Pasqal latest to partner with Canadian AI research group Mila
French quantum computing firm Pasqal has become the latest quantum partner of Mila, an AI research institute based in Montreal, as the companies have teamed up to explore how generative AI modeling could be enhanced with quantum computing benchmarking and coupling with tensor networks.
The new partnership comes as Pasqal has made an aggressive push into Canada with a new factory and partnerships, and as more AI outfits and quantum firms are aligning with one another to explore the intersection of their technologies. Mila for its part already has forged partnerships with almost a dozen partners in the quantum space, among them Multiverse Computing, Agnostiq, and ZapataAI.
The one-year research plan for the collaboration “seeks to contribute to quantum computing and machine learning by deepening our understanding of the interplay between quantum concepts and structured data generation, to explore the potential quantum advantages in machine learning, and to develop novel generative models,” according to a statement from the partners.
Slimane Thabet, quantum application engineer at Pasqal joined Université de Montréal and Mila Professor Guillaume Rabusseau’s team as visiting researcher.
“This collaboration between Mila and Pasqal is an opportunity to explore and advance the intersection between quantum computing and machine learning. Together, we look forward to contributing to the ever-evolving landscape of AI and quantum innovation,” said Guillaume Rabusseau, Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Operations Research (DIRO) at Université de Montréal, Core Academic Member at Mila and Canada CIFAR AI Chair Mila, and principal investigator of this project.
“Boosting machine learning algorithms by quantum shows great potential, and neutral atoms quantum computing brings promising ways to find short-term relevant approaches. We really believe that the impressive community of Mila’s ecosystem will contribute to deliver impactful results,” said Raphaël de Thoury, CEO of Pasqal-Canada.
Mila founder and University of Montreal Professor Yoshua Bengio spoke at last year’s IQT Canada event, as did Pasqal chief de Thoury.
Dan O’Shea has covered telecommunications and related topics including semiconductors, sensors, retail systems, digital payments and quantum computing/technology for over 25 years.
