Researchers at Rigetti Computing have programmed its quantum computer to boost the accuracy of its machine learning algorithm, which it will make available to businesses in the near future.
The company used a prototype quantum chip to run a clustering algorithm, which organises data into similar groups, making machine learning faster to run.
Rigetti has now rolled its quantum-powered machine learning to its cloud customers as part of its Forest cloud computing platform.
However, the thing to note is that Rigetti’s application of quantum computing might be intelligent, but it can’t be used for mainstream computing just yet. It’s only a prototype and as so few businesses actually have access to a a quantum computer, it’s likely to be a long time until it can actually be put to good use.
There are a range of companies already ahead in the world of using computing for machine learning and AI research too. For example, Google, IBM, Intel and Microsoft are already actively using quantum computers or building the supercomputers for advanced data processing. That’s not preventing Rigetti from pursuing the technology’s potential though and it’s putting up a good fight to take on the bigger boys in the field.
“This is a new path toward practical applications for quantum computers,” Will Zeng, head of software and applications at Rigetti told Technology Review. “Clustering is a really fundamental and foundational mathematical problem. No one has ever shown you can do this.”
Rigetti’s quantum computer uses a hybrid system that makes it faster and easier to programme them. He also explained the Rigetti’s system takes a more modular approach, which offers benefits for businesses wanting to scale their implementation fast.
