Boston-based quantum computer QuEra joins Amazon's cloud for public access

FILE PHOTO: Quantum computer startup QuEra Computing's 256-qubit machine and Florian Huber, one of the team of scientist that built the machine are shown in this picture taken in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., on February 18, 2021. Alexei Bylinskii - QuEra/Handout via REUTERS

OAKLAND, Calif. (Reuters) - Quantum computer startup QuEra, born from researchers at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said on Tuesday its computer is now accessible to the public through Amazon.com cloud's quantum computer service Braket.

While there are various technologies for creating so-called quantum bits or qubits where the computations happen, QuEra's qubits use neutral atoms in a vacuum chamber and use lasers to cool and control them. It is the first neutral atom quantum computer to join Braket, which offers five other quantum computers on the cloud - Rigetti Computing, IonQ, D-Wave, Xanadu Quantum Technologies and Oxford Quantum Circuits.