Why are tech companies investing in quantum computing?

On Thursday, Amazon unveiled its first-ever quantum computing chip. This follows similar announcements from Microsoft and Google.

Research into quantum computing, which could speed up some computing tasks by orders of magnitude, used to happen largely within academic labs. But private sector investment in quantum computing has grown 10-fold in the past decade.

Your everyday computer runs on bits. A quantum computer runs quantum bits, or qubits. These qubits harness the behavior of subatomic particles, which, according to MIT research scientist Andrew McAfee, can make them a pain to work with.

“You have to kind of coax them into being, and you’ve got to wrangle them in these very weird conditions,” he said.

For instance, he said that MIT has a quantum computing lab on campus that is the coldest place. Period.

“In other words, down closer to absolute zero than any other place in the universe we know about. And the reason is to kind of convince qubits to hang around a little bit longer and come together in ways that we can harness,” McAfee said.

On the most basic level, an ordinary computer bit is like an on/off switch — it either represents one or zero. Qubits work differently though, according to Heather West, a research manager at IDC.

“Qubits rely on quantum properties that allow them to hold the values of 0, 1 or any value in between,” she said.

Quantum processors could do calculations that are functionally impossible with today’s computers, she said. “That will allow for scientists and engineers in the long run to be able to solve complex problems that have eluded them.”

Quantum computers could speed up things like drug discovery, materials science or the pricing of risk in the insurance industry. But it could take years to get there, noted Amy Webb, CEO of Future Today Institute.

“This is a field that really has a very long horizon ahead of it in terms of research and development, scaling and getting these concepts into market,” she said.

And that can be tricky for companies seeking investor dollars, “because investors have ever-shortening expectations for when they’re going to see a return,” Webb said.

But quantum computing is likely to become so valuable, said MIT’s Andrew McAfee, that it makes sense for tech firms to spend on it now — at least the firms with deep enough pockets.

“That allows them to extend their timeline beyond, you know, next quarter, what we’re going to put in the annual report next year,” he said.

Because, McAfee added, for whoever manages to scale quantum computing, the returns will certainly be there.