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Chapter 377 Choice

As Carl Weller walked out of Lucent's communications building, the cold, sharp words spoken on the conference table kept echoing in his mind. Each word felt like a heavy lead weight, making it hard for him to breathe.

His mind was filled with thoughts of Bell Labs' future, the sacred place that carried countless scientific dreams and gave birth to many world-changing inventions, now standing at a crossroads, its future uncertain.

Back at the Bell Labs campus, unlike the bustling and vibrant atmosphere of the daytime, the campus was rather quiet at this moment, with only a few cars left in the parking lot, indicating that most employees had already left in the evening.

He walked straight to the elevator leading to the underground archives. The elevator slowly descended, and a faint metallic smell filled the small space. Carl's mood grew heavier with each descent.

This place preserves Bell Labs' most precious treasures: manuscripts and materials that embody the hard work of countless researchers and bear witness to the lab's century-long history.

Stepping into the archives, Carl skillfully navigated between rows of tall filing cabinets, which recorded every moment of Bell Labs's birth and growth, witnessing the birth of many great inventions.

Carl approached one of the filing cabinets labeled with information related to transistor research and development. He gently opened the cabinet door, revealing neatly arranged stacks of yellowed papers—the original manuscripts of the transistor invention.

Under the fluorescent light, a yellowed photograph was revealed.

Carl saw the photo, and although he wasn't one of the people in it, he knew it was taken at a Christmas party in 1950. Shockley was standing in the center, holding a wine glass, surrounded by smiling researchers.

At that time, AT&T monopolized more than 80% of the telephone market in the United States and was also the dominant player in the European telephone market. It allocated as much as $2 million to its laboratories every year, which is equivalent to more than two billion US dollars today.

Back then, no one worried about research funding, and no one ever imagined that Bell Labs would one day have to worry about funding.

"You're back?" A familiar voice came from the archives entrance, interrupting Karl's thoughts.

Carl turned around and saw Marcus standing in the doorway, holding two steaming cups of coffee.

Marcus walked in slowly and handed one of the coffee cups to Carl. "How did the meeting go?"

Everyone at Bell Labs knew that Karl was going to headquarters for a meeting today, which would determine the future of the lab.

Recently, due to issues such as a significant reduction in R&D funding and an overabundance of employees, the conflict between Bell Labs and Lucent Technologies has reached an irreconcilable point.

In order to reduce costs and increase profits, Lucent began a series of reforms and adjustments to Bell Labs. However, these adjustments seriously affected the vital interests of all employees in the lab, so everyone was very concerned.

Carl took the coffee, feeling the warmth of the cup against his fingertips, but this warmth did nothing to warm his cold fingers and heavy heart.

He shook his head slightly, his face showing an expression even worse than crying, and said in a low, hoarse voice, "Hart said that Bell Labs has to lay off three-quarters of its researchers and related service personnel."

"What did Richie McKinney say?" Marcus pressed, his tone tinged with urgency and anticipation.

Upon hearing Richie McGinn's name, Carl's expression instantly turned furious. "That guy didn't say a word, just watched the others make trouble the whole time, as if this had nothing to do with him."

"Shit!" Marcus couldn't help but growl. Even though he was usually a gentle and respected scholar, he could hardly suppress his anger after hearing such news.

Marcus's gaze fell on the walls of the archives, which were covered with photographs documenting the glorious history of Bell Labs, featuring portraits of researchers who had made significant inventions for the lab throughout its history.

From Bell, who invented the telephone, to Shockley's team that developed the transistor, and Shannon, who proposed the theory of information—behind each photograph lies a legendary story, representing the brilliant achievements of Bell Labs in the field of scientific research.

"Do you remember when we separated in 1996?"

"What did Richie McKinney promise back then? He said he would build Bell Labs into an invention factory for the 21st century and make Bell Labs even more glorious."

In 1996, AT&T underwent a strategic restructuring, deciding to split Bell Labs in two. Most of its employees went to Lucent Technologies to operate independently, while a smaller number remained with AT&T's parent company.

To entice Bell Labs to join Lucent, Richie McKinney made many promising promises and painted a hopeful picture of the future.

"But now? This is a complete scam. I even suspect that the breakup of Lucent was a conspiracy by AT&T, a conspiracy against Bell Labs." Marcus's tone was full of anger and resentment.

As he recalled the situation at Bell Labs over the past two years, he felt more and more that things were not as simple as they seemed on the surface.

Although there were no formal regulations, there was an unwritten rule during AT&T's operation of Bell Labs that the Telephone and Telegraph Corporation would allocate 4% to 5% of its revenue each year to Bell Labs' research and development.

As long as Bell Labs remains under AT&T, no one will dare to break this unwritten rule easily.

It is thanks to this stable funding that Bell Labs has been able to achieve groundbreaking scientific results over the decades and maintain its leading position in the global scientific research field.

But what about now? Lucent has become independent and has started targeting Bell Labs.

"Who can we blame? We were blinded by their descriptions back then." Karl's face showed deep self-reproach. He lowered his head, his voice full of guilt. "I think it's my fault for not leading well, which has led the lab into this predicament." As the head of Bell Labs, Karl always believed that he bore an unshirkable responsibility for the current state of the lab.

"It's not your fault. Anyone would have chosen Lucent under those conditions, especially since it was the result of a vote by all the researchers at the time." Marcus walked over to Carl, patted him on the shoulder, and gently comforted him.

At the time, Rich McGinn made it clear that as long as Bell Labs developed alongside Lucent, Lucent would allocate more than 10% of its annual revenue to Bell Labs' research and development and operations.

Richie McKinney did indeed keep his word; Lucent's annual investment in Bell Labs did indeed exceed 10%.

But who would have thought that this 10% revenue investment included Bell Labs' massive salary system?

Carl picked up his coffee and took a sip. The warm liquid slid down his throat, but it still couldn't dispel the chill in his heart. "If I had known it would end like this, I shouldn't have agreed to leave Shannon Labs to the parent company when AT&T was broken up."

Shannon Labs holds an irreplaceable position in the field of information theory research, possessing a wealth of valuable research materials and top-notch researchers.

"If we had been able to keep Shannon's lab back then, we would have a stronger bargaining chip and more confidence now."

Marcus remarked with a sigh, "Is the fate of scientific research truly to be driven by money?"

He is not against monetizing technology; on the contrary, he strongly supports transforming scientific research results into actual productivity, creating value for society, and bringing more financial support to the laboratory, thus promoting a virtuous cycle of scientific research.

Scientific research cannot be separated from financial support, and looking to money is necessary to a certain extent.

However, he could not agree with Lucent's short-sighted, profit-driven approach that only focused on short-term economic benefits.

Researchers should devote themselves wholeheartedly to the research areas that interest them, focusing solely on tackling technical challenges and exploring the unknown in science. As for which technologies can be commercialized and how to bring research results to market, that is a problem that the company's marketing and operations departments need to discover and solve.

Instead of Lucent's current approach, which involves first identifying the source of funding and then getting everyone, whether they like it or not, to conduct research and development in that direction.

"Look at Bell Labs now. For projects related to communication equipment, the finance department approves funding almost instantly once the application is submitted, with funds flowing in continuously. But what about research projects that are crucial to the development of basic science and have significant potential value?"

"We applied for $200 million in funding for basic physics research three times, and each time it was rejected for various reasons. It has not been approved yet."

In Lucent's view, these basic research projects that could not generate economic benefits in the short term were not worth investing in.

"Is there really no other way?" Marcus looked up, his eyes filled with resentment and despair. He simply couldn't accept the reality that three-quarters of Bell Labs' employees had been laid off.

Many of those employees have worked in the lab for over a decade or even several decades. They have dedicated their youth and passion to Bell Labs, which has long become an indispensable part of their lives.

Once laid off, they will not only lose their jobs, but their years of scientific research dreams will also vanish.

Upon hearing Marcus's words, Carl hesitated for a moment before slowly saying, "It's not entirely true that there isn't any."

Upon hearing this, Marcus looked at him sharply, a glimmer of hope rekindling in his eyes. He asked eagerly, "Do you have any ideas? Can you save Bell Labs as it is now?"

Carl shook his head slightly, and under Marcus's questioning gaze, slowly said, "They also gave us a choice."

""

Carl took a deep breath, looked into Marcus's eyes, and said, word by word, "They said they're going to sell Bell Labs."

"What?" Marcus's eyes widened, his face filled with shock and disbelief.

"What kind of solution is this? What's the difference between this and staying at Lucent? In the end, won't it still be broken up and go bankrupt?"

In Marcus's view, once Bell Labs is sold, the new buyer will likely dismantle the lab in pursuit of maximizing profits, keeping only the commercially valuable projects and personnel, while the basic research departments and projects that cannot be monetized in the short term will be ruthlessly abandoned.

"Why do you say that?" Carl asked.

Marcus retorted irritably, "Even an industry giant like Telephone and Telegraph can't support Bell Labs' research and development. Do you think any other corporation in America can afford to support Bell Labs?"

"The internet industry may have some connection with us, but do you think powerful companies like Microsoft, Cisco, and Google would be willing to buy us? They need programmers who can quickly develop products and meet market demands, not researchers like us who focus on basic sciences such as physics and chemistry."

Carl listened to Marcus's analysis without showing much surprise. He said calmly, "They said they're selling it to an individual."

"Sold to an individual?" Marcus was so angry he laughed. He shook his head, his face full of mockery. "I can tell you very clearly that this might just be another Lucent conspiracy to make Bell Labs a thing of the past."

"Who has the financial resources to support Bell Labs? That's utter nonsense!"

In Marcus's view, no individual could afford Bell Labs' enormous operating costs and R&D expenses. Lucent's proposal was merely an excuse to get rid of Bell Labs as a burden while also making a profit.

"They say it's Ernst."

"Well...who are you talking about?" Marcus stopped mid-sentence and stood up abruptly.

Karl repeated, "Ernst, Ernst Garfield."

Marcus laughed, a very happy laugh, just like at his wedding. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's pack our things and send Lucent to hell!"

Carl hadn't expected Marcus to be so eager to sell Bell Labs. "You really agree to the sale of Bell Labs?"

"Why don't you agree?" Marcus countered.

That's Ernst, the guy who supposedly gets dollars rained down on him when he walks down the street.

Will Bell Labs still lack research funding after he acquires it?

"But this is Bell Labs, it's Bell Labs," Karl emphasized.

Marcus understood why the other person was hesitant. He pointed to the names of the pioneers on the wall who had made significant contributions to the Telephone and Telegraph Corporation. "Do you think we have done anything to betray the name Bell?"

"Who made the Telephone and Telegraph Corporation so glorious for over a century? It was them, these researchers who worked day and night."

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"But what was the result? We were betrayed."

"Now, we need to think about ourselves, about all the staff in the lab, and about the countless families behind this."