Quantum computers have long been studied, but they are still far from having the massive computing power of quantum physics. However, some startups are preparing for the quantum revolution by running quantum-inspired software on today's powerful graphics cards.

Quantum computing promises to completely revolutionize the way we process vast numbers of calculations. Theoretical applications include drug discovery and vaccine development, global logistics management, human genome analysis, and ultra-cybersecurity (or, on the flip side, ultra-code cracking). The problem is that they are not yet accurate and large enough for practical use.

Impatient with quantum developments, some have turned to other areas. Today's top-class graphics cards are in high demand for artificial intelligence acceleration, and the recent explosion in AI performance has led to new applications that mimic quantum computation.

This is essentially like AI and quantum computing teaming up to achieve something in between the two, powered by GPUs.

QC Ware is a software startup featured in a Reuters report (opens in new tab); QC Ware raised a large amount of money to focus on developing software for quantum computing, but ultimately decided to "build a bridge to quantum processing in the future to "build a bridge to quantum processing in the future.

In other words, instead of building software for something that doesn't fully exist today, they are building software that will ease the transition to quantum computing in the future. Its first project is a drug development platform (opens in new tab) that can accelerate molecular simulations.

Another company looking at this AI-powered quantum simulation technology is SandBoxAQ, a spin-off from Google-owned Alphabet; according to SandBoxAQ's CEO, AI chips have reached a level where they can simulate this type of problem at high speeds The company's biopharmaceutical simulation algorithm has been developed by Google. The company's biopharmaceutical simulation algorithm reportedly uses Google's AI chip to mimic quantum computing.

The founder of a quantum institute said that he was fed up with waiting for quantum to arrive and decided to start looking at other ways to mimic quantum cybersecurity without actually using a quantum computer. [There are quantum computers that are accessible today; IBM has some that are accessible in the cloud and even a fully integrated option called Quantum System One. But IBM is combining AI and quantum (open in new tab) to make quantum computing more practical: this year, IBM developed a quantum computer that runs 1,121 qubits, the building blocks of a quantum computer. This is like an analog of a transistor, but not really quite the same. However, they are aiming for a machine with more than 4,158 qubits by 2025 (opens in new tab).

In the meantime, our gaming graphics cards won't be pulled out by scientists trying to gain an edge in future quantum computing, as both Nvidia and AMD are working on giant Nvidia H100s ("Tensor Core GPUs"), which has fairly high-performance server-grade silicon. But there is no denying that GPUs are becoming more than a means to convert complex code into fast frames.