Amazon does not want to miss the train of quantum computing and will develop its own quantum computer . It will be located in a new research center built in facilities of Caltech , the California Institute of Technology, which will open this week. Technology will be created there that will seek to enhance Amazon Web Services, at least in the first instance.
In this way, Amazon enters a career that already has several protagonists in the United States and other parts of the world. Let's remember that IBM, Microsoft and Google are some of the great technology companies that have set their sights on quantum computing and, in fact, have several years ahead of the firm founded by Jeff Bezos.
According to The Washington Post, Amazon leased a part of the land from Caltech to build the research center dedicated to quantum computing. According to the report, the facilities will be owned by the company directed by Andy Jassy , who will also be in charge of its operation.
At the moment it is unknown how much Amazon pays to rent the site where it builds its own quantum computer. What has been mentioned is that the company is providing financial support to Caltech for quantum and nanoscience research; and it does so both through scholarships and sponsored agreements.
Another interesting fact is that Amazon will own all the intellectual property that is developed within the quantum computing research center at Caltech. While the Institute will keep all the intellectual property that is generated through the research financed by the company. In other cases, the intellectual property will be shared, as mentioned.
Amazon's new quantum computing research center at Caltech | Image: Amazon Web Services
Amazon follows in the footsteps of IBM and Google with its own quantum computer
As we mentioned earlier, several of the world's great tech companies have ventured into the world of quantum computing. IBM has been evolving this technology for a few years, to the point of presenting a commercial version of its quantum computer. Google has also made giant strides in the sector, and has built a campus dedicated exclusively to the development of quantum artificial intelligence.
They are clearly not the only companies that play hard in the world of quantum computers, but they are the ones that have promoted their advances the most. Amazon will have a long way to go , but it has an important team of scientists working for a long time to establish the new research center at Caltech.
Fernando Brandao, one of the Institute's professors who will be in charge of Amazon's facilities, assures that the presence of large companies is vital to finance efforts to scale quantum computers. “This is not easy or cheap to achieve. And it is not something that people can do in universities, and that is why we need the industry there,” he said.
Although quantum computing is still in the early stages of development, its implementation is very varied . From science and medicine, to the development of secure communication networks, among others.
