178: Chapter 178 Everyone Breaks Through Defenses, Joining Forces to Block Star Technology

The next day, an emergency online summit convened by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was held in secret.

On the screen, familiar faces lit up one by one.

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger's face was even gloomier than during the last meeting.

Nvidia founder Jensen Huang was still wearing his black leather jacket, but the look in his eyes no longer held his previous sense of mastery.

BMD's Su Zi, TSMC's Liu Desheng, Samsung's Kim Ki-nam...

Every giant with significant weight in the semiconductor and software fields was present without exception.

"Gentlemen, I think we no longer need to waste time analyzing the performance of the 'Chongming' chip."

Kising, as the representative of Intel, was the first to speak.

His voice carried a sense of exhaustion.

"I can tell you directly that starting today, the X86 architecture will no longer be the optimal structure for this world."

"In the face of 'Chongming's' parallel processing capabilities based on Chinese language logic, the hyper-threading technology we take pride in is no longer the optimal solution."

His words made the atmosphere of the meeting even more oppressive.

Immediately following him, Nvidia founder Jensen Huang shared his screen.

On the screen was a detailed GPU performance comparison report.

"This is a preliminary deduction of the performance of the 'Chongming' PC's built-in graphics processing unit, conducted by our technical department through analysis of the press conference video."

Jensen Huang pointed to the red performance curve on the screen.

"The conclusion is that even without any discrete graphics card, relying solely on the graphics unit built into the 'Chongming' chip."

"Its 3D rendering and AI computing capabilities have already fully surpassed our recently released sub-flagship product, which is priced as high as $1,699."

Jensen Huang turned off the screen sharing.

"In other words, eighty percent of our company's consumer-grade graphics card business no longer has a reason to exist."

If Kising's speech was the announcement of a stayed death sentence for Intel, then Jensen Huang's report was directly sentencing Nvidia's future to death.

Before the screens, the atmosphere was suffocating.

Everyone realized that the competitor they were facing was not on the same level.

Just as everyone was sinking into despair, Nadella's voice rang out.

"Gentlemen, the technological defeat is a foregone conclusion."

"But the competition is far from over."

Everyone's gaze focused on Nadella's video window.

"We cannot build a better product than Star Technology, but we can change the rules of the market."

Nadella wrote the name of a plan on his virtual whiteboard.

[Ecological Barrier Initiative]

"Star Technology has the strongest hardware and system, but we possess the software ecosystem and user habits of the entire world accumulated over the past thirty years."

"This is our last, and only, advantage."

Nadella began to elaborate on his core strategy.

"I propose that all members of the alliance, immediately, starting now, ensure that all future hardware, software, and systems released will completely abandon compatibility support for the 'Chinese Instruction Set' and 'Zhoutian OS' at the lowest level of driver programming."

His words caused confusion among some of those present.

Nadella continued to explain, his logic clear and ruthless.

"Specific measures: First, Microsoft's next-generation Windows operating system will be unable to be installed on any PC equipped with a 'Chongming' chip. We will use hardware ID recognition to lock the installation program from the base level."

"Second, all new Nvidia graphics cards will not provide any drivers adapted for 'Zhoutian OS'. Even if users force an installation, it will not be recognized by the system."

"Third, Google will use technical means to prohibit all android applications from running on 'Zhoutian OS' through any form of translation or virtual machine."

"Fourth, all mainstream professional software, such as the Adobe suite, Autodesk's CAD, and all industrial design and scientific computing software, will join this barrier initiative."

Nadella's objective was crystal clear.

He wanted to create a global 'choose one of two' scenario.

"We want users all over the world to understand one truth."

Nadella's voice turned cold.

"Either you choose Star Technology's extreme performance, but the cost is that you will completely bid farewell to all the accumulations of the digital world from the past thirty years."

"You won't be able to use the Office you're used to, you won't be able to open your previous design drawings, and you won't be able to play any of the games you once loved."

"Or, you stay in our ecosystem and slowly grow stronger with us until we surpass Star Technology."

Nadella looked at every person in the video call.

"Gentlemen, this is a massive gamble. We are betting on user habits, on enterprise path dependency, and on the inertia of the entire world toward the existing order."

"I don't believe anyone would give up all their past glory for a so-called 'future'."

In the meeting room, those CEOs who had previously been despondent saw light rekindle in their eyes.

They saw the hope of victory. This plan was incredibly vicious.

"I agree!" Intel's Kising was the first to state his position.

"Nvidia is in," Jensen Huang also nodded.

"TSMC has no objections."

"Samsung seconds the motion."

One giant after another joined this mad plan.

At the end of the meeting, a document titled 'Joint Statement on Maintaining the Unity of Global Information Technology Standards' began to be drafted, circulated, and finally signed on everyone's screens.

A commercial strangulation aimed at cutting off Star Technology's foundations had officially begun.

They intended to use their own order to strangle the one who attempted to establish a new one.

Star Technology Headquarters Building, Chairman's Office.

Chen Xu stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the construction sites around the factory area where trucks were constantly moving in and out. Workers were working overtime.

Guan Yi came up behind Chen Xu.

"Boss, according to information intercepted by Ling, Intel and other Western capital powers are establishing an Ecological Barrier Initiative. They want to gamble against us using the usage habits of users from the last thirty years."

Chen Xu slowly turned around.

"It's as expected. No need to worry; we'll just wait for them to make their move."