Does AMD Have a Serious Quantum Computing Effort Underway?

Attention has been drawn to two quantum related patents filed by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) related to quantum technology. The first is titled VARIATION-AWARE QUBIT MOVEMENT SCHEME FOR NOISE INTERMEDIATE SCALE QUANTUM ERA COMPUTERS and was initially filed in December 2019 and published on June 17, 2021. The second is titled LOOK-AHEAD TELEPORTATION FOR RELIABLE COMPUTATION IN MULTI-SIMD QUANTUM PROCESSOR and was initially filed in February 2020 and published on August 19, 2021. AMD is one of the largest microprocessor suppliers in the world and competes fiercely with Intel for market share in the personal computing market. Although AMD has a large footprint in the classical computing world, there previously has been no technical papers, job advertisements, conference participation, or any other sign that they were seeking to get involved with quantum computing. The content of these patents is also highly unusual for something related to quantum because they include concepts such as SIMD (Single Instruction Multiple Data), lookahead processing and reordering operations which are commonly utilized in classical processor design but had not previously been associated with quantum processor design. In addition, concepts commonly used when discussing quantum processors such as modality, coherence times, gate fidelities, etc. are not mentioned at all in these patent applications.

So our conclusion is that these are more likely one-off applications from classical processor designers who think they there may be a way to apply classical processor techniques to quantum. But that this is not indicative of any serious internal effort at AMD to develop quantum technology. It is our belief that over the long term companies that have a large standing in classical computing but haven't yet started an internal quantum effort will eventually want to get in. Besides AMD, this could include companies like Lenovo, HP, Dell, Apple and others. But it may be too late for these companies to try to develop the technology internally. Our expectation is that when these companies do decide they need to get in, they will do it through a route of acquisition rather than developing it internally.

September 1, 2021