D-Wave Offers Free Quantum Cloud Access for COVID-19 Projects

We should state up front that at The Quantum Daily, we are not wanting to imply that Quantum technology is ready to help solve the current crisis we are all experiencing. Nonetheless we hope the Quantum Computing community can continue to contribute however they can.

With that said, D-Wave Systems Inc., a provider of quantum computing systems, software, and services, today announced the immediate availability of free access to its quantum systems via the Leap quantum cloud service for anyone working on responses to the COVID-19 crisis.

This initiative comes in response to a request from the Canadian government for solutions to the pandemic across industries. Unfettered, free access to D-Wave’s quantum computers via Leap is available immediately to anyone working on COVID-19 response in the 35 countries across North America, Europe, and Asia where access is available to the Leap quantum cloud service.

“We’re living through an unprecedented crisis affecting nearly every industry and population. Deftly responding to this pandemic requires creativity and new approaches to solving problems.”

“We’re living through an unprecedented crisis affecting nearly every industry and population. Deftly responding to this pandemic requires creativity and new approaches to solving problems. We believe that by combining our customers’ and partners’ expertise with hybrid quantum computing, we can together bring a potentially powerful resource to the individuals, organizations, and governments around the world building solutions nimbly and collaboratively,” said Alan Baratz, CEO of D-Wave. “D-Wave and its partners and customers have significant quantum computing expertise. Together, we hope we can aid the solutions to problems using hybrid quantum-classical solutions.  We want to expand the computational capabilities available to experts across disciplines, verticals, and geographies and bring the community’s deep quantum knowledge to bear on the complex and dynamic COVID-19 situation.”

Effectively responding to COVID-19 requires a collaborative and global effort across diverse organizations, including both private and public institutions. By providing free access to Leap’s quantum processing resources and quantum expertise, D-Wave and its partners hope to contribute to finding solutions to the COVID-19 crisis. Through this new initiative, anyone developing responses to the pandemic can immediately get unlimited, commercial contract-level access to the recently launched Leap 2.

Leap 2 includes the hybrid solver service designed to bring both classical and quantum resources to quickly and precisely solve highly complex problems with up to 10,000 fully connected variables.

Joining the effort are partners and customers including CINECA, DENSO, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Kyocera Corporation, KYOCERA Communication Systems, MDR/Cliffhanger, Menten AI, NEC Solution Innovators Ltd., OTI Lumionics, QAR Lab at LMU Munich, Sigma-i, Tohoku University, and Volkswagen, who will provide access to engineering teams with expertise on how to use the quantum computer and formulate problems, as well as help in developing solutions.

Hybrid quantum classical computing could be well-suited for solving a range of complex problems of this nature. Potential areas of focus for COVID-19 include a diverse range of hybrid quantum applications, such as analyzing new methods of diagnosis, modeling the spread of the virus, optimizing hospital logistics, supply distribution, pharmaceutical combinations, and beyond.

“Computing technology has long contributed to the development of science and industry. Quantum computing now has the potential to further this development, and we were one of the first to start research in this field in the auto industry,” said Koji Arima, President & CEO of DENSO. “We are honored to join the project, which will leverage this experience, mobilize our global expertise, and activate our spirit of collaboration. We believe we can overcome this crisis through the collaboration of humankind.”

 “It is promising to accelerate the solution of complex problems in pharmacology and epidemiology, such as those that have arisen in the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis, by means of hybrid workflows from quantum-classical computer simulations.”

“It is promising to accelerate the solution of complex problems in pharmacology and epidemiology, such as those that have arisen in the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis, by means of hybrid workflows from quantum-classical computer simulations,” said Kristel Michielsen from the Jülich Supercomputing Centre. “To make efficient use of D-Wave’s optimization and AI capabilities, we are integrating the system into our modular HPC environment.”

Pulling together the entire computing community is a crucial step to take on COVID-19.

“Unity and cooperation are key to overcoming the COVID-19 crisis,” said Hans Menlo, CEO, Menten AI. “We are excited to join forces with D-Wave and its partners and offer our expertise and resources in any way we can.”

The teams that are joining the initiative are approaching the pandemic from a range of fields and disciplines, which gives them the ability to take on all facets of the crisis.

“We are excited to join this initiative. In fact, we have already gotten started by building an optimization formulation for planning which hospital to allocate critically ill patients so as to prevent medical collapse,” said Dr. Masayuki Ohzeki, Tohoku University and CEO of Sigma-i Co. Ltd. “It is almost completed, and its assessment is underway.”

For more information on how to get immediate access to free quantum computing resources and programming assistance for COVID-19 response, please visit www.dwavesys.com. 

About D-Wave Systems Inc.

D-Wave is a player in the development and delivery of quantum computing systems, software, and services and is the world’s first commercial supplier of quantum computers. Our mission is to unlock the power of quantum computing for the world. We do this by delivering customer value with practical quantum applications for problems as diverse as logistics, artificial intelligence, materials sciences, drug discovery, cybersecurity, fault detection, and financial modeling. D-Wave’s systems are being used by some of the world’s most advanced organizations, including NEC, Volkswagen, DENSO, Lockheed Martin, USRA, USC, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. With headquarters near Vancouver, Canada, D-Wave’s US operations are based in Palo Alto, CA and Bellevue, WA. D-Wave has a blue-chip investor base including PSP Investments, Goldman Sachs, BDC Capital, DFJ, In-Q-Tel, PenderFund Capital, 180 Degree Capital Corp., and Kensington Capital Partners Limited. For more information, visit: www.dwavesys.com.