Russia Invests $790 Million Into Its Quantum Future

(HPCWire) Russia’s $790 million (₽500 billion) investment marks the country’s official entry to the quantum race. The investment will provide leading Russian researchers with funding over the next five years to develop practical quantum technologies and realize quantum supremacy.
Russia’s funding comes after the National University of Science and Technology MISiS’ scientists developed a new prototype of a quantum computer in October 2019. During an experiment, scientists – under the supervision of Valery Ryazanov, the chief researcher of the University’s Laboratory for Superconducting Metamaterials – solved Grover’s quantum algorithm utilizing a two-qubit quantum computer. Scientists were able to demonstrate that two qubits performed a specific quantum algorithm and were able to exceed the accuracy limit by 3 percent.
“No one is close to the quantum-computing capacity that would be required for practical applications,” Ilya Besedin, an engineer at the National University of Science and Technology in Moscow, said. “There are many technical challenges, and we’re all looking for new avenues to explore. With serious government support, this is going to become a very interesting research opportunity in Russia.”