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TASS: A multi-qubit quantum computer could be created in Russia within a year

An 8-qubit quantum processor made by California-based quantum computing startup, Rigetti. Photo: Jacob Biamonte // Skoltech.

An 8-qubit quantum processor made by California-based quantum computing startup, Rigetti. Photo: Jacob Biamonte // Skoltech.

Skoltech Professor Jacob Biamonte told TASS* in a recent interview that 50 qubits is right on the threshold of where quantum processors will definitively outperform classical ones.

A prototype of a 50-qubit quantum processor can be built in Russia within a year with the support of Vnesheconombank (VEB), the Foundation for Advanced Research (FPI) and VEB-Innovations, says head of Skoltech’s Deep Quantum AI Laboratory Professor Jacob Biamonte.

VEB, FPI, VEB-Innovations, MSU and Digital Economy met on the sidelines of the recent Russian Investment Forum in Sochi to sign an agreement on developing a Russian 50-qubit quantum computer.

Currently, there are only three 50-qubit computers in the world, which are expected to boast computing power unattainable by most modern bit computers.

“The groups involved have ample resources.  With this support, a prototype of a processor of this magnitude should be possible to build in as little as a year.  This prototype quantum processor can then be improved,” explained Professor Biamonte.   

He believes that 50 qubits is right on the threshold of where quantum processors will definitively outperform classical ones. According to Biamonte, quantum processors will enable cutting-edge research and find broad use in quantum chemistry and biotechnology. Biamonte’s team would be specifically interested in using such processors to implement accelerated algorithms of deep machine learning based on the principles of quantum physics.

Machine learning systems are used in a wide array of applications in medicine, computer vision, robotics, AI, telemetry, etc. Machine learning solutions can be applied for image-based diagnosis, object recognition in images, detection of hardware defects and design of recommender systems, amongst other things. For example, Netflix uses machine learning methods to select movies based on the user enquiry record.

Project profile

Vnesheconombank, the Foundation for Advanced Research, VEB-Innovations, MSU and Digital Economy met on the sidelines of the recent Russian Investment Forum “Sochi-18” to sign an agreement on developing a Russian 50-qubit quantum computer.

The agreement sets out a framework for an integrated research and engineering project aiming to create a multi-qubit optical quantum simulator based of photon chips and neutral atoms, put together an appropriate research and technology infrastructure, conduct consultations and working meetings and take other actions as required for identifying and solving applied tasks relating to quantum technology.

*Article originally published in Russian by the TASS news agency. Reprinted by Skoltech with permission.

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