Ampere and Rigetti develop hybrid quantum-classical computer

     Ampere Computing has announced a strategic partnership with Rigetti Computing. The two parties will jointly develop a hybrid quantum-classical computer, using cloud computing to unlock more innovative potential for new-generation machine learning applications.

     Numerous fields such as climate change, fusion energy, quantitative finance, drug development, and materials science are facing extreme computational complexity. As one of the most transformative technologies in the world today, quantum computing will hopefully help scientists and engineers in these fields solve difficult problems. Machine learning will play a key role in developing potential solutions for these areas.

     The two parties will integrate the Rigetti Quantum Processing Unit (QPU) with the Ampere Altra Max cloud-native processor to create a hybrid computing environment capable of meeting the demanding requirements of machine learning applications. The Ampere Altra Max-based cloud server, working in tandem with the Rigetti QPU that performs quantum computing, will be able to process massive amounts of data. Powerful processing power is tightly coupled to enable the discovery and deployment of high-performance machine learning algorithms.

     Since its inception, Rigetti has pioneered hybrid architectures that use quantum computers and classical computers to work together on the cloud. Today, this approach is the predominant quantum computing framework for solving a large number of problems of commercial interest.

     "Our collaboration with Ampere will build on Rigetti's years of pioneering innovation in hybrid quantum-classical computing," said Chad Rigetti, founder and CEO of Rigetti Computing. "We are excited to partner with the emerging leadership in cloud-native processor technology. Partnering with Ampere and deepening our technology leadership in the field. Together, we are committed to building the most powerful cloud computing to help customers solve many of the world’s most important and pressing challenges today.”

     "Our cloud-native processors are optimized for a wide variety of workloads and customer needs, and working with Rigetti is a natural extension of our strategy," said Ampere founder and CEO Renee James. Quantum machine learning is becoming an increasingly important opportunity for both public and private cloud service providers. We believe that the Ampere and Rigetti collaboration will push the boundaries of quantum computing complexity while enabling users to achieve higher performance at a lower cost ."

      The two parties will collaborate to optimize quantum computer simulation software running on the Ampere Altra Max processor. The simulator enables developers to study and evaluate algorithms and applications by running quantum circuits on classical computers before running programs on actual quantum computers. With this Ampere Altra Max-optimized simulator, Rigetti's customers are expected to be able to build and test more complex, higher-performance quantum computing at a lower cost.