Quantum AI Consortium Grows, Seeks Open Ecosystem

(HPCWire) The emerging field of quantum-assisted AI is gathering momentum as partners take the initial steps toward developing an ecosystem based on open platforms.
PlanQK, which stands for Platform and Ecosystem for Quantum-Assisted Artificial Intelligence, provides a community development platform stored in a database that includes QAI algorithms, applications and data sets. The partnership gives the Cambridge Quantum Computing access to the repository that provides developers with vetted algorithms and data.
The PlanQK project seeks to expand the QAI community. Hence, the U.K. developer said it would add its TKET software development toolkit to the effort. The development kit (pronounced “ticket”) consists of a quantum software stack and compiler that translates machine-independent algorithms into circuits, an approach promoted as optimizing physical qubit design while reducing the number of operations. It also includes a qubit scheduling and routing protocol.
PlanQK’s other consortium’s partners include a growing list of commercial and academic AI and quantum computing specialists, including Germany’s Fraunhofer FOKUS Data Analytics Center and startups such as HQS Quantum Simulations. Along with AI applications, HQS focuses on quantum material simulations used to develop quantum algorithms.
PlanQK is funded by the German Federal Ministry of the Economy.
Among the consortium’s goals is establishing a standardized quantum app store that would allow users to evaluate quantum AI technologies.