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They're creating a cloud SaaS platform, yet haven't actually solved the quantum issue, which will be solved in: "My guess is this could happen anytime from six

They're creating a cloud SaaS platform, yet haven't actually solved the quantum issue, which will be solved in: "My guess is this could happen anytime from six to 36 months". This company has built the easy part first (the web app and database), and now just needs to do the the insanely hard problem at the core of their business which nobody knows is possible to solve. I would probably not invest, is what I'm saying.

reikonomusha 8y ago
This is inaccurate. The first thing this company built was a programmable quantum computer. The second thing they did was build a quantum integrated circuit fabrication facility. 4 or 5 years in they started doing access models with software (“web app”, a term that’s also inaccurate, and DB). Having a quantum integrated circuit without a way to access it (a cloud platform, in Rigetti’s case), is like having a CPU without a motherboard. How might you expect to program the integrated circuit if it has no infrastructure to allow it to be programmed? This is a key ingredient to quantum advantage, not just the hard science of manufacturing scalable and fault-tolerant integrated circuits, especially since the notion of programming such a circuit is already a woefully nascent field.
- jackconnor 8y ago
  So, what's the "6 - 36 months" piece then, if they already have a workable quantum computer? Answer: they don't, and they don't know if they ever will, otherwise the time to completion would not have a totally arbitrary made up timeline. No?
  - reikonomusha 8y ago
    Quantum computers are analog devices that operate at varying levels of fidelity. Timelines usually refer to how long it takes to get to the next performance node, not how long it takes for a quantum computer to exist at all. They exist, are programmable, and are often accessible to third-parties. Plenty of sources conclude that independently. Many institutions, Rigetti Computing included, have built functional quantum computers.

reikonomusha 8y ago

This is inaccurate. The first thing this company built was a programmable quantum computer. The second thing they did was build a quantum integrated circuit fabrication facility. 4 or 5 years in they started doing access models with software (“web app”, a term that’s also inaccurate, and DB). Having a quantum integrated circuit without a way to access it (a cloud platform, in Rigetti’s case), is like having a CPU without a motherboard. How might you expect to program the integrated circuit if it has no infrastructure to allow it to be programmed? This is a key ingredient to quantum advantage, not just the hard science of manufacturing scalable and fault-tolerant integrated circuits, especially since the notion of programming such a circuit is already a woefully nascent field.

jackconnor 8y ago
So, what's the "6 - 36 months" piece then, if they already have a workable quantum computer? Answer: they don't, and they don't know if they ever will, otherwise the time to completion would not have a totally arbitrary made up timeline. No?
- reikonomusha 8y ago
  Quantum computers are analog devices that operate at varying levels of fidelity. Timelines usually refer to how long it takes to get to the next performance node, not how long it takes for a quantum computer to exist at all. They exist, are programmable, and are often accessible to third-parties. Plenty of sources conclude that independently. Many institutions, Rigetti Computing included, have built functional quantum computers.