How reality gets in the way of the hype of quantum computers

Baidu is the latest entrant in the quantum computer race, which has been going on for years among big tech and startups alike. Nevertheless, quantum computing may be experiencing a nadir of disappointment as practical applications remain far from reality.

Baidu makes its quantum movement

Last week, Baidu unveiled its first quantum computer, called Qian Shi, as well as what it claimed to be the world’s first “all-platform integration solution” called Liang Xi. The quantum computer is based on superconducting qubits, one of the first types of qubits that, among many researched techniques, was widely applied, especially in the quantum computer that Google used to proclaim quantum supremacy.

Qian Shi has a computing power of 10 high-fidelity qubits. High fidelity refers to: low error rates. According to the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, once the error rate falls below a certain threshold — that is, about 1% — quantum error correction can theoretically reduce it even further. Beating this threshold is a milestone for any qubit technology, according to the DOE’s report.

Furthermore, Baidu said it has also completed the design of a 36-qubit chip with links, providing a way to reduce mistakes. Baidu said his quantum computer integrates hardware, software and applications. The software-hardware integration enables access to quantum chips via mobile, PC and the cloud.

In addition, Baidu claims, Liang Xi can be connected to both its own quantum computers and those of third parties. These could be quantum chips built on other technologies, with Baidu a trapped ion device developed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences as an example.

“With Qian Shi and Liang Xi, users can create quantum algorithms and harness quantum computing power without developing their own quantum hardware, operating systems or programming languages,” said Runyao Duan, director of the Institute for Quantum Computing at Baidu Research. “Baidu’s innovations make it possible to access quantum computing anytime, anywhere, even via smartphone. Baidu’s platform is also directly compatible with a wide range of quantum chips.”

Despite Baidu’s claim that it is the world’s first such solution, the Liang Xi platform is reminiscent of the Israeli Innovation Authority approach, which also aims to be compatible with different types of qubits.

Although this is Baidu’s first quantum computer, the company has filed more than 200 patents in the past four years since the founding of its research institute for quantum computers. The patents span several areas of research, including quantum algorithms and applications, communications and networking, encryption and security, error correction, architecture, measurement and control, and chip design.

Baidu claims its offerings are paving the way for the industrialization of quantum computing, making it the latest company to make big claims that quantum computing is about to become widespread. Some quantum startups have already amassed astounding valuations of over $1 billion.

However, real applications for quantum computers, in addition to encryption, have yet to emerge. And even if they do, it’s expected to take thousands, which is far from what anyone has been able to accomplish so far. For example, this concern about scalability led Intel to stop pursuing the popular superconducting qubit approach in favor of the less mature silicon and silicon-germanium qubits, which are based on transistor-like structures that can be fabricated using traditional semiconductor equipment.

Yet there are already votes for it warn against overhyping the technology. In the words of the Gartner Hype Cycle, this could mean that quantum computing is nearing its nadir of disillusionment.

The other big challenge in quantum computing is that real qubits are often too noisy, leading to: decoherence This leads to the need to use quantum error correction, which increases the number of qubits well above the theoretical minimum for a given application. A solution called noisy intermediate scale quantum (NISQ) has been suggested as a kind of middle ground, but its success has yet to be demonstrated.

The history of classical computers is filled with examples of applications the technology made possible that were never thought of before. This makes it tempting to think that quantum computing could revolutionize civilization in the same way. However, most approximations for qubits are currently based on near absolute zero temperature. This inherent barrier means that quantum computing can be limited to enterprises.