IBM buys HRL Laboratories in shift to two-track quantum computing strategy
IBM•IBM adds HRL Laboratories to its quantum computing efforts
SAN FRANCISCO, July 23 (Reuters) - IBM IBM.N has agreed to buy HRL Laboratories, a private quantum computing research lab jointly owned by Boeing Co BA.N and General Motors GM.N, the company said on Thursday, adding a second pillar to IBM's quantum computing efforts.
IBM has been racing against Alphabet's Google, Microsoft and others to create practical quantum machines that can crack problems that would take conventional computers thousands of years to solve.
In May, U.S. President Donald Trump's administration said it would award $1 billion to IBM to set up a new company called Anderon in New Albany, New York, to serve as a chip factory for U.S. quantum computing firms.
While there is agreement among governments and the tech industry that quantum computers are coming, precisely how they will work remains an open question. Companies and labs are chasing a half-dozen different ways of making quantum circuits, and the HRL deal will add a second approach to IBM's portfolio.
