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IBM Hardware

IBM Quantum Computers Now Finish Some Tasks In Hours, Not Months (engadget.com) 34

IBM has found a way to combine a new program execution environment, Qiskit, with a balance of "classical" and quantum computing to deliver a 100 times speedup for tasks that depend on iterative circuit execution. Computations that take months now will take mere hours, IBM said. Engadget reports: Qiskit by itself allows more circuits to run at a "much faster" rate, and can store quantum programs so that other users can run them. However, it also uploads programs to conventional hardware sitting next to the quantum machines. Before you ask, this isn't really cheating -- the move is meant to cut the latency between a user's computer and the quantum chip.

IBM expects to release Qiskit sometime in 2021. Its roadmap also has quantum systems handling a wider range of circuits, and thus a wider range of computing challenges, by 2022. New control systems and libraries in 2023 will help IBM reach its goal of running systems with 1,000 or more qubits, taking the company closer to a "quantum advantage" where the technology can handle at least some tasks more efficiently or cost-effectively than traditional hardware.

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IBM Quantum Computers Now Finish Some Tasks In Hours, Not Months

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  • by Ostracus ( 1354233 ) on Friday February 05, 2021 @08:47PM (#61033156) Journal

    At what point can I order an AMD quantum CPU?

    • Even if AMD made them, you'd have to order something like this [bluefors.com] for a case.
    • QCs require cryogenic cooling.

      In the future, it is likely that you will use them. But you won't own them. Instead, you will access QCAAS in the cloud.

      QCAAS = Quantum Computing As A Service

    • by gweihir ( 88907 )

      AMD does real computing devices, not ones based on fantasy and misrepresentation.

  • by zkiwi34 ( 974563 ) on Friday February 05, 2021 @09:02PM (#61033188)

    Actually do?

    As in, all this claims of amazing speed etc needs a context.

    • $1 will unlock the secrets.

      https://www.humblebundle.com/b... [humblebundle.com]

    • by Anonymous Coward

      What do these quantum beasties...Actually do?
      As in, all this claims of amazing speed etc needs a context.

      They do math.

      Certain very specific types of math, but math none the less.
      Problems that can have many potential answers but only one of those potential answers is the correct one.

      In the old pen and paper way, it would be akin to solving each of those potential answers individually, then checking them individually to see if one is right or not.

      An entirely unrealistic example, but imagine the problem to solve is "I wrote down a thousand numbers, each from 0 to 99. When added the total is 54776. What are the

      • If the question is, "What are 1000 numbers that add up to 54776?" then the problem is rote but trivial.
        If the question is, "Of all the possible combinations that add up to 54776 what is the particular combination I wrote down?" then the question is one for a psychic.
        Am I correctly hearing you say that the QC is able to read your mind? *THAT* would be something.
    • What do these quantum beasties... Actually do?

      They quantify the quanta.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • by gweihir ( 88907 )

      It will not happen. They have nothing but basically faked demos.

  • 'Cuz if they can't, IBM will lay them off.

  • and the bench to layoff time goes from 3M to 8H
    So that one day better be your final paper work day for the next project

  • by gweihir ( 88907 ) on Friday February 05, 2021 @09:49PM (#61033264)

    All these "tasks" are vastly simplified mock-ups. QCs cannot do any real computations.

    • QCs cannot do any real computations.

      Now, or ever? I think you are currently correct, but there are some very smart people who believe this will be a big deal.

      • by gweihir ( 88907 )

        Now? Definitely not. Ever? That is completely unclear. There are several ways this could fail. The first one is obvious: This stuff scales abysmally bad, probably inverse exponential. With that, it is possible that some small computations will eventually become feasible, but that QCs will never scale to useful sizes. The second one is more obscure: QCs of useful size need precision in the quantum effect behaviors that goes massively beyond any physical measures ever made. It is quite possible that instead o

  • So two 5-qubit processors and a 16-qubit processor... *yawn*, real title should have been "IBM Quantum Computers Now Finish Some Tasks in Hours Not Months That Would Take Your Grandma's PC Mere Microseconds."

  • Are they relevant tasks, or tasks specifically designed to show off the potential, but without any other application or interest whatsoever? Analog computers have already been able to do the latter for a century or so.

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