back to article Google and NASA hop into bed with quantum computing biz

NASA and Google have signed a seven-year deal with D-Wave Systems to install its new 1,000 qubit processor machines. Google, NASA and the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) will use the systems in their collaborating testing of quantum computing in artificial intelligence and machine learning. The machines have …

  1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
    Holmes

    A really bizarre development.

    It probably doesn't work better than go faster strips but one never knows (and doesn't NASA hook up with bizarre stuff like "reactionless drives" that have had no result in 20 years?)

    Meanwhile, not defeatable by quantum computers, adiabatic or otherwise: Honest-to-God SAT problems.

  2. Sgt_Oddball

    I for one..

    Welcome our new entangled overlords...

    1. Elmer Phud

      Re: I for one..

      So, Google are not content to take over this planet -- but every version of this planet that is possible!

      So many tin-foil hats, so little time (or can I sub them out to a sweat shop in another dimension?)

  3. Martin Budden Silver badge

    So does this D-Wave stuff actually work or not? Let me guess... the answer is "both" until you take a peek inside their black box, which is what NASA and Google are paying to do.

    1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

      The first one - almost certainly not.

      The new one - more than likely

      For Nasa - it's worth it to learn how to test future quantum computers.

      For Google - it's worth a punt spending 0.0001% of the tea money on something that might be able to do very big sums.

  4. This post has been deleted by its author

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "If you think you understand quantum mechanics...

    ... you don't understand quantum mechanics."

    ... or Silicon Snake Oil Salesmen bearing Gifts either.

  6. Drefsab_UK

    its good to see

    the dwave 2x has been showing upto 600x performance improvement on near optimal solution finding over the highly optimised classical computing software to do the same work.

    This is the first time the dwave chips have been showing an improvement over classical computing methods. The first gen systems were slower, the 2nd gen was arguably on par, now this 3rd gen is jumping ahead.

    To me I find this to be an interesting and promissing step forward towards the quantum computing industry, I consider it baby steps in an evolving technology (just look at the dawn of silicon classical CPU's).

    I am really looking forward to seeing the 3rd Gen Dwave VS GPU solver benchmarks they have promissed.

    If NASA, Google and USRA have signed this deal they must think so to. This kit isnt cheap by any stretch of the imgination. Sure these guys have deep pockets, but they don't even think of putting their hands into those pockets unless they think you have something worth buying.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    At this rate

    21/02/18 at 7.02 am for the Singularity (at least in some fashion) with this system being used to design a better system isn't totally implausible.

    Mine's the jacket with copy of Kurzweil's thesis in the back pocket.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The really strange thing is

    My prototype CTC system here tells me that after this exact time and date all the radio and TV bands are filled with random non-compressible noise. Should I be worried?

    Note: this does not violate Hawking's ""Chronology Protection Conjecture" as no useful information can be sent back in time, consistent with quantum mechanics the data is essentially just a snapshot of random intervals suggesting that a major event takes place on this day but not the events leading up to it.

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