Swedish businesses will be able to use 25-qubit quantum computers from 2024-2025, thanks to a new cloud computing system using Sweden’s existing Chalmers University of Technology infrastructure.
The project has been made possible thanks to an initial donation of SEK 102 million (€9.2 million) from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.
Many public clouds in the US now offer remote access to quantum computing technology, but due to technical challenges Chalmers believes Swedish users would benefit from low-latency systems at home.
The foundation already supports a large number of computers working at Chalmers for internal use. The technology currently has 25 working qubits but is being scaled up to 100 qubits by 2029.
Ongoing R&D meant that the system lacked the power of external projects, which led to the decision to seek better matching funds.
Now The Wallenberg Foundation has agreed to underwrite the project, to get the second Swedish quantum computer dedicated entirely to industry and research.
Set to become operational in 2024, the project’s test bed will have 12-24 months to be validated before being released the following year.
In addition to 25-qubit computers, Chalmers will guide businesses in deploying quantum algorithms for large-scale use cases, and provide expert consultation from a bespoke “quantum help desk.”
The news follows the announcement by Parisian quantum Welinq of a €5 million seed funding round.
Welinq is interesting because it is part of a group that has abandoned ion-trap architecture, a technique used to operate qubits and quantum gates without the use of advanced circuits that require extreme cooling.
Although superconductors present some challenges due to the size of the superconducting units, Welinq says that ion traps can also be run using neutral atoms connected to different types of computers, thus allowing the scaling of hardware to be increased by using a repeater of qubits.
This sounds particularly appealing as amplification is a major barrier to delivering quantum leaps. Some believe that even the most demanding applications may require 100+ qubits to run efficiently, with a 100 qubit field capable of providing the maximum performance of all supercomputers in the world. Tech.eu reported in depth on Welinq’s proposal today.
Speaking on behalf of Chalmers and the Wallenberg Center for Quantum Technology, professor Per Delsing said: “We … will create a copy of our quantum computer and make it available as a test bed for companies and researchers to use algorithms.
“The goal is to improve Sweden’s ability in quantum technology and limit the use of quantum computers.
“The idea is that users don’t need to know a lot. It should be enough for a company to have a problem that they feel can be solved with mass computing. Quantum Helpdesk will help them from there.”
The Wallenberg Center for Quantum Technology has 12 years of funding for Swedish quantum technology. The project was launched in 2018 and three years later its annual budget from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation has doubled.
