Australia's Fortescue pursues quantum leap in green hydrogen quest

Founder of Australia's Fortescue Metals Group Andrew Forrest poses together with Jeremy O'Brien, co-founder of Silicon Valley-based PsiQuantum in the Alpine resort of Davos, Switzerland May 25, 2022. REUTERS/Dmitry V. Zhdannikov

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Fortescue Metals Group is funding research by a quantum computing venture into ways to produce cheap and abundant green hydrogen as part of the Australian mining giant's ambition to become the world's top green energy group.

Founder Andrew Forrest told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos that Fortescue is becoming a funding research partner of Qlimate initiative, backed by Silicon Valley-based PsiQuantum, which aims to build the world's first utility-scale quantum computer this decade.