IBM has announced on March 6 that it plans to release the world’s very first commercial quantum computers service for commercial purposes later this year. The new service will be called IBM Q and it will be accessible over the Internet for a price.
Basically, IBM is looking to build a cloud quantum computers service in order to facilitate the development of more performant quantum computers which will be able to handle highly complex calculations which are out of the reach of normal computers.
The IBM Q project will rely on the company knowledge and experience accumulated thanks to the company’s already existing cloud computing service called Quantum Experience. This service is available to everyone for free and has recently received a new interface upgrade.
Not many details were revealed about IBM Q, as the company seems keen on having a lot of leeway for when the service will go online later this year. IBM also did reveal how precisely more powerful the new cloud computers will be. However, there have been reports that IBM is looking to create 50-qubit quantum computers, ten times as powerful as the current 5 qubit systems.
If you’re not familiar with the quantum computers terminology, a qubit is short for quantum bits of information which can assume different states at the same time, rather than just representing a 0 or 1, found in normal computers.
IBM’s overall goal is to develop a universal quantum computer, meaning that they have to get enough qubits to work together to run a specific algorithm. The company helps that the creation of a more powerful quantum computers network will be a major step in that direction, as it will be powerful enough to start solving real-life complex problems and help drive technology further in a variety of domains from pharmaceuticals to various scientific conundrums.
IBM is only one of the companies currently part of the race to develop the world’s first universal quantum computer, meant to revolutionize future technologies. Companies like Google or Microsoft have also joined the fray with their own quantum-computing endeavors and various projects.
What do you think about IBM Q cloud quantum computers service? What expectations do you have for future quantum networks?
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