Pre-Launch Preparations

As time passed, fewer and fewer people online paid attention to Future Technology, while ordinary work and daily life remained the norm for most people.

Although there had been little news about Future Technology online, the company itself had been constantly making moves during this period.

The day after the official account released its promotional post, Li Zhou had Weixi distribute the optimized version of the Star Operating System to every Future Technology employee for company-wide internal testing.

Right after that, groups of employees left the company according to the list issued by Weixi and headed to hundreds of factories of all sizes across the country.

After analyzing big data, Weixi had determined that these factories were capable of manufacturing some Photonic Computer components. As for the Photonic Chip, the core of the Photonic Computer...

Li Zhou decided to place the Photonic Chip production line on Future Technology's -19th floor, where Weixi would control the automated production of Photonic Chips.

For a while, the employees negotiated partnerships outside, while Li Zhou spent every day grimy and dirty on the -19th floor, tinkering with the Photonic Chip production line.

Many pieces of equipment for the Photonic Chip production line could only be made by the company's own laboratory and simply could not be purchased elsewhere.

For the sake of this production line, Li Zhou was like a mechanic in an auto repair shop, coming home from work every day covered in black grime.

On June 15, Li Zhou assembled the entire production line by himself.

Looking at the Photonic Chip production line before him, which was only a little over twenty meters long, Li Zhou felt a deep sense of accomplishment.

"Weixi, clean the production line."

"Yes, Boss."

Very quickly, under Li Zhou's command, Weixi controlled several crude tracked robots and began cleaning the production line.

Hmm! In Li Zhou's view, these things did not even count as robots. After all, they did not even have chips and relied entirely on Weixi's control. At most, they could be considered mechanical equipment.

Weixi controlled the mechanical equipment as it cleaned the line inside and out for over an hour.

After waiting for more than an hour, Li Zhou activated every piece of equipment on the production line once it had been cleaned.

Watching the production line cycle continuously, he saw that it still needed some fine-tuning.

"Weixi, feed the monocrystalline silicon into the Microelectronics Laser Machine."

The Microelectronics Laser Machine was the core of Photonic Chip production. Inside it, the laser machine sliced the monocrystalline material into thin wafers, then produced the prototype of a Photonic Chip. Only after it passed through the subsequent production line could a usable Photonic Chip be produced. Even then, the production line was not yet finished.

At the final step, the produced Photonic Chips would be tested. Qualified ones would be given preliminary packaging, while unqualified ones would automatically be pushed into the scrap recycling pile by the production line.

Weixi controlled the robotic arm, slowly placing the monocrystalline silicon into the material inlet before adding indium phosphide through another inlet.

The light-emitting properties of indium phosphide and silicon's optical routing capabilities were integrated into a single hybrid chip. When voltage was applied to the indium phosphide, light entered the waveguide in the silicon wafer and produced a continuous laser beam. This laser beam could drive other silicon photonic devices.

Only then could hundreds of millions of circuits be formed within the chip, creating a usable Photonic Chip.

As the materials were fed in, prototype Photonic Chips began to emerge and enter the production line in less than ten minutes.

Li Zhou followed the newly produced prototype Photonic Chips as they moved along the production line.

When he reached the final testing line, Li Zhou found that every Photonic Chip had been automatically pushed into the scrap recycling pile.

Li Zhou frowned and picked up several Photonic Chips from the scrap pile.

After inspecting them carefully, Li Zhou discovered that the solder points along one side of the Photonic Chips had been welded crookedly.

Li Zhou compared the Photonic Chips and adjusted the automatic solder-point welding machine. The results were noticeably better, but the pass rate for the Photonic Chips was still low, at less than 50%.

For an entire day, Li Zhou fine-tuned this production line of barely over twenty meters for the whole day. In the end, the Photonic Chip pass rate only reached 71%. No matter how he adjusted it, he could never break through the 71% mark.

Looking at the pass rate displayed on the monitor, Li Zhou let out a soft sigh.

"The industrial precision can't keep up. A 71% pass rate is enough. It runs nonstop twenty-four hours a day anyway, so it should barely be enough."

"Boss, you're demanding too much from yourself. How could a chip have a high pass rate as soon as it is developed and put into production? At least in Weixi's opinion, a 71% pass rate is already terrifying."

Li Zhou merely shrugged without saying anything.

"Weixi, keep an eye on the production line. Put the qualified Photonic Chips into the warehouse. Contact me if anything comes up. I'm getting off work and heading home first."

After returning home, Li Zhou ate dinner, took a shower, then went straight to his room and collapsed into bed.

By the end of June, manufacturers had been found for most of the Photonic Computer's components.

No factory could manufacture more than a dozen key components, while others were kept in-house for confidentiality. After all, Li Zhou had never applied for patents, and he had no plans to apply for patents on these core components for the time being.

As for the unimportant parts, the patents had already been approved. It was precisely because Future Technology had suddenly applied for a pile of incomprehensible patents that many netizens could not figure out what the company was up to.

Because time was tight, Xiong Kexuan directly had people acquire two factories in the county and renovate the existing facilities.

According to the projected schedule, within one month after the launch event, around the beginning of August, the acquired factories would be able to begin normal production.

As for production at the contract factories, Weixi would monitor the entire process. Even the component blueprints would be issued by Weixi in real time.

If a factory lost its internet connection or someone deliberately cut the network cable, the issued blueprints would automatically be destroyed.

On June 28, with only two days left before the launch event, Future Technology posted another message on its official account.

Gather at Future Technology Headquarters for Future Technology's new product launch event!

Simultaneous livestream link:

This time, news confirming Future Technology's new product launch event was immediately reposted by major media outlets.

The release of the Intelligent Assistant had brought everyone convenience, and many people were looking forward to this Future Technology launch event.

For this launch event, Xiong Kexuan not only chose the enormous conference room on the fifteenth floor as the venue. The entire fifteenth floor, aside from the fire exits and corridors, consisted of only one enormous conference room.

At the same time, after obtaining the approval of Boss Li Zhou, Xiong Kexuan booked the two five-star hotels in Huo County that had only recently opened, providing accommodations for those invited to attend the launch event.

That same day, invitations to Future Technology's launch event were sent by courier to the invited guests from various companies and numerous media organizations.

In Xiong Kexuan's office, everyone reported in an orderly manner on all pre-launch preparations and contingency plans for unexpected incidents.