By Stephen Nellis
SAN FRANCISCO, United States (Reuters) – IBM said on Friday that a key quantum computing error-correcting algorithm can be run by common AMD chips, a step toward commercializing super-powerful computers.
IBM races to develop quantum computing against Microsoft and Google, which announced a groundbreaking algorithm this week.
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Quantum computers use what are known as qubits to solve problems that conventional computers would take thousands of years to solve – problems like how trillions of atoms react over time. However, qubits are prone to errors that can quickly overwhelm a quantum chip’s useful computing work.
In June, IBM said it had developed an algorithm to run alongside quantum chips that can resolve these errors. In a research paper seen by Reuters and to be published on Monday, IBM will show that it can run these algorithms in real time on a type of chip called a field programmable gate array, made by AMD.
Jay Gambetta, director of research at IBM, said the work showed that IBM’s algorithm not only works in the real world, but can operate on a readily available AMD chip that is not “ridiculously expensive.”
“Implementing it and showing that implementation is actually 10 times faster than necessary is a huge accomplishment,” Gambetta said.
IBM has a multi-year plan to build a quantum computer called Starling by 2029. Gambetta said work on the algorithm released this Friday was completed a year ahead of schedule.
