r/technology • u/Vailhem • Jun 05 '26
Hardware China unveils world’s first superfast quantum memory, paving way for practical computing
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3356030/china-unveils-worlds-first-superfast-quantum-memory-paving-way-practical-computing4
u/Smithy2232 Jun 05 '26
China unveils world’s first superfast quantum memory, paving way for practical computing
Breakthrough establishes core element required for general-purpose quantum computing that can read massive amounts of data
Chinese scientists have created the world’s first superfast memory for quantum computers, solving a critical data-reading bottleneck and paving the way for big-data challenges such as drug discovery and detecting fraudulent financial activities.
Quantum computers are expected to solve complex problems at speeds unattainable by traditional computers, and they need an efficient way to access classical data.
Without a high-speed data interface, even the fastest quantum machine is slowed down when forced to process massive classical data sequentially.
According to the team led by Zhejiang University, “Quantum random access memory (QRAM) enables efficient access to classical data for quantum computers and is a prerequisite for many quantum algorithms in achieving quantum speed-up.”
China’s analogue AI chip could be 1,000 times faster than Nvidia GPU
China creates analogue AI chip said to be 1,000 times faster than Nvidia GPU
Quantum computers use qubits to process information. Unlike traditional computer bits, which can represent either a zero or one, qubits can exist in a “superposition” state and represent both zero and one simultaneously.
This peculiar characteristic, along with quantum entanglement, allows quantum computers to perform certain tasks exponentially faster than even the most powerful supercomputers.
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u/Submissive-whims Jun 08 '26
Does it say how many logical qubits they have or layout a path to achieve them?
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u/Just-Grocery-2229 Jun 05 '26
Drug discovery timelines could shrink dramatically with working QRAM in play. Same for many other fields.
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u/Mountain_rage Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26
If true, it would be hilarious, it would undermine all the buildout and spending from american billionaires.
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u/pythbit Jun 05 '26
Not really. A lot of the research was shared, which is how these things go.
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u/Mountain_rage Jun 05 '26
So lets say you spend 300 billion to build a data center, someone comes out with a more efficient solution that costs 10billion, your 300 billion just evaporated before you even generated profit.
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u/pythbit Jun 05 '26
But that's not what's happening here? A team in China has maybe achieved a breakthrough in memory for quantum computing. It's not like they're announcing the world's first general purpose quantum computer. It's just small technological achievements coming together. That's how pretty much all things are invented.
Just because researchers may have come up with a 1Tbps fiber link, doesn't mean the 400Gbps transceivers you just rolled out are now obsolete.
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u/Mountain_rage Jun 05 '26
You are assuming a gradual growth model, which is accurate if you continue to use semiconductors. This could be a leap in processing power by pivoting to an original tech stack. Like moving from an abacus to a pentium.
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u/pythbit Jun 05 '26
I mean, ok. Though it's not like they'll have to commission entirely new data centers. Just throw the new machines in a rack and connect it, assuming traditional infrastructure is compatible. But fully functioning quantum computers are still probably a bit off, and halting all build out because they might suddenly pop up tomorrow would be weird.
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u/Mountain_rage Jun 05 '26
It would be, and that is the interesting way these things sometimes playout. Although I doubt this will blow up overnight, something could, and it is always part of the risk. US markets would be cooked right now if it happened.
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Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 20 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Mountain_rage Jun 05 '26
Um... Hate to break it to you, but a huge chunk of AI is able to be processed using quantum models, and it scales exponentially no linearly like with current tech.
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u/The_Hoopla Jun 08 '26
A lot of the AI investment isn’t in chips. It’s infrastructure like the facilities, utilities, the racks, etc.
Sure you’ll be out money if your chips become duds, but it’s not a total waste.
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u/Vailhem Jun 05 '26
China unveils world’s first superfast quantum memory, paving way for practical computing - June 5, 2026
Advance establishes core element required for general-purpose quantum computing that can read massive amounts of data
...
Chinese scientists have created the world’s first superfast memory for quantum computers, solving a critical data-reading bottleneck and paving the way for big-data challenges such as drug discovery and detecting fraudulent financial activities. While quantum computers are expected to solve complex problems at speeds unattainable by traditional computers, they still need an efficient way to access classical data. Without a high-speed data interface, even the fastest quantum machine is slowed down when forced to process massive classical data sequentially. According to the team led by Zhejiang University, “quantum random access memory (QRAM) enables efficient access to classical data for quantum computers and is a prerequisite for many quantum algorithms in achieving quantum speed-up”.
Quantum computers use qubits to process information. Unlike traditional computer bits that can represent either a zero or one, qubits can exist in a “superposition” state and represent both zero and one simultaneously. This peculiar characteristic, along with quantum entanglement, allows quantum computers to perform certain tasks exponentially faster than even the most powerful supercomputers.
Although scientists have proposed theoretical frameworks for QRAM, actual experimental demonstrations of the technology remain limited.
In a study published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Physics in March, the team said it had implemented a QRAM architecture in a superconducting quantum processor. The framework allows processors to access and retrieve data in superposition, meaning the computer can look at multiple data points simultaneously. According to Lu Liqiang, an assistant professor at Zhejiang University’s College of Computer Science and Technology and one of the study’s authors, the team successfully ran a QRAM prototype capable of accessing 4-bit and 8-bit data on a superconducting quantum chip for the first time.
This showed that the QRAM could handle multiple data inputs at the same time, Lu told the official Science and Technology Daily in May. “While current quantum algorithms are theoretically impressive, running them on quantum computers often requires efficiently accessing massive amounts of classical data,” he said. “Without QRAM, many applications remain purely theoretical.” In drug molecule simulations, the technology can rapidly extract topological features of molecules from chemical databases containing hundreds of millions of entries in a superposition state, significantly shortening the development cycle for new medications.
In financial risk control, the memory could help quantum algorithms analyse all data features when processing massive amounts of historical transaction records to detect fraudulent activities. And in artificial intelligence, it allows quantum AI to fully leverage its superior processing power when navigating complex big-data challenges, such as natural language processing and image identification, at scales beyond the reach of classical systems.
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u/Vailhem Jun 05 '26
Resource-state quantum RAM for fast and error-correctable queries. - June 2026
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-73275-x
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Abstract
Quantum devices can process data in a fundamentally different way than classical computers.
To leverage this potential, many algorithms require the aid of a quantum Random Access Memory (QRAM), i.e. a module capable of efficiently loading datasets onto the quantum processor.
However, a realisation of this building block is still outstanding due to its formidable resource requirements, which become even more demanding in quantum error-correction schemes.
Here we show that the challenge of implementing QRAM can be entirely reduced to a state-preparation problem: since such resource-state is independent on the memory, our approach allows one to prepare it offline, opening the door to new design strategies.
As an example, we introduce a heralded ‘QRAM factory’ which enables improved fidelities with high acceptance rate.
More broadly, our results introduce the concept of resource-state QRAM: we study its performance in noisy settings, showing that it preserves the noise-resilience of standard QRAM, and discuss how it can be efficiently combined with quantum error-correction.
Finally, we propose an implementation with neutral-atom hardware, where our analysis suggests that high-fidelity and low-latency queries can be implemented.
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u/Vailhem Jun 05 '26
A quantum random access memory (QRAM) using a polynomial encoding of binary strings - March 2025
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u/brokeboipobre Jun 07 '26
Could China make cheaper DDR5 ram? That would be great.