GitHub - tqec/tqec: Design automation software tools for Topological… | Austin Fowler | 59 comments

Why I got fired from Google on Tuesday May 27. Dear all, I've had a few days to process this, and to be clear moving forward I'll just be focusing on the business I started building over two decades ago (https://lnkd.in/gHn4sYhD), so I'm fine, but I'd like to explain how a 10+ year position at Google came to a sudden end. The beginning of the story was my desire to work on an open source quantum compiler based on the surface code (https://lnkd.in/gdyiGsnW). The associated Google group discussing topological quantum error correction (TQEC) has attracted nearly a thousand participants (https://lnkd.in/gY62gBJr), and this is fed by a free Coursera course on quantum error correction that has attracted over 14,000 participants (https://lnkd.in/gyWRdeZZ). So what's the problem? The problem is that apparently it is not okay anymore to work at Google and be associated with a project that involves people from certain countries. The whole point of the project is of course to involve people from every country, and this was seen as an unacceptable security risk. My desire to try to find a way to keep doing this while at Google made them see my continued employment there an unacceptable security risk. So what now? Right now my involvement in all things quantum is on a pause since I do not know if, while residing in the US, it is legal for me to be associated with the TQEC project. I'm on a green card, and we are in the process of renewing those green cards, so the last thing I desire is to be in trouble with the federal government. The laws on export control seem to extend to quantum software these days. If you work at an institution in the US that has an opinion on how to conduct an open source project involving people from all over the world working on a quantum compiler in a safe and legally compliant manner, please reach out to me. Without a US institution and lawyers to defend the activity, at the moment I cannot safely participate in quantum computing research. Best, Austin. | 59 comments on LinkedIn