This is either going to be a breakthrough or the company's sugar daddies will be wanting their $20 million back post haste. Gizmodo]
D-Wave is the world's only "commercial" quantum computing company, backed by more than $20 million of venture capital (there are more commercial ventures in the related field of quantum cryptography). Its stated aim is to eventually produce commercially available quantum computers that can be used online or shipped to computer rooms, where they will solve intractable and expensive problems such as financial optimisation. [Techworld.com]
The fundamental element of a traditional computer is a bit, which, like a switch, can only be in the on or off state at any given moment, or hold a value of either one or zero.
In contrast, the fundamental element of quantum computing, the quantum bit or "qubit," can exist in multiple states at the same time so every qubit is simultaneously on and off with a value of one and zero.
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