Insider Brief
- Chinese startup Tuoyuan, led by quantum researcher Mu Qiao, is pursuing neutral-atom quantum computing with a reported development target of 100 logical qubits.
- QbitAI reported that the company raised hundreds of millions of yuan in seed and angel financing, but those details have not been independently verified.
- Qiao has published research on neutral-atom and trapped-ion quantum simulation, while Tuoyuan has yet to disclose hardware benchmarks or a timeline for its planned system.
- Photo by Christian Lue on Unsplash
A new Chinese startup led by quantum researcher Mu Qiao is pursuing neutral-atom quantum computing, with a reported development goal of building a system with 100 logical qubits.
The company, identified as FlipFlop Tuoyuan in a QbitAI report republished by 36Kr, brings together Qiao’s experience in trapped-ion and neutral-atom experiments. Its reported plans focus on fault-tolerant computing, which uses error correction to protect calculations from the errors that limit quantum processors.
QbitAI reported that Tuoyuan completed seed and angel financing totaling hundreds of millions of yuan — or tens of millions in U.S. dollars, citing people familiar with the company. The report named Source Code Capital, Oasis Capital and CICC Capital among the investors but did not provide an exact amount or valuation.
Those financing details could not be independently verified for this article.
Qiao’s research record provides better details on the technical experience behind the venture. He is a shared first author and a corresponding author of a study published in Nature in August 2025 that used an array of Rydberg atoms to investigate a quantum magnet with mobile vacancies, known as holes.
Such experiments let researchers reproduce selected features of complex quantum systems under controlled conditions. The study examined interactions between magnetism and particle motion, a problem relevant to understanding strongly correlated materials, including high-temperature superconductors.
The work expanded the range of models accessible to Rydberg atom experiments. It was a quantum simulation result, however, rather than a demonstration of a general-purpose, fault-tolerant computer.
Qiao also led a 2024 Nature Physics study that used a two-dimensional crystal of trapped ions to simulate tunable spin models. The two papers establish experimental experience across distinct quantum hardware platforms.
Neutral-atom processors use tightly focused laser beams, called optical tweezers, to hold and arrange individual atoms. Exciting atoms into Rydberg states allows strong interactions that can support quantum simulation and computing operations.
Turning that control into a reliable computer requires more than increasing the number of trapped atoms. Logical qubits encode information across multiple physical qubits, allowing errors to be detected and corrected. Their usefulness depends on the reliability of operations and the computations they can sustain.
An investor quoted by QbitAI described a 100-logical-qubit system as an important research and development target for Tuoyuan. The report provided no timeline, error-correction specifications or measured processor performance.
QbitAI also reported that the startup intends to introduce AI into experimental design, data processing and equipment control. It did not present results demonstrating improvements from that approach.