Two years after Intel Corp. announced it was investing $50 million into quantum computing research in a joint initiative with Dutch partners, the company has delivered its first 17-qubit superconducting test chip to advance those efforts.

Intel on Tuesday said it was delivering the chip to QuTech, a research institute it helped set up two years ago in partnership with the Delft University of Technology and the Dutch Organization for Applied Research.

Quantum computing is widely believed to hold incredible potential, as its architecture is fundamentally different from that of today’s personal computers, smartphones and other computing devices. Classic computers encode information in regular “bits,” represented by ones and zeros, but quantum computers encode information in “qubits,” which can be ones, zeros or both at the same time.

This unique quality makes quantum computers exponentially more powerful than their traditional cousins, ideal for performing advanced computing tasks such as genomic sequencing, materials science research and many more. But building quantum computers means overcoming an array of challenges – one of the many problems being that quantum chips require extremely cold temperatures in which to operate.

Intel has built quantum chips for testing before, but the newly announced 17-qubit superconducting test chip is the first the company has discussed in depth.

“Our quantum research has progressed to the point where our partner QuTech is simulating quantum algorithm workloads, and Intel is fabricating new qubit test chips on a regular basis in our leading-edge manufacturing facilities,” said Michael Mayberry, corporate vice president and managing director of Intel Labs. “Intel’s expertise in fabrication, control electronics and architecture sets us apart and will serve us well as we venture into new computing paradigms, from neuromorphic to quantum computing.”

One of the key aspects of this new quantum CPU is the packaging. It’s important because qubits have an optimal operating temperature of around 20 millikelvin, which Intel says is about “250 times colder than deep space.” The new chip’s packaging has apparently been designed in such a way that it can withstand those superlow temperatures without any degradation.

Here’s more from Intel:

Intel’s decision to reveal its progress in quantum computing now is probably timed to remind people that it too is a leader in the field. The announcement comes at an exciting time for quantum computing in general as several major advances have been announced this year.

For example, IBM Corp. announced its own 16-qubit quantum chip earlier this year, while Google LLC is planning to provide select researchers access to its own quantum computers via the cloud. Then there’s Rigetti Computing Inc., which said in March that it has raised $64 million and expects to demonstrate a machine next year that will outperform the world’s largest supercomputers in some tasks.

Meanwhile, Canada’s D-Wave Systems is already claiming to have built a fully functional quantum computer, though its system uses a different kind of architecture called quantum annealing that some experts say is less flexible. Other companies, notably Microsoft Corp., are also reporting big advances with their own research.

As for Intel, the next step will see its partner QuTech test each of the 17 qubits on the new chip individually, followed by tests designed to gauge the chip’s performance once those qubits are entangled and working together.

Once the chip is running as it should, Intel and QuTech plan to figure out what hardware and software they need to take advantage of it. They’ll also need to research what kind of quantum applications can actually take advantage of all this new technology.

Clearly, Intel still has plenty of work to do before it can deliver a truly functional quantum computer, but today’s announcement signals that it has every intention of doing so. The question is whether it will get there first.

Image: Intel