Nvidia has announced plans to build a research centre in Boston focused on advancing quantum computing technologies through collaboration with leading hardware and software makers.

The Nvidia Accelerated Quantum Research Center (NVAQC) will integrate quantum hardware with AI supercomputers to enable what the company calls "accelerated quantum supercomputing," according to a company announcement at its annual GTC conference.

The centre will partner with quantum computing innovators including Quantinuum, Quantum Machines and QuEra Computing, alongside researchers from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

"Quantum computing will augment AI supercomputers to tackle some of the world's most important problems, from drug discovery to materials development," said Jensen Huang, founder and chief executive officer of Nvidia.

During the "Quantum Day" event at the conference, Huang walked back comments he made in January when he suggested useful quantum computers might be 15 to 20 years away - remarks that had caused quantum computing stocks to fall.

"This is the first event in history where a company chief executive officer invites all of the guests to explain why he was wrong," Huang told attendees, expressing surprise that his earlier comments had moved markets.

The NVAQC will utilise Nvidia's GB200 NVL72 rack-scale systems to enable complex simulations of quantum systems and deploy low-latency quantum hardware control algorithms essential for quantum error correction.

Mikhail Lukin, professor at Harvard and co-director of the Harvard Quantum Initiative, called the centre "a very special addition to the unique Boston area quantum ecosystem."

"The accelerated quantum and classical computing technologies Nvidia is bringing together has the potential to advance research in areas ranging from quantum error correction to applications of quantum computing systems," Lukin added.

The NVAQC is expected to begin operations later this year and will feature several racks of Nvidia's Blackwell AI servers.

Executives from quantum computing firms attending the event emphasised that even when quantum machines outpace traditional computers at certain tasks, they will not replace them entirely.

"We use your GPUs to design our chips," said Peter Chapman, chief executive officer of IonQ. "It's going to be a classical system sitting next to a quantum computer, going back and forth...I wouldn't short any Nvidia stock at the end of this."

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