Rigetti and Ampere Announce Strategic Partnership to Develop Cloud-native Hybrid Quantum-Classical Computers

BERKELEY, Calif. and SANTA CLARA, Calif. — February 16, 2022 — Ampere Computing and Rigetti Computing today announced a strategic partnership to create hybrid quantum-classical computers designed to unlock a new generation of machine learning applications over the cloud.

Quantum computing is emerging as potentially one of the most transformative technologies in the world. It is expected to enable scientists and engineers to address problems of extreme computational complexity in areas like climate change, fusion energy, quantitative finance, drug development, and materials science. In each of these sectors, machine learning is playing a critical role in advancing potential solutions.

Pursuant to their partnership, the two companies will integrate Rigetti Quantum Processing Units (QPUs) with Ampere Altra Max cloud-native processors to create a hybrid computing environment intended to meet the rigorous demands of machine learning applications. This tight coupling of processing power has the goal of enabling the discovery and deployment of high performance machine learning algorithms, with Ampere Altra Max powered cloud servers expected to process vast amounts of data in concert with quantum calculations performed on Rigetti QPUs.

Hybrid architectures that leverage quantum computers operating in tandem with classical computers over the cloud have been pioneered by Rigetti since the company’s inception. Today this approach is the predominant quantum computing framework for solving a myriad of commercially valuable problems.

“Our partnership with Ampere will build on years of pioneering innovation in hybrid quantum-classical computing at Rigetti. We are thrilled to accelerate our technology leadership in this area with Ampere, an emerging leader in cloud native processor technology,” said Chad Rigetti, founder and CEO of Rigetti Computing. “Together, we’re focused on building the most powerful cloud computers and enabling customers to solve many of the world’s most important and pressing problems.”