LG joins IBM Quantum Network

LG Electronics said Monday it has joined the IBM Quantum Network as a member to further explore its applications for quantum computing required in the field of artificial intelligence, connected cars, internet of things and robotics.

LG Electronics, an electronics arm of South Korea‘s fourth-largest conglomerate, was the latest to take part in the alliance of over 170 entities. Those taking part in the community as a member, partner or quantum hub are given access to IBM‘s quantum computing system and an open-source quantum information software development kit, known as Qiskit.

To leverage this technology, LG Electronics employees will be provided with workforce training to help them solve problems that are intractable for standard computers which calculate in bits represented by 0 and 1.

The quantum computing mechanism can be applied in finance, energy, chemistry, materials science, ‎optimization and machine learning, according to LG.

LG Electronics said the partnership with IBM will accelerate its quantum computing hardware and software advances, as well as their industry applications, in accordance with IBM’s quantum roadmap.

“We’re happy to welcome LG Electronics to a growing quantum computing ecosystem in Korea at an exciting time for the region,” Jay Gambetta, vice president in charge of Quantum Computing at IBM, said in a statement.

“The relationship between IBM and LG Electronics will permit LG to explore new types of problems associated with emerging technologies and will help strengthen the quantum capabilities in Korea.“

“Based on our open innovation strategy, we plan to use IBM Quantum to develop our competency in quantum computing,” said Kim Byoung-hoon, chief technology officer and executive vice president of LG Electronics.

Among Korean entities, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Sungkyunkwan University and Samsung have been part of the IBM Quantum Network.

The partnership ups LG‘s groupwide push for next-generation computing technology adoption. In December, LG CNS, an information and communication technology affiliate of LG Group, joined hands with Japan-based Fujitsu to employ Fujitsu’s digital annealer computational architecture, a quantum computing-inspired technology for mathematical optimization that could not be achieved with classical computers.

By Son Ji-hyoung (consnow@heraldcorp.com)