Rebirth 2010: I taught Mr. Lei how to make a mobile phone

Chapter 748 North America Trip
In the days that followed, news of Lu Qi's departure from Microsoft instantly swept across the global tech world.

The whereabouts of this tech elite, hailed by The Wall Street Journal as "the most influential Chinese executive in Silicon Valley" and described by Gates as "a perfect combination of strategy and execution," immediately became the focus of the industry.

Various speculations are rampant: Tencent may appoint him as co-president to oversee AI and mapping businesses; his former employer, Amazon, has made ambiguous overtures on its official Twitter account; and Uber is rumored to be interested in inviting him to serve as CTO.

Even more astute media outlets noticed the suspicious overlap between Baidu's Robin Li's "technology forum" visit and Beyond Technology's Chen Mo's "branch office inspection," suggesting that the two were actually "feigning one thing while doing another."

For a time, Lu Qi overshadowed all of Silicon Valley's attention.

Domestic media outlets even used headlines like "When Qin lost its deer, the whole world chased after it" to vividly portray this talent war.

The final choice of this world's top talent will affect countless technology companies.
Chen Mo was eating beef noodles at the hotel, which had been tested by a nutritionist, but he was clearly not very satisfied with the taste.

After all, the most authentic beef noodles in California are still those from China.

This trip to the United States was indeed fraught with obstacles.

The experts from the Tianji Pavilion within the group almost unanimously opposed this trip.

Their concerns are not unfounded: Beyond Group has grown at an astonishing pace, with its market value exceeding one trillion yuan. Although it currently has no direct competitors internationally, "a man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime"; in addition, Beyond Group's fierce competition with BAT in the domestic market over the past few years has inevitably made it countless enemies.

The experts even brought up the ancient proverb "A wise man does not stand under a dangerous wall," which sounded somewhat like an ancient minister advising the emperor not to travel incognito.

What's more complicated is the approval process: given Chen Mo's current status, traveling abroad requires reporting to multiple regulatory departments, and the Chinese Embassy in the United States also needs to know his itinerary in advance in order to provide consular protection.

The security situation is particularly delicate during this sensitive period, especially with the US presidential election approaching.

Chen Mo argued that, firstly, from a broader perspective, relations between the two countries are currently in a honeymoon period, and there is no reason to target him; moreover, Chen Mo has no recollection of such a precedent.

In terms of security, Chen Mo made ample preparations: a 30-person special forces team from the All-Army Security Company was already in place, all of them armed and certified; three custom-made bulletproof vehicles were on standby at all times; his bodyguard Lao Mo was always by his side; and a private doctor and nutritionist accompanied him throughout the process.

As long as he is extra careful (and doesn't make the same mistakes as Dongzi), there shouldn't be any risk.

After much persuasion, the arm could not resist the thigh, and Tianji Pavilion reluctantly allowed them to leave, but before leaving, they still prepared more than a dozen emergency plans and simulation drills.

Actually, Chen Mo didn't need to go to such great lengths just to deal with Lu Qi.

Is Lu Qi important? Yes, he is. Otherwise, those foreign giants wouldn't be eyeing him like wolves, eager to poach him into their own backyard. After all, top talents like him, whose annual salaries are in the hundreds of millions, could generate hundreds of billions in returns.

If the other side can recruit this person and go all-in on artificial intelligence and AI, coupled with business integration and management, it can put the other side's related technology fields on a fast track of development. Incidentally, it can also free up its energy to focus on the group's development direction, culture shaping, and other aspects.

Especially when Chen Mo heard that Brother Li next door had already started to take action, Chen Mo felt that time was of the essence, because he knew that this guy was a real candidate who could sway Lu Qi.

This imbalance only creates more trouble.

However, Lu Qi was not the real purpose of Chen Mo's trip.

The real reason Chen Mo went to the United States was because the presidential election was coming up in the second half of 16.
Behind the scenes of election campaigns lies a battle of corporate checks, lavish dinners, and backroom deals by interest groups.

From precise digital advertising to massive rallies of thousands, and legal support from top law firms, every vote is marked by money.

Through preliminary research, Chen Mo learned that a certain candidate's campaign funds were stretched thin, nearly one-third less than that of his main opponent, and he was currently at a disadvantage. This was a good opportunity to offer timely assistance.

The $1 million “ZZ donation” was transferred through a decentralized network, an amount just right: neither attracting attention nor too little to plant a seed.

Chen Mo knew perfectly well that even without this funding, the election results would not change.

But he also knew that once this self-interested politician came to power, he might be able to "do him a favor" at many crucial junctures in the future.

He studied the current state of domestic science and technology development and found that although progress was rapid, many key technologies were still subject to foreign control.

The other side invests tens of billions of yuan every year to advance its technology, which is essentially using money to buy time for development.

This hidden move might buy the country more breathing room.

The potential rewards go far beyond this: leniency in sanctions, extended window periods for key technologies, and even access to intelligence on the overseas children of certain elites, since this is their largest "exporting country".

These things may be achieved in the future through the exchange of benefits, using groundwork laid in the past.

Chen Mo knew very well that the elite children behind him were arrogant and had a "what can you do to me?" attitude.

I know even better that this old guy has no bottom line. He talks a lot about principles, but all he cares about is business. He has no sense of national responsibility. People like that are actually the easiest to deal with.

As for anything more, Chen Mo hadn't thought about it, nor dared to think about it; it wasn't something he should or could worry about.

Although this move may create hidden dangers, he firmly believes it is a necessary strategic move.

As long as it buys time for China's technological development and can restrain potential future enemies, he'll bear any criticism that might follow.

This matter must be kept absolutely secret. Apart from Zhou Shouzi, who was in charge of overseas operations, and that other person in charge, even Tianji Pavilion was kept in the dark. After becoming the richest man in China, Chen Mo's vision had long since transcended the realm of mobile internet.

This is just one part of a diversified strategy; whether it's baijiu or foreign liquor, Chen Mo accepts them all.

So I've been here for a week, keeping an eye on the progress of this matter, which is now in its final stages.

Chen Mo remained calm and composed in the face of Lu Qi's recruitment efforts.

He had already arranged for people to closely monitor the tech tycoon's movements, and as long as the man was still in the hospital, there was no rush.

However, before that, he was waiting for an important response from China, which would determine his final bargaining chips.

Just like attending an auction, it's often useless to place an early bid. When things get deadlocked, the final bid can have a decisive effect.

After Zhou Shouzi returned and reported back, and after handling that crucial "personal matter," Chen Mo officially began his business trip.

The first stop was the US branch of the company. Accompanied by Zhou Shouzi, Chen Mo entered the conference room and delivered a passionate speech to hundreds of employees. His slightly warm Chinese-accented English and highly infectious expression earned him knowing smiles and prolonged applause from the employees present.

Subsequently, Chen Mo and Zhou Shouzi made a special trip to AMD headquarters to meet with CEO Lisa Su.

Although Chen Mo claimed to be ignorant of chip technology, his accurate grasp of industry trends impressed Su Zifeng, who nodded repeatedly.

When Chen Mo gave a detailed introduction to the current state of China's chip industry, especially the general progress of Mianxinsheng, a look of surprise flashed in Su Zifeng's eyes.

In particular, Chen Mo only introduced the development of Huaxia's chip industry, and mentioned the situation of Mianxinsheng. He also expressed that both Biyan and Xiaomi have corresponding procurement needs for chips, and that Mianxinsheng and AMD can cooperate on technology.

The three chatted happily, and the meeting, originally scheduled for one day, was extended to three days.

During this period, the two parties not only signed a Ryzen chip procurement agreement worth hundreds of millions of dollars, but also reached several consensuses on technological cooperation.

Before parting, Chen Mo warmly invited Su Zifeng to visit China for research, and the "Semiconductor Queen" gladly accepted the invitation.

It is worth mentioning that, under Shou Zi Chew's careful operation, the other side quietly acquired 9.93% of AMD's shares in stages through multiple offshore accounts, because if the acquisition exceeds 10% in the stock market and involves "sensitive technologies" (such as semiconductor design), it will face national scrutiny.

So in these two months, a total of $400 million was spent, and AMD's stock price has more than doubled, rising from $2.82 in early April to $5.73 now.

This is because this is the best strategy that Shou Zi Chew has assessed as feasible based on security theory. It allows him to enjoy stock price dividends while avoiding political risks. The only thing to be careful about is to carefully design the transaction structure to ensure compliance.

Therefore, as an unaffiliated shareholder of AMD, Chen Mo doesn't mind giving Su Ma some confidence. After all, if AMD develops smoothly and its stock price soars, they will also benefit.

At the same time, given the foreigners' tendency to discard their usefulness after they've served their purpose, it's possible that Su Ma might have a chance to join Mi'an Xinsheng in two years.

That's killing multiple birds with one stone.

At the end of June, Chen Mo completed the last stop of his trip—a visit to Elon Musk.

Musk and Elon Musk met briefly at the High-Level Development Forum during Musk's visit to China this April.

At that time, foreign companies wanted to promote Tesla's sales and charging network construction in China and were in talks with relevant departments.

He then went to Shanghai to explore the possibility of establishing a wholly-owned or joint venture factory and to investigate potential factory locations.

Accompanied by Elon Musk, Chen Mo visited Tesla's newly built Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada.

Compared to their last meeting, Chen Mo was quite surprised by the enthusiasm displayed by this future Silicon Valley Iron Man. In particular, the other party would suddenly pause briefly during the conversation, as if he were doing deep calculations, and then resume his eloquent speech. This highly distinctive way of communicating left a deep impression on Chen Mo.

After listening to the other party's brief introduction and the information Chen Mo had previously investigated, he learned the reason for this enthusiasm: last year, SpaceX suffered a series of launch failures, and huge sums of money were lost in the flames of the explosions.

If it weren't for the successful turnaround at the end of the year, Musk's two major companies would probably have been dragged to the brink of bankruptcy long ago.

Even if it manages to get through this difficult time, Tesla is still mired in problems: the design flaws of the Model X's falcon-wing doors have led to delivery halts, and in the Chinese market, due to lagging charging infrastructure, the annual sales of electric vehicles were less than 4000 units.

The continued plunge in stock price has revealed the first signs of fatigue in this tech visionary.

The truth that "necessity is the mother of invention" is indeed universally applicable.

When Chen Mo, one of the world's top ten richest people, visited, the glint in Musk's eyes went far beyond ordinary business etiquette. His purpose was obvious: to attract investment from the other side by painting a picture of an infinitely bright future.

Unfortunately, Musk's usually effective tactic failed against Chen Mo.

After a thorough examination of Tesla's actual progress, Chen Mo already had a clear understanding of the situation.

When asked to share the secrets of SpaceX's founding, he considered it carefully before nodding in agreement; it was indeed an offer he couldn't refuse.

As night fell, Chen Mo and his team attended a private dinner meticulously prepared by Musk.
(End of this chapter)