Intel The diversity of quantum computing technologies hinders multiparty cooperation
In a recent interview, Jim Clarke, director of quantum hardware at Intel Labs, said [1] that quantum computing is seen as a technique "This makes it very difficult to have common technical needs across these different projects," Clarke said.
Intel's quantum bits are spin quantum bits, unlike other technologies that include superconducting quantum bits, which are being pursued by companies such as Google and IBM. IonQ, which recently announced its quantum computing services through Dell, is working on capturing ionic quantum bits.
"Companies see quantum as the technology of the next 100 years, and they're interested in sharing the spoils. But these companies are not interested in working (together). I think that may be one of the flaws: there isn't any cross-industry collaboration." Clarke said this is different from the evolution of the traditional chip market driven by SEMATECH, a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)-backed incubator where chip technologies are developed and tested, and the winners are widely adopted. "We bring all these companies together to work on competitive ideas. Once you have an idea through this pre-competition, the person who takes that idea, adopts it and optimizes it quickly is the winner," Clarke said.
Intel is working to create its universal quantum computer, having produced stable quantum dots in its existing factory last month. By next year, the company hopes to make its 12-quantum-bit hardware system available to the public so developers can start writing applications.
Intel has the advantage of large-scale manufacturing because it has shown it can build quantum chips in its existing factories. "The idea is to make our quantum bits exactly the same as transistors. If we can bring the two technologies closer together, both in terms of manufacturing and design ...... or in terms of layout, the easier this will be for us." Clarke said.
In addition to the quantum processor, Intel's quantum portfolio includes a controller called Horse Ridge and a software development kit that includes a compiler, runtime, mapper and scheduler, and it has a quantum simulator to sample the computing environment. Intel's next step is to upgrade the quantum simulator, which is the spin quantum bit hardware the company plans to deliver.
Quantum computer hardware developers are largely independent of each other and focused on their own technology; but that hasn't always been the case. About nine years ago, IBM and D-Wave, the earliest developers of quantum hardware, had a public debate that questioned the very concept of quantum computing.
In a 2014 paper [2], IBM argued that D-Wave's quantum annealing system should not be scientifically classified as a quantum computer, which D-Wave refuted. IBM, which is developing superconducting quantum bits, eventually had to apologize and admit that D-Wave's system is a quantum computer.
D-Wave is a pioneer of quantum annealing systems, which are dedicated to optimization. IBM, on the other hand, was working on a general-purpose quantum computer with error correction, which researchers said would require at least 1 million quantum bits. But since then technological developments and research have continued to evolve, and it is recognized that quantum hardware and topologies will be diverse and that different types of systems can solve different types of problems.
Governments are now trying to bring some order to the chaotic quantum computing industry in order to expand the market and maintain national security. The U.S., China and Europe have put quantum computing on their list of priority technologies to ensure that quantum technology is at home and can be used like artificial intelligence and high-performance computing chips.
The National Quantum Initiative Act of 2018 [3] promotes quantum research and collaboration among 70 organizations, including companies in academia and the private sector. The initiative also prioritizes the development of algorithms to protect U.S. infrastructure from cyberattacks from quantum systems that can break current encryption schemes in seconds. Currently, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is testing quantum-resistant algorithms developed by companies such as Intel, Microsoft and IBM; Argonne National Laboratory is testing quantum hardware and software technologies from many companies through its Q-NEXT program [4], which lists Intel, IBM, Microsoft, ColdQuanta and other companies as members.
The EU-funded European Joint Project on High Performance Computing (EuroHPC JU) announced this October that it will deploy quantum computers in the Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, France, Italy and Poland. The systems will be plugged into a wider supercomputing network across the continent. The deployment will be completed in the second half of 2023 and will cost about 100 million euros.
According to an article in Nature [5], last month, China's "20th National Congress" report listed the development of local quantum computing technology as one of his top priorities.
Leading companies in finance, medicine and transportation are testing quantum chips or simulators to find the best type of quantum bits for their applications.
But the confusion surrounding quantum computing resources has spawned companies like Classiq, which has a software development platform so customers can write quantum applications without knowing the hardware. Classiq's software, funded by HPE, also allows users to benchmark quantum systems that can be compared to classical hardware or other quantum hardware so they can find the best quantum bits; customers can then deploy applications and get results without learning a new language or data set.
"At the SC22 conference in Dallas in early November," said Erik Garcell, technical marketing manager at Classiq, "the industry programmed in assembly language, and anyone who has ever programmed at the assembly level knows that's not a viable thing to do. "
"We want to help our users so they don't have to decide ahead of time which hardware they will run on, or which assembly language program they will learn. We want them to build efficient quantum circuits and then decide whether to run them on AWS or IBM."
Reference links：
[1]https://www.hpcwire.com/2022/11/28/quantum-riches-and-hardware-diversity-are-discouraging-collaboration/
[2]https://arxiv.org/pdf/1401.7087v1.pdf
[3]https://www.quantum.gov/
[4]https://q-next.org/[5]https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03414-z
