One of the largest tech companies in the world and the agency responsible for sending American men and women into space have signed a new seven-year deal to use the most powerful quantum computers on the planet as part of their future research endeavors.
According to PC World and Popular Science reports, Google, NASA, and the Universities Space Research Association have announced that they would be using D-Wave 2X quantum computers through 2022. The 2X doubles the amount of qubits (units of quantum data somewhat similar to classical computing bits) from its predecessors to 1,000.
What that means, in layman’s terms, is that the computer’s processor is capable of evaluating a total of 21,000 possible solutions at the same time while it “converges on optimal or near optimal solutions, more possibilities than there are particles in the observable universe,” D-Wave said.
It requires an operating temperature of less than 15 millikelvin—180 times colder than interstellar space and close to absolute zero. The deal will also provide Google (and NASA as well, we assume) with all updated versions of the computer produced over that span.
Agreement could help legitimize quantum computing
Unlike traditional transistors, which exist in one of two binary states (either on or off), quantum computers use qubits that can hold multiple states at once, allowing them to be both on and off at the same time, PC World said. This enables computers such as the 2X to (theoretically, at least) to perform multiple calculations simultaneously, increasing their processing power.
However, the website added that quantum computing has had its skeptics, and Popular Science noted that research co-authored by physicist Mattias Troyer found that the technology could not outperform traditional computers on key benchmark tests. D-Wave disputed the study’s claims, but since its publication, there has been little additional effort to test the technology.
Having the likes of NASA and Google on board will add an air of legitimacy to the company’s efforts. The Mountain View, California-based tech firm and the US space agency have multiple potential uses for the technology, including speech recognition, robotics-based space missions, air-traffic control, and even online searches, D-Wave officials told Popular Science.
In a statement, Eugene Tu, director of the Ames Research Center, said, “Through research at NASA Ames, we hope to demonstrate that quantum computing and quantum algorithms may someday dramatically improve our ability to solve difficult optimization problems for missions in aeronautics, Earth and space sciences, and space exploration.”
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Feature Image: D-Wave
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