The General Availability of the 1000+ Qubit D-Wave 2X Quantum Computer

D-Wave Systems Announces the General Availability of the 1000+ Qubit D-Wave 2X Quantum Computer

New system has twice the qubits of the D-Wave Two and new benchmarks demonstrate increasing performance advantage over specialized highly tuned algorithms on classical systems

Palo Alto, CA
August 20, 2015

D-Wave Systems Inc., the world's first quantum computing company, today announced the general availability of the D-Wave 2X™ quantum computing system. The D-Wave 2X features a 1000+ qubit quantum processor and numerous design improvements that result in larger problem sizes, faster performance and higher precision. At 1000+ qubits, the D-Wave 2X quantum processor evaluates all 2¹⁰⁰⁰ possible solutions simultaneously as it converges on optimal or near optimal solutions, more possibilities than there are particles in the observable universe. No conventional computer of any kind could represent this many possibilities simultaneously, further illustrating the powerful nature of quantum computation.

[caption id="attachment_625" align="aligncenter" width="480"]                      The General Availability of the 1000+ Qubit                                                            D-Wave 2X Quantum Computer[/caption]

The D-Wave 2X demonstrates a factor of up to 15x gains over highly specialized classical solvers in nearly all classes of problems examined. Measuring only the native computation time of the D-Wave 2X quantum processor shows performance advantages of up to 600x over these same solvers.

Jeremy Hilton, vice president of processor development at D-Wave, said, “The D-Wave 2X marks the latest step forward in our aggressive performance trajectory. Our first system, the D-Wave One™ system, was the first scalable quantum computer, but was slower than general-purpose optimization software. The next generation D-Wave Two™ system significantly outperformed the general-purpose optimization software, but was only comparable to specialized highly tuned heuristic algorithms. With the D-Wave 2X system we have surpassed the performance of these specialized algorithms, providing incentive for users to develop methods to harness this revolutionary technology for their own applications.”

To showcase the performance of the new system, a paper outlining benchmark results for a set of problems native to the D-Wave 2X system will be posted to the arXiv. A summary of the results and a link to the paper are on the company’s blog.

The benchmark includes a set of synthetic discrete combinatorial optimization problems intended to be representative of real world challenges.  Some application challenges currently under study at D-Wave involve algorithms that tune stock portfolios or underlie machine learning used in bioinformatics, inductive logic programming, and natural language processing and computer vision.

“D-Wave continues to advance the state-of-the-art of quantum computing at a rapid pace, with a number of impressive application results, and the release of their 1000 qubit D-Wave 2X system is another major milestone in the industry,” said Earl Joseph, IDC program vice president for HPC. “Complementing today’s high performance computing systems, quantum computers will likely become an important tool to solve important problems that can’t be solved today.”

In addition to scaling beyond 1000 qubits, the new system incorporates other major technological and scientific advancements. These include an operating temperature below 15 millikelvin, near absolute zero and 180 times colder than interstellar space. With over 128,000 Josephson tunnel junctions, the new processors are believed to be the most complex superconductor integrated circuits ever successfully used in production systems. Increased control circuitry precision and a 50% reduction in noise also contribute to faster performance and enhanced reliability.

The D-Wave 2X system is available immediately for shipment and installation.

About D-Wave Systems Inc.
D-Wave Systems is the first quantum computing company. Its mission is to integrate new discoveries in physics, engineering, manufacturing, and computer science into breakthrough approaches to computation to help solve some of the world’s most complex challenges. The company's quantum computers are built using a novel type of superconducting processor that uses quantum mechanics to massively accelerate computation. D-Wave’s customers include some of the world’s most prominent organizations including Lockheed Martin, Google and NASA. With headquarters near Vancouver, Canada, D-Wave U.S. is based in Palo Alto, California. D-Wave has a blue-chip investor base including Bezos Expeditions, BDC Capital, DFJ, Goldman Sachs, Growthworks, Harris & Harris Group, In-Q-Tel, International Investment and Underwriting, and Kensington Partners Limited. For more information, visit: www.dwavesys.com.

News Release Source : D-Wave Systems Announces the General Availability of the 1000+ Qubit D-Wave 2X Quantum Computer

Image Credit : D-Wave Systems

D-Wave Systems broken the 1000 qubit barrier for High Performance Quantum Computing

D-Wave Systems Breaks the 1000 Qubit Quantum Computing Barrier

Palo Alto, CA

June 22, 2015
D-Wave Systems Inc., the world's first quantum computing company, today announced that it has broken the 1000 qubit barrier, developing a processor about double the size of D-Wave’s previous generation and far exceeding the number of qubits ever developed by D-Wave or any other quantum effort.  This is a major technological and scientific achievement that will allow significantly more complex computational problems to be solved than was possible on any previous quantum computer.

[caption id="attachment_588" align="aligncenter" width="650"] D-Wave Systems broken the 1000 qubit barrier for High Performance Quantum Computing[/caption]

D-Wave’s quantum computer runs a quantum annealing algorithm to find the lowest points, corresponding to optimal or near optimal solutions, in a virtual “energy landscape.” Every additional qubit doubles the search space of the processor. At 1000 qubits, the new processor considers 2¹⁰⁰⁰possibilities simultaneously, a search space which dwarfs the 2⁵¹² possibilities available to the 512-qubit D-Wave Two. ‪In fact, the new search space contains far more possibilities than there are ‪particles in the observable universe.

“For the high-performance computing industry, the promise of quantum computing is very exciting. It offers the potential to solve important problems that either can’t be solved today or would take an unreasonable amount of time to solve,” said Earl Joseph, IDC program vice president for HPC. “D-Wave is at the forefront of this space today with customers like NASA and Google, and this latest advancement will contribute significantly to the evolution of the Quantum Computing industry.”

As the only manufacturer of scalable quantum processors, D-Wave breaks new ground with every succeeding generation it develops. The new processors, comprising over 128,000 Josephson tunnel junctions, are believed to be the most complex superconductor integrated circuits ever successfully yielded. They are fabricated in part at D-Wave’s facilities in Palo Alto, CA and at Cypress Semiconductor’s wafer foundry located in Bloomington, Minnesota.

“Temperature, noise, and precision all play a profound role in how well quantum processors solve problems.  Beyond scaling up the technology by doubling the number of qubits, we also achieved key technology advances prioritized around their impact on performance,” said Jeremy Hilton, D-Wave vice president, processor development. “We expect to release benchmarking data that demonstrate new levels of performance later this year.”

The 1000-qubit milestone is the result of intensive research and development by D-Wave and reflects a triumph over a variety of design challenges aimed at enhancing performance and boosting solution quality. Beyond the much larger number of qubits, other significant innovations include:

•  Lower Operating Temperature: While the previous generation processor ran at a temperature close to absolute zero, the new processor runs 40% colder. The lower operating temperature enhances the importance of quantum effects, which increases the ability to discriminate the best result from a collection of good candidates.​


• Reduced Noise: Through a combination of improved design, architectural enhancements and materials changes, noise levels have been reduced by 50% in comparison to the previous generation. The lower noise environment enhances problem-solving performance while boosting reliability and stability.


• Increased Control Circuitry Precision: In the testing to date, the increased precision coupled with the noise reduction has demonstrated improved precision by up to 40%. To accomplish both while also improving manufacturing yield is a significant achievement.


• Advanced Fabrication:  The new processors comprise over 128,000 Josephson junctions (tunnel junctions with superconducting electrodes) in a 6-metal layer planar process with 0.25μm features, believed to be the most complex superconductor integrated circuits ever built.


• New Modes of Use: The new technology expands the boundaries of ways to exploit quantum resources.  In addition to performing discrete optimization like its predecessor, firmware and software upgrades will make it easier to use the system for sampling applications.

“Breaking the 1000 qubit barrier marks the culmination of years of research and development by our scientists, engineers and manufacturing team,” said D-Wave CEO Vern Brownell. “It is a critical step toward bringing the promise of quantum computing to bear on some of the most challenging technical, commercial, scientific, and national defense problems that organizations face.”

A 1000 qubit processor will also be on display at the upcoming GEOINT conference in D-Wave’s booth, #10076.

News Release Source : D-Wave Systems Breaks the 1000 Qubit Quantum Computing Barrier

Image Credit : D-Wave Systems

D-Wave System Raises $29M to Advance Quantum Computer Development

D-Wave Systems Raises an Additional $29M, Closing 2014 Financing at $62M

Burnaby, British Columbia - January 29, 2015 - D-Wave Systems Inc., the world's first quantum computing company, today announced that it has closed $29 million in funding from a large institutional investor, among others. This funding will be used to accelerate development of D-Wave’s quantum hardware and software and expand the software application ecosystem. This investment brings total funding in D-Wave to $174 million (CAD), with approximately $62 million raised in 2014.

[caption id="attachment_556" align="aligncenter" width="620"] D-Wave System Raises $29M to Advance Quantum Computer Development[/caption]

“The investment is a testament to the progress D-Wave continues to make as the leader in quantum computing systems,” said Vern Brownell, CEO of D-Wave. “The funding we received in 2014 will advance our quantum hardware and software development, as well as our work on leading edge applications of our systems. By making quantum computing available to more organizations, we’re driving our goal of finding solutions to the most complex optimization and machine learning applications in national defense, computing, research and finance.”

The funding follows a year of strong growth and advancement for D-Wave. Highlights include:

•    Significant progress made towards the release of the next D-Wave quantum system featuring a 1000 qubit processor, which is currently undergoing testing in D-Wave’s labs.
•    The company’s patent portfolio grew to over 150 issued patents worldwide, with 11 new U.S. patents being granted in 2014, covering aspects of D-Wave’s processor technology, systems and techniques for solving computational problems using D-Wave’s technology.
•    D-Wave Professional Services launched, providing quantum computing experts to collaborate directly with customers, and deliver training classes on the usage and programming of the D-Wave system to a number of national laboratories, businesses and universities.
•    Partnerships were established with DNA-SEQ and 1QBit, companies that are developing quantum software applications in the spheres of medicine and finance, respectively.
•    Research throughout the year continued to validate D-Wave’s work, including a study showing further evidence of quantum entanglement by D-Wave and USC scientists, published in Physical Review X this past May.

Since 2011, some of the most prestigious organizations in the world, including Lockheed Martin, NASA, Google, USC and the Universities Space Research Association (USRA), have partnered with D-Wave to use their quantum computing systems. In 2015, these partners will continue to work with the D-Wave computer, conducting pioneering research in machine learning, optimization, and space exploration.

D-Wave, which already employs over 120 people, plans to expand hiring with the additional funding. Key areas of growth include research, processor and systems development and software engineering.

About D-Wave Systems Inc.
Founded in 1999, D-Wave Systems is the first quantum computing company. Its mission is to integrate new discoveries in physics, engineering, manufacturing, and computer science into breakthrough approaches to computation to help solve some of the world’s most complex challenges. The company's flagship product, the D-Wave Two™ computer system, is built around a novel type of superconducting processor that uses quantum mechanics to massively accelerate computation.

D-Wave’s customers include some of the world’s most prominent organizations including Lockheed Martin, Google and NASA. With headquarters near Vancouver, Canada, D-Wave U.S. is based in Palo Alto, California. D-Wave has a blue-chip investor base including Bezos Expeditions, BDC Capital, DFJ, Goldman Sachs, Growthworks, Harris & Harris Group, In-Q-Tel, International Investment and Underwriting, and Kensington Partners Limited. For more information, visit: www.dwavesys.com.

News Release Source : D-Wave Systems Raises an Additional $29M, Closing 2014 Financing at $62M

Image Credit : www.dwavesys.com

Paper presents effect of thermal noise on quantum annealing

Quantum Computing Firm D-Wave Systems Announces Publication of New Peer-Reviewed Paper in Nature Communications

BURNABY, British Columbia and PALO ALTO, Calif., May 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- D-Wave Systems Inc., the world's first commercial quantum computing company, today announced the publication of a peer-reviewed paper entitled "Thermally assisted quantum annealing of a 16-qubit problem" in the journal Nature Communications.

The paper presents the results of the first experimental exploration of the effect of thermal noise on quantum annealing. Quantum annealing is the process by which qubits, the basic unit of information in a quantum computer, are slowly tuned (annealed) from their superposition state (where they are 0 and 1 at the same time) into a classical state (where they are either 0 or 1). D-Wave quantum computers use this process to solve optimization problems in which many criteria need to be considered in order to come up with the best solution. These types of problems exist in many disciplines, such as cancer research, image recognition, software verification, financial analysis and logistics.

Paper presents effect of thermal noise on quantum annealing

Using 16 qubits within a D-Wave processor, the experiments demonstrated that, for the problem studied, even with annealing times eight orders of magnitude longer than the predicted single-qubit decoherence time (the typical time it takes for environmental factors to start to corrupt the state of a qubit), the probabilities of performing a successful computation are similar to those expected for a fully coherent system. The experiments also demonstrated that by repeatedly annealing the open system quickly several times rather than annealing a hypothetical closed system slowly once, quantum annealing can take advantage of a thermal environment to achieve a speedup factor of up to 1,000 over the closed system (a closed system is one which does not interact with its environment, whereas an open system does interact with it).

"Our experiments demonstrated that mechanisms that many believed would disrupt quantum annealing (or AQC) calculations based on theoretical analyses of hypothetical, closed quantum systems operating at zero temperature don't necessarily do so for real, open quantum systems operating at finite temperature," said Eric Ladizinsky, co-founder and Chief Scientist of D-Wave. "One example of this, described in the paper, is that we found that a small amount of thermal noise (generally thought to be universally bad) can actually enhance problem solving effectiveness, rather than diminish it.  As all real quantum computers will inevitably be open quantum systems operating at finite temperature we hope our paper will encourage others to think more deeply about the prospects of quantum computing in open quantum systems."

This paper is the latest in a long line of peer-reviewed papers from D-Wave scientists. Earlier this year, D-Wave published another paper in Scientific Reports, a Nature Publishing Group journal, discussing the effect of environmental decoherence on the ground state during adiabatic quantum computation. Over the past decade, almost 60 peer-reviewed papers authored by scientists at D-Wave have been published in prestigious journals, including Nature, Physical Review, Science, Quantum Information Processing, and the Journal of Computational Physics (see http://www.dwavesys.com/en/publications.html).

About D-Wave Systems Inc.

Founded in 1999, D-Wave's mission is to integrate new discoveries in physics and computer science into breakthrough approaches to computation. The company's flagship product, the 512-qubit D-Wave Two™ computer, is built around a novel type of superconducting processor that uses quantum mechanics to massively accelerate computation. Recently D-Wave announced the installation of a D-Wave Two at the new Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab created jointly by that NASA, Google and USRA. This came soon after Lockheed-Martin's purchase of an upgrade of their 128-qubit D-Wave One™ system to a 512-qubit D-Wave Two. With headquarters near Vancouver, Canada, the D-Wave U.S. offices are located in Palo Alto, California. D‑Wave has a blue-chip investor base including Bezos Expeditions, Business Development Bank of Canada, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Goldman Sachs, Growthworks, Harris & Harris Group, In-Q-Tel, International Investment and Underwriting, and Kensington Partners Limited. 

For more information, visit: www.dwavesys.com or 

Learn more at www.youtube.com/user/dwavesystems.

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Quantum Computing Firm D-Wave Systems Announces Milestone of 100 U.S.Patents Granted

Quantum Computing Firm D-Wave Systems Announces Milestone of 100 U.S. Patents Granted

- Patent Portfolio also Rated #4 in Computing Systems by IEEE Spectrum in Latest Quality Assessment

BURNABY, British Columbia and PALO ALTO, Calif., June 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- D-Wave Systems Inc., the world's first commercial quantum computing company, today announced it has been granted its 100^th patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. This is an important milestone for the company, whose patent portfolio was also rated #4 in the Computer Systems category by IEEE Spectrum this past December, just behind computing giants IBM, HP and Fujitsu.

Quantum Computing Firm D-Wave Systems Announces Milestone of 100 U.S. Patents Granted

In order to build the world's first commercial quantum computer, D-Wave needed to significantly advance the state-of-the-art in a diverse set of domains in physics, system architecture, manufacturing and computer science. This ranged from the science of quantum computing to the development, fabrication and manufacturing of all elements of the system from the superconducting qubits to the quantum processor to the magnetic shielding and cooling and the software and algorithms.

In December of 2012, IEEE Spectrum announced their sixth Patent Power scorecard. According to IEEE Spectrum, "The scorecards are based on objective, quantitative benchmarking of the patent portfolios of more than 5000 leading commercial enterprises, academic institutions, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies. This benchmarking—carried out by us at 1790 Analytics, based in Haddonfield, N.J.—takes into account not only the size of organizations' patent portfolios but also the quality, as reflected in characteristics such as growth, impact, originality, and general applicability."

"Both the 100 patent milestone and the recognition by IEEE Spectrum for our patent quality is a reflection of the number of breakthroughs the company has made in order to actually develop, manufacture, sell and install the first commercial quantum computers," said Vern Brownell, D-Wave CEO. "The fact that D-Wave's patent portfolio is rated # 4 in a list that includes industry leaders like IBM, HP, Fujitsu, NEC, Dell, Cray and SGI is a testament to the hard work, dedication and passion of the D-Wave team. Furthermore, many of the breakthroughs these patents represent have been documented in more than 60 peer-reviewed scientific publications. I congratulate everyone at D-Wave for these achievements and for the commercial success that has resulted."

About D-Wave Systems Inc. Founded in 1999, D-Wave's mission is to integrate new discoveries in physics and computer science into breakthrough approaches to computation. The company's flagship product, the 512-qubit D-Wave Two™ computer, is built around a novel type of superconducting processor that uses quantum mechanics to massively accelerate computation. Recently D-Wave announced the installation of a D-Wave Two system at the new Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab created jointly by NASA, Google and USRA. This came soon after Lockheed-Martin's purchase of an upgrade of their 128-qubit D-Wave One™ system to a 512-qubit D-Wave Two computer. With headquarters near Vancouver, Canada, the D-Wave U.S. offices are located in Palo Alto, California. D‑Wave has a blue-chip investor base including Bezos Expeditions, Business Development Bank of Canada, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Goldman Sachs, Growthworks, Harris & Harris Group, In-Q-Tel, International Investment and Underwriting, and Kensington Partners Limited. 

For more information, visit: www.dwavesys.com or 

Learn more at www.youtube.com/user/dwavesystems 

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New Quantum Artificial Intelligence Initiative

D-Wave Two™ Quantum Computer Selected for New Quantum Artificial Intelligence Initiative

System to be Installed at NASA's Ames Research Center, and Operational in Q3

BURNABY, British Columbia and PALO ALTO, Calif., May 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- D-Wave Systems Inc., the world's first commercial quantum computing company, today announced that its new 512-qubit quantum computer, the D-Wave Two, will be installed at the new Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab, a collaboration among NASA, Google and the Universities Space Research Association (USRA). The purpose of this effort is to use quantum computing to advance machine learning in order to solve some of the most challenging computer science problems. Installation has already begun at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, and the system is expected to be available to researchers during Q3.

New Quantum Artificial Intelligence Initiative

Researchers at Google, NASA and USRA expect to use the D-Wave system to develop applications for a broad range of complex problems such as machine learning, web search, speech recognition, planning and scheduling, search for exoplanets, and support operations in mission control centers. Via USRA the system will also be available to the broader U.S. academic community.

"D-Wave has made significant strides in the technology, application and now commercialization of quantum computing," saidSteve Conway, IDC research vice president for high performance computing. "The order for a D-Wave Two system for the initiative launched by NASA, Google and USRA attests to the revolutionary potential of this fundamentally different approach to computing for both industry and government. HPC buyers and users are looking for ways to speed up their applications beyond what contemporary technologies can deliver. IDC believes organizations that depend on leading-edge technology would do well to begin exploring the possibilities for quantum computing."

As part of the selection process, Google, NASA and USRA created a series of benchmark and acceptance tests that the new D-Wave 512-qubit system was required to pass before the installation at NASA Ames could proceed. In all cases, the D-Wave Two system met or exceeded the required performance specifications, in some cases by a large margin.

"We are extremely pleased to make this announcement," stated Vern Brownell, CEO of D-Wave. "Three world class organizations and their research teams will use the D-Wave Two to develop real world applications and to support research from leading academic institutions. This joint effort shows that quantum computing has expanded beyond the theoretical realm and into the worlds of business and technology."

About D-Wave Systems Inc.

Founded in 1999, D-Wave's mission is to integrate new discoveries in physics and computer science into breakthrough approaches to computation that serves business. The company's flagship product, the 512-qubit D-Wave Two™ computer, is built around a novel type of superconducting processor that uses quantum mechanics to massively accelerate computation. The NASA/Google/USRA installation marks a significant broadening of D-Wave's customer base, and comes on the heels of Lockheed-Martin's purchase of an upgrade of their 128-qubit D-Wave One™ system to a 512-qubit D-Wave Two earlier in this year. With headquarters near Vancouver, Canada, the D-Wave U.S. offices are located in Palo Alto, California. D‑Wave has a blue-chip investor base including Bezos Expeditions, Business Development Bank of Canada, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Goldman Sachs, Growthworks, Harris & Harris Group, In-Q-Tel, International Investment and Underwriting, and Kensington Partners Limited. 

For more information, visit: www.dwavesys.com or 

Learn more at www.youtube.com/user/dwavesystems

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