Amazon has joined the quantum computing race with the Ocelot prototype chip that is powered by “cat qubit” technology.
Amazon has entered the quantum computing race with a chip built on “cat qubit” technology.
The firm has become the third tech giant in recent months to make a breakthrough in quantum computing with its newly-unveiled prototype chip Ocelot that is powered by “cat qubit” technology – which takes its name from the ‘Schrodinger’s cat’ though experiment.
The chip seeks to make quantum computers error free, which has proved to be the biggest stumbling block for the technology so far.
Amazon believes that the recent advancements could allow quantum computers to be usable earlier than previously thought, although how quickly the machines will be powerful enough before they are practically useful remains up for debate.
Oskar Painter, of Amazon Web Services (AWS) Center for Quantum Computing at the California Institute of Technology – where the work has been carried out – claims that the “aggressive date” of a decade is “looking more and more realistic”.
He told BBC News: “Five years ago I would have said maybe 20 or 30 years, this timeline’s come in quite a bit.”
Painter also believes that quantum computing services could enable Amazon to optimise the global logistics of its retail empire.
He said: “You know, a company like Amazon, you make a one per cent improvement in that and you’re talking large dollars right? Quantum computers could enable you to do that more effectively, more real time – and that’s the real value there.”
Amazon enters quantum computing race with Ocelot chip
