.
Even if Lu Zhou wanted a significant part of the Huawei shares, he would have to consider the proposal seriously.
As long as he kept his board voting powers…
Fortunately, Lu Zhou didn’t seem to be interested in Huawei shares.
However, the academician’s request made this decision even more difficult.
“I want HiSilicon.”