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Moore's Law may not be sufficient when it comes to processing power. Some believe that computers are not getting faster fast enough for the emerging tasks that are expected of them, whether it's crunching vast data sets or looking for probabilistic connections within much smaller ones.

In areas such as drug discovery, particle physics, genomics, and materials research, quantum computing is increasingly proposed as a better model for the IT industry, alongside related quantum technologies such as timing, imaging, sensing, communications, and security. Yet all these are hard tech, which demands patient capital: long-term, speculative investment coupled with an appetite for risk and uncertain reward.

There are three key challenges facing all quantum innovators:

Canada isn't the first country that springs to mind as a potential leader in this space alongside the likes of the US, China, and the UK, but Toronto-based 2016 startup Xanadu aims to change that. It has launched what it claims is the world's first photonics-based quantum computing platform available commercially in the cloud.

According to an announcement from the company, the Xanadu Quantum Cloud currently gives developers access to eight- and 12-qubit processors, and soon a 24-qubit machine. As a photon- (light) based system for quantum calculations - as opposed to superconductor or ion-trap systems - these processors can operate at room temperature and could potentially integrate more easily with fibre-optic based telecommunications.

To date, Xanadu has raised $45 million from investors, alongside grants from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Developers can already access its open-source tools Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane on GitHub, revealing a Beatles fan in its leader. That may suggest global ambitions.

So does the company plan to become a huge private fiefdom, like the Xanadu in Citizen Kane? Has a new computing Kublai Khan emerged to found a quantum dynasty? I spoke to founder and CEO Christian Weedbrook to find out.

First, is Xanadu a true quantum system, or merely using quantum elements to speed up processing within classical systems? He says:

It's the world's first photonics-based quantum computing cloud platform and we are truly excited about it. Every other cloud platform essentially uses electronics. Instead of photonics they use electrons - matter - and they have a very different approach to scaling up to a fully functioning, fault-tolerant quantum computer.

We decided to take a unique, alternative approach using light. One of the biggest advantages is the extremely low amounts of power that are needed to run these devices. We're leveraging the weird properties of quantum physics to do things that traditional computers, classical computers, would never be able to do. Or they could do it but it would take them hundreds of years.

A familiar message in terms of the time-saving element. But when it comes to commercialising it, is quantum computing a solution in search of a problem, or has Xanadu identified specific opportunities? Weedbrook says:

The world can always use more computing power. One way to think about the quantum computing landscape at the moment is you can break it up into two lines. The first is what we can do in the next three to five years with qubits that are noisy and don't have that fault tolerance or error correction. And the second is what can we do after that with a fully functioning, fault-tolerant quantum computer. But that's a very difficult machine to build.

In the near term, what differentiates Xanadu using a photonics-based approach is the things that we can do now, which have business applications - network planning, logistics, things of that nature.

Our plan is to get early adopters that we can build an ecosystem around: government labs in the US and here in Canada, financial institutions, large corporations - pharma and materials design are classic examples - and logistics. All these industries have problems that get more and more difficult, that don't scale well, so you need a quantum computer to help solve them. We have paying customers already on the platform.

What's remarkable in the last couple of years is that large corporations and banks such as Goldman Sachs have been forming small quantum computing teams, because they don't want to get left behind. But it's a unique skill set that only a few people in the world currently understand.

Indeed, some have suggested that is a concern. When technology becomes too abstract for most people to comprehend, then transparency and auditing are difficult. Who could explain or justify decisions made by quantum neural nets, for example?

That's a valid criticism. We have to be careful, particularly with a technology that may be the missing link to a singularity event. I don't think ethics and quantum computing should just be presented to you. It's something that the whole community should be converging on thinking about. But building a quantum computer that's fault tolerant - the end game - is extremely hard. It's not going to be built tomorrow, which gives us some time.

Does he see quantum computing as a distinct alternative to the classical world, an evolution of it, or simply a component for solving specific problems?

First, it's a safe bet that it will complement traditional computing whatever happens, in the same way that GPUs complement CPUs, or special-purpose chips complement other types. A computer will naturally access the CPU or the quantum processor when each is needed.

This is a personal view, but more and more I'm leaning towards quantum computing replacing old' computing. One reason is that, if you look at our photon-based approach, roughly speaking you can press a button and make this computer classical by making qubits act like normal bits of information. If quantum computing can infiltrate all computers, then you can just simulate a traditional computer, which means there is an opportunity to really take over all of the computing industry - up to a point.

The company's global ambitions seem evident. But until then, physics and history combine to pose some tricky problems. For example, putting a quantum computer in the cloud could put a brake on its power, given the slow speeds, latency, and poor reliability of some broadband infrastructures.

Yes, with quantum cloud quantum providers you do see that slowdown in retrieving the asset. I would say that there are some solutions to that, such as a hybrid system where you actually have a quantum chip on premise alongside AWS or Azure, for example.

But the ultimate goal is to have a quantum computer that can solve problems that a classical computer could never do, or would take thousands of years to solve. So slowing something down by an hour versus a thousand years is irrelevant. As you're scaling up and getting more powerful quantum computers through fault tolerance and error correction, any slowdown is going to be negligible compared to the size of the problem solving.

Are real applications emerging yet for such systems?

A lot of applications have been inspired by what's been done classically, and the thinking has been how do we make them quantum. But I think the true revolution will be in thinking about it from the quantum side of things. There's an analogy here with the PC revolution: people didn't really know what applications would be useful, there was no idea about the internet. I think there'll be something similar for quantum: we really don't know the full extent of what a quantum computer can do.

With a team that now numbers 58 - many of whom have PhDs - what drives Weedbrook and his colleagues: the academic research glory of pushing back the boundaries of human knowledge? Or something more commercially focused - given those Beatles allusions and the name itself, Xanadu? Both speak of lofty ambition...

I think often you see with startups, it's a clich to really want to solve huge, world-changing problems. Our mission statement has a hint of that, but to be honest it's too much of a clich now to really believe it. So, our mission statement is to make quantum computers, make them useful, and available to people everywhere.

It's how do you start in helping customers solve problems - like in drug discovery. How do you find the best candidates significantly faster in order to synthesise them? That problem's not going to change. So how best to solve it?

This may be correlated with the fact that we're working on subatomic particles, but it's in very small systems that you make real change in the world. The common examples are helping with global warming, curing cancer by identifying drugs, these are really important problems for humanity.

But taking a different approach, how do you stay excited on an individual, personal level each day? That gives you the best chance of solving truly important problems.

According to the 80s song, Xanadu is the place where "a million lights are dancing". That's photons for you. And it turns out it's not in China, but Toronto.

Read this article:
Quantum computing in the cloud - Xanadu discovered in Toronto - Diginomica

Editors note: Stephanie Long is Senior Analyst with Technology Business Research.

HAMPTON, N.H. Like IBM did with its Selectric typewriters in the 1960s, the company is successfully weaving its quantum computing thread through myriad aspects of the greater quantum ecosystem, underpinned by strategic sponsorships and the inclusion of partners in the IBM Quantum Experience.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is pushing back on this approach by offering a vendor-agnostic view of quantum cloud computing.

Academia has also thrown its hat into the ring with ongoing innovation and advancements in quantum computing.

The competitive landscape of quantum computing has begun to take on the look and feel of the early classical computing world; however, the modern industry has addressed the mistakes made with classical computing, and therefore progress can be more formulaic and swift.

August 2020 developments are starting to tie pieces of investments together to show a glimpse of when the post-quantum world may come, and as advancements continue the future state appears closer on the horizon than previously thought.

Duke joins $115M program to focus on development of quantum computing

If you would like more detailed information around the quantum computing market, please inquire about TBRsQuantum Computing Market Landscape,a semiannual deep dive into the quantum computing market. Our most recent version, which focused on services, was released in June. Look for our next iteration in December, focused on middleware.

(C) TBR

The rest is here:
What's the state of quantum computing? Led by IBM & Amazon it's developing rapidly - WRAL Tech Wire

The emergence of quantum computing has led industry heavyweights to fast track their research and innovations. This week, Google conducted the largest chemical simulation on a quantum computer to date. The U.S. Department of Energy, on the other hand, launched five new Quantum Information Science (QIS) Research Centers. Will this accelerate quantum computings progress?

Quantum technology is the next big wave in the tech landscape. As opposed to traditional computers where all the information emails, tweets, YouTube videos, and Facebook photos are streams of electrical pulses in binary digits, 1s and 0s; quantum computers rely on quantum bits or qubits to store information. Qubits are subatomic particles, such as electrons or photons which change their state regularly. Therefore, they can be 1s and 0s at the same time. This enables quantum computers to run multiple complex computational tasks simultaneously and faster when compared to digital computers, mainframes, and servers.

Introduced in the 1980s, quantum computing can unlock the complexities across different industries much faster than traditional computers. A quantum computer can decipher complex encryption systems that can easily impact digital banking, cryptocurrencies, and e-commerce sectors, which heavily depend on encrypted data. Quantum computers can expedite the discovery of new medicines, aid in climate change, power AI, transform logistics, and design new materials. In the U.S., technology giants, including IBM, Google, Honeywell, Microsoft, Intel, IonQ, and Rigetti Computing, are leading the race to build quantum computers and gain a foothold in the quantum computing space. Whereas Alibaba, Baidu, Huawei are leading companies in China.

For a long time, the U.S. and its allies, such as Japan and Germany, had been working hard to compete with China to dominate the quantum technology space. In 2018, the U.S. government released the National Strategy Overview for Quantum Information Science to reduce technical skills gaps and accelerate quantum computing research and development.

In 2019, Google claimed quantum supremacy for supercomputers when the companys Sycamore processor performed specific tasks in 200 seconds, which would have taken a supercomputer 10,000 years to complete. In the same year, Intel rolled out Horse Ridge, a cryogenic quantum control chip, to reduce the quantum computing complexities and accelerate quantum practicality.

Tech news: Is Data Portability the Answer To Anti-Competitive Practices?

Whats 2020 Looking Like For Quantum Computing?

In June 2020, Honeywell announced the development of the worlds highest-performing quantum computer. In July 2020, IBM announced a research partnership with the Japanese business and academia to advance quantum computing innovations. This alliance will deepen ties between the countries and build an ecosystem to improve quantum skills and advance research and development.

AWS, Microsoft, and several other IaaS providers have announced quantum cloud services, an initiative to advance quantum computing adoption. In August 2020, AWS announced the general availability of its Amazon Braket, a quantum cloud service that allows developers to design, develop, test, and run quantum algorithms.

Since last year, auto manufacturers, such as Daimler and Volkswagen have been leveraging quantum computers to identify new methods to improve electric vehicle battery performance. Pharmaceutical companies are also using the technology to develop new medicines and drugs.

Last week, the Google AI Quantum team used their quantum processor, Sycamore, to simulate changes in the configuration of a chemical molecule, diazene. During the process, the computer was able to describe the changes in the positions of hydrogen accurately. The computer also gave an accurate description of the binding energy of hydrogen in bigger chains.

If quantum computers develop the ability to predict chemical processes, it would advance the development of a wide range of new materials with unknown properties. Current quantum computers, unfortunately, lack the augmented scaling required for such a task. Although todays computers are not ready to take on such a challenge yet, computer scientists hope to accomplish this in the near future as tech giants like Google invest in quantum computing-related research.

Tech news: Will Googles Nearby Share Have Anything Transformative to Offer?

It, therefore, came as a relief to many computer scientists when the U.S. Department of Energy announced an investment of $625 million over the next five years for five newly formed Quantum Information Science (QIS) Research Centers in the U.S. The newly formed hubs are an amalgam of research universities, national labs, and tech titans in quantum computing. Each of the research hubs is led by the Energy Departments Argonne National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Fermi National Laboratory, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; powered by Microsoft, IBM, Intel, Riggeti, and ColdQuanta. This partnership aims to advance quantum computing commercialization.

Chetan Nayak, general manager of Quantum Hardware at Microsoft, says, While quantum computing will someday have a profound impact, todays quantum computing systems are still nascent technologies. To scale these systems, we must overcome a number of scientific challenges. Microsoft has been tackling these challenges head-on through our work towards developing topological qubits, classical information processing devices for quantum control, new quantum algorithms, and simulations.

At the start of this year, Daniel Newman, principal analyst and founding partner at Futurum Research, predicted that 2020 will be a big year for investors and Silicon Valley to invest in quantum computing companies. He said, It will be incredibly impactful over the next decade, and 2020 should be a big year for advancement and investment.

Quantum computing is still in the development phase, and the lack of suppliers and skilled researchers might be one of the influential factors in its establishment. However, if tech giants, and researchers continue to collaborate on a large scale, quantum technology can turbocharge innovation at a large scale.

What are your thoughts on the progress of quantum computing? Comment below or let us know on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook. Wed love to hear from you!

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The Quantum Dream: Are We There Yet? - Toolbox

The combination of these factors means that, unlike previous recessions, business has not responded to this crisis by hunkering down and cutting costs.

This crisis has seen companies changing and innovating their operating models via a dramatic uptick in technology investment, which has changed the game.

Just before the crisis, Accenture recorded a major performance gap between the leaders in technology adoption and the laggards.

We conducted a vast global survey, including 500 Australian executives, which found the top 10 per cent of companies leading in technology were performing twice as well as the bottom 25 per cent (the laggards).

When COVID hit, almost overnight, this digital performance gap started widening because leaders could adjust their operating models faster than laggards.

But then, something really interesting happened. The pandemic became a catalyst for pushing Australias digital laggards to transform.

Everyone has been experimenting with agile delivery and rapid implementation. And thats brought about a real change in peoples thinking about whats possible.

The value of swift and strategic technology investment has well and truly been demonstrated in a very accelerated manner. Every CEO is recognising that they are actually leading a technology company.

As a result, demand for cloud computing in Australia is at an all-time high.

The massive ramp-up of workloads moving to the cloud has hit fast forward, with cloud spending accelerating through the crisis.

In the next 3-4 years, we expect to see the average business move over 75 per cent of its operations to the cloud from the current 25-30 per cent.

The scene is set for Australian industries, supply chains and workforces to remake ourselves better, faster and smarter than before. But, as we do, we must ensure we get value from our technology investment.

Key to that is for companies to think in terms of systems not individual technologies.

To leapfrog from being a laggard to a leader requires moving to enterprise-wide future systems that are:

In short, to make our organisations resilient, we must leverage greater levels of automation in combination with high-quality, relevant data, thats been decoupled from business silos.

And we must continue to experiment with and rapidly adopt emerging technologies.

The good news is, as we shift from survival towards revival, exponential technology change is not slowing down its advancing.

Next generation technologies, like DARQ (distributed ledger technology, artificial intelligence, extended reality and quantum computing) and 5G, are making a measurable impact in the current context. The use of quantum computing and AI is developing even more rapidly as it contributes to drug and vaccine discovery.

Hyper-automation is strengthening operations and helping companies prepare for future supply chain disruptions.

As the need for these technologies comes into sharp focus, demand will accelerate invention, innovation and adoption.

What we previously imagined would be a decade-long journey is now a sprint for the next three years.

In this environment, capturing the market means getting to it first. This is why Australian companies must keep forging ahead with their rapid technology adoption.

We need to take the best of what weve learned into the future, bring our organisations with us, and crystallise digital transformation at the front and centre of strategy and competitive advantage.

This is the path that will see Australia become a smart nation and our companies become global leaders.

Scott Hahn leads Accentures technology practice in Australia & New Zealand.

Read the original here:
Industry insight: why smart tech adopters will dominate the future - The Australian Financial Review

China has revised its exports restrictions list for the first time in 12 years. Chinas new restrictions on exports include a bunch of deep technologies, including AI, drone, satellite and cybersecurity. Certain technologies will now be subject to export bans or restrictions, meaning they have to be greenlit by the Chinese government for sale overseas.

The new rules, unveiled by Chinas Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Science and Technology, added many itemsincluding personal information push services based on data analysis and voice-recognition technologies commonly used in smartphones, robots and wearable devicesto the restricted list. Technologies on the list cant be exported without a license from the government.

Chinas Export Prohibited and Restricted Technology Catalog contain various technologies pertaining to artificial intelligence, voice, telecommunications, cybersecurity and cryptography.

Zhao Lijian, Spokesman, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, The main reason behind releasing the catalogue to regulate technology export management is to facilitate technological development, cooperate with foreign companies and to safeguard national economic security.

Telecom

First is the telecommunications and other information transmission services such as those that modify the control points of spatial data transmission technology. It includes telemetry coding and encryption technology (both hardware and software) for information transmission of the satellite navigation system, in addition to circuit design technology used therein.

Artificial Intelligence

Next technologies in the list include those related to artificial intelligence systems. Here are the following prohibitory list items-

Speech synthesis technology: This includes voice signal feature analysis and extraction technology, text feature analysis, speech analysis.

Artificial intelligence interface technology: This includes voice recognition technology, microphone array technology, voice wake-up technology, smart assistants, automated scoring technology for oral expression, pronunciation error detection technology, etc.

Cryptography & Security

Some of the cryptographic and security technologies which are mentioned on the prohibitory list include:

Cryptographic chip design: The list mentions high-speed cryptographic algorithms, parallel encryption, security design for crypto processors, the design and implementation of systems on a chip (SOC) security.

Quantum encryption: Another piece of innovation which is an area of intense global competition is quantum cryptography implementation method, quantum cryptography transmission technology, quantum cryptography code, etc.

Advanced Defence Technologies: This includes the innovation that helps companies defend themselves against potential cyber threats. Following are the technologies specified in the catalogue:

The Trump administration had blacklisted Chinese companies working on AI. Further, the US government urged its companies not to establish tech research units in China. American companies such as Microsoft, Google, and IBM had built research labs in China to hire local AI talent and to keep up with Chinese innovation trends. Now, as the tensions and trade restrictions continue to rise, analysts say this will lead to extreme tech protectionism between global powers, especially when it comes to technologies which could be deployed in defence and combat such as AI, cryptography, quantum computing and cybersecurity.

The US Commerce Department forced new export controls on artificial intelligence software, a mandate to block US companies from transporting AI systems developed in the US due to national security concerns. The Trump administration banned Huawei and TikTok from operating in the US, citing risk to data privacy of citizens.

Still considering further AI software controls, and the Trump administration is increasingly examining how tech companies and consumers from each nation interact with one another.

The new restrictions take the global trade war between the US and China to the next level. The prohibitory list would require technology companies to take permission from the Chinese government before selling specific technologies overseas. Now with the Chinese export restrictions, it is very likely that the US along with western countries which are its close allies are not going to be able to get access to new Chinese innovation in the foreseeable future.

Even social media platforms which are headquartered in China such as TikTok are impacted due to their extensive use of AI-based technologies. TikTok can no longer close its buyout deal once the mandate goes live in a few weeks. The social media company had been in negotiations with tech giants like Microsoft for an acquisition deal.

China has revised its exports restrictions list for the first time in 12 years. Just as video app TikTok tries to find suitors to take over its operations in the US, Australia and New Zealand, Beijing insists the new move is aimed at national economic security.

Chinas new tech export restriction rules not only add uncertainty to the sale of TikToks US operations but also could affect exports of broader consumer tech products such as drones and cellphones.

AI has become a controversial issue for the economic and political rivalry between the US and China over the past few years. The emerging tech is flying ahead swiftly, and there are big economic advantages and strategic benefits to be realised on both sides.

The news can hurt startups working in emerging technologies which may be planning to expand operations overseas. China is home to most startups in AI which have a global presence working alongside US tech companies. Post the export prohibition; the startups will have to reevaluate their expansion plans and make them in line with Chinese interests.

AI has been one of the most active, high-profile and significant sectors that China has witnessed for the past few years. The industry is one where top VCs have invested billions of dollars and has attracted top talents.

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Vishal Chawla is a senior tech journalist at Analytics India Magazine and writes about AI, data analytics, cybersecurity, cloud computing, and blockchain. Vishal also hosts AIM's video podcast called Simulated Reality- featuring tech leaders, AI experts, and innovative startups of India. Reach out at vishal.chawla@analyticsindiamag.com

Excerpt from:
China's Export Restriction List: Which Technologies Included And Why? - Analytics India Magazine