Chapter 2332 The turn of scientific research

After some communication, Zhou Buqi became more clear about the direction of cross-border e-commerce.

After coming to the Magic City, I met Liu Qing and Shen Xiangyang.

Then, Zhou Buqi went to the capital with Shen Xiangyang, and under the arrangement of He Yang, he met with the leaders of the China Go Academy and signed a cooperation agreement.

Just a very small contract.

Shen Xiangyang is leading a team to develop Rokid-go, an artificial intelligence Go product. This process requires the cooperation of top Go masters without leaking secrets.

There is no need for the top first-class masters, just find two young sparring partners of similar age. The cost of each sparring session is US$1,000 per hour, of which the chess players get US$200 and the chess academy gets US$800.

It's a small thing and easy to operate.

But the other thing is more complicated.

After Ziweixing International completed its acquisition of Yahoo, it needed to reorganize at all levels and integrate resources to avoid repetitive waste.

Shen Xiangyang is in charge of scientific research.

As a Silicon Valley giant, Yahoo has the world's first-class technical level, and its foundation is much stronger than Ziweixing. As far as the internal technology currently mastered is concerned, Ziweijing International is far ahead.

This is also caused by the different ideas between China and the United States in the field of scientific and technological research and development.

Zhou Buqi attaches great importance to technology research and development, and Ziweixing has also invested a lot in this. However, it still has its own limitations and corporate funding constraints, and is very utilitarian in the field of research and development.

It's more application-oriented research and development.

The so-called application-oriented R\u0026D refers to R\u0026D closely related to front-line products and is designed to provide technical support for products.

Ziweixing now has a bicameral system, and this kind of applied research and development is done by the Ziweixing Engineering Academy.

There is also a kind of research and development, which is not involved in anything directly related to the product. It just needs some possible future scientific research directions and does some scientific research behind it.

This business is handled by Ziweixing Research Institute.

For example, the three most important sectors of Ziweixing Research Institute: artificial intelligence, cloud computing and AI chips.

In the beginning, it was purely scientific research.

However, this was Boss Zhou's personal decision, and the research framework he defined for the institute was based on foresight and foresight. So it is very utilitarian and the goal is very clear.

Now Ziweixing's strong strength in the fields of artificial intelligence and cloud computing comes from the scientific research results of the institute.

AI chips are still relatively far away, and are still in the purely scientific research stage for the time being.

This is taking a shortcut.

How can a normal technology giant do scientific research and choose the track so accurately?

Take cloud computing for example. Google's research institute may have conducted in-depth research in 20 major directions. Countless scientists worked silently, worked hard to certify it, and invested more than one billion dollars in trial and error before finally identifying this direction of cloud computing. .

Ziweixing is different.

Boss Zhou directly started the scientific research of Ma Cloud Computing with just one sentence.

Simple and direct.

At the beginning, all the wrong options were eliminated and the final correct answer was determined.

There is no trial and error cost at all.

This is also the main reason why Ziweixing has achieved such achievements even before it has been launched. Whether it is at the business model level, product level or scientific research level, there is no need for trial and error, and the required funds are greatly reduced.

Boss Zhou is a god!

Because of his presence, Ziweixing and Ziweixing International do not need to make detours at all, saving both money and efficiency. This shows the pattern of two domestic and foreign technology giants working side by side.

Scientific research involves a narrow escape from death. Death is normal, but success is an exception.

Therefore, domestic technology companies are unwilling to do scientific research. Even if they do do scientific research, it is all applied scientific research.

The biggest reason is that there is no money. Many companies only have a small amount of money in their accounts and do not have the foresight to predict and rely on the American scientific research model to continuously experiment, repeat, and trial and error in dozens of technology tracks. ...Nothing has been researched yet, and the company went bankrupt first.

Yahoo is a typical American scientific research model.

Yahoo has a global research institute with "seven institutes and one center".

The "Seven Academies" are seven major research institutes distributed around the world, namely in Silicon Valley in the United States, Barcelona in Spain, New York in the United States, Bangalore in India, Haifa in Israel, Santiago in Chile, and domestic capitals.

"One Center" is the Yahoo Global Research Center located in the domestic capital.

The Seventh Institute is doing scientific research work, which has nothing to do with products. It is doing scientific research and looking for the right track among dozens of technical tracks.

Equivalent to Ziweixing Research Institute.

"One center" is engaged in application-oriented research and development, responsible for developing and delivering products.

Equivalent to Ziweixing Engineering Academy.

For this reason, Shen Xiangyang made a very accurate summary many years ago: "The scientific research of the institute is oriented to the company's strategy; the scientific research of the Academy of Engineering is oriented to the company's business."

The former is to find the correct technical direction and find the next strategic direction for the company with the support of technology; the latter is to provide technical support and services for products.

In terms of finding a way out for the future, Yahoo has established seven research institutes; in terms of business development, only one research center is enough to support it.

It can be seen that Yahoo is anxious about the future and its current business is sluggish.

What is certain is that Yahoo's seven major research institutes will definitely cause a huge waste of scientific research. Every year, countless scientific research funds are spent on trial and error.

This has become a heavy cost burden for Yahoo.

If you meet many non-technical entrepreneurs, such as Boss Ma, Jobs, and Bezos, when Yahoo's business is so poor and costs remain high, you may just chop up the melons and vegetables, and invest these only Research institutes that had no output were closed down.

Cutting R\u0026D expenses is always the first magic weapon to control costs!

However, Yahoo's management is all engineers, and its core executives are all from technical backgrounds.

It is difficult for an executive with such a technical engineer background to understand business at the same level as Boss Ma or Steve Jobs, and it is impossible for him to have such a sharp and unique vision that he can choose the most correct track with a single decision.

Jobs, in particular, had a domineering style.

The senior executives asked and said, "This direction seems to work", "How about trying this way", "Other products have achieved success in this way", "I'm afraid it won't work this way, how about this..."

Jobs was always cold and domineering when faced with this kind of problem: "Just do whatever I tell you to do, don't think too much!"

That momentum was even more ruthless than Zhou Buqi's foresight.

Entrepreneurs of this level are really rare, not even Bill Gates, not even Larry Page.

For most Silicon Valley technology giants, it can only be repeated and trial and error. Just like Microsoft, Google, and Oracle, they all rely on unimaginable investment in scientific research to derive business directions.

According to normal logic, Ziweixing has Boss Zhou here, so why try and make mistakes?

After acquiring Yahoo, we must increase revenue and reduce expenditure.

Open source means developing business on the mobile side.

To reduce expenditure...that is to lay off employees all the way, and close all the businesses that should be closed. The most important ones are those research institutes that are of no use but only eat and not spit out.

Shen Xiangyang once thought that Boss Zhou would do this.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Buqi went against the norm this time and stated that he would support this American-style trial-and-error scientific research model and gradually reduce the total investment in applied scientific research in the group's R\u0026D funds.

Others don't know, but Zhou Buqi is very self-aware.

All foresight will disappear sooner or later.

No one knows what the future of Ziweixing will be. He is not sure that he can always choose the most correct route by relying on his intuition.

Many times, it is useless to choose the most correct route. You must have the corresponding technology to support this route.

For example, new energy vehicles.

Everyone knows that the best energy sources are solar energy, non-polluting hydrogen energy, and even controllable nuclear fusion.

This must be the most correct route.

However, the technology is not up to it.

This requires choosing the second-best solution, the next-second-best solution... Only the route that can meet all conditions is the best business route. As a technology company, it must have technical support.

Zhou Buqi knows that his advantages will disappear sooner or later. Ziweixing is about to go public. The mobile Internet wave is also developing vigorously. Ziweixing and Ziweixing International will soon be able to make money like they are snatching money.

It’s time to embark on the scientific research path that an orthodox technology company should have.

The technical foundation laid by Yahoo is pretty good.

Of course keep it.

Not only should it be retained, but it should also continue to expand on the basis of Yahoo's global research institute and become the global research institute of Ziweixing International. It should formally expand in more non-application directions and do some basic IT Directional research in the field.

The capital is the core city of Yahoo Global Research.

Zhou Buqi followed Shen Xiangyang this time to go around Yahoo's Capital Research Institute and Research Center. "I heard that the dean of Yahoo Global Research Institute is quite important?"

Shen Xiangyang smiled and said, "Well, his name is Purbhakar Rahman, and he is considered an authority in the industry, but... he is not the same as me."

"Why is it different?"

"He's academic and I'm market-oriented."

"Ah?" Zhou Buqi smiled, "He is a university professor?"

Shen Xiangyang said: "Yes, he used to be a visiting professor at Stanford University and a big boss in the computer department. He has published two authoritative computer books and is an academician of the National Academy of Sciences."

"Yes, academician." Zhou Buqi twitched his lips, "I heard about it too."

Shen Xiangyang smiled and said: "Although he is an academician, he is not a scholar... He is an Indian, and he came to the United States from India through hard work. With this kind of experience, he cannot be a nerd."

Zhou Buqi asked: "How is his work?"

Shen Xiangyang said: "It's good. In 2009, Yahoo established a research center in the capital. In March last year, it established the Yahoo Capital Research Institute. They were all started under his leadership. It shows that this person has a good vision. Originally, after Yahoo sold Yahoo China to Alibaba, Yahoo completely withdrew from the mainland market, and under his leadership, it entered the country to do scientific research."

Zhou Buqi nodded, "That's okay. He has pragmatic considerations and is not a typical academic expert."

"Yahoo Global Research Institute has done quite well under his leadership. It has conducted in-depth research in the fields of artificial intelligence, cloud computing, search, and databases." Shen Xiangyang shook his head and changed the subject, "However, he still has He also serves as Yahoo’s chief strategy officer. As chief strategy officer, he doesn’t show much talent.”

Zhou Buqi said: "Then just let him help you with peace of mind to do a good job in the research institute. As for academicians, it's the same with American academicians. Just do a good job in scientific research honestly. Don't let them do business matters. participate."