Less than two weeks after an article in Nature confirmed Vancouver’s D-Wave Systems Inc. is doing quantum computing, the company has landed a deal with Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT).
Under the agreement, Lockheed – a global security company headquartered in Maryland – will buy a quantum computing system from D-Wave for an undisclosed price.
“D-Wave is thrilled to establish a strategic relationship with Lockheed Martin Corp.,” D-Wave president and CEO Vern Brownell said in a news release.
“Our combined strength will provide capacity for innovation needed to tackle important unresolved computational problems of today and tomorrow. Our relationship will allow us to significantly advance the potential of quantum computing.”
The Vancouver high-tech company has been criticized in the past for making claims about its computers – claims critics said were unsubstantiated by scientific experiment.
But an article published May 12 in the British Science journal Nature confirmed that computations done by D-Wave are based on quantum physics rather than classical physics. (See “D-Wave Systems aiming to add another dimension to computing” – issue 1125; May 17-23, 2011.)
The distinction is significant, because quantum computing is believed to be able to add a dimension to standard computing (called superposition that allows it to perform complex computations that are beyond the capacity of standard computers.
Lockheed Martin and D-Wave will collaborate on the use of computing platform based upon a quantum annealing processor, and will use it for some of Lockheed Martin’s most challenging computation problems.
The multi-year contract includes a system, maintenance and associated professional services.
Nelson Bennett