As a result, KQC's ecosystem of users will have access to IBM's full stack solution for AI, including watsonx, an AI and data platform to train, tune and deploy advanced AI models and software for enterprises.

KQC has operated as an IBM Quantum Innovation Center since 2022 and will continue to offer access to IBM's global fleet of utility-scale quantum systems over the cloud.

At the same time, it is expanding its quantum computing collaboration with IBM and the two plan to deploy an IBM Quantum System Two on-site at KQC in Busan, South Korea by 2028.

"KQC is providing versatile computing infrastructure in Korea through our collaboration with IBM, said Ji Hoon Kweon, chairman of KQC.

Our robust hardware computing resources and core software in quantum and AI are poised not only to meet the growing demand for high performance computing, but also to catalyse industry utilisation and ecosystem development.

The joint collaboration includes an investment in infrastructure to support the development and deployment of generative AI.

Plans for this enhanced infrastructure include advanced GPUs and IBM's Artificial Intelligence Unit (AIU), managed with Red Hat OpenShift to create a cloud-native environment.

Together, the GPU system and AIU is being established to offer members the optimal hardware to power AI research and business opportunities.

"We are excited to work with KQC to deploy AI and quantum systems to drive innovation across Korean industries. With this engagement, KQC clients will have the ability to train, fine-tune, and deploy advanced AI models, using IBM watsonx and advanced AI infrastructure, added Daro Gil, senior vice president and director of research at IBM.

The collaboration will also include access for KQC's clients to Red Hat OpenShift AI for management and runtime needs, and IBM's watsonx platform to power generative AI and lay the foundations for future computing technology.

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KQC and IBM partner on bringing IBM watsonx and quantum computing to Korea - Capacity Media

Nu Quantum & Cisco Partner to Develop Groundbreaking Modular Quantum Network Prototype with 2.3 Million ($2.9M USD) in UK Government Funding  Quantum Computing Report

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Nu Quantum & Cisco Partner to Develop Groundbreaking Modular Quantum Network Prototype with 2.3 Million ($2.9M USD) in UK Government Funding -...

MCLEAN, Va., January 30, 2024--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Qubrid, a leading GPU Cloud and Quantum Computing company announced immediate access to its leading hybrid GPU-QPU cloud computing platform focused at solving complex real-world problems. The Qubrid Cloud Platform (QCP) shortens access to GPUs and QPUs making them accessible and programmable using an easy-to-use web interface.

What can I do with Qubrid Cloud today?

The Qubrid platform is open now for developers, researchers and scientists to login and start working on AI/ML or Quantum Computing projects. You would be able to:

Run AI/ML Programs on GPU

Simulate Quantum Computing programs on GPU

Run Quantum Computing programs on QPU

Reserve hard to get GPU instances

Instantly access Jupyter Notebook programming environment

Program in Python or Qiskit

Use pre-loaded AI packages including Pytorch, TensorFlow, Keras etc.

Why Qubrid GPU Cloud Platform?

There are multiple reasons why QCP can be right for you:

Budget if you dont have the budget for fully assembled on-premise GPU systems, you can spend a fraction of the price of systems and run your programs

Scale You can scale from single GPU per node to thousands of GPUs in a cluster without worrying about purchasing expensive hardware

Zero maintenance with QCP, you dont have to worry about setting up hardware or installing OS or AI packages. All that is done by us so you can just focus on developing your AI/ML/LLM applications.

Use while waiting for your on-premise hardware if you have ordered long lead-time GPU systems, you can get a head-start using GPUs in the cloud to fill in the gap until your systems arrive at your door.

How do I access QCP and whats the pricing?

The Qubrid platform offers high volume GPUs on an on-demand basis. Additionally, for high-end GPUs, customers can reserve instances on monthly, six-monthly or annual subscription basis. The platform is available for immediate login using below link:

https://platform.qubrid.com

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Pricing for on-demand GPUs and QPUs is available after logging in.

For high-end GPUs which require reserving instances in advance, pricing is available at:

https://www.dihuni.com/product-category/gpu-cloud/

"Our vision of accelerating AI and making GPU and Quantum Computing resources available to everyone is now real and available for customers," said Pranay Prakash, chief executive officer at Qubrid. "We invite developers from startups, universities, commercial and government entities to use our platform whether youre working on a Deep Learning application, LLM, Generative AI or solving a logistics optimization problem using Quantum Computing, you will be able to use the Qubrid platform with ease and with necessary tools required for your applications."

About Qubrid

Qubrid is an advanced AI company with a mission to solve complex, real-world problems in multiple industries. Our cutting-edge Qubrid Cloud Platform (QCP) harnesses the power of GPU, CPU and quantum processing unit (QPU) computing infrastructure providing unparalleled speed and accuracy to solve complex optimization problems, perform simulations, and conduct data analysis.

Visit Qubrid at https://www.qubrid.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240130117903/en/

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Qubrid GPU Cloud Platform Early Access Available Immediately for Generative AI, LLM and Quantum Computing ... - Yahoo Finance

Insilico researchers have presented an image of how combining methods from AI, quantum computing, and the physics of complex systems can help advance new understandings of human health.

In a new paper, the team have also detailed the latest breakthroughs in physics-guided AI.

The research is published in WIREs Computational Molecular Science.

Although AI has been helpful in processing large, complex biological datasets in order to find new disease pathways and connect ageing and disease at the cellular level, it still faces challenges in applying those insights to complex interactions within the body.

To understand the inner workings of living organisms, scientists need multimodal modelling methods. These models need to manage three key areas of complexity: the complexity of scale, the complexity of the algorithms, and the increasing complexity of datasets.

While we are not a quantum company, it is important to utilise capabilities to take advantage of the speed provided by the new hybrid computing solutions and hyperscalers, said co-author Alex Zhavoronkov, PhD, founder and co-CEO of Insilico Medicine.

As this computing goes mainstream, it may be possible to perform very complex biological simulations and discover personalised interventions with desired properties for a broad range of diseases and age-associated processes.

We are very happy to see our research centre in the UAE producing valuable insights in this area.

Biological processes within living systems range from cells to organs to the whole body, with lots of interactions between systems. These processes need to be interpreted on multiple scales simultaneously, and access to biological data has reached unimaginable levels.

The 1000 Genomes Project, for example, is a catalogue of human genetic variation which has identified over nine million single nucleotide variants. As well as this, the UK Biobank contains full sequences from 500,000 genomes of British volunteers.

Massive computing power is needed to analyse and process it.

Quantum computing is positioned to augment AI approaches, allowing researchers to interpret across multiple levels of the biological system simultaneously.

Qubits hold values of 0 and 1 simultaneously, having greater computing speed and capability compared to classical bits.

The team note the major advances in quantum computing that are already underway, such as IBMs debut of both a utility-scale quantum processor and the companys first modular quantum computer.

The team believe that a physics-guided AI approach will help to increase understanding of human biology. This is a new field that combines physics-based and neural network models.

By combining quantum computing with complex systems, the collective interactions of small-scale elements can be observed at larger levels of reality.

Read more:

Insilico Medicine reveal how quantum computing can unlock understanding of ageing and disease - Innovation News Network

Quantum computing investment from VC firms declined by 50% last year, a new study has found. According to the State of Quantum 2024 report by IQM Quantum Computers, OpenOcean and Lakestar, global VC investment dropped from $2.2bn in 2022 to $1.2bn, with most of the decline coming from US funds. This fall was dwarfed, however, by government spending commitments on quantum computing amounting to $40bn over the next decade.

While venture funding temporarily cooled, our research confirms the steady momentum towards the quantum era, said OpenOceans general partner, Ekaterina Almasque. The findings signal that 2024 can become a year of growing confidence in quantum computings potential, despite still a relative lack of private capital flowing into that space. Significant use cases [are] emerging to unlock its commercial promise.

Quantum computing investment in the US tanked by approximately 80% and 17% in the Asia-Pacific region, according to the report, with small gains of 3% in the EMEA region. Waning VC interest in quantum computing could be explained by several factors, it said, beginning with inflated expectations in the technology dating back to 2022. Interviewees for the report agreed that tempered expectations were called for among investors interested in exploring quantum computing in greater depth, along with an understanding that the practical implications of quantum computing could still be years away.

Generative AI also dragged attention and funding away from quantum startups, with VC firms taking the general position that short- and medium-term returns were more likely in the former sector over the latter. Data cited in the report by investment platform Sampo also suggests quantum computing is failing to attract interest from those funds that traditionally invest in hardware startups.While there is no significant difference in average fund size between hardware and quantum computing investors, wrote Almasque in her forward for the report, there are more than [five] times as many investors in hardware than in quantum. This suggests that the quantum ecosystem, across all layers of the stack, is lacking a diverse pool of potential investors.

Despite this, however, there are signs that the broad-based decline in quantum computing investment among VC firms might be in line with declining investment in deep tech generally, with the latter also declining by 50% year on year. Several developments late in 2023 also suggested a recovery in interest among VC firms in quantum. This included a Series B fundraising round for Oxford Quantum Circuits that raised some $100m. As such, investors and vendors quoted in the report were reluctant to label the decline in quantum computing investment from VC firms as a sign that a new quantum winter has taken hold.

It is a great catchphrase, said Citi Global Insights quantum technologies lead, Tahmid Quddus Islam. Even so, investment is down across the board, so you could say we are in more of a deep tech winter.

Declining quantum computing investment levels from the private sector were also completely dwarfed by spending commitments on quantum initiatives from national governments. According to the report, some $40-$50bn has been allocated by the UK, the US, the EU and 30 other governments. 20 of these, it said, have formulated a formal coordinated policy approach to the promising technology.

The mismatch in interest between the private and public sectors in quantum computing in 2023 should not be considered surprising, argues Michael Orme, a senior analyst at GlobalData. Last year it was clear, Orme told Tech Monitor, that the private market for quantum computing startups was overcapitalized and oversupplied as far as VC firms were concerned, with few short-term prospects for commercializing the technology on the horizon. Governments, meanwhile, have different priorities.

The arrival of fully fledged fault-tolerant quantum computing willbe crucial to national security from data protection to sci-fi weaponry, and to achieving leadership in strategic science-based industries or at least staying in contention, says Orme. As such, he adds, if youre the US, China, Russia, Israel or even the UK, you must create a quantum ecosystem and stay in the vanguard.

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VC quantum computing investment crashed in 2023 - Tech Monitor

A new report claims private investment fell by roughly 80pc in the US, but that quantum technology is still on a positive trajectory thanks to government contracts and commitments.

Private investment into quantum computing start-ups saw a steep decline last year, raising concerns for the future of early-stage companies in this sector.

Thats according to a new report analysing the global quantum sector last year and the outlook for 2024. The State of Quantum report claims venture investments into quantum technology soared to more than $2bn in 2022, but fell by roughly 50pc worldwide in 2023.

This report was developed by IQM Quantum Computers, OpenOcean and Lakestar, in partnership with The Quantum Insider. It claims that quantum technology is moving beyond theory and that start-ups are transitioning from the lab to the market. More quantum research centres have been founded, showing a growing interest by governments into this technology.

The State of Quantum report suggests that the decline in private investment does not mean there is a quantum winter and attributes the drop to a general slowdown in venture capital and the deep-tech market.

Quantum technology remains a niche sector, accounting for less than 1pc of total VC funding, the report said. So, while the quantum technology industry is adjusting after a period of heightened investment, it is not entering stagnation and industry insiders maintain a cautiously optimistic outlook for its future trajectory.

George Gesek, the CTO and co-founder of QMware, said this is nothing like a quantum winter and does not compare to the quantum ice age a decade ago when very few investors would go near quantum technology.

Now we are in an era where investors recognise the opportunities available with quantum and are rushing to back the tech, anxious about missing the arrival of a quantum spring, Gesek said.

Despite the positive outlook of the report, some interviewees have concerns that early-stage quantum start-ups will struggle as they progress to series B funding rounds and beyond.

The report also claims that the decline in private investment is being picked up by government-backed funding commitments and contracts, which are bridging the gap in investor apprehension.

The analysis claims that governments have committed more than $40bn into quantum technology over the past 10 years. Ireland is also taking a greater interest in quantum technology, as it revealed a national strategy last year that aims to harness research across the country to create a competitive advantage over other global players in this field.

As governments adopted an increasingly critical role in quantum technology, so did quantum national labs and research facilities across Europe, North America and beyond, advancing its development from theoretical quantum research to initial practical application, the report said.

In terms of private investment, the report claims that the US saw the biggest decline, with 2023s venture funding being roughly 80pc less than it was in 2022. The report noted that 2022 was a significant year for quantum technology investments in the region.

The Asia-Pacific region saw a decline of roughly 17pc last year, while Europe, the Middle East and Africa was the only region to have a boost in overall private investment, being roughly 3pc higher last year than in 2022.

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Private investment into quantum tech plummeted last year - SiliconRepublic.com

Themes like cryptocurrency and AI have driven the market higher in recent years. Quantum computing could be the next hot theme that takes the market by storm, and investors should consider getting ahead of the trend and looking into it now.The Defiance Quantum ETF (NYSEARCA:QTUM) is an exciting ETF dedicated to this high-tech theme.

Im bullish on QTUM based on the long-term potential of quantum computing, its carefully selected portfolio, and its excellent track record of performance over the past five years. We are still in the early stages of quantum computing, so this could be a high-risk, high-reward investment.

An investment like this is likely best as a smaller allocation for risk-tolerant investors, but as we will discuss below, QTUM does a good job of mitigating some of these risks with a diversified portfolio that benefits from the rise of quantum computing without being solely reliant on it.

Without getting too into the weeds, quantum computing uses quantum mechanics to perform calculations exponentially faster and more efficiently than typical computers.According to QTUMs sponsor, Defiance ETFs, they process information in a radically different manner and therefore have the potential to explore big data in ways that have not been possible until now.

While not all use cases are known at this point in time, quantum computing will likely have a major impact on applications like machine learning and encryption and could impact fields like industry, defense, academia, and beyond. Renowned management consulting firm McKinsey & Company says quantum computing may provide an exponential increase in computational performance for certain problems and transform communication networks by making them more secure.

While the space is in its infancy, its growing fast. CB Insights reports that venture capital investment in the space grew by 500% between 2015 and 2020. Meanwhile, McKinsey named quantum computing one of its top 15 trends in its 2023 McKinsey Technology Trends Outlook and reported that the industry received $2 billion in equity investment in 2022, while job postings for the space grew by 12%.

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McKinsey also rated quantum computings adoption as a 0 on a scale of 0 to 5, with 0 indicating no adoption. This is an important reminder that practical, scalable quantum computers are still in the early stages of development, so their commercial success isnt necessarily set in stone. However, this score of 0 also indicates that there is a long runway of growth ahead if quantum computing becomes commercially viable.

According to fund sponsor Defiance, QTUM seeks to provide exposure to companies on the forefront of machine learning, quantum computing, cloud computing, and other transformative computing technologies.

It does this by investing in its underlying index, the BlueStar Quantum Computing and Machine Learning Index (BQTUM), an index comprised of leading global companies engaged in the research & development or commercialization of systems and materials used in quantum computing.

These companies include those engaged in advanced traditional computing hardware, high powered computing data connectivity solutions and cooling systems, and companies that specialize in the perception, collection, and management of heterogeneous big data used in machine learning.

The fund launched in 2018 and is still relatively small, with $208.4 million in assets under management (AUM).

QTUM is nicely diversified. It owns 71 stocks, and its top 10 holdings account for just 16.7% of assets, so this isnt an ETF that is overly exposed to a small handful of holdings. This is because the funds underlying index is equal-weighted and rebalanced semi-annually.

Below is an overview of QTUMs top 10 holdings using TipRanks holdings tool.

One appealing aspect of QTUM is that because quantum computing is still in its early phases, the fund doesnt limit itself solely to the few publicly-traded companies that are focused on quantum computing as their core business, such as IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) and Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI).

This seems like a prudent approach, as there are only a few of these companies, and they are likely years away from turning a profit. While QTUM invests in these companies, it spreads its risk by also investing in companies that will facilitate the growth of quantum computing and those that will benefit from it.

For example, the fund holds a large number of semiconductor stocks like Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), Marvell (NASDAQ:MRVL), and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA).

It also owns Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE:TSM), which fabricates the semiconductors for many of these companies, and stocks like Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) and Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT), which provide the equipment needed to manufacture semiconductors. These stocks can be thought of as the picks and shovels way to gain exposure to quantum computing.

QTUM owns mega-cap tech stocks like Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL), and IBM (NYSE:IBM) that are working on developing quantum computing technology but are not reliant upon it for revenue or earnings today.

You may be surprised to find stocks like Honeywell (NASDAQ:HON) in QTUMs holdings since investors often think of it as more of an old school industrial company than a tech stock, but Honeywell has established a strong foothold in quantum computing. In fact, its quantum computing subsidiary, Qauntinuum, recently raised new funding that values it at $5 billion.

This measured approach is a sensible way to invest in this nascent space, and it has led to excellent returns over the years, as youll see below.

QTUMs portfolio has translated into a very strong performance over the years. The fund lost 28.8% of its value in 2022 when the tech sector and more speculative growth stocks took a major haircut. However, it bounced back with a spectacular total return of 39.9% in 2023 when tech stocks staged a major rebound.

This excellent 2023 performance was nothing new for QTUM the fund posted a 35.2% return in 2021, a 42.1% return in 2020, and an incredible 48.0% return in 2019.

As of December 31, the fund generated an annualized 10.5% three-year return and an annualized 25.2% five-year return.

These stellar annualized returns not only easily outperformed the broader market but also slightly outperformed the high-flying Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ), which invests in the 100 largest non-financial stocks on the tech-centric Nasdaq (NDX) exchange. As of December 31, QQQ generated an annualized three-year return of 10.0% and an annualized five-year return of 22.4%.

QTUMs expense ratio of 0.40% isnt cheap, but it isnt overly expensive either, especially when considering the funds strong performance.This 0.40% expense ratio means that investors will pay $40 in fees annually on an investment of $10,000. Assuming that the expense ratio remains 0.40% and the fund returns 5% annually, investors will pay $505 in fees over a 10-year time span.

Turning to Wall Street, QTUM earns a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on 44 Buys, 27 Holds, and one Sell rating assigned in the past three months. The average QTUM stock price target of $62.08 implies 11.2% upside potential.

In conclusion, Im bullish on QTUM based on its stellar track record of performance and the long-term potential of quantum computing. I also like that the fund smartly casts a wide net and invests in stocks that will benefit from the rise of quantum computing, those that will help fuel its growth, and some pure-play quantum computing stocks.

Quantum computing is still in its early stages and a long way off from being commercially successful, but QTUM takes the right approach of investing in stocks that will give investors exposure to the upside of quantum computing without betting the entire farm on it.

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QTUM ETF: Quantum Computing Could be Tech's Next Hot Theme - Yahoo Finance

Science and nature books

Quantum computers will transform our world, curing cancer and fixing the climate crisis, says the scientist and sci-fi fan but can they be made to work?

Sat 22 Apr 2023 04.00 EDT

Have you been feeling anxious about technology lately? If so, youre in good company. The United Nations has urged all governments to implement a set of rules designed to rein in artificial intelligence. An open letter, signed by such luminaries as Yuval Noah Harari and Elon Musk, called for research into the most advanced AI to be paused and measures taken to ensure it remains safe trustworthy, and loyal. These pangs followed the launch last year of ChatGPT, a chatbot that can write you an essay on Milton as easily as it can generate a recipe for everything you happen to have in your cupboard that evening.

But what if the computers used to develop AI were replaced by ones able to make calculations not millions, but trillions of times faster? What if tasks that might take thousands of years to perform on todays devices could be completed in a matter of seconds? Well, thats precisely the future that physicist Michio Kaku is predicting. He believes we are about to leave the digital age behind for a quantum era that will bring unimaginable scientific and societal change. Computers will no longer use transistors, but subatomic particles, to make calculations, unleashing incredible processing power. Another physicist has likened it to putting a rocket engine in your car. How are you feeling now?

Kaku seems pretty relaxed about it all some might say boosterish. He talks to me via Zoom from his apartment on Manhattans Upper West Side. Seventy-six and retired from research, he still teaches at the City University of New York where he is professor of theoretical physics and gets to do the fun stuff. A fan of Isaac Asimov, he tells me that hes currently teaching a course on the physics of science fiction. I talk about what is known and not known about time travel, space warps, the multiverse, all the things you see in Marvel Comics, I break it down. His website describes him as a futurist and populariser of science and his new book, Quantum Supremacy, sketches out all the promise of quantum computing and very little of the downside. Though he has the long white hair of the stereotypical mad scientist, it is swept back elegantly. He speaks at the pace of a practised lecturer, with the occasional outbreak of mild bemusement pitching his voice a little higher.

Kaku has a simple explanation for the doom-mongering around ChatGPT: Journalists are hyperventilating about chatbots because they see that their job is on the line. Many jobs have been on the line historically, but no one really said much about them. Now, journalists are right there in the crosshairs. This is a somewhat partial view a report by Goldman Sachs recently estimated that 300m jobs are at risk of automation as a result of AI. Kaku does admit that we might see sentient machines emerging from laboratories but reckons that could take another hundred years or so. In the meantime, he thinks theres a lot to feel good about.

The rocket engine of quantum computing will, Kaku says, completely transform research in chemistry, biology and physics, with all sorts of knock-on effects. Among other things, it will enable us to take CO2 out of the atmosphere and turn it into fuel, with the waste products captured and used again so-called carbon recycling. It will help us extract nitrogen from the air without the high temperatures and pressures that mean fertiliser production currently accounts for 2% of the energy used on Earth, leading to a new green revolution. It will allow us to create super-efficient batteries to help renewables go further (todays lithium-ion batteries only carry about 1% of the energy stored in gasoline). It will solve the design and engineering challenges currently stopping us from generating cheap, abundant power via nuclear fusion. And it will lead to radically effective treatments for cancer, Alzheimers and Parkinsons diseases, alongside a host of others.

How? The main thing to understand is that quantum computers can make calculations much, much faster than digital ones. They do this using qubits, the quantum equivalent of bits the zeros and ones that convey information in a conventional computer. Whereas bits are stored as electrical charges in transistors etched on to silicon chips, qubits are represented by properties of particles, for example, the angular momentum of an electron. Qubits superior firepower comes about because the laws of classical physics do not apply in the strange subatomic world, allowing them to take any value between zero and one, and enabling a mysterious process called quantum entanglement, which Einstein famously called spukhafte Fernwirkung or spooky action at a distance. Kaku makes valiant efforts to explain these mechanisms in his book, but its essentially impossible for a layperson to fully grasp. As the science communicator Sabine Hossenfelder puts it in one of her wildly popular YouTube videos on the subject: When we write about quantum mechanics, were faced with the task of converting mathematical expressions into language. And regardless of which language we use, English, German, Chinese or whatever, our language didnt evolve to describe quantum behaviour.

What were left with are analogies of varying helpfulness, for example the toy trains with compasses on them and mice in mazes that Kaku invokes to explain such complex ideas as superposition and path integrals. Beyond these, there is one important takeaway: reality is quantum, and so quantum computers can simulate it in a way that digital ones struggle to. Mother Nature does not compute digitally, he tells me. Quantum computers should [be able to] unravel the secrets of life, the secrets of the universe, the secrets of matter, because the language of nature is the quantum principle. If you want to know precisely how photosynthesis works (still a mystery to modern science), or how one protein interacts with another in the human body, you will be able to use the virtual lab of a quantum computer to model it precisely. Designing medicines to interrupt biological processes gone awry, like the proliferation of cancer cells or the misfolding of proteins in Alzheimers disease, could become much easier. Kaku even reckons that the riddle of ageing will be unravelled so that we can arrest it one of the chapters in his book is called simply Immortality.

At this stage, its worth introducing an important caveat. Quantum computers are very, very hard to make. Because they rely on tiny particles that are extremely sensitive to any kind of disturbance, most can only run at temperatures close to absolute zero, where everything slows down and theres minimal environmental noise. That is, as you would expect, quite difficult to arrange. So far, the most advanced quantum computer in the world, IBMs Osprey, has 433 qubits. This might not sound like much, but as the company points out the number of classical bits that would be necessary to represent a state on the Osprey processor far exceeds the total number of atoms in the known universe. What they dont say is that it only works for about 70 to 80 millionths of a second before being overwhelmed by noise. Not only that, but the calculations it can make have very limited applications. As Kaku himself notes: A workable quantum computer that can solve real-world problems is still many years in the future. Some physicists, such as Mikhail Dyakonov at the University of Montpellier, believe the technical challenges mean the chances of a quantum computer that could compete with your laptop ever being built are pretty much zero.

Kaku brushes this off. He points to the billions of dollars being poured into quantum research the Gold Rush is on he says and the way intelligence agencies have been warning about the need to get quantum-ready. Thats hardly proof positive theyll live up to expectations it could be tulip mania rather than a gold rush. He shrugs: Lifes a gamble.

In any case, hes far from the only true believer. Corporations such as IBM, Google, Microsoft and Intel are investing heavily in the technology, as is the Chinese government, which has developed a 113 qubit computer called Jiuzhang. So, assuming for a moment quantum dreams do become a reality: is it responsible to accentuate the positive, as Kaku does? What about the possibility of these immense capabilities being used for ill?

Well, thats the universal law of technology, that [it] can be used for good or evil. When humans discovered the bow and arrow, we could use that to bring down game and feed people in our tribe. But of course, the bow and arrow can also be used against our enemies.

Advances in physics, in particular, have always raised the prospect of new and more fearsome weapons. But you cant hold back research as a result: you make the discoveries, then you deal with the consequences. Thats why we regulate nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons are a rather simple consequence of Einsteins E=mc2. And they have to be regulated, because the E would be enough to destroy humanity on planet Earth. At some point, were going to reach the boundaries of this technology, where it impacts negatively on society. Right now, I can see a lot of benefits.

In any case, for Kaku, knowledge is power. Its part of the reason hes moved from the lab to TV, radio and books. The whole purpose of writing books for the public is so that [they] can make educated, reasonable, wise decisions about the future of technology. Once technology becomes so complicated that the average person cannot grasp it, then theres big trouble, because then people with no moral compass will be in charge of the direction of that technology.

There are other reasons, as well. From an early age, Kaku was, unsurprisingly, a science fiction nut. But he wasnt content to simply swallow the stories, and wanted to know if they were really possible, whether the laws of physics might verify or contradict them. And in the science section, there was nothing, absolutely nothing. And I was [also] fascinated by Einsteins dream of a theory of everything, a unified field theory. Again I found nothing, not a single book, on Einsteins great dream. And I said to myself, when I grow up, and I become a theoretical physicist, I want to write papers on this subject. But I also want to write for myself as a child, going to the library and being so frustrated that there was nothing for me to read. And thats what I do.

Kakus parents were among those American citizens of Japanese descent who were interned during the second world war, despite having been born in the country. Like his father, he was raised in Palo Alto, California, the ground zero of the tech revolution. The irony isnt lost on him. I saw Silicon Valley grow from nothing. When I was a child, it was all alfalfa fields, apple orchards. I used to play in the apple orchards of what is now Apple, he chuckles. If his predictions about the quantum revolution are correct, it could soon be transformed again. Silicon Valley could become a rust belt a junkyard of chips that no one uses any more because theyre too primitive. Or, more likely, a gleaming new centre of quantum computation, as todays tech giants scramble to redeploy their immense intellectual and financial capital. Whether Kakus quantum revolution lives up to the hype remains to be seen. But if he is right and all that is digital passes into dust, were in for one hell of a ride.

Quantum Supremacy by Michio Kaku will be published by Allen Lane on 2 May. To support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com

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Physicist Michio Kaku: We could unravel the secrets of the universe - The Guardian

GoIs seed fund of Rs 6,000cr ($730m) for the National Quantum Mission (NQM) for 2023-24 through 2030-31 is a fillip to R&D in quantum tech, whose applications are in multiple stages of experimentation and prototypes globally. It is a quirk of quantum computing that for India to prioritise $730 million for the mission is an expensive call, yet for the field of study, a modest fund. In the elite club of six with public-funded quantum initiatives, China has allocated $15. 3 billion (2021-2025), EU $7. 2 billion and the US $1. 2 billion. China also has the largest share of patents in quantum tech.

It is a measure of the mind-bending nature of quantum that the ground-breaking research of 1970s and 1980s into the phenomenon of entanglement, the heart of quantum science, was recognised with a Physics Nobel only in 2022. The Laureates had shown that entangled particles (physically apart yet linked) can ferry information over massive distances. This has far-reaching implications for quantum communications tech (QCT), of key strategic significance to India and one of the four verticals for the missions R&D. QCT allows a country to secure its critical infrastructure with quantum cryptography to make it unhackable.

Conventional data networks are putty in the face of quantum computing if the latter is applied to organise a cyberattack.Challenges to build quantum infra are formidable. The first step is for public-funded research institutes to collaborate with startups and firms to develop the initial intermediate-sized supercomputers. At present, India only has a basic quantum computer Qsim that allows researchers to simulate quantum computation. Hardware aside, talent gap is a bottleneck. In 2021, for 290 quantum tech masters grads globally, there were 851 jobs. Barely 16% of the worlds universities offer degrees in the field. This is the ecosystem India is entering. Yet GoIs commitment to fundamental science and endeavour is a great beginning. NQM could not have come a day sooner. QED.

This piece appeared as an editorial opinion in the print edition of The Times of India.

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Quantum Jump: GoI does well to fund R&D in computings next revolution - Times of India

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The last few years have been spectacular for International Business Machines Corp (IBM) regarding quantum computing. Not only has the tech giant done a lot of work around the revolutionary technology, but it is also considered one of the pioneers in the field of quantum computing.

Although quantum computing remains a complicated field with lots of nuance and subtlety about the significance of qubits, noise, endurance, and scalability, the pace of innovation by IBM continues to accelerate where its transitioning from scientific exploration to practical reality.

IBMsroadmapis a clear, detailed plan to scale quantum processors, overcome the scaling problem, and build the hardware necessary for quantum advantage. It started in 2016 when IBMput the first quantum computer in the cloudfor anyone to experiment witha device with five qubits, each a superconducting circuit cooled to near zero.

By 2019, the company created the 27-qubit Falcon, followed by the 65-qubit Hummingbird in 2020 and the 127-qubitEaglein 2021, the first quantum processor with more than 100 qubits. IBM then upped its ante last year when it launched the Osprey quantum processor, featuring 433 qubits, themost powerful quantum processor in the world yet.

Thats not it. This year, the tech giant is set to unveil IBM Condor, the worlds first universal quantum computer with more than 1,000 qubits. Based on its roadmap, IBM will also be launching Heron, the first of a new flock of modular quantum processors that the company says may help it produce quantum computers with more than 4,000 qubits by 2025.

In between, IBMsquantum roadmapessentially consists of two additional stages the 1,121-qubit Condor and 1,386-qubit Flamingo processors in 2023 and 2024, respectively before it plans to hit the 4,000-qubit stage with its Kookaburra processor in 2025.

These processors push the limits of what can be done with single chip processors andcontrolling large systems, IBM said in itsquantum roadmap. So far, the company has generally made this roadmap work. Still, the number of qubits in a quantum computer is only one part of a vast and complex puzzle, with longer coherence times and reduced noisejust as important.

IBMs senior VP and research director Daro Gi claims the new 433 qubits Osprey processor brings the company closer to the point where a quantum computer will be usedto tackle previously unsolvable problems.

IBM has also released a beta update to Qiskit Runtime, allowing users to trade speed for reduced error count with a simple option in the API. By abstracting the complexities of these features into the software layer, it will make it easier for users to incorporate quantum computing into their workflows and speed up the development of quantum applications, the statement reads.

IBM also detailed its Quantum System Two last year basically, IBMs quantum mainframe that will be able to house multiple quantum processors and integrate them into a single system with high-speed communication links. The idea is to launch this system by the end of 2023, when it is a building block of quantum-centric supercomputing.

IBM has got big plans for quantum computing (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP)

Essentially, quantum and other advanced computing technologies will help researchers tackle historic scientific bottlenecks and potentially find new treatments for patients with severe diseases like cancer, Alzheimers, and diabetes.

Last month, IBM made another quantum computing leap when unveiled IBM Quantum System One. Installed at Cleveland Clinic in the US, it is the first quantum computer in the world to be uniquely dedicated to healthcare research to help Cleveland Clinic accelerate biomedical discoveries.

Quantum computing is a rapidly emerging technology that harnesses the laws of quantum mechanicsto solve problemsthat todays most powerful supercomputers cannot practically solve. The ability to tap into these new computational spaces could help researchers identify new medicines and treatments more quickly, IBM said in aMarch 20 statement.

By combining the power of quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and other next-generation technologies with Cleveland Clinics world-renowned leadership in healthcare and life sciences, we hope to ignite anew era of accelerated discovery, Arvind Krishna, IBM Chairman and CEO, said.

In addition to quantum computing, through the Cleveland Clinic-IBM Discovery Accelerator, a variety of IBMs latest technological advancements was drawn upon, including high-performance computing via the hybrid cloud and artificial intelligence.

Researchers from both organizations are collaborating closely on a robust portfolio of projects with these advanced technologies to generate and analyze massive amounts of data to enhance research, IBM noted.

Going beyond single-chip processors is the key to solving scale for IBM. In 2023, the company plans to introduce classical parallelized quantum computing with multiple Heron processors connected by a single control system. In 2024, we will debut Crossbill, the first single processor made from multiple chips.

The same year will also unveil our Flamingo processor. This remarkable processor will incorporate quantum communication links, allowing us to demonstrate a quantum system comprising three Flamingo processors totaling 1,386 qubits, it said.

By 2025, IBM will combine multi-chip processors and quantum communication technologies to create its Kookaburra processor. This will demonstrate a quantum system of three Kookaburra processors, totaling 4,158 qubits. Thisleap forwardwill usher in a new era of scaling, providing a clear path to 100,000 qubits and beyond, it added.

Dashveenjit Kaur| @DashveenjitK

Dashveen writes for Tech Wire Asia and TechHQ, providing research-based commentary on the exciting world of technology in business. Previously, she reported on the ground of Malaysia's fast-paced political arena and stock market.

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Here's why IBM is leading in quantum computing - Tech Wire Asia