Chapter 232 - 226 Display_1

The Great Wall G1X equipped with the Y1601 chip performed impressively well. Engineers at New Yuan estimated from their experience developing industrial software that it could undertake GPU graphic computing tasks without issue and optimally run large-scale 3D games smoothly.

However, due to the 28nm process, it generated considerable heat. The chip’s peak power could reach 150W, so it required cooling systems typical of high-performance gaming laptops, as well as a 180W high-power supply adapter. But this was a minor problem.

The main issue now was the lack of an ecosystem, though government departments simply needed to keep it confidential. Using it temporarily to bolster their image was no problem, and it was fully functional.

As this batch of G1X was produced in a single mold for just over a hundred units, the cost per unit was over 60,000. But the purchase price for the government was expected to be the cost of mass production * 115%, which was 8,599 Yuan. Hence it was indeed a vanity project, but a necessary one.

However, the G1X did have a highlight, that being the integrated artificial intelligence "Qiongqi".

As a great advantage of ternary chips, how could AI be left behind?

Under the scrutiny of numerous media cameras, The Great Wall’s computer representative powered on the G1X and then booted it up. He shouted into the microphone with as much standard Mandarin as he could muster:

"Qiongqi, are you there?"

The laptop emitted a prompt tone and then everyone heard a slightly feminine, neutral voice through the microphone:

"I am here. I am the artificial intelligence Qiongqi. I can help you search for information, control software, chat with you, and you can also customize my name. Feel free to ask me anything you don’t understand."

This scene stirred up discussion among the audience. Even though Apple had introduced the voice assistant Siri in 2011, it was still quite rigid and not widely used, and "artificial intelligence" was much more advanced than a mere voice assistant.

Representative: "I would like to name you ’Ai,’ after the herb Mugwort."

"(Ding), I have received your naming instruction and recorded your voice. I am now Ai, after the herb Mugwort. What can Ai do for you? You could ask, ’How is the weather today?’"

The representative did not speak, but instead unplugged the power cord and picked up the laptop, walking down to the audience and pointing at a member of the audience:

"To demonstrate Ai’s authenticity, we welcome the media to ask a variety of questions. I will randomly select people present to ask questions, or you can raise your hand."

The person indicated was somewhat embarrassed; he wore a suit and stepped forward to ask:

"Can I ask anything?"

Only then did the representative realize that the person in front of him looked somewhat familiar, annoyed with himself for not paying more attention earlier. Those seated in the front were all prominent figures in the industry after all.

"Yes, you can ask any question."

Lei Jun nodded and said to the computer:

"Ai, what is the most cost-effective domestic smartphone on the market now?"

"..."

The media present were speechless, feeling Lei Jun was deliberately making it difficult for The Great Wall computers.

Their impression of voice-activated artificial intelligence was still stuck on mechanical interactive voice commands, such as "Open XX software", so how could it answer direct questions?

Unexpectedly, The Great Wall’s representative heaved a sigh of relief. The G1X beeped to show it had received the command, and then a voice followed:

"Searching for the most cost-effective domestic smartphone for you... Approximately 61% of netizens believe that "Xiaomi 5" is the most cost-effective, 18% believe it is OnePlus 3, and the most recognized budget phone is the Redmi Pro.

Among them, Xiaomi 5 features a Qualcomm 820 processor...

...Therefore, I suggest you choose a phone that fits your budget to improve your user experience."

The technical engineer sitting next to the invited executive of Apple China narrowed his eyes, almost standing up.

A voice assistant capable of internet searches was nothing new, but the ability to autonomously compile data, not just reading an encyclopedia, and to do so convincingly, truly merited the description of artificial intelligence.

This was several leagues above their SIRI!

Lei Jun was also greatly shocked. Xiaomi was already working on a voice assistant and was preparing to launch its own mobile smart voice assistant next year, so he was very clear about how powerful the artificial intelligence in G1X was!

It was simply... awe-inspiring.

The person in charge asked him with a smile, "Mr. Lei, what do you think of this answer?"

Lei Jun (looking around to attract media cameras), "Artificial Intelligence has given a fair judgement, and I believe that Xiaomi 5 is indeed the most cost-effective phone on the market."

The person in charge, "Anyone else want to try?"

The G1X was passed to a middle-aged man in the third row whose Huawei badge was captured by the media cameras.

"Ai, can you write a piece of C language code that would output ’hello world’ when it runs?"

"Greetings, Ai is based on the ’Taishan’ architecture and doesn’t support C language code commands, but I can connect to the internet to search for a possible correct answer for you... the most likely answer follows:

#include ..."

A series of code lines appeared on the screen. This command was very simple, so those present could glance over it and immediately know whether it was correct or not.

...

The middle-aged man opened his mouth but could not say anything, sitting down after expressing his admiration.

The atmosphere at the venue suddenly became lively, and a series of strange questions came one after another:

"Ai, Ai, what is the floating-point computation capability of this laptop?"

"Ai, can you help me create a new PPT?"

"Ai, can you pretend to be a catgirl and talk to me?"

"Ai, who do you think will win this year’s America boss election?"

...

All sorts of hodgepodge questions were asked, but Ai performed steadily. The G1X was equipped with a gigabit network card, and with four wireless transmitters providing high-speed network support at the venue, its search and analysis were very fast.

If one really had to define ’Qiongqi,’ it would probably be a voice version of the newBing chatbot, capable of connecting to the internet to search and answer various questions.

Actually, the chatbot intelligence in Meridian’s navigation software was about the same, but ’Meridian’ could not be used offline, whereas Qiongqi could assist with office work locally.

However, the most frequently used feature of Meridian by general users was "I want to go to XXX," and then the software would plan the route by itself, not many people really had the leisure to chat with it.

When the G1X had to be collected by the person in charge due to the battery running low, representatives from various major manufacturers present personally felt the power of ’Qiongqi.’

Just like its name, derived from an ancient mythical beast, the intelligence and sophistication of Qiongqi simply didn’t seem like something from the year 2016.

The many questions they asked seemed absurd, but in fact, were all tests of ’Qiongqi’s reaction capability.

The results were shocking.

Finally, when the person in charge completed the presentation and the delivery ceremony with various units, the unified question from the audience was:

Where can we buy G1X?

"G-series notebooks are currently only available through the official website and various major e-commerce platforms for sale, and because of the recent tight production capacity the first batch is limited to 10,000 units, friends who are interested can place orders!"

Actually, the production capacity wasn’t so tight; it was mainly because selling 10,000 units at the current price, each would lose thousands, and in the future, they definitely planned to sell well-designed versions, which would cost much less than the hastily put together G-series.