Many organizations are paving the road to a future built on quantum computing, and that future is a promising one. With quantum computers at our fingertips, humanity will be able to solve hugely complex problems at scale and faster than ever.
However, getting to that future has a significant amount of roadblocks to overcome first before quantum computing becomes widely available. Many companies — of all sizes — are actively developing and building quantum computers and capabilities.
Companies building quantum computers
As quantum computing continues to develop and undergo research, companies are building quantum capabilities in both hardware and software. Companies in this list are developing quantum capabilities in various ways, including infrastructure, algorithms and development environments for testing.
While this list is not exhaustive, here are some of the companies building quantum computers.
Amazon
Amazon is a more recent player joining the race to build a quantum computer. In 2021, Amazon announced the opening of the AWS Center for Quantum Computing in Pasadena, Calif. It has partnered with the California Institute of Technology to foster the next generation of quantum scientists and fuel their efforts to build a fault-tolerant quantum computer.
In addition to these efforts, Amazon offers a quantum computing service called Amazon Braket, which provides developers access to quantum computers and tools from third-party partners. This service enables customers to speed up their own quantum computing research, build quantum projects and run quantum algorithms.
D-Wave Systems
D-Wave Systems, a Canada-based company, is the world’s first organization to sell a commercial quantum computer. Its latest, the D-Wave Advantage system, features a processor architecture with more than 5,000 qubits and 15-way qubit connectivity.
D-Wave’s quantum computers use a process called quantum annealing. This process is specifically designed for optimization, so when users map a problem into a search, the processing unit considers all possibilities simultaneously and presents calculations that correspond to the optimal configurations of qubits found. These values are the best possible outcomes, resulting in higher-quality results at scale.
D-Wave is currently developing an incremental follow-up to the Advantage system. In addition to hardware, the company offers a cloud-based full stack of systems to enable enterprises, government agencies, national laboratories and academic organizations to build quantum applications.
Google
Google’s Quantum AI lab has been developing a programmable superconducting processor. A recent iteration is Sycamore, a 54-qubit processor composed of high-fidelity quantum logic gates.
In 2019, Google claimed Sycamore had achieved quantum supremacy. Quantum supremacy is the point at which a quantum device can solve a problem exponentially faster than a classical processor. In this case, Sycamore took about 200 seconds to sample one instance of a quantum circuit 1 million times — something that would have taken a classical supercomputer nearly 10,000 years to do.
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Since then, Sycamore has been used to run chemical simulations, wormhole simulations and more. Google has also developed a software stack of open source tools and a quantum computing service to develop novel quantum algorithms. Its research team is continuing to push innovation in quantum computing, from hardware control systems and quantum control to physics modeling and quantum error correction.
IBM
In November 2022, IBM held the Quantum Summit, where it unveiled a development roadmap detailing its plans and timeline for progressing quantum computing through 2025. Its primary goal is to go beyond using single processors, and by 2025, it plans to combine multichip processors into what it has named the Kookaburra processor. Compared to IBM’s latest processor, Osprey, which has 433 qubits, IBM plans for the multichip Kookaburra processor to have 4,158 qubits.
These plans are ambitious, but IBM has a strong history in quantum development. In 2019, it launched a commercial quantum computer, the IBM Quantum System One. It’s currently developing the IBM Quantum System Two to better serve Osprey and future quantum processors.
In addition to hardware, IBM runs a suite of cloud-based quantum systems, providing researchers, organizations and developers with access to various services and resources, including IBM Quantum Composer, IBM Quantum Lab and Qiskit, an open source SDK for quantum computers. This platform has both public and premium tiers for users to develop, test and run quantum projects.
IonQ
IonQ’s quantum computers use trapped-ion technology. Most quantum hardware uses synthetic quantum systems for its qubits, but IonQ uses naturally occurring individual atomic ions at the core of its processing units. These ions are trapped in a 3D space, and IonQ uses lasers to help prepare and perform the calculations.
IonQ has three quantum systems: IonQ Harmony, an 11-qubit system that launched in 2020; IonQ Aria, a 25-qubit system that launched in 2022; and IonQ Forte, a 32-qubit system that’s currently under development and in beta testing with researchers. All are based on IonQ’s trapped-ion technology architecture, and Harmony and Aria are available through IonQ Quantum Cloud or Amazon Braket.
Microsoft
Microsoft is currently developing its own scalable, full-stack quantum machine with a unique approach that’s focused on topological qubits. The research team at Microsoft has invented a control chip, called Gooseberry, and a cryo-compute core that are key to this approach.
In short, the chip and core work together to maintain a stable cold environment that enables the quantum stack to send and receive information to and from every qubit. Achieving this task is no simple feat; however, if Microsoft can pull it off, it will result in a highly scalable quantum computer that can support even larger, more complex applications.
While development is still ongoing for this hardware, Microsoft also offers a portfolio of quantum computers from other hardware providers as part of its Azure Quantum platform. This service provides an open development environment for researchers, businesses and developers that enables the flexibility to tune algorithms and explore today’s quantum systems.
QCI
Quantum Computing Inc. (QCI) is a full-stack quantum company that claims to be committed to democratizing access to quantum value. Rather than building quantum computing services for the largest of enterprises, QCI’s offerings are more affordable and can be used by non-quantum experts.
From a hardware perspective, QCI has built the Entropy Quantum Computer (EQC), which aims to create useful qubits to perform computations today rather than 10 years in the future. Organizations can use an EQC through a two-tier subscription service: Dirac-1, a qubit-based system, and Dirac-2, a qudit-based system.
QCI also offers Qatalyst, a cloud-based service that enables end users to solve problems on quantum systems without requiring complex programming knowledge. In line with this is its QUBT University, which helps users learn about quantum algorithms and how to run computations. QCI is currently developing new quantum computing chip capabilities.
Quantinuum
In 2021, Honeywell Quantum Solutions and Cambridge Quantum announced a merger, forming Quantinuum. The merger brought together Cambridge Quantum, a developer of quantum software, and Honeywell Quantum Solutions, which builds quantum hardware based on trapped-ion technologies.
Honeywell’s quantum computer, the System Model H1, has achieved the highest quantum volume measurement — 32,768 — in the history of quantum computing. This hardware pairs with Cambridge Quantum’s software package, which applies quantum computing to solve complex problems across industries, from pharmaceuticals to specialty chemicals and beyond.
Rigetti Computing
Rigetti Computing is an integrated systems company that builds quantum computers and superconducting quantum processors. Its most recent processor, the Aspen-M-3, has 80 qubits and is based on multichip technology. Its quantum processors are universal, gate-model machines.
Rigetti is currently developing a new 84-qubit processor called Ankaa, and the plan is to put four of these processors together to form a 336-qubit machine named Lyra. Its roadmap includes building an even larger machine that can support 1,000 qubits in 2025 and one with 4,000 qubits in 2027.
Users can access Rigetti’s quantum computing systems through its Quantum Cloud Services platform or Amazon Braket. The cloud platform enables coders to write quantum algorithms for simulations of their quantum chips.
Xanadu
Xanadu Quantum Technologies is a Canada-based company that’s taking a photonic approach to building quantum computers.
Xanadu’s Borealis, one of the largest photonic quantum computers every built, uses photonics and quantum light sources that emit squeezed-light pulses. The Borealis features more than 216 squeezed-state qubits and is particularly effective at solving Gaussian boson sampling problems — something that would take classical computers thousands of years to do.
Xanadu also leads the development of PennyLane, an open source software library for quantum computing and application development. Organizations can access Borealis through Xanadu Cloud or Amazon Braket.
Although no one likes a know-it-all, they dominate the Internet.
The Internet began as a vast repository of information. It quickly became a breeding ground for self-proclaimed experts seeking what most people desire: recognition and money.
Today, anyone with an Internet connection and some typing skills can position themselves, regardless of their education or experience, as a subject matter expert (SME). From relationship advice, career coaching, and health and nutrition tips to citizen journalists practicing pseudo-journalism, the Internet is awash with individuals—Internet talking heads—sharing their “insights,” which are, in large part, essentially educated guesses without the education or experience.
The Internet has become a 24/7/365 sitcom where armchair experts think they’re the star.
Not long ago, years, sometimes decades, of dedicated work and acquiring education in one’s field was once required to be recognized as an expert. The knowledge and opinions of doctors, scientists, historians, et al. were respected due to their education and experience. Today, a social media account and a knack for hyperbole are all it takes to present oneself as an “expert” to achieve Internet fame that can be monetized.
On the Internet, nearly every piece of content is self-serving in some way.
The line between actual expertise and self-professed knowledge has become blurry as an out-of-focus selfie. Inadvertently, social media platforms have created an informal degree program where likes and shares are equivalent to degrees. After reading selective articles, they’ve found via and watching some TikTok videos, a person can post a video claiming they’re an herbal medicine expert. Their new “knowledge,” which their followers will absorb, claims that Panda dung tea—one of the most expensive teas in the world and isn’t what its name implies—cures everything from hypertension to existential crisis. Meanwhile, registered dietitians are shaking their heads, wondering how to compete against all the misinformation their clients are exposed to.
More disturbing are individuals obsessed with evangelizing their beliefs or conspiracy theories. These people write in-depth blog posts, such as Elvis Is Alive and the Moon Landings Were Staged, with links to obscure YouTube videos, websites, social media accounts, and blogs. Regardless of your beliefs, someone or a group on the Internet shares them, thus confirming your beliefs.
Misinformation is the Internet’s currency used to get likes, shares, and engagement; thus, it often spreads like a cosmic joke. Consider the prevalence of clickbait headlines:
You Won’t Believe What Taylor Swift Says About Climate Change!
This Bedtime Drink Melts Belly Fat While You Sleep!
In One Week, I Turned $10 Into $1 Million!
Titles that make outrageous claims are how the content creator gets reads and views, which generates revenue via affiliate marketing, product placement, and pay-per-click (PPC) ads. Clickbait headlines are how you end up watching a TikTok video by a purported nutrition expert adamantly asserting you can lose belly fat while you sleep by drinking, for 14 consecutive days, a concoction of raw eggs, cinnamon, and apple cider vinegar 15 minutes before going to bed.
Our constant search for answers that’ll explain our convoluted world and our desire for shortcuts to success is how Internet talking heads achieve influencer status. Because we tend to seek low-hanging fruits, we listen to those with little experience or knowledge of the topics they discuss yet are astute enough to know what most people want to hear.
There’s a trend, more disturbing than spreading misinformation, that needs to be called out: individuals who’ve never achieved significant wealth or traded stocks giving how-to-make-easy-money advice, the appeal of which is undeniable. Several people I know have lost substantial money by following the “advice” of Internet talking heads.
Anyone on social media claiming to have a foolproof money-making strategy is lying. They wouldn’t be peddling their money-making strategy if they could make easy money.
Successful people tend to be secretive.
Social media companies design their respective algorithms to serve their advertisers—their source of revenue—interest; hence, content from Internet talking heads appears most prominent in your feeds. When a video of a self-professed expert goes viral, likely because it pressed an emotional button, the more people see it, the more engagement it receives, such as likes, shares and comments, creating a cycle akin to a tornado.
Imagine scrolling through your TikTok feed and stumbling upon a “scientist” who claims they can predict the weather using only aluminum foil, copper wire, sea salt and baking soda. You chuckle, but you notice his video got over 7,000 likes, has been shared over 600 times and received over 400 comments. You think to yourself, “Maybe this guy is onto something.” What started as a quest to achieve Internet fame evolved into an Internet-wide belief that weather forecasting can be as easy as DIY crafts.
Since anyone can call themselves “an expert,” you must cultivate critical thinking skills to distinguish genuine expertise from self-professed experts’ self-promoting nonsense. While the absurdity of the Internet can be entertaining, misinformation has serious consequences. The next time you read a headline that sounds too good to be true, it’s probably an Internet talking head making an educated guess; without the education seeking Internet fame, they can monetize.
TORONTO – A new survey says a majority of software engineers and developers feel tight project deadlines can put safety at risk.
Seventy-five per cent of the 1,000 global workers who responded to the survey released Tuesday say pressure to deliver projects on time and on budget could be compromising critical aspects like safety.
The concern is even higher among engineers and developers in North America, with 77 per cent of those surveyed on the continent reporting the urgency of projects could be straining safety.
The study was conducted between July and September by research agency Coleman Parkes and commissioned by BlackBerry Ltd.’s QNX division, which builds connected-car technology.
The results reflect a timeless tug of war engineers and developers grapple with as they balance the need to meet project deadlines with regulations and safety checks that can slow down the process.
Finding that balance is an issue that developers of even the simplest appliances face because of advancements in technology, said John Wall, a senior vice-president at BlackBerry and head of QNX.
“The software is getting more complicated and there is more software whether it’s in a vehicle, robotics, a toaster, you name it… so being able to patch vulnerabilities, to prevent bad actors from doing malicious acts is becoming more and more important,” he said.
The medical, industrial and automotive industries have standardized safety measures and anything they produce undergoes rigorous testing, but that work doesn’t happen overnight. It has to be carried out from the start and then at every step of the development process.
“What makes safety and security difficult is it’s an ongoing thing,” Wall said. “It’s not something where you’ve done it, and you are finished.”
The Waterloo, Ont.-based business found 90 per cent of its survey respondents reported that organizations are prioritizing safety.
However, when asked about why safety may not be a priority for their organization, 46 per cent of those surveyed answered cost pressures and 35 per cent said a lack of resources.
That doesn’t surprise Wall. Delays have become rampant in the development of tech, and in some cases, stand to push back the launch of vehicle lines by two years, he said.
“We have to make sure that people don’t compromise on safety and security to be able to get products out quicker,” he said.
“What we don’t want to see is people cutting corners and creating unsafe situations.”
The survey also took a peek at security breaches, which have hit major companies like London Drugs, Indigo Books & Music, Giant Tiger and Ticketmaster in recent years.
About 40 per cent of the survey’s respondents said they have encountered a security breach in their employer’s operating system. Those breaches resulted in major impacts for 27 per cent of respondents, moderate impacts for 42 per cent and minor impacts for 27 per cent.
“There are vulnerabilities all the time and this is what makes the job very difficult because when you ship the software, presumably the software has no security vulnerabilities, but things get discovered after the fact,” Wall said.
Security issues, he added, have really come to the forefront of the problems developers face, so “really without security, you have no safety.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2024.
As online shoppers hunt for bargains offered by Amazon during its annual fall sale this week, cybersecurity researchers are warning Canadians to beware of an influx of scammers posing as the tech giant.
In the 30 days leading up to Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days, taking place Tuesday and Wednesday, there were more than 1,000 newly registered Amazon-related web domains, according to Check Point Software Technologies, a company that offers cybersecurity solutions.
The company said it deemed 88 per cent of those domains malicious or suspicious, suggesting they could have been set up by scammers to prey on vulnerable consumers. One in every 54 newly created Amazon-related domain included the phrase “Amazon Prime.”
“They’re almost indiscernible from the real Amazon domain,” said Robert Falzon, head of engineering at Check Point in Canada.
“With all these domains registered that look so similar, it’s tricking a lot of people. And that’s the whole intent here.”
Falzon said Check Point Research sees an uptick in attempted scams around big online shopping days throughout the year, including Prime Days.
Scams often come in the form of phishing emails, which are deceptive messages that appear to be from a reputable source in attempt to steal sensitive information.
In this case, he said scammers posing as Amazon commonly offer “outrageous” deals that appear to be associated with Prime Days, in order to trick recipients into clicking on a malicious link.
The cybersecurity firm said it has identified and blocked 100 unique Amazon Prime-themed scam emails targeting organizations and consumers over the past two weeks.
Scammers also target Prime members with unsolicited calls, claiming urgent account issues and requesting payment information.
“It’s like Christmas for them,” said Falzon.
“People expect there to be significant savings on Prime Day, so they’re not shocked that they see something of significant value. Usually, the old adage applies: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
Amazon’s website lists a number of red flags that it recommends customers watch for to identify a potential impersonation scam.
Those include false urgency, requests for personal information, or indications that the sender prefers to complete the purchase outside of the Amazon website or mobile app.
Scammers may also request that customers exclusively pay with gift cards, a claim code or PIN. Any notifications about an order or delivery for an unexpected item should also raise alarm bells, the company says.
“During busy shopping moments, we tend to see a rise in impersonation scams reported by customers,” said Amazon spokeswoman Octavia Roufogalis in a statement.
“We will continue to invest in protecting consumers and educating the public on scam avoidance. We encourage consumers to report suspected scams to us so that we can protect their accounts and refer bad actors to law enforcement to help keep consumers safe.”
Falzon added that these scams are more successful than people might think.
As of June 30, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre said there had been $284 million lost to fraud so far this year, affecting 15,941 victims.
But Falzon said many incidents go unreported, as some Canadians who are targeted do not know how or where to flag a scam, or may choose not to out of embarrassment.
Check Point recommends Amazon customers take precautions while shopping on Prime Days, including by checking URLs carefully, creating strong passwords on their accounts, and avoiding personal information being shared such as their birthday or social security number.
The cybersecurity company said consumers should also look for “https” at the beginning of a website URL, which indicates a secure connection, and use credit cards rather than debit cards for online shopping, which offer better protection and less liability if stolen.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2024.
