Google and IBM may be busy bickering about what quantum supremacy is, but Amazon is eager to make quantum computing more accessible. That’s why it has announced Amazon Braket, which is essentially quantum computing as a service.
With Amazon Braket, scientists, researchers and developers are able to experiment with quantum computing hardware from multiple providers in a single place. With this service, it’s not about Amazon spending loads of research dollars on building its own quantum computer, but it’s about getting existing kit from the experts at D-Wave, IonQ and Rigetti in the hands of those that matter.
The service isn’t anything particularly special, and Microsoft offers a similar service called Azure Quantum, but it does allow users to test their simulations on quantum computers and to tinker with qubits. That’s usually not accessible to everyone due to the cost of developing quantum computers and acquiring the hardware, but now it’s part of AWS.
Amazon will initially only allow its corporate customers access to the Amazon Braket service, but the company does have more in store for the quantum computing industry. That’s because it’s setting up the AWS Center for Quantum Computing, a research centre that will develop quantum computing technology and bring together experts from Amazon and Caltech university.
The future is bright for quantum computing, but it does appear that Amazon and Microsoft are on to a winner when it comes to offering quantum computing as a service. That’s because the technology still remains extremely expensive, whereas the monthly fee of AWS makes it more manageable to access the cutting-edge technology – democratising what could be the next frontier in computing. We expect other companies to offer quantum computing as a service in the future.
