Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) has announced the launch of a new quantum computing chip, which it’s calling “Tunnel Falls.”
The chip is designed for the quantum computing research community, and Intel said it will provide the new chips to the Sandia National Laboratory, along with labs at the University of Maryland, the University of Rochester and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Quantum systems are seeing a bit of an arms race right now. Intel rival IBM recently published a breakthrough in quantum technology with the University of California Berkeley in Nature earlier this week.
Other companies, including Google, Microsoft and Amazon are also building quantum systems, along with no shortage of startups and more unexpected large firms like Honeywell (NYSE:HON), according to reports.
Essentially, quantum chips generate quantum bits (qubits), which are fragile but can exist in more states than traditional bits (binary digits) which only exist as 0 or 1. IBM’s Tunnel Falls has 12 qubits, far fewer than IBM’s chip built around superconductors that has more than 400 qubits.
Intel’s variety is based on silicon chip technology, which it also uses in its traditional computing chips.
"We're piggybacking on what we know about transistors and that's what sets us apart from others,” James Clarke, Intel’s director of quantum hardware told reporters this week. “Our goal is to change as little as possible from leading-edge technologies to make these.”
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