NASA and Google extend partnership with D-Wave to develop quantum computing powered artificial intelligence

NASA believes quantum computing powered artificial intelligence and machine learning could further space exploration

Google is collaborating with US space agency NASA and the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) to investigate how quantum computing can advance machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Working in partnership with quantum computing company D-Wave Systems, Google, NASA and the USRA will use a succession of D-Wave quantum computing systems over the next seven years.

The agreement comes shortly after Intel announced plans to invest $50m in the Delft University of Technology to advance quantum computing.

The installation of a new D-Wave 2X system, with an 1000+ quantum bit (qubit) processor, was recently completed at NASA's Ames Research Centre in Moffett Field, California. This facility has been described as "one of the world's leading high performance computing (HPC) centres".

Google, NASA and USRA's Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab will all share use of the facility. D-Wave CEO Vern Brownell believes the deal demonstrates the potential impact of quantum computing.

"The new agreement is the largest order in D-Wave's history, and is indicative of the importance of quantum computing in its evolution toward solving problems that are difficult for even the largest supercomputers," he said.

Applications that could benefit from quantum computing include web search, speech recognition, planning and scheduling, air-traffic management and robotic missions to other planets.

Scientists at Google, NASA and USRA had been using the previous generation of 500-qubit D-Wave Two systems to explore the potential of quantum computing and Google director of engineering and head of the quantum intelligence lab Hartmut Neven explained the extended deal could bring great benefits.

"Working with the D-Wave processors has helped us develop and fine-tune models of quantum annealing. We look forward to the continued advancements coming from each generation of D-Wave systems," he said.

NASA believes that working with Google, D-Wave and USRA on quantum computing could help to improve the organisation's ability to further space exploration.

"Through research at NASA Ames, we hope to demonstrate that quantum computing and quantum algorithms may someday dramatically improve our ability to solve difficult optimisation problems for missions in aeronautics, Earth and space sciences, and space exploration," said Eugene Tu, centre director at NASA's Ames Research Centre.

"The availability of increasingly more powerful quantum systems is key to achieving these goals, and work is now underway with D-Wave's latest technology," he added.

Unlike current digital computers, which require data to be encoded into binary digits, quantum computers use quantum bits (qubits).

These qubits can exist in multiple different states at the same time, offering the potential to crunch large numbers of complex datasets and calculations in parallel, speeding up the entire process.