Alibaba’s Quantum Computing Dream Ends: Lab Closes in Cost-Cutting Move

Alibaba Quantum Computing Lab, based in Hangzhou, China, has been closed down as part of the company’s efforts to improve its financial performance. In a statement on Monday, an Alibaba spokesperson revealed that the company will be donating its equipment to Zhejiang University. The closure of the lab will unfortunately lead to the loss of approximately 30 employees. However, Alibaba may assist some of these individuals in finding positions within the same university, according to an anonymous source familiar with the situation.

The Chinese e-commerce leader is in the midst of a revamp led by Joseph Tsai and Eddie Wu, two confidants of co-founder Jack Ma, who took over the company in September. This month, the pair announced they were killing the long-awaited spinoff and IPO of the cloud services division, fueling speculation about other changes to Alibaba’s long-term roadmap.

Prior to the surprise decision to close the Alibaba Quantum Computing Lab, the company was in the midst of a complex six-way split that would break the company into component businesses ranging from commerce and entertainment to logistics.

Last week, Tsai and Wu took the first steps to revamp the cloud arm, which has been losing market share to state-backed rivals. The company appointed three new executives to lead Alibaba Cloud’s key business lines, two of whom report directly to CEO Wu.

The DAMO Academy – which Ma himself opened to great fanfare in 2017 – was supposed to be Alibaba’s “moonshot” division responsible for researching and delivering cutting-edge technology. The Academy has guided research into fields as diverse as the metaverse, robots and semiconductor design.

Chinese media were the first to report the lab’s closure. To curb costs, Alibaba has been cutting staff since 2022, laying off more than 30,000 workers in recent quarters.