On 12th December, AWS said that it would widen its cloud menu to include access to quantum computers. This is Amazon’s first most significant commitment to technology after its competitors, Microsoft and IBM.

Quantum computers are an embryonic technology designed to crunch data more powerfully by encoding it into the odd physics of subatomic particles. Tech giants such as IBM, Google, and a few other startups have built this prototype and onboarded brands such as Volkswagen and JP Morgan to explore how this new device might help in tasks such as modeling financial markets in the case of JP Morgan and electric battery development for Volkswagen.

Now Amazon is offering companies to induct into the mysteries of quantum computing too. Starting this month, enterprises will be able to access the hardware via Amazon’s Cloud platform from the following 3 startups:

  • D-Wave Systems
  • IonQ
  • Rigetti Computing

The quantum computing service by Amazon is called Braket, correctly named after a quantum physics notion that also includes quantum programming and simulation tools.

As per Bill Vass, VP Technology at Amazon, companies must start experimenting in the quantum computing space and be prepared for the quantum era. Amazon is also in talks to start a consulting group to help customers identify how quantum computing can help their businesses.

Amazon’s Braket has been in development for quite some time, but Microsoft, Google, and IBM’s quantum research is twice as old. Google and IBM are known to build the most advanced prototype. While Microsoft is functioning on a much less mature technology, it claims that its quantum technology will prove to be practical.

Amazon isn’t the first tech giant to introduce quantum computing. IBM had already offered its quantum hardware way back in 2016, and Google is on the path to do the same soon. Microsoft, whose Azure ranks behind AWS, became the first company to announce, in November, that it would let enterprises access multiple forms of hardware.

Amazon’s debut in quantum computing will be an interesting take in not only tricky physics principles but also the mind-bending challenge of balancing the technology’s long-term potential with the unknown about how soon it will be work-capable.