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Quantum Computing 1 hour ago

Intel is paying $2.3bn for quantum software. Early or smart?

by Daniel Cohen

Saw this on Wednesday: Intel plans to buy Classiq, an Israeli quantum software company about six years old, for around $2.3 billion. Expected to close second half of next year. First reaction was the usual one. Nobody has a machine doing useful chemistry yet, so what is the software actually running on? Most quantum code today runs on simulators or a few hundred noisy qubits. Second reaction, after a coffee: compilers took decades to get good on classical chips and the people who wrote them early ended up owning the stack. If error correction lands in five to eight years, having the tools ready on day one could be worth a lot. Honestly can't decide which is right. Anyone here written code for a real device?

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Bernadette Kelly 1 hour ago

Daniel, I'd lean towards your second reaction, though for a slightly different reason. When the school bought its first computers, the machines were dreadful but the lessons we wrote for them carried straight over to the better ones a few years later. The hard part was never the hardware, it was learning how to think about the problem in a new way. If good tools mean more people learn to think in circuits before the machines are ready, that seems worth something even if the price looks steep today. What I can't judge is the number. Is $2.3 billion a fair price for a head start, or is it paying now for a future nobody can date yet?

Imran S. 1 hour ago

not a real device but we did a free cloud one at school last term, 5 qubits. half the class got noise as the answer lol. still the best physics lesson ive had

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