The DARPA Challenge and the Smartphone Ecosystem
Starlink’s vehicle identified the car moving slowly ahead and shifted lanes to overtake it. The spectators were awestruck by the natural, fluid precision of Starlink’s autonomous technology. By the 50km mark, the gap between the lead group and the trailing pack had stretched to over 10km, with Starlink’s car passing the midpoint in 4th place.
Beyond the 50km mark, the organizers introduced stationary obstacles and moving vehicles. The cars in the lead group slowed down significantly to navigate the course. As 40 moving vehicles and fixed obstacles flooded the track, the other autonomous cars reduced their speed even further, but Starlink’s car maintained its pace without hesitation. While the lead group’s vehicles cleared the fixed obstacles easily, they hit their brakes the moment the moving cars approached.
Researcher Lee Sang-hoon, who had been moving alongside Starlink’s vehicle via the airport’s internal monitoring system, smiled and spoke to Taesik. "Senior, this is where we hold the competitive edge. Our real-time prediction algorithm is the best in the world."
Starlink’s autonomous car passed through the obstacle zone without reducing speed, weaving naturally between the moving vehicles. Past the 60km mark, the speed limit signs changed from 30km/h to 50km/h. While other cars maintained their previous speeds, Starlink’s vehicle accelerated to 50km/h. It overtook the cars in front one by one, climbing to 2nd place, with the final obstacle looming ahead.
The final challenge involved navigating an intersection without traffic lights, surrounded by other moving vehicles. Everyone focused on the intersection, eager to see how the autonomous cars would react. The Stanford vehicle arrived at the intersection, came to a full stop, and when a car arrived from the right and also stopped, it waited indefinitely. Starlink’s car, which had arrived right behind it, also came to a full stop in the second lane.
According to American traffic law, the vehicle that arrives first has the right of way. When the Stanford vehicle refused to move, the organizers signaled the driver to cross the intersection first. As the vehicle on the right departed and new cars arrived in other lanes, the spectators waited to see how the autonomous cars would respond. Starlink’s car pulled away from the intersection, while the Stanford vehicle remained frozen in place.
Starlink crossed the finish line. A Starlink employee in the control vehicle following behind pressed the stop button. Researcher Lee Sang-hoon cheered as he watched the Starlink car cross the finish line first, and CEO Cha Young-jin and the other staff savored the feeling of victory over such formidable competitors. Lee Sang-hoon went up to the podium to accept the trophy on behalf of Starlink, and reporters swarmed him for interviews. The automotive companies that had sponsored the event handed their business cards to Lee Sang-hoon and his team, requesting technical partnerships. CEO Cha Young-jin stepped in personally, handling the sponsors by telling them to schedule separate meetings.
News of Starlink’s victory in the autonomous driving competition was broadcast across domestic and international media. Taesik gave CEO Cha Young-jin and the researchers time off to tour famous tourist spots in the US before heading to A-ple.
Mike at A-ple looked exhausted; he had lost so much weight that his black turtleneck seemed to flutter in the wind. Seeing Taesik enter, he tossed a stack of documents aside and reached out for a handshake. "Representative Kim! Thanks to you, my stress levels are through the roof lately!"
"Why? Is the smartphone development proving difficult?"
"It's not that. The development itself isn't the problem—it's the dilemma of how to handle the smartphone ecosystem."
"The ecosystem...?"
"As you know, a smartphone is a computer in your hand. I'm struggling with how to install and provide the necessary programs, just like a PC."
Taesik realized that Mike was agonizing over building an exclusive, closed-off smartphone ecosystem, just as he had in the previous timeline. He decided to suggest his own vision.
"Mike, I believe openness is the most important factor in a smartphone ecosystem. A closed system like A-ple's iTunes targets a limited audience, which I think will hinder long-term growth."
"Are you telling me to share my profits? Isn't it better to create a structure that A-ple can monopolize?"
"I think it's a matter of choice. Whether a monopoly ecosystem or an open one is better is up to you, Mike. But I believe building an open ecosystem is far more important."
Mike fell into deep thought, wearing his signature expression. "I received the mobile processors you sent. I reviewed products from other companies as well, but I've concluded that yours is the only mobile processor capable of powering the smartphone we're developing."
Taesik realized that A-ple was not a partner he could walk the long road with, given that Mike had doubted his processor and looked elsewhere. He decided to extract the maximum possible profit.
"Let's set the price for the mobile processors Starlink designed and supplied. If it's the only processor that can be used, I suppose we should negotiate the price properly."
"Oh, my! That was a slip of the tongue. How much do you want?"
"I believe we should receive at least $280 per unit."
"What? If I pay you $280, our product price will exceed $700."
"Starlink took on the risk of design and small-batch production, so you must include the risk premium."
"How about $270?"
"I'd rather you give us A-ple shares through a capital increase. Starlink also paid for production costs at Misung Electronics in advance. If you provide A-ple shares instead of cash, I'll give it to you for $275."
When Taesik, who already held 5% of A-ple, demanded additional shares, Mike cleanly gave up and agreed to pay $280.
"I lose. But you have to make concessions once we enter mass production."
Taesik smiled after finalizing the supply price at $280. Even after paying production costs to Misung Electronics, he would net at least $30 per processor. He finalized the contract by inserting the unit price into the document he had prepared earlier.
Back in Korea, Taesik laughed at CEO Cha Young-jin, who was struggling with interview requests from broadcasting stations.
"You can just do the interview. What's the problem?"
"They only want to interview Researcher Lee Sang-hoon, the star of the DARPA Challenge, but they keep asking for me, too. You know I'm a former hacker with a lacking academic background. I'm not a researcher like him, am I?"
"Why is that a problem? You became CEO based on your skills, and you have the trust of your employees..."
"Can't you do the interview instead of me?"
"Hahaha. You are the CEO of Deepmind. Do it yourself."
In the end, CEO Cha Young-jin interviewed alongside Researcher Lee Sang-hoon about the secrets and emotions behind their victory. That evening, the news broadcast the interview, highlighting Lee Sang-hoon as the first Korean to win an autonomous driving competition and Cha Young-jin as a businessman who emerged from the shadows of his hacker past. Cha felt embarrassed after watching the broadcast, but Taesik ordered him to adopt a more confident attitude, noting that they would receive even more media attention in the future.
A few days after the interviews, CEO Cha Young-jin brought a stack of printed documents and asked for Taesik's opinion.
"What are those documents? You brought quite a lot."
"We've received collaboration proposals for autonomous driving technology from domestic and international car companies. Some are asking to buy the technology, while others want to develop it together. I have a summary here; take a look."
Taesik looked over the summary Cha had handed him.
"Most of the proposals are similar. You could decide this yourself, CEO Cha..."
"I looked at the proposals from the top 10 global sales companies, and none of them really caught my eye. But then, a company I've never heard of proposed immediate commercialization. I'm torn between choosing a stable large corporation or accepting the proposal for immediate commercialization."
Taesik searched for the company Cha was referring to.
"Edison Motors...?"
The company at the very bottom was the one founded by Maron Musk, who had been the first to commercialize autopilot features on an electric vehicle platform in his previous life. Taesik carefully examined the proposal.
"Hmm... It's a proposal to sell options in stages for autonomous driving. They want to start from Level 2 and charge different option fees for each stage... Isn't the current cost of LiDAR too high for consumers to bear?"
"Yes. That's why they want to develop it together at a lower cost using cameras, ultrasonic sensors, and radar instead of LiDAR. The condition is that they handle the hardware and we handle the software. The owner of Edison Motors, not the CEO, has contacted us saying they want to visit Deepmind in person."
"What do you think, CEO Cha?"
"For the sake of profit, I want to choose a large corporation, but looking at the proposal alone, I want to choose Edison Motors."
"What did Researcher Lee Sang-hoon say?"
"He said he wants to choose a company that can implement commercialization, not just test vehicles."
"Then meet with the owner of Edison Motors and decide. They are courting us quite actively, so it wouldn't be bad to hear what kind of proposal they have."
"Understood. By the way, they also requested to meet with you, Representative."
"Why me...?"
"It seems they are aware that you are the owner of Starlink Map. They want to put Starlink Map's electronic maps into the vehicles they are developing."
"When did they say they would come?"
"They said they would leave as soon as I give them the word."
"Well, that's fine with me. I'll clear my schedule to match their arrival time."
Not long after Cha left, Taesik suddenly received a call from Executive Director Jung Jae-hoon of Dae-ah Motors.
"Representative Kim, congratulations on Starlink’s victory in the autonomous driving competition."
After exchanging brief pleasantries, Taesik listened to the proposal Jung was making.
"By any chance, isn't the technology used in this autonomous driving competition the same patent you sold to us?"
Taesik smiled with absurdity at Jung's mention of the patent he had been forced to sell while acquiring Starlink Aviation shares.
"The patent sold to Dae-ah Motors is for parking assistance and lane-keeping technology. It is a very rudimentary technology, and there is absolutely no room for patent infringement."
"Hahaha. I was just asking, just in case. Would you be interested in researching high-level autonomous driving technology with our Dae-ah Motors?"
Taesik, having no intention of being swayed by Dae-ah Motors, replied:
"We are currently in the research and development stage, so we are looking for companies with an adventurous mindset, not large corporations. Wouldn't it be too burdensome to apply autonomous driving technology to Dae-ah Motors?"
Executive Director Jung hung up after requesting that the technology be sold to Dae-ah Motors once development was complete. Taesik felt disappointed in Dae-ah Motors, which seemed more greedy for market dominance than for true collaboration.