Quantum AI for Defence at ANU

Dr. Nils Herrmann, 
 Quantum Brilliance

Greetings from the Australian National University where Dr. Nils Herrmann, from Quantum Brilliance is talking on Quantum Machine Learning on Diamond-based Quantum Computers. Quantum Brilliance is an Australia/German startup building quantum computers using diamond microchips. Their Canberra research center ios at the ANU. What got my attention, and probably did of governments and funders, is using the quantum effect for machine learning. Nils envisions a large quantum computer using training data and then a quantum computer on a plug in board in a desktop computer using the model created. The aim is to have a board rugged enough to be used in an aircraft, with obvious military applications. 

"This talk introduces the concept of Quantum Utility - Quantum Brilliance’s vision for practical quantum advantage - and presents early gate-based QML results achieved on an on-site, room-temperature quantum computer. It then highlights the work of the newly formed Quantum Utility and Exploration (QUTE) team, whose mission is to uncover utility through control modes that operate closer to the physical diamond-based hardware. The talk concludes with an introduction to quantum reservoir computing, showcasing QUTE’s latest simulations on future single- and multi-NV systems that establish a compelling platform for near-term, practical quantum machine learning."

Microsoft Building a Quantum Computer by 2026

Greetings from the Australian National University in Canberra, where Michael Freedman, Director of Station Q at Microsoft is speaking on "Building a Majorana quantum computer". The mathematics of how the quantum computer Professor Freedman is building would work is beyond me. However, two points were of interest: the quantum computer will not just be able to perform computations faster, it will be able to perform so many more it will be able to solve problems we did not previously consider. The other is that he believes that it will be possible to use the same type of production process now used for microchips to make quantum chips. This requires many advances in production techniques, but in essence involves putting s silicon wafer into a chamber and exposing it to chemical processes, then chopping up the wafer to make hundreds of chips. He expects Microsoft will build a quantum computer within a decade.