Latest news with #quantumcomputer
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
IBM, Google claim quantum computers are almost here after major breakthroughs: ‘It doesn't feel like a dream anymore'
The decades-long quest to create a practical quantum computer is accelerating as major tech companies say they are closing in on designs that could scale from small lab experiments to full working systems within just a few years. IBM laid out a detailed plan for a large-scale machine in June, filling in gaps from earlier concepts and declaring it was on track to build one by the end of the decade. 'It doesn't feel like a dream anymore,' Jay Gambetta, head of IBM's quantum initiative, told Financial Times. 'I really do feel like we've cracked the code and we'll be able to build this machine by the end of the decade.' Google, which cleared one of the toughest technical obstacles late last year, says it is also confident it can produce an industrial-scale system within that time frame, while Amazon Web Services cautions that it could still take 15 to 30 years before such machines are truly useful. Quantum computing is a new kind of computing that doesn't just think in 0s and 1s like today's computers. Instead, it uses qubits — tiny quantum bits — that can be 0, 1, or both at the same time. This lets quantum computers explore many possibilities at once and find answers to certain complex problems much faster than normal computers. Quantum computing could speed up the discovery of new drugs and treatments, make artificial intelligence systems faster and more capable and improve the accuracy of market predictions and fraud detection in finance. It could also dramatically improve efficiency in areas like traffic routing, shipping, energy grids and supply chains while driving green innovation by helping design better batteries, cleaner energy systems and more sustainable technologies. But scaling them up from fewer than 200 qubits — the quantum version of a computing bit — to over 1 million will require overcoming formidable engineering challenges. Qubits are inherently unstable, maintaining their special quantum states for only fractions of a second, and adding more of them can create interference that scrambles calculations. Even if the fundamental physics problems are solved, the industry still faces the task of industrializing quantum technology. This means building chips that can house large numbers of qubits, and developing much bigger refrigeration units to keep the systems at near absolute zero. Systems using superconducting qubits, like those from IBM and Google, have made some of the fastest progress but require extreme cooling and are difficult to control. Meanwhile, some companies are betting on radically new qubit designs. Amazon and Microsoft claim to have harnessed a new state of matter to produce more reliable components, although these are still in early development. 'Just because it's hard, doesn't mean it can't be done,' Mark Horvath, an analyst at Gartner, told FT.
BBC News
4 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
New state-of-the-art quantum computer switched on in Harwell
A new state-of-the-art quantum computer said to be the most advanced in the world has just been switched full-stack computer, called Quartet, has been delivered to the UK's National Quantum Computing Centre at its Harwell campus in Oxfordshire by Oxford Ionics - a leading manufacturer in trapped-ion quantum Chris Ballance, Oxford Ionics chief executive and co-founder, said that meant they could "solve problems in minutes, we otherwise wouldn't think of solvable at all with a computer".The announcement comes after IonQ, a US-listed quantum company, agreed to acquire Oxford Ionics for $1.1bn in June. Speaking to BBC Radio 4, Dr Ballance said quantum computers were "the most powerful form of computer allowed by the laws of physics"."The hardware is fundamentally very different," he said."[It] just calculates problems in a very different way and a conventional computer is much closer to an abacus in conventional compute power than it is to a quantum computer."The company said the delivery marked "a significant step forward in making commercially valuable quantum computing a reality" and "ensuring the UK is equipped with the compute power to solve some of the world's most pressing challenges"."For that right now, if you want to build a better battery, you mostly have to go into a lab and test out some chemicals," Dr Ballance said."Those kind of problems we've known for 50 years how to write down - we just can't solve them on conventional computers. "And quantum computers will allow us to take a lot of that work from the lab into a problem we can now solve on a computer."He said a conventional supercomputer "might use the output of a small power plant to power it". "Our quantum computer uses less power than an electric kettle."The systems we're building next year, which will outperform ... the largest supercomputers humanity will ever build, will still use less power than just one server rack in a standard data centre." Dr Ballance said they had accepted the IonQ deal "because the business logic was incredible"."IonQ has an amazing team and they've had quantum computers operated on major cloud platforms since before I founded Oxford Ionic. "We have this new core technology and plugging those things together jointly allows us to speed up our combined roadmaps by multiple years." You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Bloomberg
17-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Novo Nordisk Owner Buys Microsoft Quantum Computer With Denmark
The foundation behind Novo Nordisk A/S and the Danish government will invest €80 million ($93 million) in a Microsoft-powered quantum computer to boost technological development in the Nordic region. The computer, to be named Magne, will be made available to companies and researchers to develop products in sectors such as chemical, pharmaceutical, logistics and finance, and is due to take on its first tasks by early 2027. The Novo Nordisk Foundation and Denmark's Export and Investment Fund will each invest €40 million, according to a joint statement Thursday.
