Zapata Computing Teams Up With Google on Quantum Computing

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Zapata Computing (zapata.ai), a quantum software startup that spun out of Harvard University, today announced efforts to work with Google on its quantum computers as a Cirq integration partner.

Zapata has designed, from the ground up, a new algorithm called CUSP — a quantum machine learning algorithm for building more efficient quantum circuits — and implemented it for Google’s quantum computers. CUSP draws upon the research by cofounder Alán Aspuru-Guzik, a pioneer in quantum simulation for chemistry and materials.

“We’re excited that Zapata has been selected as one of the first companies to utilize Cirq and to work with Google’s quantum computers,” said Christopher Savoie, co-founder and CEO of Zapata. “CUSP is a quantum circuit optimizer that dramatically improves quantum algorithm efficiency. This algorithm and others like it will hasten breakthroughs and enable the next generation of discoveries in chemistry, materials, and artificial intelligence.”

CUSP is an important tool when a quantum algorithm is too large to optimize by hand as it can automatically compress a computation to fit on near term quantum computers. It is one of the many powerful, hardware-agnostic algorithms that Zapata is currently developing for Fortune 1000 companies in markets such as finance, pharmaceuticals, and materials. Zapata’s algorithms can run on the latest quantum hardware made by Google and other companies in this field.

Today’s announcement comes on the heels of other significant developments for Zapata this year, including an exclusive license agreement with Harvard’s Office of Technology Development, and its initial round of funding from prominent investors that include The Engine, the venture firm founded by MIT to invest in tough tech startups.