Advanced Skill in Quantum Computing Is Rare; Brilliant’s Online Course to Address

(Xconomy) Advanced skill in quantum computing is rare—even more rare than expertise in other emerging fields where engineers are highly sought, such as in artificial intelligence disciplines like machine learning and deep learning. The global number of high-level researchers in quantum computing may be less than a thousand, the New York Times estimated in October.
Zapata Computing is one of the US companies competing to make hires from the scanty global pool of quantum computing experts. Zapata’s work on a software platform for quantum computing is based on a collection of quantum algorithms it licensed from Harvard University. Zapata’s hiring struggles may have been worsened by restrictive US immigration policies, its CEO and co-founder Christopher Savoie told the New York Times late last year.
Microsoft and X, the cutting-edge research arm of Google parent company Alphabet, have partnered with a San Francisco-based educational technology company called Brilliant to offer a course in which students can learn the basics about quantum computing, write some quantum code, and give it a spin on a system that simulates the workings of a quantum computer—all using their smartphones if they like, says Brilliant’s chief operating officer Eli Ross.
Brilliant suggests two of its courses as prerequisites: Linear Algebra and Computer Science Essentials.