Chapter 217
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Carmen Rothschild.” Seeing Carmen entering the conference room, Jiang Chen stood up and greeted him.
“Thank you for your warm welcome. It is also nice to meet you, Mr. Jiang Chen, the mysterious Oriental man.” With the same friendly smile, Carmen shook Jiang Chen’s hand.
Carmen Rothschild had a high nose, deep eye sockets, and light green pupils. Not only did he look thin, but he was also sharp. From the gracefulness of his gesture, it certainly matched his background.
“Haha, do I look mysterious?” Jiang Chen joked.
“Of course, you possess an endless amount of possibilities, and in our eyes, it could be considered mysterious.” Carmen had a deceptive smile on his face.
Hearing that, Jiang Chen paused slightly to think before he smiled and invited Carmen to sit down.
In regard to the Rothschild family, Jiang Chen had heard quite a bit about them; however, this information usually came from unclear sources, with truths mixed with speculations. It was hard to discern what was the truth and what was a lie.
Based on the information disclosed, the Rothschild Banking Group had a revenue of less than $10 billion per year with the profit of less than $3 billion; its asset was estimated to be below $30 billion, which is a few digits off of the UA and major European banks.
Could it be that the family was truly on the decline, like how it appeared on to be on the surface, or could it be that the speculations were true—that the Rothschild family intentionally left the eyes of the public? No one would truly know. For example, even Jiang Chen didn’t know that Dalmer corporation was a part of the Rothschild’s asset.
Of course, Jiang Chen had no interest in researching the history of the family, and he just did a brief search on Carmen here for business before inviting him over for a conference.
The two sat across from each other on the conference table, and there were two cups of tea on the table alongside two identical documents.
“Our corporation is extremely interested in your company’s achievement in the artificial intelligence field. I trust that Mr. Jiang has already read over this proposal. Do you have any good suggestions?” Without any small talk, right after they sat down, Carmen jumped straight to the topic.
Artificial intelligence will experience a period of growth for the next fifty years; this trend was evident from the wasteland. Although its starting point from the Cold War did diverge from what originally occurred in the wasteland, the developmental trajectory of civilization wouldn’t.
To cut a piece of this pie for themselves(1), Dalmer corporation followed the trend and found the leading company in the artificial intelligence field to discuss the possibility of using artificial intelligence in the automotive industry.
“Of course. But before we start, can I ask a question?” Jiang Chen asked with a smile.
“Please.” Carmen smiled back.
“Why would your company decide to choose us? You know, our leading edge is in the phone software industry. For the automotive industry, without exaggeration, I can say we know nothing,” Jiang Chen spoke candidly.
Even with Jiang Chen’s confession, Carmen didn’t give up as he shook his head and continued:
“It doesn’t matter. The radar sensing equipment, as well as the primary control computer, had already been designed by us to allow for artificially intelligent driving, or self-driving, and we now only need the software part.
“We originally had a partner, but during our partnership, the software development experienced some issues, causing the software and hardware to not be perfectly compatible with one another. The computer may freeze while the car is driving. You know very well what the consequences would be if that were to happen on a highway; therefore, we terminated the contract.”
Then, Carmen looked at Jiang Chen intensely as he said, “Our offer is high. The requirements are just as high.”
“Can I ask what is the offer then?” Jiang Chen took a sip of the tea.
“1 billion USD,” Carmen pointed out one finger as he slowly said.
Hearing Carmen’s offer, Jiang Chen was secretly shocked.
[ Woah, no wonder they are a family that had existed for centuries. 1 billion USD as the opening for the negotiations, selling software is much more profitable than selling gold. ]
While he was thinking, he chose to selectively forget the fact that he was already the president of a ten billion dollar company, and the one billion USD would only be equivalent to Future Technology’s one month of profit.
But who wouldn’t mind more money?
However, Jiang Chen’s silence was, in Carmen’s eyes, interpreted as being unsatisfied with the offer, so he smiled and asserted, “Of course, there is room for negotiation. If Mr. Jiang is not too happy with the offer, you can tell me.”
If they could pioneer into the field of “artificial intelligence and cars” before their competitors, Volkswagen and BMW, it would indeed offer them the initiative. And for only 1 billion USD. In 2014 Dalmer’s pretax income alone was 10.8 billion Euros, so they certainly had the liquid asset.
Jiang Chen thought for a moment before he slowly opened his mouth.
“1 billion USD is okay, but I have a condition.”
Carmen’s eyebrows raised slightly, but a smile quickly returned to his face.
“Oh? Please go ahead.”
“I want to add in Future 1.0’s logo on the start up screen.”
“Add in Future 1.0’s logo? Is that all? I do have to remind you that we don’t have plans to add the social media platform to the vehicle,” Carmen spoke in a humorous tone.
“That’s fine, it’s only adding a logo and displaying it for one second.” Jiang Chen didn’t mind the joke.
Carmen had to think for a moment before he nodded his head, then he extended his hand.
“So I think we reached an agreement, right?”
“Of course.” Jiang Chen shook his hand. “Pleasure to work with you.”
Because it was a minor change, Carmen also brought in a professional lawyer with him and the contract was fixed on the spot.
After the signing, Carmen waved his hand at the secretary behind him as he took a briefcase from her.
“After signing the confidentiality agreement, our party will provide the requirements of the software and the chip sample to your party. Your party only needs to create a software that is compatible with the chip. Although the timeline is fairly rigid, I trust your party’s ability to bring out astounding results before May.”
The software must be completed by that time to ensure that it would hit the market with the new vehicles; otherwise, the approval process would be delayed and the release of the new vehicle would, unfortunately, be disastrous.
However… May? That was severely underestimating Yao Yao’s ability.
“Of course, another question: is there any reward for completing it before the deadline?” Jiang Chen inquired half-jokingly.
Surprised, Carmen didn’t even think Jiang Chen could complete it before the deadline. The process for developing a professional software wasn’t short—it would be a feat to complete it within five months.
“If Mr. Jiang can complete it earlier, I can give you a small gift,” Carmen laughed.
“Could you give me a spoiler of the gift?” Jiang Chen said casually.
“I heard Mr. Jiang’s vehicle is our company’s Maybach S600. Is Mr. Jiang satisfied with our brand?” Carmen smiled mysteriously.
“Of course, whether it’s comfort or reliability, it is satisfying.”
“If Mr. Jiang can complete the software before May, I can gift you a limited edition sports car—the Maybach EX, which is still being designed—with sales limited to just five units globally.”
1. Original translation says something similar to, “To get a grasp on the pulse of the era”.