Alongside others, a startup company called Rigetti Computing is now offering a cloud-based quantum computing service, Technology Review reports.
Quantum computing could someday, Tech Review adds, perform calculations that beyond the means of supercomputers. In standard computing, digital bits can be a 0 or a 1, but a qubit can be both at the same time, which Tech Review notes would give a huge boost to computing power. "As the technology develops, quantum computing could lead to significant advances in numerous fields, from chemistry and materials science to nuclear physics and machine learning," it says.
Rigetti's Quantum Cloud Service gives users access to its 16-qubit chip, Tech Review adds, noting that the company has also developed a 128-qubit model. At the same time, Tech Review adds that IBM offers cloud access to its 20-qubit machines and that other companies like Google, Fujitsu, and Alibaba are also staring cloud-based quantum services.