Quantum Compute Report Card: Looking Beyond Two-qubit Gates

At the start of October, IBM opened its first European quantum data center in Ehningen, Germany, which brought the company’s available quantum compute resources to the continent's academics, researchers, and other organizations. It marked not only an expansion of IBM’s reach in the development of quantum computers, but the ubiquitous interest in taking advantage of the technology -- even though it is still years away from commercial use.

Expectations heaped on quantum computers can range from optimistic hopes to fear of its security-smashing capabilities if put into the hands of bad actors. The multiyear, industrywide effort to further the development of the technology might not have the flash of AI-related deployments, but the era of quantum computing and post-quantum cryptography may have deep, lasting ramifications for cybersecurity and beyond.

“Quantum computers from a user perspective didn’t exist until, like, 2016 when IBM put one upon the cloud,” says Scott Crowder, vice president of IBM quantum adoption and business development. “This is not science fiction. This is a real computer, and you can go use it yourself.”

Read the full story from Enter Quantum's sister publication Information Week.