IBM launched a new cloud-based service Wednesday that gives novices and hardcore academics and researchers access to its five-qubit quantum computer in its research lab in Yorktown Heights, New York.
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IBM said that Moore’s law is “running out of steam” and quantum computing could usher in a new era of innovation across industries.
‘Quantum computers are very different from today’s computers, not only in what they look like and are made of, but more importantly in what they can do. At the center are qubits, which allows the systems to perform significantly more complex calculations than is possible with today’s fastest supercomputer. IBM is betting that quantum processors in the next decade will be able to have 50 to 100 qubits.
The computer, which is housed in the IBM laboratory in NY, will be accessible through the Cloud on smartphones and desktop computers.
IBM has made its powerful five qubit quantum processor available to the public for free in a move it described as “the birth of quantum cloud computing”.
The chip used in the quantum computer is made up of devices called qubits representing digital data that uses quantum effects Quantum computing works differently from the now available computers, which use bits to process information, where each bit represents either a one or a zero.
Some quantum computing theorists believe that such a computer might be designed as a “universal” computer capable of performing any task much faster than machines now in use.
Although the technology is in its developmental stages, that promise of Quantum Computing outweighs that of traditional computing on many frontiers.
Other companies and organizations, including Google, NASA and USC and Lockheed Martin are doing their own work with quantum computing. To increase awareness around the nascent technology, IBM has devised a simple web interface that enables access to one of IBM’s Quantum processors. Those itching to try out such hardware will be able to get hands-on experience through a new quantum computing platform-at least, the experience will be as hands-on as it can be with hardware sealed inside a remote dilution refrigerator and cooled to a fraction of a degree above absolute zero.
But five qubits only provides the kind of computational power that’s still within the reach of “classical” computers.
Aspiring quantum computer scientists can access IBM’s Quantum computer here. But now that’s changing with IBM quantum computing.
IBM quantum computing is remarkably different from the computing technologies we have been using so far. A powerful quantum computer could decrypt anything nearly instantly, giving those who have access to such computing capabilities the ability to bypass today’s commonly used security measures.
Going forward, users will have a chance to review their results in a community to be hosted on the IBM Quantum Experience.
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IBM unveiled the world’s first cloud based quantum computer which means that anyone can run quantum computing experiments from anywhere in the world.
