After the layoffs, I became a tech godfather

Chapter 233 Contradictions
"Little Sha!"

I'm here!

Inside the factory, Hao Cheng had not yet noticed the news. At this time, he was talking to He Gang about various things along the way. Then, under the guidance of Liang Boyu, the person in charge of the factory, after a series of dust and static electricity prevention preparations, they arrived at the packaging workshop.

"Here, the pre-processing before wafer packaging has been completed, including a series of steps such as cutting and thinning," Liang Boyu explained as he led the way.

"What did you do before, Engineer Liang?" Hao Cheng asked. "Was it in the traditional chip packaging and testing field?"

Liang Boyu nodded: "Yes, President Hao."

"Is there a big difference between the packaging and testing of silicon-carbon fusion semiconductors and traditional semiconductors?" Although Hao Cheng provided the theory on silicon-carbon fusion semiconductors, he hadn't really paid much attention to how to handle it in mass production.

His main work involves joint processing with Xiao Sha in the production sector. He pays attention to this aspect regularly, but the engineers on the front lines are the ones who understand the specifics of each production process best.

"Not very big." Liang Boyu shook his head.

"The pre-packaging test mainly checks whether the circuit meets the design requirements. The design requires the voltage between points A and B to be what. After production, we use probe cards to connect to the test machine to verify whether the voltage, current, timing and other characteristics meet the design requirements."

"Compared to traditional semiconductors, silicon-carbon fusion semiconductors simply require more testing items and have more three-dimensional testing points. Other than that, there are not many fundamental differences."

Hao Cheng had done a lot of intensive research on how chips are manufactured and how wafer-level testing is conducted.

As soon as Liang Boyu explained, he immediately understood—wafer testing focuses on whether the circuitry and electrical performance meet the design requirements, while whether the design can fulfill the functional requirements is a separate consideration.

At this stage, there is essentially no difference between any type of chip.

"What's with that expression?" Hao Cheng noticed He Gang resting his chin on his hand, seemingly lost in thought, and asked.

"I'm not a professional in the chip industry, but I've noticed that chip manufacturing seems no different from ordinary chip production," He Gang said, puzzled. "I originally thought that carbon-silicon fusion, 3D chips, and the like should have revolutionized things."

Hearing He Gang say this, Hao Cheng was quite speechless. If the lithography machine is the main component in the production of traditional chips, then the carbon silicon fusion semiconductor is still a combination of lithography machine and chemical vapor deposition.

Don't they look exactly the same?
If a truly groundbreaking piece of equipment is needed, it's impossible to develop it in just two months!
It's even less likely that we can immediately expand production capacity and set up 20 production lines in a year.

For example, Hao Cheng has always been concerned about the manufacturing of micro-consciousness chips. Although he has almost summarized the theory, it is still just a castle in the air. Many materials and equipment cannot be produced with the current level of technology.

"Don't look at the surface, look at the inside." Hao Cheng shook his head: "Carbon-silicon fusion is just a solution, and using carbon nanotubes to replace part of the photolithography circuit is just a method."

“Through silicon via (TSV) technology can be considered a simplified version of it. The most crucial element is the concept. For example, this is a piece of paper, representing a planar chip. The entire business world is full of circuits, but we now define it as a two-dimensional chip.”

In fact, chips do have a certain thickness, ranging from several hundred micrometers to 1 millimeter. However, this thickness is primarily for the support of the wafer.

Circuits are generally not multi-layered. Even if they are multi-layered, for example, Hao Cheng continued, "If we fold this paper in half and then in half again, and repeat this several times, and if the circuitry in the chip is not affected, would this thing be considered a three-dimensional chip?"

“That’s definitely not it!” He Gang replied immediately.

“At this point, we changed the design,” Hao Cheng said while demonstrating, “We drilled vertical holes in this piece of paper that has been folded many times, so that the multiple folds can be directly connected by wires. Does that count?”

"I guess so?" He Gang hesitated for a moment, since many storage systems are now done this way.

"This can only be considered 3D packaging. Its essence is still a two-dimensional chip. This kind of packaging reduces the size, but doesn't change the fundamental nature," Hao Cheng said. "The reason why silicon-carbon fusion semiconductors are considered three-dimensional chips is because of another, even more significant characteristic, which is also the core difference from two-dimensional chips:
"It's about the circuit paths between multiple layers. Are they free? 3D packaging, through-silicon via (TSV) technology, etc., can only achieve vertical connections. Their unfolding is not a mesh structure, but still a variant of a planar structure."

Hao Cheng smiled and said, "In the manufacturing process of 3D chips, the growth of carbon nanotubes is controlled by the substrate pattern, so it can grow exactly as designed. Of course, this is not the most crucial part. The most crucial core is the system itself."

To put it bluntly, a chip is just a pile of sand (silicon) and a pile of coal (carbon). What role it can ultimately play depends on the program and the system.

"To be honest, I'm really looking forward to it." He Gang nodded repeatedly, thinking about what Hao Cheng had said when he first met Hao Cheng today: the purpose of his visit was to give Xiao Sha a new body.

It is now quite clear that this new entity is a new server cluster formed by new silicon-carbon fusion semiconductor chips.

What he's hoping for now is this: Xiao Sha is already this powerful, so what if he gets a new body? Can he really become human again?

He Gang racked his brains but couldn't figure out how Xiao Sha, who had already reached this level, could evolve further.

There is an even bigger premise here, which is the conclusion Hao Cheng had previously drawn: AI, including those trained in the traditional way and those using the Xiao Sha technical route, is incapable of developing autonomous consciousness and autonomous desires.

“Yes,” Hao Cheng nodded, “autonomous consciousness and autonomous desire are definitely impossible to generate, but the generation of consciousness and stance is another matter.”

"Don't ask," Hao Cheng smiled, seeing that He Gang was about to ask something else. "You'll know in a couple of days."

At this point, the electrical performance of the first batch of chips has been tested according to the design requirements. Subsequent steps, including testing of core parameters, environmental adaptability, and extreme stress, will continue.

The other components of the server are also ready, and Xiao Sha's new body is being assembled quickly.

The reason Hao Cheng was in such a hurry to come here was that he wanted to verify his previous assumptions about Xiao Sha's consciousness and stance under the support of the silicon-carbon fusion semiconductor chip.

In one day, Hao Cheng learned about the basic situation while simultaneously updating the official website with the specific information through Xiao Sha—the mass production progress of the silicon-carbon fusion semiconductor was proceeding according to plan.

……

Meanwhile, on the other side, Pengcheng University.

The debate continues.

"Higher education is our foundation. Indeed, there are no unchanging standards, and we cannot always follow someone else's system. I agree with your idea of ​​innovation, change, and even integration into Xiaosha's system."

"However, is it inappropriate to condemn all people based on one example and completely negate past practices?"

“Principal He, don’t try to confuse the issue. What do you mean by generalizing and condemning everyone? Who did I condemn? This is called parallelism! All the previous standards and systems are still in place; we’ve just added a system based on Xiao Sha’s evaluation. What’s wrong with that?”

Pengcheng University has always been at the forefront of openness. It's neither a 985 nor a 211 university, and even its recent attempts to qualify for the Double First-Class University and Disciplines initiative have failed. However, no one can deny its strength, especially in the Pearl River Delta region, where it's not inferior to established prestigious universities. The reason lies in its directness and lack of blind adherence to past order; it pursues what it believes is beneficial for its development.

And the same is true today.

But this time things don't seem to be going as smoothly as before; internal conflicts started right from the beginning.

At this moment, He Ziyang bit his lip. He didn't want to compete with others, but this was his mentor's order, and he was a beneficiary of the old system. At this moment, he had no choice but to charge forward.

"But why do we need two sets of standards? Wouldn't it be a better solution to integrate Xiaosha's relevant evaluation system into our existing system?"

"He Ziyang, I'm too lazy to expose your little scheme. Fusion, you try fusion for me! How do you do it? Xiao Sha's evaluation accounts for 30%, and then your group of academic cliques' votes account for 70%? Is that how it is?" Someone immediately said this in a half-mocking tone.

"That's not quite it. We can definitely find a way that integrates and balances the interests of all parties, and..."

"Stop! If you have a solution, you either do; if you don't, you don't! If you have a solution, just say so. If you don't, stop talking nonsense. What do you mean by 'definitely finding one'?"

"I……"

He Ziyang wanted to say something more, but the principal was completely enraged at this moment: "Let me emphasize, this is Pengcheng University, which was once at the forefront of reform and opening up. To balance the interests of all parties, just tell me, which side do you represent?"
"Let me be clear today: I don't care what you're thinking or who's behind you. If you hinder our progress, I won't be lenient with you. Also, if you really don't want to work here anymore, you can resign now."

This may be the essence of Pengcheng University. Just like when it was founded, people recalled the time when Pengcheng University was rejected by banks for recruitment, and the domineering attitude of the president at that time.

And now, nothing has changed.

……

As soon as the meeting ended, He Ziyang immediately called his teacher: "Teacher, we can't stop it."

"Okay, I understand." After hanging up the phone, He Ziyang's teacher, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was somewhat exasperated: "Is it reasonable to hand over all the information to an AI for evaluation?"

"No matter how powerful AI is, or how accurate its evaluation is, it still needs to consider human relationships, right? We are human beings, living, breathing human beings, not machines!"

"So, what do we do?" another academician asked.

"Talk to Baiju Technology."

"What's there to talk about? They're not even taking the bait!"

A group of people had been waiting to talk to Baiju Technology about this, but they never got to see Hao Cheng. Every time they received the same reply: "Baiju Technology is not involved in this matter."

"Then let's unite all the well-known universities, strictly enforce the advancement conditions, and not budge."

"Who can you unite with?" There are always clear-headed people: "Do you think that a standard that can destroy decades-old foreign scientific research evaluation systems can't destroy our so-called alliances?"

"If we take a mild approach, we simply can't compete with Baiju Technology. If we take an overly aggressive approach, do you think the higher-ups will side with us?"

"Is there really no other way?" someone asked.

"A solution? Well, that depends on your objective." The speaker was Professor Wang Yuan, a leading academician in the field of protein computation and the Institute for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies at Huaxia University.

Before the Lunar New Year, he met with Hao Cheng and discussed many issues. He highly agreed with many of Hao Cheng's ideas. He has also been involved in the debugging of the MoShu system recently.

He admired Hao Cheng, but Wang Yuan held certain people in the Academy of Sciences in utter contempt.

"If your goal is to improve scientific research, better evaluate the importance of a research result, and better select talent," Professor Wang Yuan said with a smile, "then you don't need to do anything. How can you say there's no way?"

Everyone was speechless at Wang Yuan's words. He couldn't very well say that they wanted to control the conversation themselves, could he?

"Alright, you guys can discuss this further. I have other things to do, so don't call me for these kinds of things in the future."

Wang Yuan stood up and added, "The silicon-carbon fusion semiconductor chip has been successfully taped out and entered the mass production process. President Hao probably doesn't have time to deal with you. You can figure it out yourselves."

I just saw the relevant progress on the official website, and Wang Yuan deliberately reminded them of it.

"you……"

Wang Yuan left without looking back; he was an exception. His success today is entirely due to his talent; in the field of computational protein analysis, he is arguably unparalleled.

In other words, if anyone could influence him even slightly, he wouldn't have been elected as an academician.

In other words, he didn't care whether he was elected or not. Even if he weren't an academician, it wouldn't affect his status and authority in the field. Tu Youyou has made such great contributions, yet she's still not an academician. Has that affected her at all?
A truly talented and capable person, whose abilities reach this level, is like a god. He can be fearless and doesn't care about anyone's opinion. Those who share the same path are friends, those who share the same ideals are companions, and those who do not share the same path cannot work together.

Such turmoil could easily ruin one's reputation in old age.

"Hey Hao," Wang Yuan called Hao Cheng as soon as he came out, "Has Mo Shu's ability improved further?"

Hao Cheng's mouth twitched when he received the call. In just a short while, he had received several calls, all of them reserving computing power.

Mo Shu is certainly one of the most important parts, and Hao Cheng nodded: "The finished product will indeed take some time. We must first upgrade Xiao Sha's main abilities, and then we will arrange for Mo Shu here as soon as possible."

"Okay, I'll remember that. I'll do it immediately."

Wang Yuan emphasized this point, then talked about the situation of some people at the Academy of Sciences, and then reminded them: "Should we first try to get in touch with Linzhou University? Because it is the city where Baiju Technology is located, and it has the most cooperation with you, the Academy of Sciences has people specifically keeping an eye on it."

"Thank you, Professor Wang. However, don't worry about things here. I'll be staying in Pengcheng for at least a month." Hao Cheng's meaning was clear: he didn't care.

"Alright!" Wang Yuan admired Hao Cheng's drive; his mind was solely focused on science and technology, just like himself. "It's good not to worry about it; let them do what they want!"

(End of this chapter)