Intel pours $50 million in quantum computing research

Intel announced a partnership with TU Delft's QuTech institute to research quantum computing. The decade-long partnership with the Dutch institute involves Intel providing $50 million in funding and "significant engineering resources" to move quantum computing closer to being a reality.

Anything involving performance increases and computers is of natural interest to Intel, so it's unsurprising to find the company partnering up with TU Delft's QuTech institute and the Dutch Organisation for Applied Research to spend the next decade solving some of the problems that keep quantum computers from being fully commercially viable. 'A fully functioning quantum computer is at least a dozen years away, but the practical and theoretical research efforts we're announcing today mark an important milestone in the journey to bring it closer to reality,' said Mike Mayberry, Intel vice president and managing director of Intel Labs, of the partnership.

Under the terms of the deal, Intel is providing $50 million in funding and 'significant engineering resources' to TU Delft's dedicated quantum computing division. 'Expertise in specialised electronics combined with advanced physics is required to move quantum computing closer to being a reality,' continued Mayberry. 'While qubit development has been the focus of quantum computing research to date, low-temperature electronics will be required to connect, control and measure multiple qubits, and this is where we can contribute. Our collaboration with QuTech will explore quantum computing breakthroughs that could influence the industry overall.'

The first commercially available quantum computers were released in May 2011 by D-Wave Systems, but critics claim these computers are not true quantum computing devices and fail to provide real-world performance gains versus traditional computers.

Source: Bit Tech