Microsoft advances Azure Quantum to accelerate chemical discoveries

Microsoft has announcing new advances to Azure Quantum aimed at accelerating scientific discovery, particularly at the chemical level.

For accurate calculations of the most complex quantum states of molecules, the number of energy states of just 100 electrons can exceed the number of atoms in the visible universe, the company says. Now, it adds, with a new generation of AI, the world’s most advanced AI models are coming together, the first step as preparations begin quantum supercomputing.

According to Microsoft, innovators can now start experimenting with the world’s best quantum hardware in Azure Quantum and get ready to solve more complex problems when quantum supercomputing becomes a reality.

The company has now introduced three advances in Azure Quantum towards this vision:

Azure Quantum Elements

Industry innovators, including BASF, AkzoNobel, AspenTech, Johnson Matthey, SCGC, and 1910 Genetics have already adopted Azure Quantum Elements to transform their research and development, and today, others can join them. Azure Quantum Elements will be available in private preview in a few weeks, with a a sign up to learn more.

Copilot in Azure Quantum

With Copilot in Azure Quantum, a scientist can accomplish complex tasks on top of a fabric of cloud supercomputing, advanced AI and quantum all integrated with the tools they use today. It can generate the underlying calculations and simulations, query and visualize data and help get guided answers to complicated concepts. Just as Copilot in other Microsoft products is transforming software development, productivity and search, the company’s ambition is for Copilot in Azure Quantum to transform and accelerate scientific discovery — whether it’s creating safer and more sustainable products, accelerating drug discovery or solving the most pressing challenges on the planet. Learn more about Copilot here.

Microsoft’s roadmap to a quantum supercomputer

A quantum supercomputer will be able to solve problems that are intractable on a classical computer and scale to solve the most complex problems facing our world. To do this, it must be both performant and reliable. Customers need to understand how capable a quantum system is of solving real problems, from the machine to the network overhead. That’s why measuring a supercomputer can’t be about counting physical or logical qubits.

Read more about this announcement.