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The threshold for Go is very high and it is a very niche project. Projects of this type usually encounter similar difficulties, that is, no money and lack of support from sponsors.

If you want some sponsorship money, it really doesn’t look good in terms of appearance.

But this is related to people's life and death.

Even South Korea's Go national team may not be able to secure a sponsor in a year. This is different from China, where there are fewer Go sponsors and various competitions are often streaked. However, domestic Go is a real "national project". The national finance funds this niche project and supports a large number of professional players.

Korean Go is a market operation, and having no money is really fatal.

It is understandable that the Korean Chess Academy looks so ugly this time.

As for those who don’t care about face, that’s secondary.

Zhou Buqi felt there was no need to be violent over such a trivial matter, "We should give some sponsorship. How much do they want?"

Shen Xiangyang said: "300 million won."

"How many?"

"300 million won, about $200,000."

"What?"

Zhou Buqi was stunned.

On the one hand, it was shocking that the Korean Chess Academy was so poor that they would spend so much money just for $200,000. On the other hand, it was shocking that the level of the marketing department of the Rokid-go team was too poor, right? Can such a small thing be messed up?

Shen Xiangyang was also helpless, "The money is not much, mainly because the way they work makes some people very dissatisfied. If we had negotiated the terms before, we should pay as much as we should. But the terms of cooperation were already negotiated, and now we are about to After it went public, they suddenly asked for money in the back, which made some people in the marketing department very angry and refused to agree. The people in the marketing department are mainly British, and there is indeed a lack of flexibility in their working methods."

Zhou Buqi said angrily: "Who are you looking for?"

Shen Xiangyang immediately admitted his mistake, "It is indeed my responsibility. The marketing department of the Rokid-go project is part-time, and some are seconded. That Liv was originally in finance and has only two years of work experience."

Zhou Buqi was a little irritated. He was swimming with a group of Korean idol girls. "You figure out a way to deal with it yourself!"

Shen Xiangyang said in embarrassment: "They have already issued a notice. What I mean is... you have to be mentally prepared. If things really can't go on here, we may have to return to China immediately to fight the 'man-machine war' The location was changed to the Magic City and top domestic chess players were invited to participate.”

Zhou Buqi said angrily: "I would rather go to Tokyo to find Japanese chess players than go back to China. Why don't you just entertain yourself behind closed doors? Deal with it immediately! If you post something but don't post it, with the attitude of the Korean Chess Academy, that's just Money is shameless, so contact them immediately.”

Shen Xiangyang also felt very embarrassed and embarrassed to bother Boss Zhou for such a trivial matter.

But seeing his attitude like this, I felt relieved.

I'm afraid that Boss Zhou is young and energetic. Hearing that he has been blackmailed, he will be as aggrieved as those British people and would rather not cooperate than pay sponsorship fees.

Or find some tough political and business connections in South Korea to pressure the Korean Chess Academy and make them surrender.

Now that I see Boss Zhou's extremely calm and rational attitude, I feel relieved.

Zhou Buqi asked again: "How much is the chess fee for the players in this man-machine battle?"

Shen Xiangyang said: "With a best-of-seven game system, the total playing fee is 400,000 US dollars. The income from Go is not much, so the playing fee is high enough. In many Go competitions in South Korea, the championship prize may only be 10,000-20,000. US dollars, the runner-up prize may not even be US$10,000.”

Zhou Buqi nodded, "It's a little less."

Shen Xiangyang said: "Go is a niche project after all. However, the game fees for players actually only account for a small part of the expenses. For this man-machine battle in Seoul, our budget is 5 million US dollars, the largest The expenses are actually computing power costs and electricity bills.”

Zhou Buqi said: "The market effect and application direction of artificial intelligence are still full of uncertainties for the entire industry. It can take a few years to completely open the entry point of Go. It is not about selling products and showing technological achievements. But by demonstrating technological achievements and achieving marketing effects, we will let the world know that Ziweixing is the global leader in the field of artificial intelligence."

Many foreigners have very rigid thinking.

In other words, they adhere too much to principles and think that the purpose of technology is technological development.

Zhou Buqi had no such shackles.

For now, there is still a long way to go before the market-oriented application of artificial intelligence on the consumer side. If you want to make money with technological products, there is still a long way to go.

However, if technology products don’t make money, what’s the point? After years of high investment, who can persevere?

You can combine technology with marketing.

Giant companies like Ziweixing spend billions of dollars in marketing expenses every year, including branding and marketing, as well as public relations expenses and various media management expenses.

If we approach technology from a marketing perspective, we can reduce the pressure on huge amounts of R\u0026D to a great extent.

Just like Rokid-go.

We want this product to become a symbol, bring brand effect to Ziweixing and Ziweixing International, gain the attention of people from all walks of life around the world, and make them realize the amazing achievements that artificial intelligence can have...

Although it is impossible to make money through Rokid-go, it does bring more market value to Ziweixing in other aspects, which is much stronger than those technological achievements that are just developed and left to gather dust in the warehouse.

Shen Xiangyang is a scientist, not a marketing expert, and the matter was not handled very well this time, so he took the initiative to apply: "Someone who knows the market better should be sent to take charge of this project."

Zhou Buqi smiled and said: "This is always a scientific research project, and you are still in charge. However, I can assign you a deputy to be mainly responsible for the market."

Shen Xiangyang nodded, "Well, it should be!"

When Zhou Buqi faces scientists and engineers, he never dares to be too assertive. Technical people are generally stubborn and only value technology and put aside everything else.

In the field of science and technology, the people who are engaged in scientific research should have the final say.

But if we really do this, it will easily cause huge losses to the company. If the power of a company or a project falls into the hands of technology people, it will be in big trouble.

It is not just as simple as long-term losses, but something will happen sooner or later.

Zhou Buqi had told Shen Xiangyang before that Rokid-go should be made into a marketable technology product and that marketing should be paid attention to... But the effect of this suggestion was very average.

Scientists of Shen Xiangyang's level have their own persistence and do not want laymen to get involved and make trouble.

This time the Korean Chess Academy's attack turned out to be a good thing.

Shen Xiangyang realized that he had gotten into trouble and realized his shortcomings in management and market. The Rokid-go project has been developed for more than three years, and the total investment in all aspects has exceeded US$700 million. Seeing that the "war between man and machine" is about to bear fruit, if he messes up... he will be a sinner.

This puts a lot of pressure on Shen Xiangyang.

He hurried to South Korea and even called Zhou Buqi to report the matter, because this was no longer what he was good at. If it was not handled properly, it would delay the listing of Ziweixing!

With this lesson, Shen Xiangyang lost his previous persistence and agreed to arrange a non-scientific researcher manager in the Rokid-go team to lead the project.

Zhou Buqi was very satisfied.

He actually turned from passive to active.

As for the Korean Chess Academy...it's not worth mentioning at all. It's nothing more than money. Such a department has long been squeezed by the market and has no dignity at all. If the sponsorship fee is paid, all differences can be resolved. Korea The chess academy will also change its attitude immediately and work hard to organize this event.

The more market-oriented the department is, the more obedient it is to its sponsor father. From this point of view, it is much more convenient to cooperate with the Korean Chess Academy than to cooperate with domestic Go institutions.