What are companies doing with D-Wave’s quantum hardware?

guest · Jan 4, 2023

D-Wave's computers are especially good at solving optimization problems.
By John Timmer @j_timmer - January 2, 2023

While many companies are now offering access to general-purpose quantum computers, they're not currently being used to solve any real-world problems, as they're held back by issues with qubit count and quality. Most of their users are either running research projects or simply gaining experience with programming on the systems in the expectation that a future computer will be useful.

There are quantum systems based on superconducting hardware that are being used commercially; it's just that they're not general-purpose computers.
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D-Wave offers what's called a quantum annealer. The hardware is a large collection of linked superconducting devices that use quantum effects to reach energetic ground states for the system. When properly configured, this end state represents the solution to a mathematical problem. Annealers can't solve the same full range of mathematical problems as general-purpose quantum computers, such as the ones made by Google, IBM, and others. But they can be used to solve a variety of optimization problems.
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Drug searches
One of the companies that relies on D-Wave's hardware is POLARISqb, which works in the field of drug discovery, identifying potential drug molecules in software for companies to test them in biological systems.
The cargo must flow
Identifying drugs may seem like the sort of thing that quantum computers should be good at. But the sorts of optimization problems that it represents also show up in many more down-to-earth contexts.

We talked to people from a company called SavantX, which used a D-Wave machine to help keep goods flowing smoothly through a port facility.
While it might be possible to code a more effective algorithm on a traditional computer, SavantX decided to try using D-Wave's hardware.

"It's not like we probably couldn't develop a classical algorithm that would compete with the quantum algorithm," Ostby said. "But it may not get done in time, [and] it would be kind of expensive to write."
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Not general, but useful?
For these specific problems, it's not clear whether an algorithm could be developed on typical computing hardware that could beat the quantum annealer. But even if one could, some companies have found that the annealers provide a compelling solution for the specific problems they face.
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What are companies doing with D-Wave’s quantum hardware?

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