IBD: Quantum computing sets stage for significant scientific breakthroughs

(Investors.com) Quantum computing is on target to be one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs of the 21st Century. Businesses, governments, institutions and universities have made it a high priority, with billions of dollars invested globally. Investors Business Daily’s Brian Deagon reviews the progress of quantum computing technology and discusses the business potential which IQT News summarizes here.
Plenty of big tech players are developing quantum computing technology. In addition to IBM and Honeywell, they include Intel (INTC) and Lockheed Martin (LMT). China tech giants Alibaba (BABA), and Baidu (BIDU) are also heavily invested in the technology.
Startup companies with substantial venture capital, such as Rigetti Computing, D-Wave Systems, PsiQuantum and IonQ, also are in on the movement. Rigetti is planning to go public through a merger with Supernova Partners Acquisition Company. The transaction values Rigetti at about $1.5 billion.
Last month, Honeywell Quantum Solutions announced it merged with the U.K. quantum software company Cambridge Quantum.
The combined company was named Quantinuum and is the single largest fully integrated quantum computing company by head count, said Honeywell’s Uttley. It has 400 employees. Honeywell will also invest nearly $300 million in the company and has a 54% ownership.
A significant announcement on quantum computing arrived on Dec. 7. That’s when Quantinuum introduced the world’s first commercial product created solely by a quantum computer. It’s a quantum powered encryption-key generator.
The service, called “Quantum Origin,” is now available to financial services companies and cybersecurity firms. Later on, the service will be available to high priority sectors such as telecommunications, energy, manufacturing, defense and government.
Quantinuum says the encryption keys Quantum Origin creates are essentially impervious to hacking by conventional computers.
A task that takes a supercomputer days or weeks to handle could be solved by large-scale quantum computers in seconds.
IBM boasts that its Eagle processor packs 127 quantum bits. That makes it the first to go beyond the 100 qubit barrier.
IBM says Eagle lays the groundwork for its plans to make a 433-qubit Osprey processor, due in 2022, and the 1,121-qubit Condor slated for 2023. If all goes according to plan, the company thinks those devices could start solving previously intractable problems. Google has a 72-qubit quantum computer called Bristlecone.
Future applications of quantum computing also include finding new ways to model financial data and minimize risks to make better investments. This explains why Wall Street brokers such as Goldman Sachs (GS) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) are studying the technology, as is Volkswagen (VWAPY) and drug company AstraZeneca (AZN).
These companies and others have been building specialist teams over the last few years to take immediate advantage of the quantum opportunity when it arrives.