Nvidia rolls out a new platform to enable a hybrid quantum classical computing

The potential of quantum computing can in no way be undermined today as it solves some of the most obstinate challenges from bringing down global warming to dramatically bringing down drug discovery time and much more. And with this, several companies are in a spree to bring up quantum computing capabilities. 

Nvidia has announced a unified computing platform that will bring in an open environment across quantum processors and classical computers. The company said that the platform aims at speeding enhanced quantum research and development across Artificial Intelligence (AI), High Performance Computing (HPC), health, finance and other disciplines. 

The company claims that Nvidia Quantum Optimized Device Architecture or QODA is a first-of-its-kind platform for hybrid quantum-classical computers and aims to make quantum computing more accessible by creating a comprehensive hybrid quantum-classical programming model.   

The QODA unified programming platform is made to enable programmers gradually add quantum acceleration to their existing application. 

Nvidia does not make quantum processors, it makes the traditional GPU supercomputing infrastructure that will work along with quantum processors in a hybrid setup. That is why the QODA platform is an open platform. The company is building the platform along with the major quantum computing hardware and software firms and has collaborated with research institutions too. 

Tim Costa, director of HPC and Quantum Computing Products at Nvidia said that the platform will “revolutionise quantum computing by giving developers a powerful and productive programming model.” 

QODA consists a programming model and a compiler toolchain that lets quantum acceleration of present day’s scientific computing applications. The programing model and toolchains are built to unify into and work in synergy with the tools, the programing model, and the languages that HPC and AI domain experts are already putting in their existing applications. 

“Scientific breakthroughs can occur in the near term with hybrid solutions combining classical computing and quantum computing,” said Costa. 

At the Q2B conference in Tokyo, Nvidia announced QODA collaborations with quantum hardware providers IQM Quantum Computers, Pasqal, Quantinuum, Quantum Brilliance and Xanadu. Its partners also consists of software providers including QC Ware and Zapata Computing; and supercomputing centres Forschungszentrum Jülich, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. 

“This ties together the best performing classical computers with our world-class quantum processors,” said Alex Chernoguzov, chief engineer at Quantinuum. 

Yudong Cao, chief technology officer at Zapata said that near-term applications in chemistry, drug discovery, materials science and more can now be seamlessly integrated with quantum computing, driving new discoveries in these fields as practical quantum advantage emerges.