Amazon Enters Quantum Computing Race with ‘Ocelot’ Chip
Amazon.com Inc.’s cloud unit, Amazon Web Services (AWS), has unveiled its first quantum-computing chip, named ‘Ocelot.’ This move places Amazon in direct competition with other tech giants like Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Microsoft Corp., who have also recently announced their own quantum hardware. The development suggests that quantum computing, once confined to theoretical scientific experiments, is rapidly evolving toward solving real-world problems.
The ‘Ocelot’ chip, developed by a team at the California Institute of Technology, comprises two stacked squares of silicon. The name, according to Oskar Painter, head of quantum hardware at AWS, is a play on the term ‘oscillators,’ which generate periodic electric signals, including in the prototype hardware Amazon developed.
“Five years ago, I could have told you, ‘I think I could build a quantum computer and could build it practically,’” Painter said. “Today I can say with confidence we are going to build a quantum computer.”
Quantum computers leverage quantum bits, or qubits, which can exist in multiple states simultaneously, unlike the binary bits of traditional computers. This ability to exist in multiple states, based on the principles of quantum mechanics, allows quantum computers to process exponentially more information.
One of the primary challenges in quantum computing involves managing errors that can occur when manipulating qubits. Environmental factors like heat, vibrations, or electromagnetic interference can introduce inaccuracies into calculations. Amazon’s ‘Ocelot’ chip employs a ‘cat qubit’ architecture, inspired by the Schrödinger’s cat thought experiment, which posits an animal can be in two separate states at once. Each Ocelot chip contains five qubits to store data, along with other qubits designed to stabilize them and detect errors.
The company claims their architecture could reduce the cost of building quantum computers and their associated components by as much as 90% compared to some alternative approaches. These findings have recently been published in the journal Nature.
Painter, who is also a professor at Caltech, remains optimistic about the prospects of quantum computing, forecasting that useful quantum computers could emerge within “a decade or two.” He stressed the importance of a humble approach to the field’s current state.
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