AMD plans to make an equity investment in quantum computing company PsiQuantum. AMD makes chips used in data centers and AI systems. The two companies announced the plan on Thursday, Nov. 12, as part of an expanded partnership.
Their goal is to build the infrastructure needed for utility-scale quantum computers. Under the deal, they will co-design that infrastructure. They will also develop applications that combine quantum computing with high-performance computing and AI. The companies did not disclose how much AMD will invest.
AMD will supply CPUs, GPUs, adaptive computing technology, and software. PsiQuantum will contribute its silicon photonics platform, which combines standard chip technology with optical networking that sends data as pulses of light. PsiQuantum was founded in 2016, is based in Palo Alto, and builds fault-tolerant quantum computers using a light-based approach.
AMD Chief Technology Officer Mark Papermaster said the company has a long record of combining computing technology and engineering partnerships to build “the world’s most powerful supercomputers and AI infrastructure.”
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PsiQuantum’s drug research methods already run on AMD hardware. The companies say their workflow and AMD’s GPU skills have produced early results in simulating covalent inhibitors, a class of molecules used in cancer drug discovery.
Researchers are also tuning a machine-learning tool called PRISM that corrects errors in quantum computers in real time. The two firms may expand their work at the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park in Chicago, where PsiQuantum is the anchor tenant.
The deal also builds on public backing. In May, the US Commerce Department said it would take minority stakes in nine quantum computing companies as part of a USD 2 billion CHIPS Act investment.
The plan included a USD 100 million deal with PsiQuantum. Investor interest in quantum computing keeps growing as companies and governments look for machines that can solve problems too hard for conventional computers.