Entertainment mogul: Starting his business with the internet

Chapter 503 The Infinite Computing Power Project
May 5th is the start of summer.

The last trace of spring's chill has faded in Beiping, and the sunlight carries the intense heat unique to early summer.

Outside the car, the cityscape of towering buildings rushed past, and the Guomao Bridge area was bustling with traffic, a scene of thriving activity.

Inside the car, the hustle and bustle of the world was shut out. Song Ci turned her gaze from the window to Lei Jun beside her.

The latter was looking down at the documents on his tablet, his brows slightly furrowed, preparing for the JD.com shareholders' meeting later.

"Mr. Lei," Song Ci spoke slowly, her voice calm, "the Xiaomi 3 is about to be released, right?"

Upon hearing this, Lei Jun looked up, his solemn expression instantly replaced by excitement and anticipation, as if the mention of the upcoming new product ignited a fire within him.

"The press conference is scheduled for around June 12th, around the Dragon Boat Festival." He couldn't hide his excitement. "The launch of the Xiaomi 3 is of paramount importance."

As he carefully chose his words, the light in his eyes grew even brighter:
"It not only features the latest fingerprint recognition unlocking technology, but is also the first domestically produced mobile phone to apply artificial intelligence technology."

Song Ci raised an eyebrow slightly, understanding in his heart that he had played a significant role in the launch of Xiaomi 3.

Lei Jun's tone was filled with pride and honor:
"Thanks to Tenda Technology's technological accumulation and open interfaces in the field of artificial intelligence, we successfully developed the first-generation AI voice recognition assistant 'Xiao Ai'!"

Leaning slightly forward, I gladly shared:

"Although it is currently only the most basic voice interaction, it can realize functions such as voice wake-up, setting alarms, querying information, and simple conversations."

However, after repeated internal testing, its response speed and understanding accuracy in Chinese contexts are slightly better than Apple's Siri.

This is a crucial step for Xiaomi phones in penetrating the mid-to-high-end market and building a differentiated competitive advantage!

The excitement was palpable.

For Lei Jun, this new product launch, especially a product like the Xiaomi 3 that embodies a major technological breakthrough, is an important sprint for the Xiaomi Group.

In his excitement, Lei Jun didn't forget who was sitting in front of him. Tengda Technology was not only the technology provider, but Song Ci himself was also at the pinnacle of the internet industry.

He then extended a sincere invitation: "Mr. Song, please do us the honor of attending the press conference on June 12th and supporting Xiaomi."

She added with a smile, "Shishi is the spokesperson for Xiaomi phones and has already promised to be there to cheer me on."

If the two of them could appear together, with the richest couple attending in unison, the buzz they would generate for the press conference would be unprecedented.

Lei Jun is well aware of the power of public opinion and attention, and sincerely hopes that Song Ci can attend. This would not only be to support Xiaomi, but also a highly symbolic demonstration of the cooperative relationship between the two parties.

Song Ci shook her head slightly, a hint of apology on her face: "I'm afraid that won't work. I have important foreign affairs activities at that time and need to travel abroad with the delegation, so I won't be in the country."

His trip to the United States with the leader has been arranged. It is a confidential matter and I cannot say more. I will stop here.

Lei Jun looked regretful upon hearing this, but quickly adjusted his mindset. At their level, they naturally understood the force majeure and confidentiality nature of certain schedules.

"That's a pity. We can only hope for another opportunity."

The car was quiet for a few seconds, with only the faint sound of tires rolling over the road and the low hum of the air conditioning vents.

Lei Jun's smile gradually faded, his expression turned serious, and he took a deep breath before speaking again: "President Song, actually, I have some deeper thoughts about the cooperation between Xiaomi and Tenda."

Song Ci nodded slightly, signaling with her eyes to continue, quietly playing the role of the best listener.

Lei Jun's thoughts drifted back to a few days earlier. On May 1st, Tenda Technology dropped a bombshell, launching the "Unlimited Computing Power" plan.

That announcement was grand and ambitious, as Tenda unleashed its powerful computing capabilities to the world, empowering enterprises, especially SMEs, across the country and even the world, and fully launching the "computing power sharing service model".

According to the published plan, the service tiers provided by Tenda Technology are very clear:
The first layer directly provides elastic virtual servers and massive storage space.

Enterprises can install operating systems and various software on their own, completely eliminating the burden of building expensive data centers.

The second layer consists of Tenda Technology's powerful open database services, big data analysis platform, and artificial intelligence development toolkit.

Developers can focus on developing and running innovative applications on the Tenda Cloud platform without having to worry about the complex maintenance of underlying servers, databases, and other systems.

This news caused a huge stir in the industry, and Lei Jun studied it repeatedly.

He keenly realized that this was a huge opportunity for Xiaomi, which was in a period of rapid expansion and whose demand for computing power and data was increasing day by day.

"President Song, Tenda's 'Unlimited Computing Power' plan is ambitious and admirable."

Lei Junxian offered sincere praise, then changed the subject, saying, "For Xiaomi, we hope to become one of Tenda's closest partners. What we need is not just general computing power resources."

"Mr. Lei, please speak frankly."

"First and foremost is a highly available cloud server cluster. Xiaomi's app store and cloud services support tens of millions of daily active users, and any instability would lead to a significant decline in user experience."

The next step is to provide secure data storage and disaster recovery backup services. We hope to leverage Tenda Cloud to achieve cross-regional multi-active backup and rapid disaster recovery.

"Finally, and most importantly," Lei Jun said with a burning gaze, "we hope to leverage Tenda's top-tier AI computing power to train and iterate 'Xiao Ai'."

Speech models, natural language processing, user intent recognition… all of these require massive amounts of data and astonishing computing power to optimize.

He finished speaking in one breath, looking at Song Ci with a hint of anticipation.

These requirements go beyond the scope of ordinary customers; they seek deep, strategic partnerships.

Song Ci listened quietly, her fingers unconsciously tapping lightly on her knees, her face showing little emotional fluctuation.

After Lei Jun finished speaking, the car fell silent again for a short while.

A few seconds later, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly, revealing a faint but certain smile.

"No problem." The answer was crisp and clear. "What Mr. Lei mentioned is all within the scope of Tenda Cloud's service capabilities and open plan."

"Unlimited computing power is available to all customers worldwide, and Xiaomi is our most desired and should be our top priority partner."

Song Ci's gaze was profound, and his tone was even more far-reaching: "At the national conference in March, I proposed the 'Internet+' strategy."

Its core is to leverage internet technology, especially new-generation information technologies such as cloud computing and big data, to empower traditional industries and fully support the digital transformation of the real economy.

Now is the time for Tenda to fulfill this promise and implement its strategy.

He tilted his head slightly, his gaze seemingly piercing through the car window, looking towards a more distant future: "Releasing computing power can lower the barriers to entrepreneurship and technological innovation. It allows small and medium-sized enterprises to avoid investing heavily in hardware and building large IT teams, greatly reducing initial financial pressure and enabling them to concentrate their resources on business innovation itself."

"In the future, as Tenda Technology continues to iterate and upgrade its technology, even a small team of just a few people will be able to mobilize the world's top computing power to develop complex applications that only giants dared to imagine in the past."

His voice was steady and powerful: "The competition in the digital economy in the future will, to some extent, be a competition for the right to allocate computing power."

Whoever controls the efficient, inclusive, and intelligent allocation of computing power will gain crucial influence in the future economic landscape.

Song Ci agreed to all of Lei Jun's requests for in-depth cooperation almost without hesitation.

For Tenda, attracting benchmark customers like Xiaomi, who have huge industry influence and complex needs, is a key part of "unlimited computing power".

Xiaomi's full integration will be an excellent stress test and real-world verification of Tenda Cloud's stability, security, and performance limits.

Upon hearing this, Lei Jun's mind suddenly cleared. Tengda had built an almost unshakeable ecological barrier and traffic moat through social networking and mobile payment.

Now, they finally have the resources to shift their strategic focus to the more fundamental, yet more dominant areas: cloud computing and artificial intelligence.

The ambitious "Unlimited Computing Power" plan is not just about selling computing resources, but about creating a brand-new development ecosystem centered on Tenda Cloud, just like it did with building social networks in the past.

By offering computing power as a "bait," Tenda attracts countless developers and small and medium-sized enterprises to develop and deploy applications on its platform.

As more and more applications, services, and data accumulate on Tenda Cloud, the platform's value will grow like a snowball, creating a powerful network effect and user stickiness.

Ultimately, a larger and more resilient business ecosystem will naturally form around Tenda's core technological barriers, which will constitute Tenda's core competitiveness and growth engine for the next decade.

Having figured all this out, Lei Jun couldn't help but admire Song Ci's foresight. However, while collaborating with such a giant presents an opportunity, it also requires maintaining a clear head.

The car gradually slowed down, and through the windows, the outline of the JD.com headquarters came into view. Soon after, the convoy came to a smooth stop beneath the magnificent glass curtain wall of the JD.com Group headquarters.

As the car door opened, Song Ci and Lei Jun got out almost simultaneously, and Liu Xiangdong, who had been waiting at the entrance of the lobby on the first floor, immediately greeted them with a beaming smile.

At this time, Dong Ge was in his prime. Although there was a hint of fatigue from preparing for the listing in his brows, there was more of an excitement and a determined spirit as he was about to reach a milestone.

He was sturdy and walked with a powerful stride, extending his hand from several steps away. "President Song! President Lei! Welcome, welcome! You must be tired from your journey!"

Liu Xiangdong's voice was loud and clear, with a slight accent from northern Jiangsu, enthusiastic yet measured.

"Brother Dong, thank you for waiting." Song Ci smiled and shook hands with Liu Xiangdong, her attitude gentle.

Despite Tengda Group being JD.com's second-largest shareholder and Song Ci's own high status, he has always respected entrepreneurs like Liu Xiangdong who take things seriously.

"Mr. Liu, your place is getting more and more impressive." Lei Jun also stepped forward with a smile to exchange pleasantries, warm and familiar.

Xiaomi and JD.com have a close partnership in online sales channels, and Shunwei Capital is a shareholder of JD.com. The two companies also have a good personal relationship.

"Not at all, compared to Tengda and Xiaomi, we're just doing manual labor."

Liu Xiangdong waved his hand modestly, then stepped aside to invite you, "Please come in, the other directors and shareholder representatives are all here, we're just waiting for you."

The three chatted and laughed as they walked through the spacious and bright lobby on the first floor. The elevator was already prepared and took them directly to the private conference room on the top floor.

In the elevator, Liu Xiangdong briefly inquired about the traffic conditions. The atmosphere was relaxed and harmonious, but both of them knew that the upcoming meeting was the main event of the day.

With a "ding," the elevator doors opened. A corridor covered with a dark carpet led to a heavy double door.

A secretary in a business suit stood at the door. Upon seeing the three of them, she immediately bowed and pushed the door open.

The scene inside the meeting room immediately came into view. Just as Liu Xiangdong had said, more than ten people were already seated inside, chatting in small groups.

These individuals, each with an air of distinction and impeccable attire, represent some of JD.com's most important investment institutions: top international venture capital funds and long-term strategic investors.

Upon hearing the door open, the hushed conversation inside instantly ceased, and everyone's eyes turned to the doorway.

Upon seeing Song Ci, Lei Jun, and Liu Xiangdong enter together, everyone almost simultaneously stood up, their faces quickly breaking into warm and polite smiles.

"President Song, President Lei!" "Oh, President Song is here!" "President Liu, have you two arrived?"

Greetings rang out one after another. Although they were all shareholders, their status and influence were worlds apart.

Regardless of the fact that Song Ci is Asia's richest man, the company he represents, Tengda Technology, is not only a financial investor but also a strategic partner with access to two super traffic portals, WeChat and Weibo, making its influence significant.

Lei Jun's Shunwei Capital and Xiaomi, which is behind it, are also important partners in online channels and ecosystem cooperation.

The arrival of the two meant that the meeting could move on to its core agenda.

As the host, Liu Xiangdong skillfully introduced the two sides. In fact, most of them were old acquaintances, at least familiar with each other in various financial news and investment circles.

"This is Mr. Li, the head of Tiger Fund's China region." "This is Mr. Zhou, a partner at DST Global Fund."

"This is Ms. Xu from Capital Today, one of our early investors, a true heroine." "And this is..."

Song Ci and Lei Jun shook hands with everyone, exchanging pleasantries such as "I've long admired you" and "It's a pleasure to meet you," creating a warm yet formal atmosphere.

Behind every smile lies a meticulous calculation of one's own interests and an anticipation of the upcoming meeting.

After exchanging pleasantries, everyone took their seats according to the nameplates on the table.

Liu Xiangdong naturally sat in the main seat, with Song Ci on his left and Xu Xin of Today Capital on his right, and the others sat in order.

After the secretary quietly confirmed that everyone had arrived, she silently left and closed the conference room door. The room fell silent, with only the faint sound of the central air conditioning whirring.

Liu Xiangdong cleared his throat, glanced around the entire arena, and his expression became serious and focused.

"Good afternoon, esteemed directors and shareholder representatives. Thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to visit JD.com."

The opening remarks were crisp and clear, delivered with a strong voice: "The main agenda for inviting everyone here today is to discuss matters related to JD.com's listing in the United States."

Without much preamble, they got straight to the point. Everyone's spirits lifted.

Before we get to the specific proposals, please allow me to give you a brief overview of the company's operations in recent years.

As Liu Xiangdong spoke, he gestured to his assistant to turn on the projector, and a carefully prepared PPT chart instantly appeared on the screen.

(End of this chapter)