IBM has introduced the Q-System, its first commercially available quantum computer. However, the 20-qubit machine is still expandable and, according to IBM, only a first step.
Researchers at IBM labs have been working on quantum computers for some time. Almost two years ago, Big Blue had announced that it wanted to launch a commercially available quantum computer for the first time with IBM Q. At the CES in Las Vegas, IBM has now presented this Q system to the public. For the first time quantum computing has overcome the limits of the research laboratory, IBM said.

Quantum computer: IBM starts in the commercialization of technology

IBM calls its Q-System One the world’s first integrated universal quantum computer for scientific and commercial use. At the planned IBM Q Quantum Computation Center in Poughkeepsie, New York, members of the IBM Q network plan to use the computational power of the quantum computer later this year. The system will not be buying. Rather, the quantum computers are likely to be accessible via the cloud.

The system consists of a 2.8-by-2.8-meter airtight housing, in the middle of which the actual quantum computer, consisting of thousands of components, is suspended in a smartly designed glass dome.

However, according to the company, IBM Q is only a first step towards the commercialization of quantum computing – albeit a big one. The 20-qubit machine is still upgradeable in terms of performance, as Techcrunch writes . To the classification: With 50 qubits the computers should be faster than the best recent supercomputers. Accordingly, IBM is modest. The IBM quantum computers will “one day” be able to solve problems that now seem too complex to be solved by classical systems.

IBM sees areas of application for its quantum computers, among others, in pharmaceutical research as well as in logistics . But also with financial service providers and in the areas artificial intelligence and cloud security quantum computers could be used according to IBM.