MilestoneIndustryConfirmed
Lockheed Martin buys the D-Wave One, billed as the first commercial quantum computer
May 2011
In May 2011 D-Wave Systems announced that the security firm Lockheed Martin had bought a D-Wave One, a 128-qubit machine that D-Wave called the world's first commercially available quantum computer. IEEE Spectrum put the reported price at $10 million.
Why it matters
It was the first sale of a machine marketed as a quantum computer. Many computer scientists doubted D-Wave's chips truly used quantum physics, despite a Nature paper the company had just published to support its case.
Related
Sources (3)
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Scientific American (reprinted from Nature)
First Commercial Quantum Computer Is Sold
“Last week, D-Wave Systems of Burnaby in British Columbia, Canada, announced the first sale of a commercial quantum computer, to global security firm Lockheed Martin, based in Bethesda, Maryland.”
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IEEE Spectrum
A First for Quantum Computing?
“Last week, the Canadian start-up D-Wave Systems announced it has sold its first quantum computer to Lockheed Martin, for a reported $10 million.”
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IEEE Spectrum
Google Hires Quantum Computing Expert John Martinis to Build New Hardware
“When D-Wave first made its confident claim of having built the "world's first commercially available quantum computer" in May 2011, many independent researchers were skeptical.”
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