177: Chapter 177 Press Conference

Paris, 10:00 AM. The press conference hall, which could accommodate three hundred people, was packed.

Jean-Pierre Dupont, the French Minister of Economy—a sixty-year-old statesman with silver-white hair—had a grim expression as he stepped onto the podium. Behind him, the large screen displayed the full text of the ban from the America Department of Commerce.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Dupont began, his voice trembling with anger, "early this morning, we witnessed the most shameless attack on the European technology industry since World War II."

Camera flashes erupted in unison.

"Using 'national security' as an excuse, America has banned European companies from using EDA software—software that we paid for with our own money, with our taxpayers' money! They unilaterally tore up contracts without any warning, without any negotiation."

He clenched his fists: "What does this mean? It means that Europe's 300-billion-euro automotive industry could face production shutdowns within the next three months. It means 500,000 workers could lose their jobs. It means our technological sovereignty has been completely trampled upon by a single piece of paper!"

Reporters scribbled frantically.

"But I want to tell Washington—" Dupont raised his voice, "Europe is not a colony! We will not kneel and accept sanctions!"

He switched the PPT, and the interface of the 'Shennong' EDA platform, along with the Spark Technology logo, appeared on the large screen.

"Just moments ago, we reached an agreement with China's Spark Technology. The French government will procure the 'Shennong' EDA platform and fund the development of local open-source chip design tools. Initial funding: 500 million euros!"

An uproar erupted in the audience.

The representative from the Germany Ministry of Economy took the stage immediately after: "The Germany government announces the launch of the 'European chip Design Autonomy Fund' with an initial investment of 500 million euros. We have reached a technical cooperation agreement with Spark Technology and will establish a joint research and development center in Munich."

Representatives from Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands took the stage in turn to announce similar measures.

Finally, the CEOs of the seven sanctioned European semiconductor companies appeared together.

Marcus spoke as their representative. He had changed into a clean shirt, and his hair was neatly combed.

"I am Marcus Schneider, Chief Architect at Infineon. Over the past six hours, my team and I have experienced the darkest moment in our twenty years in the industry." His voice was steady, but his hand gripping the edge of the podium was trembling slightly. "But in these same six hours, we have also seen hope."

He pointed to the screen:

On the left: The locked Cadence interface with a red warning.

On the right: The 'Shennong' platform interface, where design files had been reopened, and the transistor layout was clearly visible.

"Experts from Spark Technology are on their way, and the global open-source community has already begun to collaborate. We expect to resume the design work for three key automotive-grade chips within 48 hours."

A reporter asked: "Mr. Schneider, do you trust China's EDA tools? Can it meet automotive-grade standards?"

Marcus was silent for two seconds.

"Yesterday, I would have said no," he admitted. "But today, when American tools locked us out, it was Chinese tools that opened the door for us. Technology has no borders, but technology companies have nationalities. We will let the facts speak for themselves—if the 'Shennong' platform can help us deliver chips on time, then it is a good tool."

He paused and added: "Furthermore, open-source means transparency. Every line of code can be audited, which makes us feel more secure than the black-box operations of closed-source commercial software."

Within three hours of the press conference ending, major European media outlets ran the headlines:

Le Figaro: America's Ban Sparks Euro-Asian Technology Alliance

Süddeutsche Zeitung: We Choose Open Source, We Choose Sovereignty

Financial Times: Spark Technology Becomes the 'White Knight' of the European chip Crisis

Meanwhile, in Washington, the spokesperson for the America Department of Commerce was surrounded by reporters.

"This is a destruction of the global technology ecosystem!" the spokesperson responded firmly. "Any company that uses Chinese EDA tools will face secondary sanctions!"

But privately, an unnamed America official told The Wall Street Journal: "We may have made a strategic mistake. We originally wanted to use the EDA ban to force Europe to take a side, but instead... we pushed them toward China."

That afternoon, the Frankfurt stock market opened.

The anticipated crash did not happen—Infineon's stock price fell 8% initially, but after Marcus's press conference, it began to rebound, closing up 3%. Analyst reports wrote: "The market believes that European companies can find alternative solutions."

Spark Technology's reputation in Europe changed overnight from 'that Chinese chip company' to 'technological savior.'

The data from the open-source community was even more astonishing:

On Gitee, the star count for the 'Shennong' EDA project soared from 1,200 to 180,000.

On GitHub, related topics climbed to the top of the trending list.

On global developer forums, there were over 5,000 discussion posts on 'how to adapt to the Shennong platform.'

Academician Li Weimin watched these figures in the command center and smiled.

"Thirty years ago, when I was developing EDA algorithms, my dream was to democratize chip design tools," the old man said softly. "I never expected it to be realized in China."

Su Chen stood behind him: "Academician, this is just the beginning."