Are Microsoft and Amazon's new chips about to unlock quantum computing?

Just one week after Microsoft's announcement of Majorana 1, Amazon made headlines with the release of its Ocelot quantum chip. As the first quantum processor from AWS, the Ocelot chip promises significant advancements, but much like Microsoft’s claims, the press release was filled with bold assertions that still require substantiated evidence. 

We spoke with Nick Reese, COO and Co-founder of Ensemble AI and risk mitigation platform Frontier Foundry, to unpack the implications of Amazon’s latest quantum leap and the risks of unsubstantiated claims in the quantum computing industry.

Big claims, little proof: Reese highlights the similarity between Amazon’s announcement and that of Microsoft’s Majorana 1, calling both out for making substantial claims without providing enough scientific proof. 

"Amazon’s chip is going to reduce the price of quantum processors by something like one-fifth. That alone is a huge claim," Reese remarks. In addition, AWS’s press release touts the use of "cat qubits" that supposedly reduce certain types of quantum errors by up to 90%. While these are indeed groundbreaking claims, Reese remains cautious. "The question, just like with Microsoft, is whether they've really created this, or simply demonstrated a framework," he says, emphasizing that the lack of definitive results only deepens concerns around what’s true in each press release.

Setting the wrong precedent: Reese is concerned about the broader implications of repeated, high-profile announcements. "The requirement to be right is being eclipsed by the desire to be first. And that, I think, is the trap."

"We’re setting a dangerous precedent with the incentive structure that we’re putting around quantum computing," Reese warns. He sees a connection between quantum computing announcements and a spike in quantum computing stocks' value, which creates incentives for companies to make announcements for investors' sake, even before the technology might be fully tested and ready. 

Amazon, following in Microsoft’s footsteps, has now made a splash with its own bold claims. "AWS is unlikely to be the last," he notes, suggesting that such announcements are beginning to quickly follow each other in succession.