The machine will be available for researchers and companies to run applications via the cloud.
The news: IBM’s new computer, due to launch next month, will boast 53 quantum bits, or qubits, the elements that are the secret to quantum machines’ power (see our explainer for a description of qubits and the phenomena that make quantum computers so powerful). Google has a 72-qubit device, but it hasn’t let outsiders run programs on it; IBM’s machine, on the other hand, will be accessible via the cloud.
Cloud power: IBM has been promoting quantum computing via the cloud since 2016. To boost those efforts, the firm is opening a new center in New York state to house even more machines. Other companies developing quantum computers, like Rigetti Computing and Canada’s D-Wave, have also launched cloud services. Behind the scenes, there’s a race on to demonstrate quantum supremacy.
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