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D-Wave said it could exceed the critical threshold that leads to the first practical use of quantum computing, and could result in payments for a controversial technical pathway that has been going on for 25 years at a cost of over $5 billion.
The Canadian company showed that a research paper published in the journal Science on Wednesday achieved “quantum advantage.” This is a term that describes the moment when quantum machines can solve problems that are too complicated even for the most powerful “classic” or traditional computers.
CEO Alan Barratz said D-Wave has reached the “Holy Grail of Quantum Computing.” “This is something everyone in the industry is aiming for, and we are the first to actually demonstrate that,” he added.
However, rather than trying to build a universal computer that can handle most types of problems, D-Wave opted for a more limited form of technology known as Quantum Anneale. This is ideal for solving complex optimization problems and several forms of material simulation.
Despite the narrow scope of technology, suitability for calculations such as the so-called travel salesman problem is seen as finding the best routes between a number of different locations potentially broad applicability for businesses.
D-Wave’s Advanced Quantum Processing Unit ©D Wave
“That type of issue is very, very broad,” said IDC analyst Heather West. “It’s popular among all industries and almost every company.”
D-Wave’s claim follows recent quantum advances from major tech companies such as Google, Microsoft and Amazon. These groups are working on general-purpose systems with a wider range of applications, but they are only a few years into the development of practical machines.
In a science paper, D-Wave said that the latest generation of quantum machines took about 20 minutes to simulate materials with complex magnetic fields, and that the most powerful supercomputers have now matched for almost a million years.
The demonstration also said it was the first time quantum computers have been applied to problems that could have practical uses. Being able to simulate new magnetic materials with a wide range of industrial applications means that they can understand their properties before they are put into production, Baratz said.
“We chose to focus on the business as the quickest way to create a business around quantum technology and the quickest way to create a business around quantum technology,” said Haig Farris, a venture capitalist who handed its first C$4,000 investment to the founder of D-Wave in 1999.
D-Wave’s diluted refrigerator ©Barb Bruce
The choice of technology has long led it to being overlooked by the “establishment” of the rest of the quantum computing, Faris added. “It’s as if we don’t exist, but we are the only company that actually has a business,” he said.
Despite narrowing its ambitions, the company faced financial pressure that led to its accumulated losses of over $540 million and in 2022, which led it to launch a warning that management might not be able to continue as a concern. The company earned a financial reprieve after Quantum Computing Stocks rose sharply late last year, allowing it to tap Wall Street for another $375 million.
“None of us did — I had no idea how long it would take and how much money it would cost,” said Faris, who served as the company’s first chair.
Google is the only company that has claimed quantum advantage over one of its machines. This is the point that he said he reached 2019. But that claim was quickly challenged.
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Science research papers described D-Wave’s breakthroughs as “quantum advantage” rather than “dominance.” This is a lesser achievement in the industry than classical systems (although they still use to describe systems that have only been demonstrated when they are important, but only when they are important.
Marcel Franz, a professor of physics at the University of British Columbia and one of the authors of the paper, said the journal’s editors partially refused to use the term supreme, because of its implications as white supremacist.
D-Wave has claimed that the machine is commercially useful for many years, but it has struggled to build a fair amount of business. We sold the first three quantum computers 14 years ago. This included one in a consortium that included Google and NASA, and instead sold access to technology through the cloud. It generated just $6.5 million in revenue and $57 million in losses in the nine months leading up to September last year.
According to Franz, quarterly D-Wave has taken so far, compared to the decades that it took to commercialize traditional computers to build a business already.
“It’s not surprising that you don’t carry a quantum computer in your pocket, but now there are quantum computers that do mostly useful things,” he said.
