Startups are Using GPUs to Simulate Quantum Computers

Lacking quantum computers, some startups "are developing a new breed of software inspired by algorithms used in quantum physics..." reports Reuters. "Once too big for conventional computers, these algorithms are finally being put to work thanks to today's powerful artificial intelligence chips, industry executives told Reuters." QC Ware, a software startup that has raised more than $33 million and initially focused only on software that could run on quantum computers, said it needed to change tack and find a solution for clients today until the future quantum machines arrive. So QC Ware CEO Matt Johnson said it turned to Nvidia Corp's graphic processing units (GPU) to "figure out how can we get them something that is a big step change in performance ... and build a bridge to quantum processing in the future...." This week, QC Ware is unveiling a quantum-inspired software platform called Promethium that will simulate chemical molecules — to see how they interact with things like protein — on a traditional computer using GPUs. The software can cut simulation time from hours to minutes for molecules of 100 atoms, and months to hours for molecules of up to 2000 atoms, compared with existing software solutions, said QC Ware's head of quantum chemistry Robert Parrish... In the past 18 months, quantum software startups including SandBoxAQ — an Alphabet spinoff — raised about $1 billion, according to data firm PitchBook. To be sure, development of this technology is nascent and these startups must work hard to convince some prospective clients. SandBoxAQ CEO Jack Hidary said it was only 24 months ago that AI chips became powerful enough to simulate hundreds of thousands of chemical interactions simultaneously. It developed a quantum-inspired algorithm for biopharma simulation on Google's AI chip called a Tensor Processing Unit (TPU)...