IBM unveiled what it calls the first integrated quantum computing system for commercial use.
Four notes on the quantum computing system:
1. Quantum computing is meant to help researchers investigate problems that are too complex for classical computing systems. One application, for example, is chemistry, since even simple molecules have too many quantum states for conventional computing memory and processing power.
2. IBM's new quantum computing system, dubbed IBM Q System One, includes cryogenic engineering to provide a cold quantum environment, quantum firmware to enable system upgrades and classical computation to provide secure cloud access.
3. IBM Q System One — which IBM created with a team of industrial designers, systems engineers, architects and manufacturers — marks the next generation in IBM Q, the company's ongoing effort to bring quantum computing to businesses and researchers. IBM has offered organizations access to its prototype quantum processors through the cloud since May 2016 under its IBM Q Experience program.
4. IBM plans to open its first IBM Q quantum computation center for commercial clients in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., this year. The center will be open to members of the IBM Q Network, a worldwide network of companies and researchers working with IBM on practical applications for quantum computing.
"The IBM Q System One is a major step forward in the commercialization of quantum computing," said Arvind Krishna, PhD, senior vice president of hybrid cloud and director of IBM Research. "This new system is critical in expanding quantum computing beyond the walls of the research lab as we work to develop practical quantum applications for business and science."