According to a company spokeswoman, China’s Baidu (9888. HK) wants to give a quantum computing facility and equipment to the government-backed Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences (BAQIS).
The official stated that both sides are now working out the details.
Baidu’s action follows that of its competitor Alibaba (9988. HK), which announced in November that it would close its quantum computing laboratory and team as part of a more significant corporate reorganization, transferring the lab and associated experimental equipment to Zhejiang University.
Duan Runyao, a bachelor’s and doctoral graduate of Tsinghua University, is the director of the quantum computing research center that Baidu launched in 2018. Among the research center’s triumphs is the development of Qian Shi, a quantum computer set to be unveiled in 2022.
The Beijing Academic Quality Improvement System (BAQIS) was formed in December 2017 at the initiative of Beijing’s city administration and with contributions from renowned academic institutions such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Tsinghua University.
Baidu and BAQIS had previously collaborated in quantum research. Last March, the two groups collaborated to establish China’s first quantum computing industry intellectual property partnership.