Hello, the development of a quantum computer application using GPUs has successfully launched, and a certain standard has been set. We are now planning for the development of a real quantum computer using semiconductors towards the end of this year and the next year. It is said that we are in the dawn of quantum computer development, but we have been working on semiconductors for several years and feel that we are in an important position in the development of quantum computers using semiconductors.
Currently, Blueqat is co-chairing the Quantum Computer Council of SEMI Japan with JSR. The impression is that the development of semiconductor quantum computers for industrial applications distinguishes itself from the developments that have been primarily conducted by universities and research institutes. What is important is how to integrate quantum computers into the industry within the existing semiconductor supply chain.
One may ask why quantum computers using semiconductors have not been significantly covered so far. That is because the quantum computer market was not as large as the semiconductor market, and technologies such as superconductivity and optics were attracting attention, while semiconductors were technically difficult to scale and market entry was expected around 2027-2030.
However, the recent situation has significantly changed. The development of semiconductors for AI, represented by GPUs, and for smartphones is becoming more advanced and active. The conventional wisdom was that quantum computers using semiconductors could not produce more than a few qubits, but in recent years, this has rapidly become scalable, and 2023 is expected to be a year when expectations for semiconductor quantum computing grow significantly. In fact, in June 2023, Intel Corp. in the U.S. made a groundbreaking announcement of a 12-qubit chip called Tunnel Falls, overturning conventional wisdom. This is quite revolutionary.
Furthermore, in current quantum computer development, a significant issue lies in the need for a huge amount of room temperature control equipment, measurement devices, and wiring as the number of qubits increases. Many companies, centered around Intel Corp. in the U.S., are addressing this problem. Intel's development, Horse Ridge, is aimed at solving the issues of enormous wiring and room temperature devices by placing a SoC chip inside the cryostat for measurement and control, thereby addressing the problem of scalability.
This kind of control and readout chip is called CryoCMOS, and it is developed using existing semiconductors to operate at extremely low temperatures of 4K. In Japan too, labs are developing both the semiconductor quantum computer chip, which is the heart of the quantum computer, and this control CryoCMOS chip.
By installing both the quantum dot chip and the SoC chip inside a compact cryostat, we can develop high-speed, high-performance semiconductor quantum computers without using many measurement and control devices or wiring. Moreover, unlike superconductors, ion traps, neutral atoms, and photons, which have no mass-production technology to date, a feature of semiconductor quantum computers is their readiness for mass production. Although semiconductors have been considered unfeasible for practical use, the situation has drastically changed since Intel Corp. released a chip in this direction in June 2023. It is expected that plans for mass production of industrial-grade quantum computers will become much more realistic in the future.
Also, significant miniaturization is expected for the cryostat, the last component of a semiconductor quantum computer. While large cryostats are currently being used in superconductors, semiconductor quantum computers operate at higher temperatures, thus the cryostat can be smaller. In fact, our first machine, which is under development for next year, has a much smaller cryostat compared to conventional quantum computers. In the United States, development of desktop-type silicon semiconductor quantum computers is also progressing, and if miniaturization continues to advance, many units can be manufactured in combination with mass production.
We at blueqat have always been one step ahead in the industry, with successful initiatives such as NVIDIA's GPU quantum computer simulator and optimization/machine learning apps. We would like to accelerate development with an eye on semiconductor quantum computers, which are still out of sight for other companies, in order to anticipate the next developments.
That's all for now.