Spy Agencies Fund IBM's Quantum Computing Research
Source: Larry Loeb
The US Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) program has notified IBM that it will award the company's scientists a major multi-year research grant to advance the building blocks for a universal quantum computer. IBM announced the grant on Dec. 8.
IBM is not disclosing further terms of the award because "it is subject to completion of final contract negotiations," according to the company.
IARPA is the research arm of the 17-member U.S. Intelligence Community, which includes the CIA. We think a universal quantum computer could be great at addressing intelligence challenges such as deciphering encrypted data. IBM has other use-cases in mind. According to the company, "This type of leap forward in computing could one day shorten the time to discovery for life-saving cancer drugs to a fraction of what it is today; unlock new facets of artificial intelligence by vastly accelerating machine learning; or safeguard cloud computing systems to be impregnable from cyber-attack."
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