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IBM Unveils 433-qubit Osprey Quantum Processor

IBM has introduced the Osprey quantum processor from 433 qubitsA major advance over the 127 qubits of the 2021 Eagle chip and a further step towards a quantum processor capable of running real-world computing applications.

Quantum computing is the next frontier and large companies are racing to position themselves in this technology. IBM is one of the leaders. It has one of the most advanced research centers on the planet (the TJ Watson Research Center in New York) where the revolution that awaits us in the coming decades is brewing. The center has different records such as the simulation of the largest molecule under quantum computing or the 53-qubit quantum computer for commercial environments, which was the most advanced when it was announced.

“The new 433-qubit ‘Osprey’ processor brings us one step closer to the point where quantum computers will be used to address previously intractable problems«explained Darío Gil, senior vice president of IBM and director of Research, at the announcement of the chip. “We are continually expanding and improving our quantum technology in hardware, software, and classical integration to meet the biggest challenges of our time”he highlighted.

IBM Osprey

Osprey and advances in quantum computing

Osprey is progress, but only the beginning. IBM’s quantum roadmap includes two additional stages: the 1,121-qubit Condor processors and the 1,386-qubit Flamingo processors, by 2023 and 2024, respectively, and before IBM introduces the Kookaburra processor in 2025. 4,000 qubits.

So far, the company has managed to comply with the proposed engineering route, but it will get more and more difficult and, furthermore, the number of qubits in a quantum processor is obviously only one part of an enormously complex puzzle and there are other sections that are equally or more important. .

In case all this sounds Chinese to you, it should be clarified that compared to the architecture of traditional computing capable of adopting values ​​of “1” or “0”, the information in quantum computing is stored in qubits (quantum bits) that can simultaneously adopt both values ​​(superposition) and thus be able to perform any computing task exponentially faster than current systems.

There are still important underlying problems to be solved, such as interfering factors that influence the controllability and reliability of qubits, such as temperature, electromagnetism, and material defects.

Another of the great objectives to be achieved is the so-called ‘quantum supremacy’. A concept that defines when quantum computers are capable of solving a computing task that could not be done with current computers or when the time to do it was crazy. Recently there has been a media battle between Google and IBM over this concept. Here, like everything in life, marketing also counts.

IBM Osprey

We are still decades away from using these types of machines in a consumer desktop, and this new technology is sure to reach supercomputing environments first. In fact, IBM has also detailed its Quantum System Two, basically IBM’s quantum mainframe that will be able to house multiple quantum processors and integrate them into a single system with high-speed communication links. The idea here is to launch this system at the end of 2023.

An exciting technology with enormous potential since it will change everything known in computing, with the ability to execute tasks at a rate of “thousands” or “millions” of times than current computers.

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