Chapter 513: Internet Conference Speech

April 15, 2009, Shenzhen.

Li Yaozong was in his office reviewing the quarterly sales report of the Fenghuang S1, and the Telephone on the desk rang.

"Mr. Li, the China Internet Association has sent an invitation," secretary Xiaolin's voice came through the handset.

"What invitation?"

"The China Internet Conference to be held in Beijing next month; they would like you to give the keynote speech."

Li Yaozong was startled for a moment.

"Internet Conference? Invite me?"

"Yes." Xiaolin said, "The invitation states that the success of the Fenghuang Smart Device is one of the biggest highlights of this year's Internet industry, and they hope you can share your views on the future."

Li Yaozong was silent for a few seconds.

"Bring the invitation in."

Five minutes later, Xiaolin placed the large red, gilt-edged invitation on the desk.

Li Yaozong picked it up and looked.

"Dear Mr. Li Yaozong:

The 10th China Internet Conference is scheduled for May 18, 2009 at the Beijing International Conference Center, and you are specially invited to attend and give the keynote speech. The talk will be thirty minutes; the content is at your discretion.

We look forward to your presence.

China Internet Association

April 10, 2009"

Li Yaozong set the invitation down and walked to the window.

Outside the window, Shenzhen's spring sunshine was bright, and the outline of Fenghuang Mountain was clearly visible. He recalled that ten years ago, when his father handed the group to him, Wanshang had just begun its Internet business.

Now, they have been invited to give a keynote speech at the Internet Conference.

He turned around and picked up the Telephone.

"Xiaolin, reply to them that I accept the invitation."

For the next half month, Li Yaozong kept pondering what exactly to speak about.

May 18, Beijing International Conference Center, a venue for three thousand people.

What to speak?

He reviewed Wanshang's development over the years: Fenghuang Phone, Fenghuang Chat, Fenghuang Clip, Fenghuang Chip, Fenghuang Automobile, Wanshang Sports…

But those are the past.

What he wants to talk about is the future.

One day at the end of April, He Xiao came to his office to find him.

He Xiao pushed the door open, holding a report in his hand.

"Mr. Li, there's something about the automobile side I'd like to discuss with you."

Li Yaozong gestured for him to sit.

He Xiao sat opposite him and placed the report on the desk.

"These are the automobile sales figures for the last quarter. Sedans sold 80,000 units, SUVs 30,000 units, and vans 50,000 units. Overall, it's good."

Li Yaozong nodded.

"But I'm not here about that," He Xiao paused, "I want to ask you, what will you speak about at next month's Internet Conference?"

Li Yaozong looked at him.

"How did you know?"

"It's been spreading throughout the company," He Xiao smiled, "they say you're the closing guest of this conference."

Li Yaozong was silent for two seconds.

"I haven't decided yet."

He Xiao leaned back.

"I'm wondering what the automobile sector will become in the future."

Li Yaozong looked at him.

"You tell me."

"Today's cars are still driven by people," He Xiao said, "but later, could cars drive themselves?"

Li Yaozong's eyes lit up for a moment.

"Driverless?"

"Right," He Xiao said, "we have chips, systems, sensors, and maps. Combined, can they make a car run by itself?"

He paused.

"Also, new energy. Oil prices are rising; will all cars be electric in the future? Can our battery technology be applied to cars?"

Li Yaozong said nothing.

He Xiao continued.

"These may be matters ten years from now. But if we don't think about them now, ten years later it'll be too late."

Li Yaozong looked at him.

"How old are you?"

"Thirty-seven."

"Same as me," Li Yaozong said, "we still have thirty years to live. In these thirty years, can we see these things become reality?"

He Xiao thought for a moment.

"We can see them."

After He Xiao left, Li Yaozong thought for a long while again.

He opened the computer and began searching for information.

Autonomous driving, foreign companies are already researching it. Google's self‑driving car is said to have already logged tens of thousands of kilometers in road tests.

New energy, Tesla is already selling electric cars. Though expensive, the technology is already proven.

Unmanned factories, Foxconn is already piloting them. Robots replace workers, yielding higher efficiency and lower costs.

Unmanned hotels, a hotel in Japan has a front desk staffed entirely by robots.

AI, artificial intelligence—chess‑playing, translation, image‑recognition—are all developing rapidly.

He looked at these, and a shape began to form in his mind.

On May 10, Chen Feng also came to see him.

"Director Li, I heard you're going to speak at the Internet Conference?"

Li Yaozong nodded.

"Have you decided what to talk about?"

"I have a general direction."

Chen Feng sat opposite him.

"Regarding the chip side, I want to tell you something."

"Go ahead."

"Our current Phoenix Chip No. 1 is 600 M. Next year, it can reach 1 G. The year after, 1.5 G," Chen Feng said. "Chip performance doubles every 18 months, and this trend will continue."

Li Yaozong looked at him.

"What do you want to say?"

Chen Feng thought for a moment.

"I want to say that future phones will be ten to a hundred times more powerful than current ones. The things they can run will also increase ten to a hundredfold. Today's smart devices are just the beginning."

He paused.

"When you give your speech, you can include these points."

Li Yaozong nodded.

"I will."

On May 12, Zhou Ye also arrived.

"Director Li, I have some ideas about video."

"Go ahead."

"Today's videos are shot by people. In the future, could they be shot by AI?" Zhou Ye said. "For example, you input a piece of text and AI automatically generates a video."

Li Yaozong was momentarily stunned.

"Is it doable?"

"Not yet," Zhou Ye said. "But what about in five years? In ten years?"

He looked at Li Yaozong.

"You can mention this in your speech."

Li Yaozong smiled.

"You all came to give me ideas."

Zhou Ye also smiled.

"Because we all want to know what the future will become."

On May 15, Li Yaozong finally finished writing the outline of the speech.

It was five pages total, titled:

"Technology Changes the Future — Reflections and Prospects"

He listed several sections:

I. From feature phones to smart devices, what have we experienced?

II. In the next decade, how will technology change life?

• AI: from image recognition to decision‑making

• New energy: from gasoline to electricity

• Unmanned: from factories to cars to hotels

• Connectivity: from person‑to‑person to person‑to‑thing to thing‑to‑thing

III. Talent is fundamental

IV. China's opportunities

V. Wanshang's promise

He read the outline three times, then placed it into his briefcase.

On May 17, Li Yaozong flew to Beijing.

On the plane, he reviewed the speech content again.

When the flight attendant came to offer drinks, he asked for a glass of water.

In the seat beside him sat a young man continuously using a computer. Li Yaozong glanced; the screen displayed a piece of source code.

"Are you a programmer?" he asked.

The young man looked up, startled for a moment.

"Are you… Li Yaozong?"

Li Yaozong nodded.

The young person's eyes lit up.

"President Li, I've used your Fenghuang Phone! The Fenghuang S1, high‑spec version!"

Li Yaozong smiled.

"Is it easy to use?"

"It's easy to use!" the young person said, "Much better than Apple."

He paused.

"President Li, are you going to Beijing this time to attend the Internet conference?"

Li Yaozong nodded.

The young person said excitedly.

"I'm going too! I'm attending as a company delegate."

He hesitated for a moment.

"President Li, may I ask you a question?"

"Ask."

"Do you think programmers will still be needed in the future? Will AI replace us?"

Li Yaozong thought for a moment.

"AI will help you work, but it cannot replace you."

He looked at the young person.

"Because AI is man‑made. Humans are the foundation."

The young person nodded thoughtfully.

May 18, Beijing International Conference Center.

A hall of three thousand people, every seat filled. The aisles were packed with standing attendees, and extra seats were added in the back rows.

Li Yaozong sat in the front row, waiting for the host to call his name.

Onstage, the previous speaker had just finished. Amid applause, the host walked onto the stage.

"Next, please welcome Mr. Li Yaozong, Chairman of Wanxiang Group, to give the keynote speech—'Technology Changes the Future'."

Thunderous applause.

Li Yaozong stood, straightened his suit, and walked onto the stage.

He stood at the center of the stage, looking at the three thousand eyes below.

"Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon."

The applause subsided.

"Today, I'd like to talk with you about the future."

He pressed a remote, and the big screen lit up.

On the screen, there was only one line of text:

"What is the future?"

"Ten years ago, we didn't know what intelligent machines would be like. Ten years from now, we don't know what the next decade will bring."

He paused.

"But we can imagine."

He pressed the remote, and the screen switched to a picture.

The picture displayed several keywords: AI, new energy, unmanned, connectivity.

"First, AI," he said. "Artificial intelligence. Future phones will understand you better. Future cars will drive themselves. Future factories will produce on their own. Future hotels will serve themselves."

The audience listened quietly.

"Second, new energy. Gasoline will become scarcer, electricity will become more abundant. Future cars will be electric. Future energy will be clean."

"Third, unmanned. Unmanned factories, driverless vehicles, unmanned hotels. It's not about eliminating people, but freeing them from repetitive labor to do more creative work."

"Fourth, connectivity. Person‑to‑person, person‑to‑thing, thing‑to‑thing. Everything will be linked together, forming a massive network."

He pressed the remote, and the screen switched to the next slide.

"What will we rely on to achieve these?"

He looked at the audience.

"Rely on talent."

The screen displayed a few words: Talent is the primary resource.

"Fenghuang has been around for twenty years, growing from a small company to a Fortune 500. What did it rely on? Not money, not luck, but talent."

He paused.

"China has the most engineers in the world, the most programmers, the most young people. These people are the foundation of the future."

A burst of applause rose from the audience.

He pressed the remote, and the screen switched to the final slide.

"Wanshang's Commitment."

He looked at the audience.

"In the next ten years, Wanshang will continue to invest in research and development, at least ten billion yuan per year. We will produce better chips, better systems, better cars, better phones. We will explore AI, explore new energy, explore unmanned."

He paused.

"We will work with all peers to push China's technology onto the world stage."

He surveyed the whole hall.

"Thank you, everyone."

Applause thundered.

After the speech ended, Li Yaozong was surrounded by reporters.

"Mr. Li, is Wanshang already doing the autonomous driving you mentioned?"

"Mr. Li, what do you think of foreign AI technology?"

"Mr. Li, what advice do you have for young entrepreneurs?"

Li Yaozong pushed outward while answering.

"Autonomous driving is still in the research stage."

"Foreign technology is worth learning from, but we must forge our own path."

"My advice is: don't fear failure, don't fear slowness."

He squeezed to the doorway and stopped.

He turned back and glanced at the reporters.

"Everyone, the future belongs to the young. Write more about them."

After speaking, he slipped into the car and left with his head held high.

That evening, Li Yaozong returned to the hotel.

There were dozens of messages on his phone.

One from Chen Feng read: "Well said."

One from Zhou Ye read: "That AI point, many people are discussing it."

One from Fang Wenshan read: "The media feedback is great; everyone says you have foresight."

Another from He Xiao read: "I recorded the autonomous driving segment and will show it to the team later."

He looked at those messages and smiled.

Then he opened his computer and began drafting a plan.

Outside the window, Beijing's night was deepening.

In the distance, on Chang'anjie, traffic flowed like a river.

He wrote for a while, then stopped.

Staring out the window, he remained silent for a long time.

He knew that what he spoke of today might take five, ten, or twenty years to materialize.

But someone has to speak first.

Someone has to act first.

He shut the computer and stood up.

He walked to the window and gazed at this ancient yet youthful city.

Tomorrow, he will return to Shenzhen.

He will continue building the future.