Amazon debuts Ocelot chip to compete with Google and Microsoft in the growing quantum computing market
With the February launch of its in-house quantum chip, Ocelot, Amazon has joined the quantum computing competition.
The action places the business next to computer behemoths like Google and Microsoft, all fighting to control what is being termed the next frontier in computing.
Amazon is using its current cloud computing power to carefully enter this developing sector as the rivalry grows.
From Retail to High-Tech Innovator
Though famous worldwide for its e-commerce behemoth, Amazon’s move into corporate technology started in 2006 with the introduction of Amazon Web Services (AWS). That project has now become a major component of Amazon’s total $2 trillion value, having evolved into a $100 billion-plus company.
The company’s long-term strategy sees quantum computing as a logical extension of AWS, providing fresh prospects for high-performance, cloud-accessible services.
Quantum as the Future of Cloud
Head of Quantum Hardware at AWS, Oskar Painter, underlines that Amazon’s quantum ambitions fit its more general corporate strategy, providing cloud-based off-premise computing capacity.
Although useful uses are still years away, companies like McKinsey project the market might be $173 billion by 2040, hence highlighting the great stakes of early investment.
Inside Amazon’s Quantum Building
Amazon’s investment also involves its collaboration with the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where its AWS Center for Quantum Computing is located. Kate Rooney of CNBC recently visited the lab and saw the Ocelot chip’s evolution firsthand.
Built on a scalable architecture that lowers the requirement for conventional error correction—a significant obstacle in quantum computing—the chip is designed and constructed totally in-house.
The Ocelot Chip’s Distinctive Features
Inspired by Schrödinger’s well-known thought experiment, Ocelot employs a kind of qubit known as “cat qubits.” These qubits lower the need for large error-correcting overhead by helping to naturally suppress some kinds of errors.
Painter said:
“The heart of these quantum computing systems … it’s really this quantum processor”
The chip puts Amazon in a position to compete with comparable technology like Google’s Willow processor, hence fueling the quest for feasible quantum hardware.
Creating a New Arm Inside AWS
Gene Munster of Deepwater Asset Management claims Amazon’s foray into quantum computing could not only be a tech experiment but could shape an entirely new branch of its cloud offerings.
“Ultimately, one of these major cloud platforms will likely lead the quantum future.”
By tackling problems ranging from drug discovery to cybersecurity, quantum computing may soon become one of the most valuable services AWS can offer.
