In 2016,
access to quantum devices was nearly impossible for the average user. The theorists had to convince scientists at IBM, a major company, to allow and help conduct experiments on custom quantum processors. Since the quality of IBM’s devices is one of the best in the world, the IBM Quantum team, or rather team leaders Jay Gambetta and Jerry Chow placed the quantum processor in the cloud.
After all, members of the IBM Quantum team were already accessing the devices remotely at night and on weekends to do experiments.
And to attract resources and public attention, the staff tried to prove that the cloud-based quantum computing platform really does have an audience and a future.
The IBM Quantum Experience was launched on May 4. The five-qubit device had better performance than the competition, and the first circuits started coming in.
The trickle quickly turned into a flood; 7,000 users registered for the IBM Quantum Experience in the first week and more than 17,000 users in the second.
By the numbers
- Registered users: 325 000+
- Qiskit downloads: 650,000+
- Articles published using IBM Quantum: 700+
- IBM Quantum Network organizations: 140+
- Cycles: 2 billion+/day
The team has influenced more than just scientific advances – they have created a platform for experimentation and discovery. To date, more than 325,000 users have registered on the IBM Quantum platform. Thousands of developers run two billion quantum circuits on IBM Quantum computers every day, now using the open-source Qiskit software development kit.
In 2020, IBM Quantum announced its hardware and software roadmap, explaining how they plan to scale devices to 1,121 qubits and beyond and how to create an open ecosystem around programming and finding useful applications for these devices.
