Alibaba launches research arm for AI, quantum computing, and other emerging tech

Alibaba Group announced today that it's launching a new research organization aimed at tackling emerging technologies like machine learning, network security, the internet of things, and quantum computing. It's called the Academy for Discovery, Adventure, Momentum and Outlook (referred to as the DAMO Academy for short), and Alibaba plans to recruit 100 researchers to staff labs around the globe. The company plans to open two labs in China, both in the tech giant's home city of Hangzhou as well as Beijing. In addition, the Chinese ecommerce and technology titan will open labs in San Mateo, California; Seattle, Washington; Moscow, Russia; Tel Aviv, Israel; and Singapore. Over the next three years, the company plans to spend $15 billion on research and development, a significant increase over its current rate of spending.