By Dominique Patton PARIS, May 22 (Reuters) - French company Alice & Bob has won funding from Nvidia's venture capital arm NVentures, it said on Friday, supporting its development of hardware to make quantum computing less error-prone at a time of surging interest in the technology. The company did not provide details on the size of the investment, which came just after the Trump administration...
By Dominique Patton PARIS, May 22 (Reuters) - French company Alice & Bob has won funding from Nvidia's venture capital arm NVentures, it said on Friday, supporting its development of hardware to make quantum computing less error-prone at a time of surging interest in the technology. The company did not provide details on the size of the investment, which came just after the Trump administration said it would take $2 billion in equity stakes across nine quantum-computing companies, in a major push to secure U.S. leadership in the emerging technology. • Recent technological breakthroughs have deepened investor interest in quantum computing's potential to speed up tasks ranging from drug discovery to financial modelling and cryptography. • The "massive" increase in investment is being driven by a realisation that "computing infrastructure is becoming more and more crucial in our economies", Alice & Bob CEO Theau Peronnin told Reuters. • Alice & Bob, which has offices in Paris and Boston, focuses on “cat qubits”, a special type of quantum bit designed to be more resistant to errors than normal qubits, addressing one of the biggest problems in quantum computing. • The new investment, which adds to a €100 million Series B round raised last year, follows collaboration between Alice & Bob and Nvidia on several projects recently that allowed the firm to demonstrate its talent and technology, said Peronnin. • Alice & Bob's technology helps build "very compact, very cost-efficient" quantum computers "positioning us really at the forefront of the race at the moment", he added. • The company is participating in France's PROQCIMA programme, led by the Ministry of the Armed Forces, which aims to have two French-designed prototypes of universal quantum computers ready for industrialisation by 2032. • "We hope for a strengthening of that public procurement programme," said Peronnin, adding that public support of strategic areas "forces companies to deliver and it...
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), China’s largest wafer foundry, has cleared the final regulatory hurdle for a share-based acquisition of the remaining 49 per cent stake in its Beijing-based foundry unit, paving the way for what could become the largest merger and restructuring deal on Shanghai’s Star Market. China’s securities regulator approved SMIC’s plan to issue 54...
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), China’s largest wafer foundry, has cleared the final regulatory hurdle for a share-based acquisition of the remaining 49 per cent stake in its Beijing-based foundry unit, paving the way for what could become the largest merger and restructuring deal on Shanghai’s Star Market. China’s securities regulator approved SMIC’s plan to issue 547.2 million A-shares to five shareholders of Semiconductor Manufacturing North China (Beijing) Corporation, or SMNC, according to an exchange filing published late on Thursday. The approval, valid for 12 months, allows China’s biggest contract chipmaker to proceed with the share issuance and related asset purchase procedures. The planned transaction values the 49 per cent stake at 40.6 billion yuan (US$5.97 billion), according to SMIC’s registration filing. Upon completion, SMNC will become a wholly owned subsidiary of SMIC, which already holds 51 per cent of the company. The new shares will be issued at 74.20 yuan (US$10.91) apiece, with a 12-month lock-up period for the sellers. Advertisement The approval marks the last step in a regulatory process that began in August last year, when SMIC first disclosed the planned acquisition. The company announced the transaction price and preliminary plan on December 30. The deal was then accepted by the Star Market on February 25, and passed the exchange’s review on May 11. SMIC is buying the stake from state-linked investors: the China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, known as the Big Fund , the Beijing Semiconductor Manufacturing and Equipment Equity Investment Centre, Beijing E-Town International Investment & Development, Zhongguancun Development Group and Beijing Industrial Investment. The China chip fund will receive the largest portion of the new shares, at 357.3 million. Advertisement SMNC, founded in 2013, focuses on 12-inch wafer foundry services and has been an important manufacturing base for SMIC in Beijing. ...
"Whole villages had been wiped out, estates were redrawn and so many people had been evicted, it was necessary to do those revisions. But I couldn't really get my head around what it must have been like doing that work, being someone who'd lived through it."
"Whole villages had been wiped out, estates were redrawn and so many people had been evicted, it was necessary to do those revisions. But I couldn't really get my head around what it must have been like doing that work, being someone who'd lived through it."
The investigation into the former Prince Andrew was sparked by the release of US Department of Justice files related to its investigation into Epstein. But so far Thames Valley Police have still not been formally given any information by the department and are relying on material released publicly.
The investigation into the former Prince Andrew was sparked by the release of US Department of Justice files related to its investigation into Epstein. But so far Thames Valley Police have still not been formally given any information by the department and are relying on material released publicly.
Police investigating Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor want witnesses to contact them if they believe they have information about alleged sexual misconduct, corruption, fraud or the sharing of confidential information involving the king’s brother. In a sign of the potential expansion of their “unprecedented investigation”, Thames Valley police vowed to rigorously investigate claims against the former Pri...
Police investigating Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor want witnesses to contact them if they believe they have information about alleged sexual misconduct, corruption, fraud or the sharing of confidential information involving the king’s brother. In a sign of the potential expansion of their “unprecedented investigation”, Thames Valley police vowed to rigorously investigate claims against the former Prince Andrew. Mountbatten-Windsor, 66, was arrested and questioned under criminal caution in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office, related to his role as a British trade envoy. He is alleged to have passed information to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, according to claims arising from the documents released by the US Department of Justice. The former prince denies all wrongdoing. Assistant chief constable Oliver Wright said Thames Valley police (TVP) were already working through a “significant amount” of information from a range of witnesses. But the force is concerned that people who may have information about criminal offences wrongly think detectives are interested in only one narrow aspect, namely the alleged passing of confidential information. Stoking their concerns about other potential allegations are a series of claims about the former prince’s conduct already made publicly, such as in the media. Police have not yet been contacted by witnesses they believe may be out there. Police stress that misconduct in public office (MIPO) covers a range of offences, including sexual misconduct, wilful neglect of duty, perverting the course of justice, and dishonest or fraudulent conduct, among many others. Wright said: “Misconduct in public office is a crime that can take different forms, making this a complex investigation. “Our team of very experienced detectives are working meticulously through a significant amount of information that has come in from the public and other sources. We are committed to conducting a thorough investigation into all reason...
The allegations of rape and sexual assault made by ‘brides’ on the show reflect what many other women experience. Sadly, so do the responses She said no. She didn’t want it, she made that very clear, but he did it anyway; pushing her feelings aside as though they didn’t matter, because to him they seemingly didn’t. It’s a story so depressingly common that most women probably carry a private versio...
The allegations of rape and sexual assault made by ‘brides’ on the show reflect what many other women experience. Sadly, so do the responses She said no. She didn’t want it, she made that very clear, but he did it anyway; pushing her feelings aside as though they didn’t matter, because to him they seemingly didn’t. It’s a story so depressingly common that most women probably carry a private version of it in their heads, either buried in their own memories or confided to them by a friend. But still, there’s something profoundly shocking about the idea of it happening right under the noses of a TV audience. Perhaps you’ve never watched Channel 4’s hit show Married at First Sight, which involves putting total strangers through a purely ceremonial “wedding” and making them live as husband and wife for six weeks to see whether they actually want to make a go of the relationship. But you’re almost certainly familiar with Panorama, which this week told the stories of three former “brides”. Lizzie and Chloe (not their real names) both say they were raped by their on-screen “husbands” – and, in Lizzie’s case, also subjected to alarmingly violent outbursts of temper and an alleged threat of an acid attack – while Shona Manderson, who has spoken publicly, accuses hers of sexual misconduct. All three men, it should be said, deny the allegations. Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Cancelled government projects such as the Rwanda deportation scheme and the road tunnel under Stonehenge are wasting billions of pounds of taxpayer money a year, parliament’s spending watchdog has found. About £6.6bn was written off by government departments last year alone – state spending that did not achieve its intended objectives or create any value for the taxpayer, the public accounts commi...
Cancelled government projects such as the Rwanda deportation scheme and the road tunnel under Stonehenge are wasting billions of pounds of taxpayer money a year, parliament’s spending watchdog has found. About £6.6bn was written off by government departments last year alone – state spending that did not achieve its intended objectives or create any value for the taxpayer, the public accounts committee said. The PAC said successive governments’ propensity to cancel projects after spending significant sums of public money was a “particularly egregious” example of poor value. The committee’s deputy chair, the Labour MP Clive Betts, said the high costs were a sign of government “complacency”, adding: “Those who work hard to pay their dues should be rightly aggravated by this figure.” The cross-party group of MPs analysed spending across the 17 main government departments, with help from the National Audit Office, and found the most significant reported losses related to write-offs and debts no longer being pursued, departments cancelling or retiring assets, and fraud. The Ministry of Defence was one of the most wasteful departments, incurring a £1.6bn loss in the 2024-25 tax year through cancelling projects. The Treasury said this was largely owing to retiring assets or changes in government policy with the shift to a Labour administration in July 2024. Similarly, the Home Office registered a loss of £290m for the Conservatives’ Rwanda deportation scheme that Labour dumped, while the Department for Transport incurred a £472m loss from cancelling eight road projects, including the planned A303 tunnel under Stonehenge. Betts said: “At a time of such straitened financial circumstances for so many, we should never, ever be satisfied with time or money wasted at no benefit to the public. Yet here our report finds £6.6bn last year simply boiled off into the atmosphere as a loss, the victim of cancelled projects or changed priorities.” He added: “We must reject the argument th...
A group of “accidental activist” families have succeeded in their efforts to secure the future of their children’s care home after uncovering serious alleged management failures that took the charity to the brink of bankruptcy. The families launched a campaign after discovering that William Blake House, a residential learning disability care home charity in Northamptonshire, owed £1.5m in unpaid t...
A group of “accidental activist” families have succeeded in their efforts to secure the future of their children’s care home after uncovering serious alleged management failures that took the charity to the brink of bankruptcy. The families launched a campaign after discovering that William Blake House, a residential learning disability care home charity in Northamptonshire, owed £1.5m in unpaid taxes, had paid its former chair £1m in fees, and was close to bankruptcy. Their campaigning prompted a rare Charity Commission inquiry into alleged financial irregularities at the charity, helped underpin a detailed rescue plan, and outflanked potential takeover bids from private sector rivals. Administrators confirmed the services will be run by Camphill MK Communities, a learning disability residential care charity that shares a common care ethos with William Blake House and has the backing of the families. “We are overjoyed and so relieved to have learned today that this lovely charity is going to take over the care of our vulnerable children and provide them with a home for life,” the families said in a statement. The administrators said that pending regulatory approval, the move signalled “a significant and positive step forward in securing a stable future for the residents staff and wider community connected to William Blake House”. Funded mainly by local authorities, William Blake House is home to 22 adults with learning disabilities, autism and complex care needs who require support throughout the day and night. Many residents are non-verbal. The families said: “Our months of determined effort to find out the truth, to confront the authorities and to be heard have finally paid off. Now that we have Camphill with their integrity and expertise, we can sleep at night.” Camphill MK’s chief executive, Tim Davies, said: “This is about more than organisational change. It is a long-term commitment to people, to community and to the belief that people with learning disabilit...
The parents of a girl critically injured in the Southport attack were allowed no more than 12 counselling sessions after the atrocity, while others described a “woeful” lack of support. The victims’ commissioner for England and Wales, Claire Waxman, said she would raise the “deeply concerning” experiences of Southport families with ministers, after their accounts were shared with the Guardian. Nic...
The parents of a girl critically injured in the Southport attack were allowed no more than 12 counselling sessions after the atrocity, while others described a “woeful” lack of support. The victims’ commissioner for England and Wales, Claire Waxman, said she would raise the “deeply concerning” experiences of Southport families with ministers, after their accounts were shared with the Guardian. Nicola Ryan-Donnelly, of Fletchers solicitors, which represents 22 of the 23 surviving children, said a number of the parents had not received proper psychological help nearly two years after the attack. Families were “passed from pillar to post” and had to “really fight” for support, she said, adding: “There are countless problems in the system highlighted by this attack, but support for survivors in the aftermath of something like this has to change. We have to do better than this.” Three girls – Elsie Dot Stancombe, aged seven, Bebe King, six, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine – were murdered, and eight other children and two adults were stabbed repeatedly in the attack on a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club on 29 July 2024. The parents of five girls who were seriously injured in the stabbings have spoken for the first time about their ordeal in interviews with the Guardian. They described the incredible acts of heroism by their daughters that day, as they shielded and helped each other escape the killer, Axel Rudakubana. Some of the families discussed their frustration at the lack of psychological support in the aftermath. Many of the parents had rushed to the scene and described searching frantically for their children, not knowing if they were alive. They then spent days in hospital as their daughters underwent life-saving operations. The mother of a seven-year-old girl who was critically injured said her husband – who rushed to the scene to find their daughter – was refused more than 12 counselling sessions by Victim Support, despite still suffering with post-traumatic str...
From the outside, the small gathering of young girls looked like an ordinary playdate. They chatted giddily, practised pilates and twirled around in their new outfits to the music of Harry Styles. But on the sidelines, some of the parents were in tears. The last time these girls shared a room was on 29 July 2024. That day, they fled in fear as a hooded teenager turned a Taylor Swift-themed holiday...
From the outside, the small gathering of young girls looked like an ordinary playdate. They chatted giddily, practised pilates and twirled around in their new outfits to the music of Harry Styles. But on the sidelines, some of the parents were in tears. The last time these girls shared a room was on 29 July 2024. That day, they fled in fear as a hooded teenager turned a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club in Southport into one of the most horrific attacks on children in modern British history. Three girls – Elsie Dot Stancombe, aged seven, Bebe King, six, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine – were murdered and eight other children and two adults were stabbed repeatedly, some critically injured. The idea that any of the surviving children would feel able to meet again seemed impossible until recently. Only now, nearly two years on, the parents of five of those girls are ready to speak. Over nearly four hours of interviews, they told the Guardian of their daughters’ heroism that day, when girls of primary school age saved lives by shielding others from the attacker, and how they feel their courage risks being forgotten. None of the families can be identified so their names have been changed in this article. Daisy was seven when she and her best friend went to the Hart Space for what should have been a highlight of their summer. Many of the girls were making bracelets, minutes away from being picked up by their parents, when an older boy walked in carrying a 20cm knife. At first, some thought it was a prank. She put her arms around the girls as he started to attack them. As they fled, some falling over, Daisy helped one girl down the stairs and shielded another by crouching over her as the attack continued. CCTV footage showed Daisy staggering outside, only to be grabbed by the killer and dragged back inside. She was stabbed 33 times and lost her entire blood volume, leaving her in a coma for five days. In the many stories of heroism that day, the bravery of those girls had b...
Child marriage appears to have been legally recognised for the first time by the Taliban in Afghanistan, as activists say “shameful” new laws make it almost impossible for girls and young women to seek divorce against their husbands’ will. There are no official statistics on forced and underage marriages in Afghanistan, but activists say it has risen at an alarming rate in recent years, driven by ...
Child marriage appears to have been legally recognised for the first time by the Taliban in Afghanistan, as activists say “shameful” new laws make it almost impossible for girls and young women to seek divorce against their husbands’ will. There are no official statistics on forced and underage marriages in Afghanistan, but activists say it has risen at an alarming rate in recent years, driven by the ban on girls being in education after the age of 11. One informal estimate suggested that since the Taliban had barred them from education about 70% had been pushed into early or forced marriage and that 66% of these marriages involved girls under the age of 18. There is no ban on child marriage in Afghanistan under the Taliban, but a new law on divorce approved last week appears to suggest that a girl who later says she was married against her will would not be permitted a divorce if her husband disagrees. The new law also appears to suggest that a woman cannot divorce her husband solely on the grounds of his absence or failure to provide financial support. There have been reported demonstrations against the new law in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, this week, with several women’s rights movements condemning the law as a form of systemic violence against women and children. One activist, Fatima, said: “After issuing hundreds of anti-women decrees, the Taliban are now attempting to institutionalise child marriage within the formal legal structure. “Instead of ensuring security and justice, the Taliban are occupied with issuing shameful misogynistic decrees and suppressing human freedoms.” The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) also expressed concern over the legislation. “The decree, which codifies principles governing the separation of spouses, represents another step in the erosion of Afghan women and girls’ rights and further entrenches systemic discrimination in law and practice.” Georgette Gagnon of UNAMA said the new law was “part of a broader and deeply ...
Keep it short: what to wear for the UK bank holiday heatwave Take your lead from Harry Styles and go for short shorts, or dig out your favourite knee-length pair Composite: PR
Keep it short: what to wear for the UK bank holiday heatwave Take your lead from Harry Styles and go for short shorts, or dig out your favourite knee-length pair Composite: PR
If I’m baking for a crowd over the bank holiday weekend, choosing something fun and a bit over the top seems the only way to go. Enter the hazelnut banoffee cake. It’s everything you love in the classic dessert: banana, toffee sauce, fluffy whipped cream and shaved chocolate, but with added nuttiness and overall less sickly sweet. Hazelnut banoffee cake Prep 10 min Cook 1 hr Serves 12-16 For the c...
If I’m baking for a crowd over the bank holiday weekend, choosing something fun and a bit over the top seems the only way to go. Enter the hazelnut banoffee cake. It’s everything you love in the classic dessert: banana, toffee sauce, fluffy whipped cream and shaved chocolate, but with added nuttiness and overall less sickly sweet. Hazelnut banoffee cake Prep 10 min Cook 1 hr Serves 12-16 For the cake 100g whole blanched hazelnuts 180g dark brown sugar 3 large eggs 200g very ripe bananas (about 2 medium bananas), peeled and mashed 150g unsalted butter, melted 145g plain flour 1 tsp baking powder ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda ¼ tsp salt For the toffee sauce 75g dark brown sugar 30g unsalted butter 100ml double cream 1 big pinch flaky sea salt For the topping 300ml double cream 100g soured cream 1 tbsp icing sugar ½ tsp vanilla bean paste 1 ripe banana, peeled and sliced 25g dark chocolate, shaved Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas 4. Put the hazelnuts in a small baking tray and roast for 10-12 minutes, until fragrant and lightly browned. Remove, leave to cool, then chop 15g nuts and set aside for the topping. Put the remaining hazelnuts in a food processor and pulse until very fine. Grease and line a 23cm x 33cm tin, leaving enough overhang to help you pull out the cake later. Put the sugar and eggs in a bowl and whip on medium-high for one to two minutes, until the mix looks lighter and fluffier (we’re not taking it to ribbon stage). Fold in the mashed banana followed by the melted butter, then gently stir in the ground hazelnuts, flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt to combine. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Meanwhile, make the toffee sauce. Put all the ingredients in a saucepan, heat gently until everything has melted, then bring to a boil and cook for one minute only. Spoon half the sauce on top of the warm cake, spread it out carefully, then leave to cool completely...
Chinese multinational technology company, Lenovo logo seen in Shenzhen. (Photo by Alex Tai/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) Alex Tai | SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty Images Shares of Lenovo surged over 15% on Friday, after the personal computer and electronics giant posted strong revenue growth powered by its growing artificial intelligence business. Group revenue for the March quarter...
Chinese multinational technology company, Lenovo logo seen in Shenzhen. (Photo by Alex Tai/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) Alex Tai | SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty Images Shares of Lenovo surged over 15% on Friday, after the personal computer and electronics giant posted strong revenue growth powered by its growing artificial intelligence business. Group revenue for the March quarter reached $21.6 billion, up 27% year-on-year — the highest growth rate in five years for the Hong Kong–based Chinese multinational company. Net income grew by nearly a factor of six to reach $521 million. Full-year results reached a record. The standout performer was AI-related revenue, which surged 84% in the fourth quarter to account for more than a third of total group revenue. The category includes devices such as PCs and smartphones with neural processing units, servers with graphics processing units, and services. Lenovo aims to become a $100 billion company within the next two years, Chairman and CEO Yuanqing Yang said in a statement, with much of the growth plan hinging on AI. Its market cap is currently around $24 billion. Lenovo's "Hybrid AI strategy" encompasses personal AI across its devices, as well as its enterprise AI business, which focuses on helping customers leverage their data for insights and business value. Lenovo also maintained its position as the world's top PC vendor in the fourth quarter, with global market share reaching 24.4%. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.
Robert Way Nvidia's ( NVDA ) venture capital arm, NVentures, disclosed on Friday that it has invested in French quantum computing firm Alice & Bob. The investment brings Alice & Bob's Series B funding round to €100M. The investment supports Alice & Bob's development of an architecture towards fault-tolerant quantum computing. Financial terms of the investment were not disclosed. “We’ve been workin...
Robert Way Nvidia's ( NVDA ) venture capital arm, NVentures, disclosed on Friday that it has invested in French quantum computing firm Alice & Bob. The investment brings Alice & Bob's Series B funding round to €100M. The investment supports Alice & Bob's development of an architecture towards fault-tolerant quantum computing. Financial terms of the investment were not disclosed. “We’ve been working alongside NVIDIA to connect our cat-qubit architecture with its full accelerated computing ecosystem, from hardware to software, in support of the first fault-tolerant quantum computers,” Alice & Bob CEO Théau Peronnin said in a statement. “NVentures’ investment marks a new phase in that relationship and reinforces our common view that the future of quantum will be hybrid, combining quantum and classical computing to solve real-world problems.” “NVIDIA has built the platform the quantum ecosystem needs to develop and run hybrid quantum-GPU supercomputers, connecting quantum processors to state-of-the-art accelerated computing,” Nvidia quantum computing executive Timothy Costa added. “Alice & Bob shares NVIDIA's vision for accelerated quantum supercomputing, and has worked closely with us to integrate their qubits with our quantum platform for advancing the scientific computing of the future.” Alice & Bob, which was founded in 2020, has already secured €130M in funding. It has been working with Nvidia since 2024, including collaborating on NVIDIA CUDA-Q, cuQuantum, and Dynamiqs, Alice & Bob's open-source quantum simulation library, as well as on NVQLink. On Thursday, the U.S. federal government signed nine letters of intent to provide just over $2B in federal incentives under the CHIPS and Science Act to a number of quantum computing firms. More on Nvidia Nvidia Confirmed The 'ChatGPT Moment' For The Entire Economy The Next Nvidia Is .... Nvidia (Rating Upgrade) NVIDIA Q1: No China In The Guide, 75% Margins, And A Tougher Bull Case Kawasaki Heavy, Nvidia team up for physic...
"We want people to know how great our daughter is," Charlotte's dad said. "First and foremost, we want her to know - and in years to come to see that we've told the world how brilliant she is and how utterly in awe we are of her."
"We want people to know how great our daughter is," Charlotte's dad said. "First and foremost, we want her to know - and in years to come to see that we've told the world how brilliant she is and how utterly in awe we are of her."