IBM’s quantum computer is important, but it’s far from ready

IBM’s standalone quantum computer is an important step forward, but the technology is still a long way from being useful

Amid the talking toilets and smart planks unveiled at CES 2019, there was one announcement that looked genuinely transformative.

IBM unveiled the Q System One, the first standalone quantum computer that’s ready for commercial use. While standard computers store information in bits – either 1 or 0 – quantum computing uses qubits, which can represent both 1 and 0 at the same time thanks to a state called superposition.

Theoretically, this could make such computers thousands of times faster and more powerful than even our best supercomputers, particularly for complex problems involving probability or lots of parallel processing. Some of the world’s biggest technology companies (including Google and Microsoft), backed with serious government investment, are racing to reach quantum supremacy, the point at which quantum computers become better than our current machines.

IBM is now claiming a huge milestone with the Q System One – an elegant, nine-foot glass cube that looks like something a hapless minor character might get sucked into during a science-fiction movie. The company worked with two British design companies – Map Project Office and Universal Design Studio – on the design, which aims to take quantum computing out of the laboratory and into the real world.

“This new system is critical in expanding quantum computing beyond the walls of the research lab as we work to develop practical quantum applications for business and science,” said IBM’s Arvind Krishna as part of the announcement.

But don’t throw away your old supercomputer just yet. The Q System One has 20 qubits, some way short of the 50 qubits that most researchers believe will be required to reach quantum supremacy. “A 20-qubit system is unlikely to be practically useful,” says Robert Young, director of the Lancaster Quantum Technology Centre.

Some in the field are surprised that it even makes financial sense. “Quite reasonably, many anticipated that something like IBM's announcement was not that far away,” says Kiran Bhagotra, CEO and founder of ProtectBox. “But what is rather unexpected to many is that this level of qubits is commercially viable as a standalone.”

Qubits are incredibly finicky – the slightest noise and outside interference can knock them out of the delicate state of superposition. “Operating these chips requires extreme environments, ultra-low temperatures that are isolated from any forms of noise, and delivering these outside of a lab environment is really tricky,” says Young. “How do you get signals in and out without heating the sample up or ruining the signals you're trying to measure, and how do you program them and interface them with the problems you'd like to solve?”

Where the Q System One has made progress is in starting to tackle some of these engineering challenges. It is a “state-of-the-art lab in a box” that uses a dilution refrigerator to cool its core down to a fraction of above absolute zero. The case, made of borosilicate glass half an inch thick, is completely airtight, but can be easily opened for maintenance, while the support systems are completely isolated from each other to protect the chip from electromagnetic noise and temperature fluctuations.

“It's really important that quantum computing makes the transition from physics to engineering and then on to computer science,” Young says. “This is a big step along that chain – we need plug and play systems that don't require physicists and engineers to operate, where you don't have to question whether the output is a valid result or a mishap due to hardware malfunction.”

Most companies have been racing to maximise the number of qubits, but the whole ecosystem around quantum computing is equally important. “It’s not good enough to invent a telephone if it’s just you who has a unit and you have no one to call,” says Artur Ekert, a professor of quantum physics at the University of Oxford.

Read more: Quantum computing and quantum supremacy, explained

Those working on quantum computing are starting to recognise that. D-Wave has also built similar self-contained boxes that could be shipped to a customer and plugged in ready to use, albeit with a slightly different form of the technology known as quantum annealing, which is only suitable for some tasks. “It’s a bit like a graphics calculator vs a PC,” says Winfried Hensinger, professor of quantum technologies at the University of Sussex.

Building a sleek and portable glass enclosure for quantum computers is unlikely to be important, as most people will access them remotely. “You can go in two directions,” says Hensinger. “You can make this completely self-calibrating, self-operating machine, or you can make the technology more powerful in an environment where you have skilled technicians and engineers on hand. The latter is better value for money because you can do more interesting things.” IBM already have a 16-qubit processor that anyone can use via the cloud.

“But stability, repeatability and flexibility are hugely important,” says Young. “If the underlying architecture of the IBM Q is scalable, new processors can be popped in when they're developed without huge new engineering challenges, then it could be a really exciting development for quantum computing.”

Getting quantum computing into the hands of consumers will require a big breakthrough – either by developing quantum systems that can work at higher temperatures, or improving and miniaturising the cooling technology.

Essentially, the Q System One is the quantum equivalent of the room-sized mainframe computers of the 1950s and 1960s. “It's aimed at allowing a large corporation with a team of engineers to operate a quantum computer in house, rather than at consumers,” says Young. It’s an important step forward – but not a giant quantum leap.

This article was originally published by WIRED UK