On March 21, local time, the American quantum company IonQ and the French quantum company Pasqal announced the latest cooperation with Microsoft on the same day, and the Microsoft Azure Quantum platform will launch the quantum computing systems of the two companies.
It is reported that the French quantum company Pasqal mainly develops quantum technology based on neutral atoms, and the Azure quantum platform will provide cloud access services for Pasqal quantum computers, which will become the first neutral atom-based quantum computer service launched on the platform, providing end users with a series of quantum computing digital and simulation capabilities.
Image courtesy of Pasqal
Pasqal's quantum computing technology uses optical tweezers to control neutral atoms (that is, atoms with the same number of electrons and protons) and uses lasers to design scalable, full-stack quantum computers. Its quantum processing unit (QPU) hardware can operate at lower power consumption at room temperature, solving complex problems more efficiently than traditional computers at specific problems.
In order to expand the commercial application of quantum computing, in addition to this cooperation with Microsoft, the company recently announced a partnership with Saudi Arabia's National Oil Corporation (Saudi Aramco) to develop quantum computing applications for the energy industry. In early 2022, the company merged with quantum algorithm and software developer Qu & Co to accelerate the realization of commercial applications for quantum computing.
"The Azure Quantum platform is a unified, open cloud ecosystem of quantum innovation that provides customers with a variety of quantum hardware and software and solutions," said Krysta Svore, vice president of quantum software at Microsoft, "Pasqal's neutral atomic quantum computer complements the ecosystem, providing new computing possibilities for Azure quantum platform users, including simulated quantum computing, facilitating the impact of quantum on the real world." ”
IonQ Aria quantum computer core components, image from IonQ
Unlike Pasqal, american quantum company IonQ mainly develops quantum computers based on ion traps, and in 2020 proposed algorithmic qubits (#AQ) as an application-oriented metric. This time, the company announced that the newly developed IonQ Aria quantum computer will be launched on the Azure quantum platform.
With 20 algorithmic qubits, IonQ Aria is currently the most powerful quantum computer based on application-oriented industry benchmarks at present. Through this IonQ collaboration with Microsoft, anyone with an Internet connection will be able to use the capabilities of the IonQ Aria quantum computer to further advance the commercial application of quantum computing.
"Users on the platform will benefit from the capabilities of the IonQ Aria quantum computer, using more quantum 'gates' to execute quantum circuits, develop and explore larger quantum programs." Krysta Svore said.
Prior to this partnership, IonQ had achieved a number of commercialization milestones. For example, IonQ announced in January that it was working with Hyundai to design quantum algorithms to simulate battery chemistry in electric vehicles. Previously, IonQ also partnered with Goldman Sachs to perform Monte Carlo simulations for financial applications.