Tuesday, December 5, 2023

[New post] IonQ opens up Forte quantum computing platform for use on Amazon Braket Direct

IonQ opens up Forte quantum computing platform for use on Amazon Braket Direct

Alan Boyle

Dec 5

An artist's conception shows a data center powered by IonQ's Forte Enterprise servers. (IonQ Illustration)

IonQ has opened up its most advanced quantum computing platform for public availability through Amazon's cloud-based Braket Direct Program, even as the Maryland-based company gears up to produce even more advanced hardware at a Seattle-area manufacturing facility.

IonQ Forte joins two earlier generations of the company's processing hardware, Harmony and Aria, as options for Amazon Web Service's Braket quantum computing service. Forte has been commercially available as a standalone system for months, but offering access via the cloud is expected to widen the platform's use.

"Braket Direct provides customers reaching the computational limits of classical computers with access to quantum technologies needed to build expertise, and expand their research and development horizon," Richard Moulds, general manager of Amazon Braket, said today in a news release. "IonQ Forte's addition to Braket Direct furthers the collaboration between our two companies, and paves the way for exploring new quantum applications in areas like materials research, computer vision, machine learning, pharmaceuticals, and more."

Peter Chapman, the former Amazon executive who became IonQ's CEO in 2019, said access to Forte "is imperative for users looking to optimize algorithms for trapped ions and help expand existing applications to new problem spaces."

"We're pleased to continue our work with AWS as we collectively work toward making quantum accessible to all," Chapman said.

In contrast to classical computing's binary one-or-zero approach, quantum computing works with different types of bits ("qubits") that can represent different values simultaneously until the results are read out. Certain types of problems, ranging from network optimization to codebreaking, are thought to be more easily solvable using quantum processors.

IonQ recently announced the upcoming rollout of its Forte Enterprise system --- which is expected to deliver 35 algorithmic qubits, as opposed to Forte's 25 --- and an even more advanced Tempo system that could boost IonQ's AQ count to 64.

At the start of this year, IonQ announced that it would build quantum computers --- probably including Forte Enterprise systems --- at a research and manufacturing facility in Bothell, Wash. In September, Inside Quantum Technology quoted Chapman as saying that a section of the factory would be opened up this fall to start manufacturing. "It's taken a little less than a year, but in the construction world, that's light speed," Chapman said.

He was quoted as saying that IonQ and the property lessor, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, spent "millions and millions of dollars" getting the building ready for business. "It's a mix of funds, but it's expensive, damn expensive," Chapman told Inside Quantum Technology.

In other quantum developments:

IBM unveiled Quantum Heron, the first in a new series of utility-scale quantum processors, as well as another chip called Condor that boasts 1,121 physical qubits. Heron has fewer physical qubits --- 133 --- but uses an improved error-correction technology that IBM says could provide a roadmap for future quantum hardware. (Because of the need for error correction, physical qubits don't equate to logical or algorithmic qubits.)
During last week's re:Invent conference in Las Vegas, AWS senior vice president Peter DeSantis said researchers on Amazon's quantum team are working on a custom-designed chip that can "theoretically achieve quantum error correction six times more efficiently than with standard error correction approaches."
The chief scientist at Meta, Facebook's parent company, has voiced skepticism about the practical relevance of quantum computing. "The number of problems you can solve with quantum computing, you can solve way more efficiently with classical computers," Yann LeCun said at an event marking the 10th anniversary of the founding of Meta's Fundamental AI Research team.