Quantum Warring States era, inventory of the latest trends in technology giants Quantum Wind Vane
“Quantum weather vane” is a new column of GZH, the layout of Technology Giants is the global development of the quantum industry weather vane. Follow the monthly quantum dynamics of global technology giants, please lock in the quantum weathervane.
In the past month, IBM has released a 433 qubit chip, Microsoft has released new quantum software, Google has deployed anti-quantum encryption in its internal... ... Now, the box has compiled a detailed account of these giants, hoping that industry players can find their own way forward from their wind direction . In addition to the traditional sense of technology giant, including some large state-owned companies in the quantum layout is also worthy of attention.
01IBM: released the largest general-purpose quantum processor, applications covering finance, automotive, pharmaceutical, communications
On November 8, Crédit Nacional announced that it will partner with IBM through its technology subsidiary Euro-Information to train teams and explore use cases and proofs of concept for quantum technology in financial services, while planning to expand France's quantum ecosystem. The partnership, which marks the first enterprise collaboration by IBM Quantum Network in France, will upskill Crédit Nacional employees through quantum computing expertise in the open-source Qiskit software development kit and apply quantum algorithms to develop quantum expertise within its teams to prepare organizations to leverage quantum technologies.
On November 9, at IBM's annual quantum summit, IBM unveiled its 433-bit Osprey chip, the largest general-purpose quantum processor to date. It's three times larger than the IBM Quantum processor Eagle, which broke through 100 qubits. Like the Eagle, Osprey includes multi-level cabling to provide flexibility in signal routing and device layout, while also incorporating integrated filtering to reduce noise and improve stability.
At its annual summit on the same day, IBM also announced that Vodafone Group is collaborating with it on quantum-safe networks, and will also join IBM Quantum Network, which will give Vodafone cloud access to IBM's advanced quantum computing systems, as well as share IBM's industry-leading quantum expertise: the multinational telecommunications company will work with IBM to help validate and advance potential quantum use cases in telecommunications. At the same time, Bosch, the world's largest supplier of automotive technology, is also working with IBM: Bosch will join the IBM quantum network, using more than two dozen IBM quantum computers to help identify alternatives to metals and rare earth elements currently used in engines and fuel cells.
On November 16, Helsinki, Finland-based quantum computing startup Algorithmiq announced that it has partnered with IBM to advance its exploration of quantum algorithms that attempt to solve complex problems in the life sciences. Algorithmiq will be part of the IBM Quantum Network to explore ways to dramatically reduce drug discovery and development time and costs, and improve the performance of quantum algorithms on near-term quantum technologies.
On December 8, at this year's IEDM conference, IBM demonstrated the future beyond nanosheet devices and copper interconnects, laying the foundation for semiconductors with nodes above 1nm in the near future.
In addition to the above exciting technological and commercial developments, IBM and the US government are not optimistic about the technology blockade of China. On November 14, IBM and the Biden administration negotiated potential export controls for quantum computers. Dario Gil, head of IBM Research, believes that quantum technology is most likely subject to restrictions such as export controls, and IBM has installed quantum infrastructure in countries such as Germany and Japan, but not in China. Currently, IBM's quantum computing cloud platform has banned access to IP addresses in China.
For the future, IBM says it has been developing industry-leading hardware, software and services for users to prepare for the next wave of computing. "As we continue to deliver on our roadmap, 2022 will no longer be just preparations. We are ready to start implementing the next wave of computing and, with it, useful quantum computing. ”
02Google: On-premise anti-quantum cryptography
On November 2, Arizona State University launched the Quantum Collaborative, a major 21st-century initiative that aims to have a profound impact on society and the U.S. economy through new discoveries and applications of advanced quantum technologies. Founding industry partners include Quantinuum, Google Quantum AI, SandboxAQ and CR8DL, as well as institutions such as Purdue University and Virginia Tech.
On November 22, Google reported that it had used anti-quantum cryptography (PQC) security technology to defend against hacking attacks that steal before decryption: Google Cloud has enabled the algorithmic transport security ALTS protocol, the application layer of Google's internal transmission encryption protocol, to ensure that communications on the company's internal infrastructure are authenticated and encrypted.
Google said: "Quantum-resistant cryptography migration presents unique challenges in terms of scale, scope, and technical complexity that have never been tried before in the industry, so extra care is required. This is why we use a hybrid approach to deploy NTRU-HRSS in ALTS. We combine the two schemes into a single mechanism, so that opponents interested in undermining the mechanism need to undermine the two basic schemes. ”
03Microsoft: Releases new quantum software
On November 15, Microsoft released an application called Azure Quantum Resource Estimator to solve future quantum computing challenges and make it easy for developers around the world to use it. The app, a software tool originally developed for Microsoft's internal use, is already guiding companies in developing full-stack quantum computers, and now it can also help outside developers figure out how much hash power they need to execute a given quantum algorithm in a reasonable amount of time.
Microsoft says the estimator could show software developers how to reduce run times by tweaking their quantum algorithms. Microsoft has also been using the tool to develop the underlying architecture of machines to see what kind of machines can even enable these algorithms. The tool supports the view that Microsoft's topology-based quantum machines will achieve the required scaling.
04Intel: The diversity of quantum computing technologies hinders collaboration
Intel's qubits are spin qubits, and Intel is working to create its general-purpose quantum computers, producing stable quantum dot qubits in its existing factories last month. By next year, the company hopes to make its 12-qubit hardware system available to the public so developers can start writing applications.
In addition to quantum processors, Intel's quantum portfolio includes a controller called Horse Ridge and a software development kit that includes compilers, runtimes, mappers, and schedulers, and it also has a quantum simulator to sample the computing environment. Intel's next step is to upgrade the quantum simulator, the spin qubit hardware the company plans to deliver.
Jim Clarke, director of quantum hardware at Intel Labs, said in an interview on November 29 that quantum computing is seen as a technology that requires generations to fight for, and the loot for winners is huge, but the diversity of technologies is hindering collaboration: there are currently close to five or six quantum computing technologies in development, all of which require varying degrees of expertise or system optimization. "This makes it difficult to have common technical needs in these different projects."
05Dell: Integrated hybrid quantum platform
Dell is creating building blocks to incorporate quantum computers into traditional IT infrastructure in order to open up data centers to new types of accelerated computers. The server maker has created a blueprint for traditional server infrastructure to meet the unique needs of quantum systems that are thought to be faster and solve problems in different ways.
On December 13, Dell also signed the Dell OEM Engineering Solutions Pilot Agreement with Arqit. Dell agreed to preload Arqit's QuantumCloud™ software on selected Dell hardware devices, enabling the Dell sales team to sell the combined hardware and software as a single SKU to meet existing and new customer needs.
On November 14, at the Super Computing 2022 (SC22) event, Dell Technologies and IonQ unveiled a hybrid quantum platform: a Dell classical quantum simulator built on Dell PowerEdge servers that integrates the core quantum capabilities of IonQ's quantum computer and quantum algorithm development team. The combined use of Qiskit Dell Runtime and IonQ Aria enables rapid development of algorithmic approaches for complex use cases, including chemical and materials simulation, natural language processing, and machine learning. The solution positions Dell as a consultant to organizations interested in optimizing their hybrid quantum computing use cases, with IonQ as the technical backbone of application development.
06Quantinuum: Hardware and software "walk on two legs"
A subsidiary of industrial giant Honeywell, Quantinuum is one of the world's largest quantum companies.
On October 31, scientists at Quantinuum found a new way to reuse qubits: programs running on quantum computers with a finite number of qubits can be maximized. The research team solved the MaxCut quantum adiabatic optimization algorithm (QAOA) problem of 80 qubits by experimentally studying a 20-qubit Quantinuum H1-1 quantum processor.
The new technique provides an automated framework for compiling circuits to run on fewer qubits by using intermediate circuit measurements and resets to map circuits to their own compressed versions. According to the team, this technique is still feasible when quantum systems reach thousands of qubits. It is also device-agnostic and can be used with any circuit on any machine.
On November 28, Quantinuum announced that it had joined a consortium with University College London (UCL) and the BBC to explore the industrial relevance of quantum natural language processing (QNLP) and quantum-inspired natural language processing. The partnership, funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering and awarded a University College London Advanced Research Fellowship, will build on Quantinuum's long-term exploration of quantum mechanics and linguistics, by Professor Bob Coecke, Chief Scientist of Quantinuum, Professor Stephen Clark, Head of Artificial Intelligence and Professor Mehrnoosh Sadrzadeh of UCL Computer Science.
07Atos: Provides end-to-end quantum computing technology
Atos is a leading global information technology services company, and Leonardo, currently the world's fourth-fastest supercomputer, is manufactured by Atos.
On November 16, Atos and IQM announced a partnership to provide end-to-end quantum computing technology and capabilities as part of the Group's hybrid computing strategy. As quantum computing moves from the market to real-world applications, the collaboration will enable IQM's quantum processing units (QPUs) to be integrated into Atos' QLM and globally into Atos' quantum application development platform.
Subsequently, Atos announced a new partnership with US-based Aspen Systems to deliver the Atos quantum learning machine to organizations in the United States and Canada. The partnership with the North American market will help business, academia and government agencies address the most pressing challenges of the 21st century with unprecedented computing power. As the world's first commercial machine system capable of simulating up to 41 qubits, the Atos Quantum Learning Machine (QLM) is a complete local environment powered by a general-purpose quantum programming language.
08Huawei: Announced a number of quantum patents
On November 1, according to the China Patent Announcement of the State Intellectual Property Office, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.'s patent for "superconducting quantum chip" was approved (application publication number: CN115271077A). The claims indicate: "Embodiments of the present invention reduce crosstalk between qubits".
On November 15, the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) announced a new Huawei patent "Mirror, Lithography Device and Its Control Method" (CN115343915A), which is related to EUV (extreme ultraviolet) lithography machine. Specifically, this patent can solve an important problem of EUV lithography machine: providing a mirror, lithography device and its control method, which can solve the problem that coherent light cannot be homogenized due to the formation of a fixed interference pattern.
09Fujitsu: Development of quantum/HPC hybrid computing technology
On November 8, Fujitsu announced the development of a new quantum/HPC hybrid computing technology to optimize customers' workload choices. The new technology utilizes the powerful functions of Fujitsu's world-class 39-qubit quantum simulator and the Fujitsu Supercomputer PRIMEHPC FX 700, equipped with the same A64FX CPU as the supercomputer "Fugaku", to select the best calculation method for customers' quantum chemistry. Crucially, the technology allows users without expertise to use quantum simulators and HPC technology to provide effective solutions to real-world problems. Fujitsu has developed a quantum/HPC hybrid computing technology for solving quantum chemistry problems to realize its vision of a computing workload agent, enabling computation-based elucidating of materials used in drug discovery and the development of new materials.
Going forward, Fujitsu will verify the effectiveness of this technology and further develop it, aiming to establish a new computing workload proxy technology in the field of quantum chemical computing by 2023.
10Amazon: Deeply engaged in quantum computing cloud services
On November 1, Amazon's quantum computing service Amazon Braket announced Aquila, a new neutral atomic quantum processing unit (QPU) from QuEra Computing with up to 256 qubits. It will be available for ten hours every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The processor can be programmed using the AWS Braket SDK, and soon QuEra's own Julia-based Bloqade software platform will also support Aquila.
On November 3, a joint team of Harvard University and AWS scientists discussed quantum memory that can operate at higher temperatures: this makes this fundamental component of quantum communication networks less expensive and more reliable. Using the strain in the diamond lattice, the scientists were able to increase the energy of the transition between qubit states so that it interacts only with higher-energy phonons (which occur at 20 Kelvin): ensuring that even at 4 Kelvin no hot phonons can drive this conversion. Operating under 4 Kelvin was a major commercial milestone as it enabled the team to transition from a helium-diluted chiller to a more reliable and cost-effective technology.
11China Telecom: Quantum encrypted instant messaging
On November 23, China Telecom and its subsidiary China Telecom Quantum upgraded Tianyi Quantum Secret Phone (hereinafter referred to as Secret Phone 2.0), which expands the high-security instant messaging function of graphic security, voice security, video security, and burning after reading on the basis of the original quantum encrypted call. Secret Phone 2.0 secure instant messaging system provides mobile office information security protection covering "device-edge-network-cloud" integration, as well as rapid deployment and implementation capabilities, product operation and full-process support services, effectively solving users' information security problems in mobile communication office.
The newly upgraded secret phone version 2.0 closely integrates quantum encryption technology and instant messaging technology to achieve encryption protection for user calls, messages, file transmission and other scenarios: quantum-encrypted phone calls, encrypted video calls, one word and one secret, without fear of monitoring and deciphering; Support encryption of information types such as graphics, voice, video, and files to ensure the secure transmission of information; Support video calls, burn information after reading, prohibit screenshots, and effectively prevent information leakage; The open mobile workbench can be efficiently connected with external applications and enrich application scenarios.
12Hon Hai Group: Established a software R&D center in Canada
On November 23, Taiwan's Hon Hai Group (Foxconn) announced that it will sign a cooperation agreement with Mitacs (Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems) in Canada, and the two parties will conduct quantum frontier technology research in Canada. At the same time, Hon Hai will set up a software R&D center in Canada, and the first phase will recruit more than 100 design and engineering talents, focusing on software development such as electric vehicle driving experience and human-computer interaction.
This agreement is also the first step for Hon Hai to expand its R&D and innovation capabilities in Canada, starting a key layout, in addition to quantum research, Hon Hai will seek to establish research and design institutions in Canada to further create jobs and promote local economic growth. Hon Hai also announced that it will establish a Software Development Center (SRDC) in Canada.
Li Weibin, CEO of Hon Hai Research Institute, said that this cooperation hopes that the Institute can introduce Canadian professionals and jointly invest in forward-looking technology research, and will initially take the field of quantum technology as the main research axis. Through Mitacs, Hon Hai hopes to establish a quantum computing research program in Canada and recruit about 5~10 research interns within the first year.
13NVIDIA: cuQuantum accelerates quantum simulations
On November 15, NVIDIA announced a major update to its cuQuantum, CUDA® and BlueField®DOCA™ acceleration libraries, as well as support for its Omniverse™ emulation platform on NVIDIA's A100 and H100-powered systems. The H100, Quantum-2 and DOCA acceleration library updates are all part of NVIDIA's HPC platform, which includes the full technology stack of CPU, GPU, DPU, systems, networks, and extensive AI and HPC software, enabling researchers to effectively accelerate the work processes in their research on systems, on-premises or in the cloud.
The NVIDIA cuQuantum software development kit to accelerate quantum computing workflows now also supports approximate tensor network approaches. This enables researchers to simulate tens of thousands of qubits and automatically enable multi-node, multi-GPU support using cuQuantum devices for extremely high-performance quantum simulations.
On December 1, startup Qubit Pharmaceuticals announced the use of NVIDIA's QODA programming model to build a drug discovery platform for hybrid quantum classical computers and their Atlas software suite, significantly reducing the time and investment required for promising treatments in oncology, inflammatory diseases, and antiviral drugs. Atlas creates detailed simulations of physical molecules that are 100,000 times faster than traditional research methods.
Robert Marino, President of Qubit Pharmaceuticals, said: "By combining NVIDIA's computing power and leading software with Qubit's simulation and molecular modeling capabilities, we are confident that we can significantly reduce drug discovery time and reduce its cost by a factor of 10. This unique collaboration should allow us to develop the first quantum physics algorithms applied to drug discovery. ”
14Corning: New quantum fiber
Corning is a leader in glass science, ceramic science, and optics, and Corning researchers teamed up with the Spanish Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO) to create an optical fiber that can use Anderson positioning to propagate multiple beams in a single fiber. The ICFO team designed the optics to send quantum light through a phase-separated Anderson positioning fiber and detect its arrival with a SPAD array camera. SPAD arrays allow them to not only detect pairs of photons, but also identify them as pairs.
Following this presentation, the ICFO team began to show how they could improve their results in future work. To do this, they performed a proportional analysis to find the optimal size distribution of the slender glass precursor for the 810nm quantum light wavelength. After a thorough analysis of classical light, they were able to identify the current limitations of phase-separated fibers and make recommendations to improve their manufacturing to minimize attenuation and resolution loss during transmission. The results of this study suggest that this approach is potentially attractive for scalable manufacturing processes in practical applications of quantum imaging or quantum communication, especially in the areas of high-resolution endoscopy, entanglement distribution, and quantum key distribution.
15EDF: Energy simulation
French start-up Quadela and France's leading energy company EDF have signed a collaboration agreement to study the contribution of photons to numerical simulation calculations of hydroelectric dam deformation. This breakthrough technology improves simulation accuracy, speeds up calculations and reduces energy consumption. Quadela expects to roll out simulation models to other types of industrial applications in the future and extend photonic computing to machine learning, especially in consumption prediction.
16Lockheed Martin: Sponsorship of the CUbit quantum project
The CUbit Quantum Initiative at the University of Colorado Boulder announced Lockheed Martin as a CUbit Innovation Partner. Lockheed Martin will participate in CUbit's partner program with Atom Computing, ColdQuanta, Maybell Quantum, Meadowlark Optics, Octave Photonics, SPIE and Vescent, among others.
This research alliance represents the latest extension of a long-term, broad quantum research partnership. The quantum collaboration builds on CU Boulder's fundamental quantum sensing research, which has one of the University's Quantum Centers under the National Quantum Initiative Act. First, Lockheed Martin sponsored two projects led by CU Boulder researchers. One focused on combining optical tweezers with proven capabilities in quantum science and information processing with quantum simulation. Another project aims to design many-body quantum states to enable the next generation of interferometers to outperform classical systems.
