However, the company is also pursuing its own hardware, while in July last year its venture capital arm contributed to a $450 million investment round in Palo Alto-based PsiQuantum, the photonics start-up that is focused on developing new vertical and horizontal business applications.
#Microsoft big quantum error after all full#
Think of it as an enterprise mall full of smaller concessions. Redmond is spreading its bets by offering access to quantum computers from different makers and research teams via Azure. Microsoft’s approach to this nascent market is subtly different and, arguably, more pragmatic. Waymo (driverless vehicles) and AI behemoth DeepMind are other parts of the business that would benefit from quantum advances.Īlongside Amazon, Hewlett Packard, Samsung, and Airbus, Google is also a significant investor in ion trap specialist, IonQ, one of the few start-ups apart from Cambridge Quantum to have Big Tech investment onboard. Parent company Alphabet also has teams working on a variety of quantum technologies, including sensors, post-quantum cryptography, and integrating quantum devices with distributed classical networks. But its key focus is really on developing quantum AI, which it plans to spin throughout its product line.
It is also an investor in blue-tick UK player Cambridge Quantum, which merged with Honeywell’s quantum business last summer.Īs a cloud-born giant, Google is building its own commercially useful quantum hardware – it is aiming for a soundbite one million qubits by the end of this decade – and (predictably) was the first company to claim quantum supremacy.
In November 2021, IBM launched its 127-qubit Eagle processor, a significant move in that it signifies the threshold beyond which quantum circuits can no longer be meaningfully simulated on classical devices (according to IBM’s own blurb).īig Blue was a pioneer of providing quantum computing in the cloud to early-stage developers and programmers, launching a service as far back as 2016. IBM has an ambitious roadmap to scale the power of the hardware in which it has been heavily investing, with the aim of reaching quantum advantage first – the point at which quantum circuits can reliably outperform classical computers. While it may lack the day-to-day enterprise mindshare of Google/Alphabet, Microsoft, and Amazon Web Services (AWS), it is the holder of by far the most quantum patents, with Microsoft the runner-up. So, what are the so-called ‘Big Five’ up to, in CB Insights’ view? IBM is perhaps the dark horse in the quantum field, suggests the report. This is the same company that was accused of spending years dismissing the cloud as vapourware, only to then execute highly effectively on a ‘cloud domination’ strategy through a combo of ‘homegrown tech’ and acquisition. Oracle, meanwhile, appears to see quantum processors’ relationship to classical ones as being analogous to CPUs’ relationship with GPUs: both can run under the hood, while being optimised for different tasks. In the West, question marks remain about the quantum strategies of other Big Tech players, such as Facebook and Apple – major platforms, but not significant presences in the infrastructures of enterprise users. The irony, therefore, is that leadership in quantum’s many upsides also means leadership in tackling its destabilising elements. Quantum communications and security are among the key R&D areas worldwide, leading to ultra-high-speed, secure channels on the one hand, but also threats to classical systems and security on the other. The likes of Baidu, Alibaba, and others will provide China’s counterpoint to US dominance – not to mention a focus for geopolitical fears and debates, particularly when it comes to cybersecurity. Qubit counts will rise as the five vie for quantum dominance, with more and more demonstrations of enterprise applications this decade. That’s the view of a new report from technology investment analyst firm CB Insights.Īccording to the 73-page document, The Big Tech in Quantum Report, Google, Microsoft, IBM, Amazon, and Intel are the five giants that merit CXOs’ attention, in terms of players that already provide classical hardware, platforms, or services to the enterprise. For enterprise users in the West, quantum computing will see a five-way battle for dominance among established Big Tech providers, with the cloud being the main platform for accessing a new generation of business services.
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