87: Chapter 87 Imperial Counterattack, Emergency Plan

Shocking Loss List (6:00 AM - 10:00 AM)

6:00 AM, Spark Headquarters Top Floor Crisis War Room.

On a massive circular screen, segmented blocks displayed constantly scrolling updates of damage assessment reports. With every confirmation of information, the air in the room grew a degree heavier.

chip Design Segment (Red Alert):

EDA Software Completely Paralyzed: The head of the chip design department reported that the entire toolchain of Synopsys, Cadence, and Mentor Graphics (all American companies) used for digital circuit design, simulation, and physical verification could no longer be started after the authorization servers were remotely locked. Engineers faced black software interfaces and error messages; some design files mid-process could not be saved or exported.

Architecture Licensing Risk: The legal department of ARM (British, but core technology is subject to American export controls) has sent a formal letter officially suspending all negotiations with Spark regarding next-generation CPU/GPU architecture licensing. Although existing licenses have not yet been revoked, the path for future technology upgrades has been cut off.

Simulation and Verification Computing Power Crisis: The high-performance computing clusters used for chip simulation and verification heavily utilized Intel Xeon processors and Nvidia GPUs. Subsequent hardware upgrades, driver updates, and technical support have been explicitly halted.

chip Manufacturing Segment (Red Alert):

Key Equipment Supply Cutoff: Beyond that unreachable EUV lithography machine, maintenance contracts for etching machines, thin-film deposition equipment, ion implanters, and metrology equipment from American companies like Applied Materials, Lam Research, and KLA on the production line have all been unilaterally terminated. This means that once equipment fails or consumables are exhausted, the production line will face a shutdown.

Core Material Supply Chain Break: The procurement department confirmed that supply suspension notices have been received for 12-inch high-purity silicon wafers used for 28nm and more advanced processes (mainly dependent on Japan's Shin-Etsu Chemical and Taiwan's GlobalWafers, but their production equipment contains American technology), high-end ArF and EUV photoresists (primarily Japan's JSR and Shin-Etsu Chemical, similarly implicated by the rules), and specialty electronic gases (American companies Air Products and Praxair).

Wafer Foundry Segment (Red Alert):

TSMC's order cancellations were already expected.

More troublesome is the domestic giant SMIC. Although they immediately sent an internal communication stating they would "make every effort to maintain cooperation with Spark," SMIC itself uses a large amount of American semiconductor equipment. Their legal department is urgently assessing whether they too will violate the "Foreign Direct Product Rule." The prospects for cooperation were instantly cast under a heavy shadow.

Talent Crisis (Deep Red Alert):

The HR Director reported the most heartbreaking situation: of the 317 members of the core chip R&D team, 89 hold American citizenship or green cards. As of 9:00 AM, 37 people have received formal warning letters from American lawyers. Among them, 11 broke down emotionally, weeping in the office.

The most critical blow was aimed at the Chief chip Architect—Dr. Zhang Wei. 48 years old, chinese american, PhD in Electrical Engineering from Stanford, formerly a core chip architect at Intel and Apple. He was moved by Su Chen's vision and joined Spark a year ago, serving as the soul of the "Flint" series chips. He has confirmed receipt of a "Potential Violation Risk Notice" forwarded by the American Department of Justice through his representative lawyer, with severe wording.

"This isn't just a supply chain issue," the Supply Chain Director said with a heavy voice. "This is a comprehensive, systematic strangulation ranging from tools and materials to capacity and talent. The other side has thoroughly researched every single one of our points of dependency."

Emergency Response Plan: Survival Through Death (10:00 AM - 1:00 PM)

Facing a desperate situation, there was no time for the meeting to sink into dejection. Su Chen drew three timeframes on the whiteboard.

Short-term (0-3 months): Ensure survival and maintain minimum continuity in R&D and production. Accelerate the localization of "flint one." Currently, the second phase of the project is complete, and 28nm chips have achieved 100% localized production.

Design Tools: Immediately establish a joint emergency task force with the domestic EDA leader, Empyrean, to migrate all existing design data (under compliance prerequisites) to domestic EDA platforms, building a temporarily usable design environment with the goal of "being able to keep drawing."

Manufacturing Equipment: The equipment team is in urgent contact with domestic equipment manufacturers like Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment (lithography), AMEC (etching), and NAURA to assess the possibility of using domestic equipment to replace or fill gaps in key segments. Simultaneously, explore the extremely complex path of bypassing controls to acquire alternative equipment through non-US equipment manufacturers or second-hand equipment markets in third countries (such as Japan or Europe).

Material Supply: Mobilize all forces to find qualified domestic alternative suppliers for silicon wafers, photoresists, specialty gases, etc., even if there is a temporary gap in performance or consistency.

Foundry Backup: Urge and assist domestic foundries like SMIC in conducting compliance risk assessments, while also contacting second and third-tier foundries in South Korea, Israel, etc., which may be less directly influenced by America.

Mid-term (3-12 months): Build Alternatives, Construct the Prototype of a "De-Americanized" Technology Path

Accelerate Proprietary Production Lines: Elevate the originally planned gradual construction of 16/14nm production lines to the highest priority. Concentrate all resources with the goal of building a "non-US technology route" demonstration production line within 12 months that does not rely on key American equipment (especially lithography machines), even if the initial process nodes are lagging.

Independent EDA Breakthrough: Jointly with Empyrean, the Institute of Computing Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and others, launch an emergency project for the "Full Localization of the EDA Toolchain," with the goal of achieving usable-grade domestic tool replacement in key segments like digital circuit design within one year.

Talent Localization and Internationalization: Launch the "Semiconductor Talent Return" program to recruit top talent globally (especially from Europe, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore) who are not affected by US controls. Simultaneously, cooperate with top domestic universities to set up targeted training programs.

Long-term (1-3 years): Seek Breakthroughs, Achieve Independent Control of Key Technology Nodes

Focus on Breakthroughs: Concentrate all forces to tackle the 14nm process based on the "non-US technology route." This means starting from underlying principles to rediscover process recipes, equipment debugging, and material matching.

Full Industry Chain Self-Research: Upgrade the "flint plan" to the "Flint Great Wall Project." The goal is not just to design chips, but to self-develop EDA software, self-produce key semiconductor equipment, and self-supply core materials, creating a "parallel universe" for the chip industry completely independent of the American technology system.

The plan was exhilarating, but Shen Nanpeng raised the most realistic and sharpest question: "Funding."

He pulled up a new financial model: "According to this new plan of shifting completely to 'non-US alternatives' and independent breakthroughs, the original 100 billion budget for the 'flint plan' is far from enough. Preliminary estimates suggest that for equipment replacement, material R&D, and EDA breakthroughs alone, the additional funding requirement exceeds 50 billion. The total funding requirement is at least 1500 billion, and with the R&D cycle extended, the risk of failure skyrockets."

He paused, his voice even deeper: "More seriously, our five newly confirmed strategic investors... Under this level of political pressure, Temasek (Singapore) and the Saudi sovereign fund PIF are very likely to choose to withdraw. If they divest, it won't just be a loss of 40 billion in funds; it will send a disastrous signal to the market."

The conference room fell into a brief, deathly silence. A broken capital chain and the abandonment of allies could kill Spark faster than a technical blockade.

Zhang Wei's Moment of Choice (2:00 PM)

At 2:00 PM, Zhang Wei knocked on the door of Su Chen's office. His eyes were deeply sunken and bloodshot, and he held a document in his hand.

"President Su," his voice was dry, "The American Department of Justice... it's not a warning, it's an ultimatum. The email explicitly states that if I do not terminate my employment with Spark within 72 hours, they will launch a criminal investigation on the grounds of 'violating export control laws.' The maximum sentence... is 10 years."

He gently placed his American passport on Su Chen's desk, the gold-stamped eagle emblem on the cover piercing to the eye. "My parents are nearly eighty, living in California. My daughter just got into a very good high school in Boston; her dream is to be a doctor. My wife... she's been crying all night."

This world-class chip architect's shoulders were slumped now, as if carrying an invisible, thousand-pound weight. "I love working here. I believe we are doing something great. I... I'm really not reconciled to this."

Su Chen did not look at the passport. He walked to the window, gazing down at the campus which was still busy but had a completely different atmosphere. After a long while, he spoke slowly, his voice calm and full of understanding:

"Dr. Zhang, I, and Spark Technology, have no right to ask any colleague to sacrifice their family, freedom, and future for the company's goals."

He turned around, looking at Zhang Wei with sincere eyes: "If you choose to leave, Spark will pay severance according to the highest standards and sign an agreement guaranteeing that no non-compete restrictions or claims will be filed against you. Your equity and options will be handled as agreed. And—"

Su Chen emphasized: "I promise you, and please remember: no matter where you are or what you do in the future. When your daughter graduates from college, if you still miss this place and want to continue our unfinished business, the position of Chief Architect at Spark will always be saved for you. The doors here will always be open to you."

No moral kidnapping, no emotional blackmail, only the deepest respect and the most realistic arrangements.

Zhang Wei stared blankly at Su Chen, his eyes instantly turning red. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, he only nodded forcefully, his Adam's Apple bobbing violently.

"...Give me three days," he said with a choked voice. "I'll... discuss it properly with my family."

He picked up his passport, bowed deeply to Su Chen, and turned to leave the office, his silhouette appearing exceptionally heavy.