The race for a quantum computer has so far been dominated by tech companies with household names such as IBM and Google. But Honeywell, a massive industrial conglomerate, perhaps best known for its home thermostats, is quietly working to beat the competition.
"[Honeywell] seems like an outlier, because most people don't know what it takes to build one," President Tony Uttley told Cheddar. "All of the subsystems needed to build a quantum computer are things Honeywell has been doing for decades in our aerospace business, in our controls business, in our chemicals business."
The company said it will release "the most powerful quantum computer yet" within the next three months. The model will have doubled the capacity of the next alternative in the industry, based on an industry metric known as quantum volume, according to Honeywell.
The simplest way to describe how quantum computers work is that they are theoretically capable of processing exponentially more problems than traditional computers. This opens the door to any number of new computing possibilities, from banking to life sciences.
"It just acts differently than traditional computers of today," Uttley said. "It allows for the processing of massive amounts of computations at the same time."
Clients are already lining up to put the new computing power to use — though it's likely to be an exploratory process as companies figure out how to incorporate the new technology.
To start, Honeywell is working with J.P.Morgan Chase to use quantum computing to better serve customers. Uttley expects business integration to happen soon after the release.
"Quantum computing will enable us to tackle complex scientific and business challenges, driving step-change improvements in computational power, operating costs, and speed," said Honeywell Chairman and CEO Darius Adamczyk, in a statement.
"Materials companies will explore new molecular structures. Transportation companies will optimize logistics. Financial institutions will need faster and more precise software applications. Pharmaceutical companies will accelerate the discovery of new drugs."
This isn't the first time a company has come out of the gate with bold claims about its quantum capabilities. Google last year said that it had achieved "quantum supremacy," which means their model could solve problems that are practically impossible for traditional computers. IBM later criticized the claim because the computer only addressed a narrow set of problems.
Honeywell plans to get the new machine into partners' hands as soon as possible, proving one way or another whether this is the great leap forward for quantum computers that it claims to be.
Nvidia on Wednesday became the first public company to reach a market capitalization of $5 trillion. The ravenous appetite for the Silicon Valley company’s chips is the main reason that the company’s stock price has increased so rapidly since early 2023.
Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global, breaks down September’s CPI print and inflation trends, explaining what it means for markets.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
