A quantum computing chip at the 2014 In-Q-Tel CEO Summit .

A quantum computing chip at the 2014 In-Q-Tel CEO Summit . Flickr image via Steve Jurvetson

America's Spies Want to Speed Up IBM's Quest for a Quantum Computer

IBM has been working on quantum computers for decades, and now it has the support of IARPA, the U.S. intelligence community’s research agency.

As we approach the physical limits of shrinking the components on computer chips, it’s getting harder to attain more computing power. But quantum computers—which rely on the strange properties of atom-sized logic gates—could have exponentially more power than even today’s most advanced supercomputers. These machines could be used to develop new drugs, crack codes, or potentially even create true artificial intelligence.

IBM has been working on quantum computers for decades, and now it has the support of the US intelligence agencies. On Nov. 8, IBM announced that IARPA, the intelligence community’s research arm, had awarded the company a multi-year grant to continue its research into building quantum computers.

Classical computers—everything from the giant mainframes that used to take up entire rooms, to the smartphone in your pocket—consist of billions of tiny transistors. Those are switches, essentially, that can be turned on or off, represented on computers as 1 or 0. Every, tweet, text, document, and photo is composed of a series of those 1s and 0s, known as bits. In quantum computing, a transistor consists of a single atom, which can exist as a sort of combination, or “superposition,” of 1 and 0 at the same time. These quantum bits, or qubits, in essence allow a computer to perform multiple parts of a calculation at once, making it far more powerful.

But that’s assuming you can get enough qubits working in one place. These qubits are much less stable than traditional bits, and need to be isolated in large machines that can cool them to almost absolute zero. IBM has a few such machines, and the most powerful contains a mere eight qubits.

Right now, IBM is working on correcting errors that are thrown up during its quantum computing tests—due to the fragility of the qubits—and assuming it’s able to wrangle thousands of qubits in one place, all computing as desired, it would potentially have a computer far more powerful than one with a similar number of traditional bits.

One key area where quantum computers could have an impact is encryption and security. Governments could use them to crack even the strongest current forms of digital encryption, or create new forms that are unbreakable. This is likely one reason why IARPA is interested in quantum computing. The agency has been working with other companies, like D-Wave, to develop these machines. (Though some in the field aren’t entirely sure if D-Wave’s computers are really quantum computers, researchers at Google—which bought a D-Wave machine in 2013—have just posted some new findings that they say show “a 100-million-fold speed-up” on a certain, very specific kind of problem.)

IBM’s quantum roadmap.


IBM outlined its quantum-computing roadmap yesterday (above) but told Quartz, when we visited the lab earlier this year, that it could well be many years, if not decades, before a viable quantum computer is built. But a patient, methodical, and practical approach to research is what has helped the company develop world-changing technologies in the past.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.