Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 449 Win, you can win!

Lin Ran had gotten used to this kind of life.

The feeling of living back and forth between 1960 and 2020.

2020 is magical compared to 1960. The technology here far exceeds people's imagination of the future at that time, but in many aspects it is far inferior to the vision of the future of an ordinary science fiction enthusiast in 1960.

2020 is such a magical year.

It didn't take the path of retro science fiction, nor did it embrace cyberpunk futurism, and certainly not a utopian world.

Information is everywhere here, more common than air.

Data as small as people's walking speed, heart rate, and pulse can be uploaded.

Its computing power is so great that it cannot be measured using ordinary mathematical units.

However, at the same time, once the magical elements faded, a deeper sense of disappointment arose.

For this Cold War master, who held high positions in both timelines and could influence the rise and fall of a region with a single word, manipulating geopolitics like a chessboard, this disappointment was all the more direct and fueled his growing dissatisfaction with reality.

People use the most advanced technology to scroll through the most boring short videos, and are wrapped in the most tightly sealed information cocoon.

This future is completely different from the future depicted in 1960s science fiction novels.

This is so confusing.

The longer Lin Ran stayed in 1960, the closer his way of thinking became to that of people in that era, and the more severe his confusion and dissatisfaction would become.

Having spent the entire 1960s in the 1960s, Lin Ran actually felt that the 60s was more hopeful. Although the technology there was far inferior to that of 2020, there were still so many things that had not been settled and so many things that could be changed.

However, to change 1960, we need to start from 2020.

He doesn't have enough.

There could be even more.

He can also mobilize more resources.

Let's start with the simplest signal.

It all started with the most insignificant piece of news.

That is, Moore's Threads S90 graphics card was quietly launched on the Tmall official flagship store.

This graphics card has always been positioned to compete with Nvidia's 4060, but at a time when Nvidia has already entered the 50 series, it can no longer be considered advanced.

On the consumer side, Moore's Threads has also performed poorly in the past.

It's very simple. Their products are priced the same as Nvidia's cards, but the user experience is far inferior.

Therefore, those who buy Moore Thread graphics cards are basically users who have plenty of money and genuinely want to support domestically produced graphics cards.

The difference with the S90 is that it was designed first, and then they were put on the Entity List, which prevented TSMC from manufacturing their S90 graphics cards, causing the product to be canceled before it even got off the ground.

Therefore, it is a product that only exists in theory.

And just like that, it quietly went online at the end of 2025.

At first, netizens who were following this matter thought that Lin Ran was incredibly powerful.

The official community for Moore Threads immediately erupted in excitement.

"Holy crap, the S90 is on the way? The US has lifted the ban?"

"That can't be right, can it? Moore Threads is cooperating with Apollo Technology. If you're associated with Apollo Technology, how could they possibly unseal you? It would be a favor if they didn't seal you even tighter."

"Yes, in the past two years, any company that has even remotely been associated with Apollo Technology has been put on the list of gods. They are targeted by the US in every possible way, while the Chinese are doing everything they can to support them. It is unlikely that the ban will be lifted."

"That means the God of Fire is incredibly powerful, able to allocate a portion of the capacity of Huawei's 7nm production line to Moore."

"It's probably because the leader of Huawei has a lot of face. He's willing to give Huawei face by earning less money and nurturing direct competitors. Could anyone else do that?"

"What face-saving fruit?"

"Honestly, go buy one right away, even if it's just for your collection."

"No, I'm not seeing things, am I? Moore Threads is only priced at 1999? What's wrong with Old Zhang? Is he going to make friends for 1999?"

"I wasn't planning on supporting it at first, but seeing the price, which is similar to the 4060, I might buy one to show my support!"

"The one who broke Moore's Thread's Law is now following the rules?"

Some netizens joked that there's a rule in the graphics card industry: there are no graphics cards that are actually presented, only prices that are actually presented. This rule was successfully broken by Moore's Threads' S70.

Because the S70's gaming performance was comparable to the 750ti, meaning it couldn't even beat mid-to-high-end integrated graphics at the time, any performance figure would be questionable. Yet, this dedicated graphics card, which couldn't even compete with integrated graphics, was priced at the same level as the 3060ti by Moore's Threads.

It has also been heavily criticized by netizens.

I feel that spending 2499 yuan to buy an S70 is not good for gaming or running AI. I'm spending over 2000 yuan just for a sense of nostalgia, plus a heatsink and three fans.

With a price comparable to the 4060 and performance on paper, it is now a product with sufficient market competitiveness.

It's very simple. Chinese consumers are genuinely willing to pay a premium based on sentiment when it comes to supporting domestically produced semiconductor products.

The S70's premium was too high, but the S90's pricing is quite reasonable.

"Holy crap, it really is! At this price, I absolutely have to buy one!"

The following are all +1s.
Moore Threads' official forum has rarely been this lively.

Usually, a post only gets a handful of replies.

On JD.com, sales exceeded 10,000 units on the first day.

However, on Zhihu, the focus of the discussion was not on Moore's Law, but on China's breakthrough in making 7nm chips entirely domestically produced.

"I'm so excited! The 7nm fully domestic production line has been put into operation. The news was declassified today, so Moore's Threads S90 is on the market today. In fact, it had already been in production for two months!"

As expected, listen to the dragon's roar!

"When Huawei was added to the list in 2019, I really liked the letter from the president of HiSilicon at the time, especially the last sentence:"
The road ahead is even more arduous, but we will stand tall and forge ahead under extreme pressure with courage, wisdom, and perseverance. Only amidst towering waves can true heroes emerge; only through hardship and adversity can Noah's Ark be forged.

Now that Noah's Ark has arrived, I want to ask America if she can stop it this time?

Judging from their past responses, these users all have some background in the semiconductor industry, and one or two even have certifications from Huawei's semiconductor division.

These people all say the same thing: we have already mastered 7nm.

That evening, Yu Dazui posted only two words on Weibo: "Success."

A storm was brewing.

Everyone knows that the 7nm production line has truly been successfully developed.

Anyone with a little common sense knows what this means for China.

America has lost another chip.

The following evening at 7 PM, the news that Shenhai Microelectronics' 7nm lithography machine had officially gone into production definitively refuted the rumor. Global media outlets rushed to report on it.

John Morgan, who was in Tokyo, had already learned of this news and saw it as another good opportunity to short TSMC.

He also knew that the White House was in the midst of a bloodbath, but thankfully he was in Tokyo, making money for Washington and Wall Street, and didn't need to get involved in this mess.

And you don't have to deal with the unpredictable Big T, or his questions about why you sold Japan's 28nm semiconductor technology to China.

Didn't you authorize its sale?
I'm just following your instructions.

Just as John Morgan Sr. had predicted, the air outside the Oval Office was howling with cold air, and the air pressure inside was exceptionally low.

Everyone finds this hard to accept.

China's progress has far exceeded their expectations.

Their projection is to complete the 28nm national production line by 2027. Although they have pushed this timeline forward a little, their most optimistic estimate is that China will not be able to complete the 7nm national production line until 2030.

As a result, they arrived a full five years ahead of schedule.

What is the concept of five years? Five years means that all plans have to be scrapped and started over.

Big T sat behind the resolute desk, his tie slightly loosened, his fingers impatiently tapping on piles of classified briefings.

The headlines from various media outlets were all pretty much the same: "China achieves 7nm semiconductor independence, a leap forward under the shadow of the America trade war."

After all, this has been one of the main themes of the world for the past seven years.

The world was in an uproar over China's progress.

The White House officials present all thought that Big T was furious. In fact, he was indeed in a bad mood, but not as bad as they thought.

"Everyone, tell me, what should we do now?"
Could it be that they're hiding in the sand like ostriches, pretending nothing happened?

We need to take action, even if that action doesn't seem to have an effect, but we need to give our supporters the feeling that we are constantly winning.

Those sitting opposite him were all core members of his team.

This includes Mark, the former Florida senator—well, Mark isn't exactly a core member.

The position of Secretary of State is important, but in the White House, Mark is more like a straight man.

Commerce Secretary Howard Rutnick, because he is a Wall Street billionaire, is more favored by the big boss than Mark.

And Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Big T's former campaign manager.

Excluding Musk, who is in Florida.

He refused to get involved, citing his busy schedule with the lunar base and the redesigned starship.

Rutnick answered first: "Mr. President, our top priority right now is to prevent the Democrats from using this as an opportunity for political maneuvering, linking this matter to our permission last year for Japan to sell 28nm and below semiconductor technology to China."

Ordinary people would find it unbelievable. At a time like this, when things are so urgent, your first reaction is still partisan infighting? Or shifting blame?
But that's the reality.

With these qualities, Rutnick thrived in the White House.

When Mark heard this, he lowered his head to avoid being caught by Big T's expression.

This second-generation Cuban immigrant is far more loyal than New York natives like Rutnick.

The object of his loyalty here is America.

"As you know, our intelligence confirms that by the end of 2025, China will have achieved full self-sufficiency in 7nm semiconductor production, just as they claim."

SMIC and other state-owned enterprises now produce these chips without relying on any foreign technology, without machines from the Dutch company ASML, or EDA tools from Cadence or Synopsys.

This is a complete domestic supply chain, from photolithography to materials.

But that's not important. What we need to emphasize to the public is that this is 2017 technology, and it's almost 2026. They are ten years behind us!
A full ten years!

Mark thought to himself, "My God, what kind of comparison is this?"

Rutnick's voice continued.

"Most importantly, we need to emphasize that this matter has nothing to do with Japan selling semiconductor technology to China!"

We need to emphasize that you, President, have only been in office for a year; this is Joe's responsibility!

It was the right thing for us to sell semiconductor technology to China.

It was precisely because of Joe's weakness, incompetence, and compromise that China was able to continuously send science and engineering students to study and work in all free-camp countries such as America, Europe, and Japan, allowing them to access all kinds of cutting-edge technologies.

This has caused cracks to appear in the visionary plans you laid out in 2018, President, between 2020 and 2024.

These cracks are so huge.

We sold our semiconductor technology to recoup our losses and convert the residual value of the technology into revenue before the cracks fully appeared.

If it weren't for your leadership, President, the news in China wouldn't be reporting 7nm, but rather 5nm, 3nm, or even 2nm.

It is precisely because of you, President, that the gap between China and us is still ten years!
Moreover, this gap will only widen in the future!

The dollars raised by Japan from selling its 28nm technology will be used to invest in America's semiconductor companies! This will bring tax revenue, jobs, and manufacturing to America!

This is a great victory for you, Mr. President!

After Rutnick finished speaking, Mark was at a loss for words, because his prepared response was: it's worse than that; it's not just about phones and laptops. With the self-sufficiency of 7nm, they are accelerating the production of AI processors, quantum computing prototypes, and military-grade hardware.
All he had prepared was bad news.

This is the current terrible situation.

But what did Rutnick prepare?
Another great victory!
Mark was stunned; he didn't know what to say.

"We still have one last thing to do, which is to have Mr. Morgan, who is far away in Tokyo, talk to the Japanese side as soon as possible and inform them that the amount they will invest in America is based on the amount of the proceeds from the sale of 28nm."

This is an order, not a negotiation, not a discussion.

After Rutnick finished speaking, Big T smiled with satisfaction: "Howard, you're absolutely right! That's exactly what I wanted to say."

Mark, what about you? What are your thoughts?

Mark looked up excitedly and said, "I completely agree with Minister Rutnick. This is indeed something to be happy about!"

There is still a significant gap between China and us, and our advantage in semiconductor technology is widening.

With you in the White House, the nuclear screen will only be more secure than ever before!
I can't wait for the completion of the Big T lunar base.

I was just thinking that the computer equipment inside must use chips manufactured in America.

Big T gave a thumbs up: "Good job!"

Why is Big T completely unconcerned about China's progress? Because he knows his team of advisors will come up with a thousand ways to turn this into a good thing.

Meanwhile, Mark was already thinking to himself whether he should hire an Indian-American advisor, otherwise he would only become more and more embarrassed in the White House.

(End of this chapter)