Quantum computing will change the cloud

The arrival of quantum computing will not only revolutionize the medical and financial industries, but will also reach the cloud market, according to experts.

Clare Duffy

NEW YORK (CNN Business) -- Quantum computing could eventually revolutionize the way drugs are developed, financial options are priced and climate change is managed, experts say. It has also been hailed for its ability -- or at least its potential -- to complete complex calculations in a fraction of the time it would take today's fastest traditional computers.

But until recently, access to quantum computing has been largely limited to researchers in specialized labs. Now, IBM, Microsoft and Amazon are working to provide broader access to the technology by deploying quantum computing as a cloud service.

The technology is in its early stages of development, but access to quantum computing in the cloud allows companies to explore potential applications for their businesses. Such services also indicate what the likely uses of quantum computers will be in the coming years: in the cloud and in combination with traditional computers. "We're all very excited about quantum, it's amazing how it's advancing so quickly," Jeffrey Welser, vice president of IBM Research, told CNN Business. "Putting it in the cloud has helped accelerate it, because you can have access to it without building a quantum computer."

Microsoft announced in November that it would begin providing access to quantum computers on its Azure service for select customers. A month later, Amazon Web Services announced a similar service. IBM has offered access to its quantum computing cloud since 2016, and last week announced that 100 companies are now using it to experiment with quantum computing, including Delta Air Lines, Goldman Sachs and Daimler.

Broadly speaking, quantum cloud services will look like this: Cloud providers will have remote data centers with quantum computers, just like they do with regular computers. Users will leverage them from their personal computers and write their own software or use existing software to harness the computing power without needing to understand how it works.

Read: By 2023, the cloud business will be worth a trillion dollars

“Ultimately, the belief is that we will use all of these devices probably just like we access regular computing,” said Andrew Fursman, CEO of 1QBit, a company that partners with Azure and AWS on its quantum cloud projects. 1QBit will work with Microsoft and Amazon cloud customers to build software that addresses their business needs using quantum computing.

"When you access Gmail, you're using your computer as a portal into Google's vast computing system," Fursman said. "There are many entities building quantum computers, and those will be accessible through the cloud."

The benefits of quantum computing

Quantum computers process information in a fundamentally different way than regular computers, so they will be able to solve problems that current computers cannot.

Traditional computers perform calculations using bits: data that exists in one state at a time, either a one or a zero. Quantum computers use quantum bits, also called qubits, which can be zeros, ones, or any combination of the two, allowing for much faster processing speeds.

Most people will likely access quantum computing in the cloud in the near future, rather than purchasing individual quantum computers for their homes or offices.

This is for good reason: Quantum computers must be stored in extremely cold temperatures (that's 200 times colder than outer space, according to Welser). And while they can tackle new kinds of problems, quantum computers aren't good at most of the things people want their computers to do. For example, they wouldn't be useful for storing photos or splitting the dinner bill after a meal with friends.

The real benefits will come from users having access to both quantum and traditional computing, simultaneously, in the cloud.

"It's almost like having a fighter jet that can do Mach six or seven versus a car," Horan said. "(Fighter jets) can solve problems that a car can't, but in most cases, you're not going to use them. And the pilot still has to take a car to get to the plane."

Quantum computing is especially good at modeling complex scenarios, said 1QBit’s Fursman. One of his company’s early customers was the chemical company Dow. Developing new chemicals has long required physically pouring different materials into test tubes and watching what happens, but 1QBit’s software simulates those experiments on a quantum computer.

Quantum computers are not yet advanced enough to replace the old method, but the capability could eventually save Dow a significant amount of time and money. Experts say other possible use cases include developing new battery technology for electric cars or modernizing the system used for air traffic control.

A long-term investment

However, those big benefits are years away. IBM's Welser estimates it will take at least five years to start seeing business applications and returns from the technology.

Oppenheimer senior analyst Timothy Horan said that while the technology is promising, it's not yet clear what financial impact it will have on cloud service providers or their users because business applications are still in an experimental phase.

But there’s no doubt that companies are racing to become leaders in the quantum computing space. Google said in October that it had achieved “quantum supremacy” with a machine capable of super-fast calculations, a claim that its competitors quickly disputed. Google has also said it is working on providing access to quantum computers in its cloud.

The United States and China are also racing to develop the technology, which could have significant applications for the military.

Welser said the way to ensure meaningful business applications emerge is to get companies and developers experimenting with quantum computers as early as possible.

"What we're seeing is unique, the number of companies and groups that are getting into the technology evolution so early," Welser said. "Part of what you need to do is train your people and your workforce to be able to use it."

Companies are willing to start investing money in the technology at this early stage because the potential is so great.

"If it starts to take off, we can invent new materials, new medicines," said Oppenheimer's Horan. "Ninety-nine percent of the use cases can't be predicted right now. They're going to encompass the broader market."