Ars Technica published a short write-up about changes to IBM’s quantum computing plans.
The changes greatly expand the scope of its next-generation Nighthawk general-use processors by adding a version with over 500 programmable qubits. At the same time, it’s stepping back a bit on its plan to link multiple Nighthawk processors together, dropping the intended number of linked systems from nine to two.
The total number of qubits planned for next year will remain the same; how the company is getting there, however, will be different.
Meanwhile, the company is touting the performance boost achieved via a major change that was made in the generation of Nighthawk processors released in September: hardware-based qubit resets.
↫ John Timmer at Ars Technica
I’m convinced quantum computing will eventually have a big impact in the areas its characteristics are presumed to be well-suited for. Also, it just looks and sounds incredibly cool, even if as the technology currently stands it’s not particularly useful yet.
