Amazon has made strides in quantum computing by unveiling its first quantum-computing chip, Ocelot. This development was announced at the AWS Reinvent conference in Las Vegas in 2023, where AWS Senior Vice President Peter DeSantis discussed Amazon's efforts in building a quantum processor. The Ocelot chip is designed to address the critical issue of error correction in quantum computing, a step towards more efficient hardware systems.
Amazon introduced the Amazon Braket service, enabling developers to experiment with quantum computers from companies like IonQ and Rigetti Computing. This service mirrors similar offerings from Microsoft's Azure cloud, highlighting a competitive landscape in quantum cloud services. As part of its strategy, Amazon plans to make its in-house quantum chip available through Braket, further expanding its reach in the quantum computing arena.
The Ocelot chip, although limited to 9 qubits compared to Google's Willow with 105 qubits, marks Amazon's entry into the quantum computing race. This quantum chip was fabricated internally by Amazon, though outsourcing remains an option as the company advances its quantum hardware capabilities. Amazon's approach aligns with other tech giants like Microsoft and Google, who are also investing heavily in quantum research and development.
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has supported quantum computing research for over two decades, underscoring the strategic importance of this technology. Industry experts hold varying opinions on the timeline for practical quantum computing. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang suggested that useful quantum computers might be 15 to 30 years away. On a more optimistic note, Pat Gelsinger, former CEO of Intel, stated confidently:
"I stand by my prediction years ago — by 2030, useful quantum computing."
Amazon's vision for quantum computing is ambitious. The company's internal development of Ocelot is a testament to its commitment to leading in this frontier technology. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy had previously expressed optimism about the role of quantum computing as cloud services expand in large corporations and the public sector.
The path to building a fully functional quantum computer is fraught with challenges. Peter Barrett, founder and general partner at Playground Global, emphasized the need for collaboration with top semiconductor manufacturers to achieve a system with a million qubits. He remarked:
"That's because they're not big enough yet."
Moreover, Amazon's Fernando Brandão and Oskar Painter highlighted the potential efficiency of Ocelot, stating:
"We believe that scaling Ocelot to a full-fledged quantum computer capable of transformative societal impact would require as little as one-tenth as many resources as common approaches, helping bring closer the age of practical quantum computing."