IBM China Research Institute, quietly "closed". Having witnessed the glorious development of global giants in China, today it is quietly scattered all over the sky. IBM also responded to the "closure" of China Research Institute, saying that this is an adjustment of IBM's R & D layout in China. Its China Development Laboratory, IBM China Systems Laboratory and customer innovation center are also in the same building, and will continue to serve as an innovation center to help China's development in the future.

Recently, according to Weibo netizen @ horsepower in Zhiqun, IBM CRL (IBM China Research Institute) was closed, and accompanied by exclamatory words to miss this once brilliant Research Institute, "silent.". The wheel of history is rolling forward.

IBM China Research Institute was founded in September 1995. Now it is 25 years old. Many famous scientific and technological achievements have come from this department, including the famous artificial intelligence program Watson.

After verification, the news is basically true. "IBM China Research Institute has been closed recently, but IBM China Development Laboratory, IBM China Systems Laboratory and customer innovation center are also in the same building. IBM's future R & D layout in China may be based on these R & D laboratories and innovation centers. 」

Such news caused a sensation in the science and technology circle.

On the one hand, in the era of increasingly fierce competition in the Internet, such a well-known and high-tech foreign enterprise research institute has been closed, which is a pity.

On the other hand, IBM also recently announced its financial results, and its revenue has declined for 10 consecutive quarters. It seems that the former "big blue" has disappeared.

This is not only the end of an era, but also the end of a generation of foreign enterprises. Let's start with IBM China Research Institute itself.

IBM's first research center in developing countries, talent gathering, the cradle of "Watson"

IBM China Research Institute, also known as IBM CRL, is located in the northwest corner of Beijing Shangdi Information Industry Base and in Zhongguancun Software Park. It is IBM's first research center in developing countries.

In 2008, IBM China Research Institute Shanghai Branch was established. Over the past 20 years, there have been more than 100 thousand researchers working in the Institute, most of whom have doctorates and master's degrees from China's or even world-class universities.

Source: WSJ

The main research directions of IBM CRL are system and network, information management and collaboration, distributed computing and system management, and next generation services.

In the field of cognitive computing, the most famous achievement of IBM China Research Institute is Watson, which was born in 2011. It is named after Thomas J. Watson, the founder of IBM. It is a computer system that can answer questions raised by natural language.

The R & D process of Watson has lasted for four years. Nearly 30 researchers around the world have participated in the development. In addition to American research institutes, IBM's China Research Institute, Japan Research Institute and Israel Research Institute have also participated in the development.

This research has been used as a medical assistant artificial intelligence system, and its prospect seems simple and practical: just input the patient's personal information into the system, and the system will recommend the appropriate treatment scheme for medical students based on a large number of medical research, medical guidelines, clinical trials and other information.

In addition to cognitive computing, IBM China Research Institute's research areas include industry solutions, computing as a service, and the Internet of things.

However, IBM's pillar areas may not have brought the desired results. Watson, who took the lead in the medical sector, has not made any progress, and the "Internet of things 3.0" proposed by Watson has not yielded any results.

With the rise of domestic Internet companies, IBM and many other foreign enterprises are becoming more and more marginalized in China. There are reasons for the times, but it may also have something to do with IBM's dismal overall situation in recent years.

From Watson to Internet of things 3.0, IBM China Research Institute has developed for 25 years

IBM Research Institute has 12 laboratories around the world, three of which are located in the United States.

Nine places outside the United States are Zurich in Switzerland, Haifa in Israel, Tokyo in Japan, Beijing in China, Delhi and Bangalore in India, Nairobi in Kenya and Johannesburg in South Africa, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo in Brazil, Dublin in Ireland and Melbourne in Australia.

As an AI media, new Zhiyuan has also had exchanges with several presidents of IBM China Research Institute.

On March 29, 2018, Shen Xiaowei, President of China Research Institute of IBM, attended the AI industry transition summit of new Zhiyuan and made a speech entitled "foreseeing the innovation and transition in the era of artificial intelligence". He discussed how artificial intelligence, quantum computing and blockchain technology quietly changed the pattern of computing and Commerce, and looked forward to the trend of technological innovation in the era of artificial intelligence.

The fourth from the left is Ms. Lin Yonghua, President of IBM China Research Institute

For a long time, the research fields of IBM China Research Institute span multiple disciplines and industries. The key research topics include big data analysis, cloud computing, Internet of things and technology innovation and application of cognitive computing. At present, there are successful solutions in the fields of environmental protection, power and energy, logistics and supply chain, medical and financial services.

Even so, it is unexpected that, like many foreign enterprises leaving China, IBM China Research Institute will say goodbye.

Will foreign enterprises become more and more marginalized in China after 2020?

In recent years, there have been many examples of foreign enterprises and foreign research institutes saying "goodbye" to China, which seems to imply that the golden age of foreign enterprises is gone forever.

On March 19, 2015, Yahoo announced its withdrawal from the Chinese market and its Beijing R & D center was closed.

In 2019, Amazon announced its exit from China.

In the same year, Oracle, an enterprise software company, officially closed its R & D center in China and cut about 900 employees after being impacted by cloud computing.

First of all, this is a way for foreign enterprises to make strategic adjustments under the situation of decoupling of science and technology between China and the United States in the new era. Just as IBM made the following reply to the closing of China Research Institute this time, it acquiesced to the news of the closing of China Research Institute

The closure of IBM China Research Institute has aroused extensive discussion among netizens.

Some people miss this "dream workplace" with boundless scenery:

But it's more about the times:

Anyway, pay homage to IBM China Research Institute! Then say goodbye seriously.