Alibaba shutters quantum computing efforts
Alibaba is shutting down its quantum computing research laboratory as part of the company’s ongoing restructuring efforts.
The closure of the lab will result in about 30 job losses but the equipment will be donated to Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, where the company is based, a company spokesperson reportedly told Bloomberg.
According to reports from Chinese media and cited by Bloomberg, Alibaba has had an active presence in the quantum computing market since 2015, with its now shuttered Quantum Lab Academy offering an 11-qubit quantum cloud platform to help educate both employees and students about the technology. It’s believed that the company has invested around $15 billion in emerging technologies such as quantum computing.