Quantum Computing Highlights 2023
We're back! Dive into this years' highlights with us.
It’s been a while! This week we’re going straight into what’s been going on in the quantum computing world so far.
- Tanisha Jha & - Melody Lee
QC2K23 highlights so far…
January: IonQ opens first QC manufacturing facility in Washington in support of the CHIPS and Science Act (a federal laws that commits to expansion in manufacturing jobs to become a world leader in advanced technology). IonQ has fed the press several future plans and current partnerships to ensure accelerated growth in quantum computing- from being the first independent quantum computing company to go public to owning the first quantum manufacturing, their dominance is inevitable.
February: Intel releases Intel Quantum SDK, a platform that allows developers with just C++ programming experience to practice and run algorithms on a stimulated quantum computing system. Intel’s product allows non-quantum computing experts to be able to use this technology, making it more accessible and effective.
March: Quantum computing start-up SEEQC states that their digital chip is able to perform under incredibly cold temperatures. This has known to be an issue considering qubits are less likely to malfunction the colder the temperatures are. Although it is just a prototype, more chips are under development.
April: Biotech company Moderna partners up with IBM to use quantum computing and AI to research possibilities of mRNA medicines (communicating with the body’s cells to naturally making protein). A huge win for both the quantum computing and medicine industry.
May: NVIDIA partners with German tech companies Jülich Supercomputing Centre and ParTec to create a quantum computing lab, further expanding their QC sector in the company. Additionally, NVIDIA announces a breakthrough in aerospace advancements with the partnership between Rolls-Royce and Classiq. The trio have together come up with the world’s largest quantum computing circuit for computational fluid dynamics (usually used to advance aerospace technology; airflow, weather forecasting, designs, etc.)
June: Microsoft announces a private preview of their new AI copilot launch in Azure Quantum, helping researchers understand quantum chemistry and quantum computing more easily.
July: The U.S. Department of Energy funds six different quantum computing research projects in a grand total of $11.7 million.
Waning Hopes for Building Room-Temperature Quantum Computer
Recently, all eyes turned to a team of researchers from South Korea who published a paper that seemed to imply staggering revelations about superconducting materials. In the paper, they revealed properties of a material called LK-99, suggesting possible superconducting capabilities at relatively high temperatures. However, further scrutiny by teams around the world have suggested that these superconducting-like properties are likely the result of other factors (like ferromagnetism). Thus, hopes of achieving a low-resistance quantum computer at room temperature are fading, but the search continues.
📈 Quantum Stock Market Watch
Closing prices on August 23, 2023
Nvidia has been able to take NASDAQ to its highest price point in nearly in a month. Why? The global leader in GPUs has made tremendous progress in the AI field, and their expected quarterly results in May had been surpassed by the anticipated quarter results by 53%. Is this enough of an indicator to tell how AI will continue to affect the U.S. stock market?
✂️ Snippets
Los Alamos lab proposes a revolutionary method of using natural entanglement could reduce error in quantum computing.
Quantum education is expanding, with over 30 new institutions entering into partnerships this week focused on developing quantum computing courses in higher education.
Quantum “up” and “down” spins may be controlled at room temperature, an international team led by the University of Cambridge reports.
Over $38 million USD is invested by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) across 22 grants into quantum information science and engineering (QISE).
Google announces quantum-resistant encryption for FIDO2 protocol.
Calling all high schoolers!
Quantum Explorers (July 6, 2023 - February 1, 2024): High school students and above learn about quantum computing via this fun, self-paced, and game-based course! Join the Qiskit team on the space-themed adventure.