allonlinenovel Chapter 229 Research and Development Investment
Chapter 229 Research and Development Investment
The month the R&D team surpassed 5,000 people, Zuo Cheng asked Han Lu to compile all the financial data into a single document.
At the budget meeting the following morning, Han Lu projected the documents onto the screen. The meeting room was filled with the core team: Yu Ying, Chen Hao, Liu Wei, Fang Ze, Shen Yiming, as well as the newly joined Eileen Castro and Peter Hoffman.
The first number that popped up on the screen silenced everyone for three seconds.
One hundred and twenty billion US dollars.
Zuo Cheng continued, "This is 402's R&D budget for next year." Han Lu turned to the second page, which listed five lines: Quantum computing $3 billion, Brain-computer interface $2.5 billion, Artificial intelligence $2 billion, Commercial spaceflight $2 billion, and Frontier exploration $2.5 billion.
Liu Wei was the first to speak: "12 billion US dollars is almost double Huawei's annual R&D investment, and that's how much revenue we have."
"Less than 50 billion," Han Lu said. "R&D expenditure accounts for nearly 25%, which is on par with Google among global tech companies."
Chen Hao stared at the numbers and muttered, "Madman."
"Yes," Zuo Cheng said. "It's about going crazy."
He highlighted the section on quantum computing on the screen in red. Three billion US dollars—the direction is clear. The second-generation Tianyan quantum computer aims for 5,000 qubits and a quantum volume exceeding 100,000. Simultaneously, the world's first commercial quantum cloud computing center will be built, transforming quantum computing power into infrastructure as readily available as water and electricity.
Brain-computer interfaces cost $2.5 billion. The third-generation interplanetary neural product will increase from the current 2048 channels to 8000 channels, reducing latency from 14.7 milliseconds to less than 5 milliseconds. Simultaneously, Phase II clinical trials of a bidirectional neural interface have begun. It's not reading, it's writing.
Two billion dollars for artificial intelligence. Instead of pursuing large language models, they're focusing on federated learning and edge intelligence, cramming AI into every chip, every satellite, and every brain-computer interface device. Erin slammed her fist on the table at the meeting. Having run an AI lab with 300 people, she said, "The money Google spends chasing parameters could build three Tianyan quantum computers. 402's AI direction takes a different path—not larger models, but smarter collaboration."
Commercial spaceflight is valued at two billion US dollars. The Cangqiong-3 project has been launched, with a low-Earth orbit payload capacity of twenty tons and the capability to be reused more than one hundred times. At the same time, the second phase of the Cangqiong constellation expansion will be initiated, increasing the number of satellites from the current 120 to 2,500.
$2.5 billion for cutting-edge exploration. No specific targets set; exploring any direction that might change the future of humanity. Controlled nuclear fusion, room-temperature superconductivity, quantum gravity, life sciences—investing a little in everything that seems impossible. Fang Ze asked, "How long will it take for these projects to be commercialized?" Zuo Cheng replied, "Not necessarily ten years, not necessarily a hundred years, but if we don't invest now, that hundred years will never begin."
Fang Ze adjusted his glasses: "It will take five to eight years for all five wires to burn out."
"Five years," Zuo Cheng said. "I gave myself five years."
After the budget meeting, Han Lu drafted a press release overnight. The next morning, news of the 402nd fiscal year's R&D budget made the financial headlines.
With a research and development investment of US$12 billion, this is the highest in the history of Chinese private enterprises.
The fourth trending topic on Weibo has become "402's 12 billion USD R&D budget." Someone in the comments section did the math: 12 billion USD is equivalent to over 80 billion RMB, exceeding the market capitalization of 90% of China's listed companies.
A financial commentator did a special report, breaking down the market prospects of each of the five R&D lines. The conclusion is simple: if 402 can simultaneously achieve global leadership in four areas—quantum computing, brain-computer interfaces, AI, and commercial aerospace—its market capitalization won't be in the hundreds of billions, but in the trillions of dollars.
Wall Street analysts are more direct. One analyst wrote in a report that what 402 is doing is not catching up, but building a technological lead in every field simultaneously. This is not just a company, but a national-level technological force.
After reading the comments, Zuo Cheng turned off the tablet. He walked into Yu Ying's office, where Yu Ying was looking at a screen full of experimental data, with her fourth cup of coffee beside her.
"What are you looking at?"
Yu Ying didn't even look up: "Look at the next-generation quantum error correction scheme submitted by Hoffman. After combining IBM's fourteen years of experience with our AI fusion algorithm, the first version of the design is almost three times more efficient than the previous generation. And this is just the paper design."
"So spending $12 billion is worthwhile."
Yu Ying looked up: "Whether it's worth it or not isn't up to you to decide." She pointed to the densely packed data on the screen. "It's up to the data. If you put the world's best minds in the same room, give them enough money and time, they'll create a chemical reaction on their own. Hoffman and Shen Yiming talked for four hours last week, and when they came out, the whiteboard was covered with a whole page of new solutions. It's a cross-application of quantum computing and federated learning; nobody in the world has done it before."
Zuo Cheng sat down next to her: "This is exactly what I want. Not a single breakthrough, but a cross-disciplinary reaction. When quantum computing, brain-computer interfaces, AI, and aerospace all operate within a single system, the collision of any two fields can generate entirely new things. Competitors can chase us on one track, but they can't chase us on four tracks simultaneously. Because they don't have any overlap."
That afternoon, 402 Institute released a white paper on its innovation ecosystem. Ten research institutes were simultaneously established globally, located in Hangzhou, Beijing, Shenzhen, Tokyo, Singapore, Munich, Zurich, Boston, Tel Aviv, and Dubai. Each institute has established joint laboratories with at least three top universities in its respective region. The list of one hundred partner universities includes thirty-seven of the world's top fifty universities.
The last page of the white paper contained a slogan: "Innovate or be eliminated." But those inside 402 knew the true meaning of this slogan: It wasn't about eliminating others, but about eliminating themselves as they were today.
Han Lu translated the white paper into seven languages and promoted it globally. Within 72 hours of its release, the recruitment systems of the ten institutes received more than 20,000 applications. The Munich institute contacted the Max Planck Institute, the Zurich institute reached a joint training agreement with ETH Zurich, and the Boston institute rented an entire building next to MIT.
That evening, Yu Ying asked Zuo Cheng in her office, "What will happen after burning through 12 billion US dollars for five years?"
Zuo Cheng walked to the window: "Five years from now, either 402 will be standing at the finish line of all the tracks, or all the tracks will have disappeared, leaving only 402 drawing its own new one." He paused. "Which one do you think it will be?"
Yu Ying looked at him: "The line you drew is called the sea of stars. Scientists around the world will vote with their feet. If you open research branches in Zurich and Boston, they won't need to come to Hangzhou to work for 402. A hundred universities are supplying the youngest brains behind the scenes. Five thousand people is just the beginning; in a year, it will be ten thousand, and in three years, it will be twenty thousand." She pulled up a map on her computer, a map of the global talent flow, with all the arrows pointing to Hangzhou.
"They're here," she said.