Like in the early days of classical computing, devices cost millions of dollars. But now we can have computers that are millions of times more potent in the form factor of a smartphone and available for just a few hundred dollars. But how much do Quantum Computers cost, and can you buy one?
The Price of a Quantum Computer
The price of a Quantum Computer?
Before we discuss the prices of quantum computers, we need to state there are so many differing technologies that researchers have used to build the devices. Some devices use qubit technologies that range from superconducting to photonic. However, one thing that all these devices have in common is their cost. That is, they are expensive, in fact, super expensive. Despite the devices only having a few hundred qubits at most, they can typically cost millions, just like those early computers at the start of the digital revolution.
Despite their multi-million dollar price tag, you won’t find a device in your office or workplace soon (unless you work in the burgeoning quantum sector). Most quantum computers are connected to cloud services that allow users to log in remotely and run circuits from anywhere on the planet. These services also contribute to the cost of running a quantum computer—that remote or cloud access.
Quantum Computers Coming to a … Fridge Near You
One of the leading technologies researchers use to develop qubit devices relies on cooling and refrigeration. Circuits from the likes of Rigetti and IBM need low temperatures to operate. This is another reason quantum computers come with a hefty price tag. IBM has recently gotten to 433 qubits in their superconducting quantum computer. However, while such a device is not for sale, we can put a price tag on the device, likely in the hundreds of millions.
Superconducting circuits are made from materials that exhibit zero electrical resistance at extremely low temperatures, usually close to absolute zero. These circuits can carry an electric current indefinitely without dissipating energy, making them ideal for maintaining the delicate quantum states of qubits. Josephson junctions, which are thin insulating barriers between superconducting materials, are often used to control the quantum behavior of these circuits.
Semiconductor Qubits: Scaling the price down
One of the most compelling advantages of semiconducting qubits for quantum computing is their cost-effectiveness. Unlike superconducting qubits, which require extremely low temperatures close to absolute zero to maintain their quantum states, semiconducting qubits can operate at slightly higher temperatures. This reduces the need for expensive cryogenic cooling systems, making the overall setup more affordable. Additionally, semiconducting qubits can be fabricated using existing semiconductor manufacturing techniques, which are well-established and relatively inexpensive compared to the specialized processes needed for superconducting circuits. This means that the infrastructure for large-scale production of semiconducting qubits is already in place, potentially lowering the barrier to entry for new players in the quantum computing field.
Another financial advantage comes from the potential for better scalability with semiconducting qubits. As quantum computing technology progresses, the need for more qubits to perform increasingly complex calculations grows. Semiconducting qubits, often made from materials like silicon, can be miniaturized more quickly than their superconducting counterparts. This miniaturization is crucial for packing more qubits onto a single chip, thereby increasing computational power without a proportional increase in cost. Leveraging existing semiconductor technology for miniaturization could lead to more cost-effective scaling solutions in the long run.
Lastly, there is compatibility with semiconducting qubits such as those developed by Intel. Existing semiconductor technology offers hybrid systems integrating classical and quantum components on the same chip. This could result in more efficient data transfer between the classical and quantum parts of the system, reducing the need for separate, specialized hardware and thereby lowering costs. Such hybrid systems could be particularly advantageous for applications requiring pre- and post-processing quantum calculations, as they would allow for seamless integration with classical computing resources, again leveraging the cost benefits of established semiconductor manufacturing processes.
A Quantum Computer for a price of $5,000
SpinQ Technology, a Chinese company specializing in quantum computing, has recently introduced a desktop quantum computer priced at $5,000. This new model is a more affordable and compact version of their SpinQ Gemini, priced at $50,000. The quantum computer price reduction is significant and aims to make the technology more accessible for educational purposes.
The SpinQ machine operates on only two qubits and utilizes nuclear magnetic resonance for processing. The technology involves trapping selected molecules in a magnetic field and manipulating them with radio frequency pulses. Although the process traditionally required expensive superconducting magnets, SpinQ managed to lower the quantum computer price by using permanent magnets and a technique called “shimming” to maintain a strong magnetic field.
The SpinQ machine comes with various features that contribute to its price. These include instrument calibration, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and a quantum computing interface. It also has a task management and dynamic library module supporting cloud computing and APIs; all factoring into the quantum computer price.
Quantum Computer Prices in General
Most developers of quantum devices do not publish the cost of their machines. The key is to reduce the price of quantum computers to as low as possible and make them as ubiquitous as possible. However, some academic literature has discussed the costs and prices of the various parts of the quantum stack, which we won’t go into here as developments and innovations constantly affect the cost.
Eventually, the qubit count will increase, and the cost per qubit will decrease. But the price per qubit could likely range at the moment of anywhere between $2500, so for a thousand qubits (not possible with the Spin Q device), we could estimate that a machine with 1,000 qubits would have a lower bound cost of $2,500,000. But this simple argument is floored in so much as not every technology scales the same way, and in reality, a more helpful machine from IBM with 433 qubits already likely costs many times that. But as is the nature of scaling, whatever the price, the price per qubit will fall, and quantum computers will get cheaper.
Quantum Computers don’t need to get cheaper; they get more usable.
But that neglects the fact that price isn’t a key consideration at the moment. Moreover, the sheer usefulness of quantum computers needs to be proven first. Naturally, as scaling improves and qubit count increases, we can expect the price per qubit to fall while the machine’s price may initially increase. Eventually, the cost of additional qubits will likely become marginal. Then, just like conventional devices, the entire price of a Quantum Computer can fall, and who knows, maybe they’ll be as ubiquitous as your smartphone with a price tag to match.