Nvidia Quantum Cloud To Simulate Quantum Computers

At the GTC in San Jose, Nvidia has entered the competitive realm of quantum computing alongside other semiconductor companies and cloud service providers. They have introduced a new cloud service aimed at enabling researchers to test their quantum computing software. Despite the limited number of groundbreaking applications in this field, significant funding is being directed towards it. The Nvidia Quantum Cloud, as it is known, will consist of a data centre equipped with Nvidia's AI chips and systems designed to simulate quantum computing processes.

Tim Costa, Nvidia's director of high performance computing and quantum computing, described this offering as a quantum computing service that does not have an actual quantum computer connected to it, unlike the solutions from Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and IBM. Costa mentioned plans to provide access to third-party quantum computers at future GTC events.

Major players like Microsoft with Azure Quantum, AWS with Bracket, and IBM-backed Strangeworks Inc. have been active in the quantum computing space for several years. Nvidia's Quantum Simulator is set to be integrated into Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and Oracle Cloud, as confirmed by Costa.

The push to operationalise quantum computing on a large scale is intensifying, driven by the potential for computational speeds hundreds of millions of times faster than current supercomputers. This has spurred investments from various states, attracted by the promises of military and commercial applications.

Nvidia's advancements in quantum research have not only accelerated video game performance but have also facilitated quantum computer simulations. The H100 Tensor Core GPUs from Nvidia are proving to be crucial components in quantum research, capable of running classical algorithms that were previously beyond the reach of traditional computers. This development holds significant implications for fields such as drug discovery, materials science, and other scientific disciplines.

Furthermore, Nvidia's chips are slated to be utilised in the ABCI-Q supercomputer, a publicly funded project by Fujitsu in Japan. This supercomputer, housing over 2,000 Nvidia H100 Tensor Core GPUs, is dedicated to quantum computing research and is scheduled for deployment early next year.

Beyond Japan, the Novo Nordisk Foundation in Denmark and Australia's Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre are also tapping into Nvidia's hardware for their quantum computing endeavours.