Companies in the Field of Quantum Computing
By: Ujjawal Prasad
Tags: Science, Computer Science, Quantum Computing, Technology, Computers

Quantum Computing is a new, futuristic technology, with great benefits and uses in the field of computing. Due to this, there are a lot of companies in the quantum computing field, and today I will talk about some of the most relevant ones and what exactly they are doing.

Firstly, no paper about computing would be complete without the tech giants, such as Google, IBM, and Intel. All three of these companies are looking to develop more and more advanced technology in the quantum computing field. IBM has 28 quantum supercomputers in use, where Google’s specialty lies in its 53 qubit computer, a larger amount than any other company. Intel is further behind in the race. With a 49 qubit supercomputer in its possession.

Although the difference between Google’s computer and Intel’s computer is only 4 qubits, it’s important to realize one fundamental factor of quantum computing that makes this 4 number difference so enormous. This factor is that qubits are exponential, not linear. The very basis of quantum physics allows qubits to hold the value 1, 0, or either 1 or 0 at any given time.

This concept is difficult to grasp but in simplified terms it means that qubits can store 3 values at any given time, not only 2 like modern day bits. This fundamental difference is what makes qubits’ growth exponential, where normal bits growth is just linear. So, if you wanted to go into the numbers, Google’s supercomputer has approximately 9.0071993e+15 bits of space, where Intel only has 5.6294995e+14.

To delve deeper into other companies that are in the quantum computing field, it is important to realize one of the biggest problems with quantum computing as a whole. This problem is that quantum computers are very expensive to make and to maintain, since they have to be kept at near absolute zero temperatures for their particles to stay in the quantum state.

Obviously, a lot of small companies and smaller businesses can’t afford this hardware, but they still want to use quantum computers. This is where Microsoft and Amazon Braket come in. These two companies are mainly focused on making quantum computing technology available to companies who couldn’t afford it before, through the use of the cloud.

Two more companies in the quantum computing field are Baidu, Atos Quantum and AT&T. These companies are researching the applications of quantum computing and how exactly quantum computers can be used in different ways, such as running superfast algorithms for database search, developing artificial intelligence, and discovering new pharmaceutical modules.

Lastly, the last two companies I wanted to talk about are NASA and the Alibaba Group. This companies are using quantum computing in very specialized fields, NASA to help with aerospace engineering, and Alibaba to develop groundbreaking security techniques, since the methods used in cybersecurity these days are the same methods that can be easily cracked by quantum computers.

In conclusion, Quantum Computing is a revolutionary technology that has lots of applications in the real world. There are many companies who are in this field of quantum computing, and they are all focused on different aspects of this technology.