433 qubits! IBM releases largest superconducting quantum computer with 7 times more bits than Google

On Wednesday, IBM held its 2022 IBM Quantum Summit, announcing new breakthroughs in both quantum hardware and software and outlining its groundbreaking vision for quantum-centric supercomputing.

In the future, quantum computers are expected to increase computing speeds to a million times that of today’s fastest supercomputers!

433 qubit processor, big enough!

IBM said on Wednesday it unveiled its most powerful quantum computer processor yet, called Osprey, a 433-qubit machine with the highest number of qubits announced last year. Three times that of the Eagle machine.

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While different quantum computer companies have different claims about the power of their qubits, the number of qubits, or qubits, , is a sign of the power of quantum computers using quantum mechanics, and qubits can be created in many different ways.

IBM Osprey has the highest number of qubits among IBM quantum processors, with three times the number of qubits than the Eagle machine announced last year.

The processor can run complex quantum calculations and has computing power far beyond that of any classical computer. If we use classical bits to represent a state of the IBM Osprey processor, the number would far exceed the total number of atoms in the known universe!

Currently, IBM has more than 20 quantum computers around the world that customers can access through the cloud platform.

Darío Gil, senior vice president and director of research at IBM, said: “The emergence of the new 433-qubit Osprey processor brings us closer to using quantum computers to solve previously unsolvable problems. One step closer."

"We are continuously expanding and advancing our quantum technologies, including hardware, software and classical integration, together with our partners and customers around the world, to welcome The greatest challenge of our time. This work will be the foundation for the coming era of quantum-centric supercomputing."

The supporting quantum system will come online next year and will be more modular

In addition to processors, IBM has also launched a next-generation quantum supporting system.

Gil said that IBM is still working hard to develop computers with more than 1,000 qubits. To further scale, the IBM team is trying a new approach.

"The size of the Osprey chip is already very large. And next year, the chip containing 1,000 qubits will be even bigger," Gil said: "So after that, we have been designing And build a new, modular-based entire quantum computing system."

IBM calls this modular system Quantum System 2.

Gil said: "Quantum System 2 is the first truly modular quantum computing system and will continue to scale over time." Expand." "Modularity means the chips themselves need to be connected to each other."

IBM says that by connecting three of the systems, it can build a system with up to 16,632 qubits. system.

IBM said Quantum System 2 is modular and flexible and can combine multiple processors into a system with communication links.

#IBM stated that the company’s goal is to launch this system by the end of 2023 and become a “quantum-centric system” by connecting multiple Quantum System 2s. "Supercomputing" cluster.

In other aspects, IBM also demonstrated ecological content such as new IBM Quantum Safe technology, customers and ecosystem expansion.

Jay Gambetta, IBM Fellow and Vice President of Quantum, said: "The 2022 IBM Quantum Summit marks a pivotal moment in the development of global quantum computing. As we continue to increase the scale of quantum systems and make them easier to use, We will see the use of quantum technology and the growth of the quantum computing industry."

On the road to exploring quantum computing, IBM is moving forward steadily

So, this IBM history What does the release of the most powerful quantum computer mean to us? This starts with what quantum computers can do.

Theoretically, quantum can perform calculations in a faster way. Many problems that take traditional computers several years to solve may be solved by quantum computers in a matter of days.

Qubits are an important parameter that describes the computing power of a quantum computer - the larger the number of qubits, the more components there are in the computer, and the calculations that can be performed exponentially The more.

So far, quantum computers have proven themselves to have significant advantages over conventional computers in certain tasks.

Even many experts predict: If quantum error correction capabilities and the number of qubits can maintain the development speed of the past two years, quantum computers may be faster than today’s fastest super computers. Computers—millions of times faster!

So, the release of Osprey not only paves the way for the launch of Condor, a computer with 1,121 qubits in 2023, but also proves that IBM is realizing quantum computing through new hardware, software and system breakthroughs. Steady progress on the road to centric supercomputing.

In 2016, "Big Blue" put the first quantum computer that anyone could experiment with on the cloud - a device with 5 qubits . Each superconducting circuit is cooled to near absolute zero (-273°C).

In 2019 and 2020, they successively launched Falcom and Hummingbird, computers containing 27 and 65 qubits-yes, every quantum computer of IBM is based on Named after birds.

I really don’t know if there will be a machine named after the “King of Birds” Peacock in the near future. Anyway, I am already looking forward to it!

In 2021, IBM launched Eagle, the first quantum processor with more than 100 qubits. It not only doubled the number of qubits previously achieved, but also became IBM's first quantum computer with over 100 bits.

Now, the launch of Osprey has once again increased the number of qubits by nearly three times! We can fully believe that IBM will be able to deliver Condor, the world's first universal quantum computer with more than 1,000 qubits, in 2023.

Of course, the ambition of “Big Blue” goes far beyond 1,000 qubits.

This summer, IBM just released its latest roadmap, planning to build a qubit-centered supercomputer.

We can clearly see from the planning diagram of the conference: In addition to Condor, they also plan to introduce a new coupler in the next QPUHeron released in 2023. This adjusts the coupling between qubits and demonstrates plans to potentially release 4,000 or more qubits by 2025.

Oliver Dial, chief hardware architect of IBM’s quantum computing department, said: “By the end of 2024, in our ‘100x100 Plan’, we expect By running multiple Heron chips in parallel to reduce the error rate, we can achieve a 100-qubit-wide, 100-gate-deep system, thereby surpassing traditional computers."

IBM also announced, They are working with communications technology company Vodafone to develop post-quantum science. Can withstand future quantum computers that could rapidly disrupt modern times.

Of course, Dial also admitted: Although so far, IBM can generally make steady progress according to the plan, the number of bits is obviously only part of the huge and arduous exploration of quantum computing. Longer coherence times and noise reduction also need to be taken into consideration.

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