Google will reportedly be offering Quantum Computer access to A.I. researchers in an attempt to spark interest in development of apps for the platform. While Google might be looking to bring in new, fresh blood to spur development with the use of Quantum Computing technology, Google’s long-term goal is said to be driving towards offering Quantum Computing as part of its collective of other Google Cloud-based products and services which it already offers to customers, though it isn’t mentioned how far out Google is anticipating achieving this goal. That being said, the very notion of it being long-term suggests that Google isn’t planning to offer a Quantum Computing cloud service alongside its other cloud products anytime in the immediate future.
To foster these new efforts, Google has a new lab where some of if not all of its future Quantum Computing endeavors will take place called the Embryonic Quantum Data Center. There’s little to no detail on the new lab itself save for the name, but there is some information about how Google plans to entice researchers to take part in development beyond giving them early access to the Quantum Computing hardware.
ProjectQ as it’s currently referred to, is part of Google’s plan to get researchers on board, and also it’s an open-source project aimed at convincing developers to write code for the Quantum Computing technology. Google seems to be keeping the finer points of its recent efforts surrounding its Quantum Computing hardware under wraps, but it’s said to have confidence that by the end of this year it will be able to show that its hardware is dominant when compared to current Quantum Computing hardware that’s already being used in the industry coming from other companies. Though Google may still have a ways to go before it’s ready to offer anything substantial to its cloud service customers, according to a Quantum Computing researcher at Stanford University named Peter McMahon, Google will be transitioning its Quantum Computing efforts into a cloud service at “some point in the future.” Given the scope of what Google is trying to do with this technology and its efforts to drive development of apps and tools for it through early access to the hardware, it might be a while before Google makes its move.