INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
While Google, Microsoft, IBM and others have made a lot of noise around their quantum computing efforts in recent months, AWS remained quiet
The company, after all, never had its own quantum research division
Today, though, AWS announced the preview launch of Braket (named after the common notation for quantum states), its own quantum computing
It not building its own quantum computer, though
Instead, it partnering with D-Wave, IonQ and Rigetti and making their systems available through its cloud
In addition, it also launching the AWS Center for QuantumComputing and AWSQuantumSolutions Lab.
With Braket, developers can get started on
building quantum algorithms and basic applications and then test them in simulations on AWS, as well as the quantum hardware from its
That a smart move on AWS part, as it hedging its bets without incurring the cost of trying to build a quantum computer itself
And for its partners, AWS provides them with the kind of reach that would be hard to achieve otherwise
Developers and researchers, on the other hand, get access to all of these tools through a single interface, making it easier for them to
figure out what works best for them.
&By collaborating with AWS, we will be able to deliver access to our systems to a much broader market
and help accelerate the growth of this emerging industry,& said Chad Rigetti, founder and CEO of Rigetti Computing .
D-Wave offered a
&D-Wave quantum systems and our Leap cloud environment were both purpose-built to make practical application development a reality today
and, in turn, fuel real-world business advantage for our customers,& said D-Wave chief product officer and EVP of R-D, Alan Baratz
&Amazon Braket will open the door to more smart developers who will build the quantum future, and the forward-thinking executives who will
transform industries.&
It worth stressing that AWS is not installing these quantum computers in its own data centers
Instead, it essentially offering a unified way to access the machines these companies already offer inside their own labs and data
centers.
Braket provides developers with a standard, fully managed Jupyter notebook environment for exploring their algorithms
The company says it will offer plenty of pre-installed developer tools, sample algorithms and tutorials to help new users get started with
both hybrid and classical quantum algorithms.
With its new Solutions Lab, AWS will also provide researchers with a solution for
collaborating around this new technology
&Amazon Quantum Solutions Lab engagements are collaborative research programs that allow you to work with leading experts in quantum
computing, machine learning, and high-performance computing
The programs help you research and identify the most promising applications of quantum computing for your business and get quantum ready,&
the company explains.
With its research center for quantum computing, Amazon is starting to do some long-term research, as well
As is so often the case with AWS, though, I think the focus here is on making the technology accessible to developers more so than on doing
basic research.
&We believe that quantum computing will be a cloud-first technology and that the cloud will be the main way customers access
the hardware,& said Charlie Bell, senior vice president, Utility Computing Services, AWS
&With our Amazon Braketservice and Amazon Quantum Solutions Lab, we&re making it easier for customers to gain experience using quantum
computers and to work with experts from AWS and our partners to figure out how they can benefit from the technology
And with our AWS Center for Quantum Computing and academic partnerships, we join the effort across the scientific and industrial communities
to help accelerate the promise of quantum computing.&
