Alibaba Cloud Announces Plans to Develop a General-Purpose Quantum Computer

When quantum computing is mentioned, the adjectives usually revolve around foreign tech giants like NASA, Google, Microsoft, and IBM.

Now, a Chinese tech company has finally joined this cutting‑edge research front.

On the afternoon of July 30, Alibaba Cloud announced its plan to develop a quantum computer – a truly general‑purpose quantum computer that could appear in about 15 years.

“Our goal is to build a next‑generation quantum computer in 10‑15 years that can solve problems unsolvable by the best supercomputers today, with speed billions of times faster than current supercomputers,” said Chinese Academy of Sciences academician Pan Jianwei.

Pan illustrated the magnitude: if China’s 1 billion people each received 1 billion Tianhe‑2 supercomputers, that would represent a hundred‑billion‑billion‑fold increase; Tianhe‑2 is currently the world’s fastest supercomputer.

During a visit to the Shanghai Quantum Laboratory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Alibaba staff toured the facility and remarked that the next Nobel Prize might be born there.

Entering the world‑class quantum lab feels like becoming wiser.

At the entrance there is an automatic shoe‑cover machine that warms the foot and sticks the cover on, a convenient gadget the author suggests could be useful at home.

Before entering the lab, one must pass through a 360‑degree “air‑blowing chamber” that removes dust from the body.

The facility appears to contain more than ten independent labs, each with its own air‑blowing entrance; the walls are covered with foreign language posters.

The labs are kept at a constant 20 °C, and scientists wear many layers of clothing; the author felt extremely cold.

In one lab, scientists explained equipment used to decelerate, stabilize, and finally fix atoms for quantum computing and quantum simulation research.

Nearby, ultra‑cold atoms are trapped in an optical lattice at temperatures near absolute zero (about 100 nK), which the guide described as the coldest place in China.

Ultra‑cold atoms, near absolute zero (100 nK), are confined in a light crystal lattice.

Scientists are shy, but once asked they speak at length, making it increasingly difficult to keep up, yet their enthusiasm is hard to refuse.

Scientists work over 80 hours per week, but they love the work and consider it a hobby.

The author’s perspective broadened and imagination expanded in the quantum laboratory.

Dr. Wang Jian, at the news release of the China Academy of Sciences‑Alibaba Quantum Computing Laboratory, said: “Alibaba Cloud’s forward‑looking layout of future industries stems from recognizing that while supercomputers have been the competitive technology for the past thirty years, quantum computers will be the competitive technology for the next thirty to fifty years. Quantum computing truly realizes many dreams of using computation to solve problems, greatly liberating imagination and productivity.”

Future, so cool!