After leading a revolution in the artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain ecosystem, IBM is now planning to commercialize quantum computing as well. As announced today, the tech giant is now expanding its Quantum Experience program launched last year with the release of new API (Application Program Interface) along with an SDK (Software Development Kit). This will enable users to build out simple quantum apps and software programs using their infrastructure resources.
Firstly, the company has decided to leapfrog innovation in the quantum computing field by making its services available directly to the public i.e developers. IBM has today said that it would build “commercially available universal quantum computing systems.” Though researchers believe that full-scale, massively powerful quantum computers are still tough to build but IBM is trying to demonstrate the same capabilities on a small-scale system.
With regards to the same, it has been quite successful in taking advantage of quantum effects to define quantum bits (or qubits). These qubits enable the Quantum Experience, which allows anyone to connect with their quantum processor is serviced through IBM Cloud, to provide complex calculation capabilities as compared to current digital solutions. It is now focusing its efforts on constructing IBM Q systems with 50 qubits for commercial use. Speaking on the same, Tom Rosamilia, senior VP of IBM Systems, said,
We envision IBM Q systems working in concert with our portfolio of classical high-performance systems to address problems that are currently unsolvable, but hold tremendous untapped value.
Earlier, the technology giant had opened the 5 qubit quantum computer to the public along with basic programming language support to interested parties. And this strategy has worked wonders as it resulted in over 40,000 signups; 275,000 processor executions, and close to 15 research publications. Thus, it is now looking to simplify the development process by handing over advanced tools, in form of today’s API launch.
The introduction of an API for the Quantum Experience will enable developers and researchers to start writing scripts in the language of their choice. This will also enable you to build an interface between your existing 5 qubit computer and classical computers, without the need of extensive knowledge of quantum physics. The idea behind the release of this package is to help developers experiment with higher-end systems.
Speaking about the said initiative, Arvind Krishna, senior VP of Hybrid Cloud and director for IBM Research says,
IBM has invested over decades to growing the field of quantum computing and we are committed to expanding access to quantum systems and their powerful capabilities for the science and business communities.
Following Watson and blockchain, we believe that quantum computing will provide the next powerful set of services delivered via the IBM Cloud platform, and promises to be the next major technology that has the potential to drive a new era of innovation across industries.
Further, in the official release, the company added that it is also releasing a 20 qubit simulator on the Quantum Experience to model circuits using quantum technologies. IBM plans to release a full-fledged SDK (Software Development Kit) on this platform to enable users to begin building simple quantum apps for the system. It is expected to debut in the first half of 2017.
