A collection of startups have joined IBM’s Q Network to help explore practical applications of quantum computing for business and science, writes IBM Research director Jeff Welser.
At its recent Q Summit, IBM has announced a number of startups to join the IBM Q Network, an industry-oriented initiative aimed to explore practical applications of quantum computing. Created last December, the IBM Q Network initially included companies of the caliber of Samsung, JPMorgan, Daimler AG, and several others. Those companies received various levels of access to the IBM quantum platform, including its cloud-based quantum processor and simulator.
IBM’s latest announcement shows the organisation is trying to grow its Q network to include small startups, too. Interestingly, most of the selected startups focus on quantum technology and some of them are only a few months old. The list includes Zapata Computing, a company developing quantum algorithms for chemistry, machine learning, security, and error correction; Q-CTRL, an Australian company developing quantum error control systems; Cambridge Quantum Computing, a British company developing a platform agnostic compiler to build quantum programs; QC Ware, aiming to build enterprise solutions running on quantum hardware, and others.
Quantum computing is still in its infancy and likely years away from any conceivable practical commercial applications. Q-CTRL CEO described their collaboration with IBM as a way to expand the application space of quantum computers in an effort to find the "killer app" for quantum computing. While it is still unclear what IBM’s initiative might lead to, it is interesting to note that an ecosystem of commercial companies has started to grow around real quantum hardware that is currently available and its related development tools.
Last year, IBM made available a quantum software development kit, named QISKit, which could be used to run quantum experiments on IBM Q quantum processors. Currently IBM is providing access to a 16 qubit processor and a 20 qubit simulator.
Despite being still in its early stages, quantum computing is gathering growing interest from the industry, with several major players competing to become the first to demonstrate quantum supremacy, i.e., the ability of quantum computers to solve problems that a classical computer cannot. Besides IBM, those includes Microsoft, Google, Intel, and others.