AWS introduces Amazon Braket

Quantum computing has the potential to solve computational problems that are beyond the reach of classical computers by harnessing the laws of quantum mechanics to build more powerful tools for processing information. It has the potential to lead to new scientific discoveries that could transform energy storage, chemical engineering, drug discovery, financial portfolio optimization, machine learning, and much more. Today, making meaningful advances in quantum computing requires organizations to develop in-house expertise and seek out access to limited quantum hardware. Researchers who are interested in experimenting across a range of quantum hardware and technologies need to setup and manage the necessary infrastructure, negotiate access with multiple vendors, and write custom code to interface with different quantum processors. Having access to quantum hardware and managed infrastructure would help enterprises evaluate how quantum computing may eventually impact their businesses so they can begin to build the necessary skills to explore new opportunities. Managed quantum infrastructure from a range of hardware providers would also help facilitate research and education in quantum technologies that may accelerate new breakthroughs and the quantum computers of the future.

Amazon Braket helps overcome these challenges by enabling developers and researchers in academia and industry to explore and evaluate quantum computing using the same, consistent experience AWS offers its customers today. Amazon Braket lets customers get started quickly, using familiar tools like Jupyter notebooks to access pre-installed developer tools that can be used to design quantum algorithms, visualize results, and collaborate with others. Amazon Braket offers cross-platform developer tools that let customers design their own quantum algorithms or choose from a growing library of pre-built algorithms, providing a consistent experience so that customers no longer need to learn multiple development environments. Customers can run, test, and troubleshoot their algorithms on quantum computer simulators that use Amazon EC2 computing resources. When ready, customers can then run their algorithm on the quantum computer of their choice without having to engage multiple providers or committing to a single technology. Today, Amazon Braket customers can choose superconducting quantum annealers from D-Wave, trapped ion processors from IonQ, or superconducting quantum processors from Rigetti. In addition to running quantum algorithms, customers can also use Amazon Braket to run hybrid algorithms, where the combined use of quantum and classical computing systems can help overcome the limitations that are inherent in today's quantum technology.

“As we see quantum computing technologies make more meaningful progress, thousands of customers are asking for ways to experiment with quantum computers to explore the technology’s potential and contribute to its development,” said Bill Vass, Vice President, Technology, at AWS. “The cloud will be the main way that customers access quantum computers and combine those systems with high-performance classical computing for certain types of computationally-intensive research. Amazon Braket makes it easy for organizations to begin experimenting with quantum computing today—from those just beginning to explore the possibilities to those that are already familiar with different quantum technologies and are ready to use it as a research tool. Our goal for Amazon Braket is to be a catalyst for innovation across the quantum community, bringing together hardware and software developers, researchers, and end users.”

Amazon Braket is available today in US East (N. Virginia), US West (N. California), and US West (Oregon) AWS Regions, with more regions planned for the future.