42 FORTUNE DECEMBER 2020 /JANUARY 2021
Big Tech club, Google,
made waves last fall when
it claimed to have achieved
“quantum supremacy,” a
term that describes when
a quantum computer
outpaces a classical super-
computer at a specialized
task. Although that result
is disputed by rival IBM,
it speaks to the technical
battle between compa-
nies vying for their own
supremacy in the nascent
industry.
Recently, Google used
a 12-qubit quantum
computer to simulate a
chemical reaction involv-
ing hydrogen and nitrogen
atoms, a record-breaking
achievement that graced
the cover of the journal
Science. The previous
record holder was IBM,
which three years earlier
had modeled a molecule of
half the size on a six-qubit
machine (more qubits
mean more sophisticated
modeling).
Such data crunching,
in general, could one day
lead to improved batter-
ies and carbon-capture
technologies, which
explains why companies
like Volkswagen (a Google
partner), Exxon Mobil
(IBM), and Daimler (both)
are so keenly interested in
the tech.
Earlier this year,
Honeywell, a dark horse,
surprised many people by
bursting onto the quantum
computing scene with a
version of its own tech-
nology. The company is
using a different hardware
approach that replaces
the specially designed,
supercooled silicon chips
favored by Google and IBMwith laser-guided atoms in
the machine’s guts.
JPMorgan Chase, Ger-
man shipping titan DHL,
and pharmaceutical giant
Merck are the latest big
names to join Honeywell’s
public list of customers.
Kam Chana, director of
computational platforms
at Merck, explains that his
company wants to use the
computer for early-stage
R&D so it can produce
newer, more effective
drugs and distributemedicine more efficiently
at less cost.
Marco Pistoia,
who leads research at
JPMorgan’s “future lab,”
says quantum computing
could enhance his bank’s
analysis of risk, a prime
concern. Goldman Sachs,
Wells Fargo, and Visa are
also exploring the tech,
including for pricing com-
plex financial derivatives
and bolstering cyber-
security.
Stefan Woerner, IBM’s
quantum applications
lead, raises the possibility
of quantum computers
being used for smarter
vehicle routing, the safer
management of invest-
ment portfolios, as well as
a better understanding of
protein folding, a complex
area of biology with medi-
cal implications.With its bars-and-
stripes experiment,
Zapata’s team must wait
hours to receive the final
results from Honeywell’s
computer, which, in these
early days of quantum, is
painfully slow. When they
finally receive the finished
product, they compare it
to what an ideal quantum
computer would have
produced, to gauge the
new technology’s limits
when it comes to machine
learning. The verdict? Thepattern is as close to per-
fect as Zapata’s team could
have hoped to see.
Such trials, while
simplistic and plodding
today, could eventually
yield better techniques for
detecting financial fraud
or diagnosing diseases
from MRI scans. In the
meantime, quantum com-
puters have a tendency
to err, and accounting
for and correcting those
errors is the industry’s top
priority.
Still, despite the current
shortcomings, getting real
value from quantum is in-
evitable, says Chris Savoie,
Zapata’s chief executive,
and that’s coming sooner
rather than later. “If you’re
not preparing for that and
doing these experiments
now, you’re not going to be
able to catch up.”QUANTUM
COMPETITION
The battle for domi-
nance in the nascent
quantum computing
market is ierce.
Here are some of
the main players:
Last year, the search
giant said it achieved
a major milestone:
“quantum supremacy.”
But since then, it
has lost some prominent
members of its
quantum team.
IBM
Big Blue has become
one of the leaders in
these newfangled
business machines. It
recently set a new goal:
creating a 1-million-
qubit machine by 2030,
more powerful than any
currently available.
HONEYWELL
The industrial giant’s
“trapped ion” hardware
is a departure from the
superconducting qubit
machines pursued by
IBM and Google.
MICROSOFT
The company’s devel-
opment of a quantum
computer has been
slow going. In March, it
began offering cloud-
computing customers
access to the machines
of others.
ALIBABA
In 2018, the Chinese
company started offer-
ing access to a 12-qubit
quantum processor
through its Aliyun divi-
sion. U.S. policymakers
are alarmed by China’s
gains in quantum.
SOME PEOPLE ASK, ‘WHEN ARE WE GOING
TO HAVE A REAL INDUSTRY? WHEN IS
COMMERCIAL QUANTUM GOING TO BE REAL?’
THAT’S ALREADY STARTED.
DARIO GIL, IBM RESEARCH DIRECTORTHE BRIEF COMPUTING