Eviden (Atos) Launches Qaptiva Platform for Quantum Software Development

By John Russell

May 11, 2023

Eviden – soon to be the independent half of European IT giant Atos which is splitting itself in two this year – today introduced a broad quantum computing portfolio, led by the newly-minted Qaptiva suite of software tools and services and the renaming of the Atos quantum simulator appliance from QLM to Qaptiva 800. Broadly speaking, a wide variety of services and resources are being bundled under the Qaptiva brand, assembling together what was Atos’ significant push into the quantum market.

While Atos may be a less familiar name on the U.S. quantum landscape, it’s an entrenched player in the rapidly growing European quantum community. The QLM (quantum learning machine) appliance, for example, is widely used and can emulate circuits up to 41 qubits, not a trivial task. Atos has even developed its own benchmark – Q-score – which the company says, “measures the efficiency of running a representative quantum application, a system’s effectiveness at handling real-life problems, instead of its theoretical or physical performance.”

(Atos has long been a global force in HPC. Recently it’s been beefing up its HPC cloud capabilities including the purchase of U.S.-based HPC cloud specialist Nimbix (2021). For more detail on Eviden’s forthcoming split from Atos see HPCwire coverage, Atos Launches ‘Eviden’ Brand Ahead of Planned Split.)

As described by Eviden/Atos, “Qaptiva offers all-in-one capabilities and a best-in-class development environment to write code once and seamlessly run it on different Quantum hardware, either on-premises or through the cloud. Designed to encompass in one place all quantum technologies provided by Qaptiva software partners, this platform provides developers, researchers, and scientists with all the necessary tools and resources (libraries, connectors, emulators, and compilers) to program, optimize, compile, emulate, and run code on a Quantum Processing Unit (QPU), delivering tangible results very rapidly without waiting for Large Scale Quantum (LSQ).”

For the moment, Eviden/Atos isn’t building a QPU and touts its emphasis on remaining quantum hardware-agnostic (i.e. qubit modality). Like others in the quantum community it has also embraced the idea that it can deliver some form of quantum advantage now using qubit-emulation technology run on classical systems, including the Qaptiva 800.

In a briefing with HPCwire, Eric Eppe, VP, portfolio and strategy for HPC,AI and Quantum Computing, Eviden, Atos Group, said, “What we are offering customers is a big platform to develop their applications with a set of partners helping us. But it’s also full protection of your investment, because you don’t need to make any bet on any [particular] QPU today. I don’t know anyone who can make a bet today, on IQM on IBM, Pasqal, QuEra or on any of these technologies, because tomorrow, someone can come up with a new technology that will break [some] barrier and change the rules. All the customers we see say, “I don’t want to buy a computer today, I just want to make sure that my application runs and the results are predictable.”

Currently the Qaptiva capabilities are delivered in a QaaS manner through Atos cloud or via purchase of the Qaptiva 800 appliance for use on-premise. Eppe said Eviden was exploring other public cloud options but declined to name any. To some extent, it seems likely Eviden/Atos will need some time to hone its go-to-market strategies.

Eppe said Eviden/Atos has a robust roster of customers  from industry, government, and academia, including some big HPC centers. Eppe said that Oak Ridge National Laboratory was actually its first big HPC center customer. He said industry’s POC tire-kicking in the quantum arena has started turning into firmer plans for specific applications. He cited France-based TotalEnergies (energy giant) as one example. “It is looking at material science, and at ways to capture CO2,” said Eppe, adding that Eviden/Atos has 40-plus customers at the moment.

The company has also been expanding its partner ecosystem to offer a wide choice of quantum software libraries and different hardware choices. Here’s an excerpt from the announcement, “To support the evolution of quantum software, the team has partnered with innovation-driven Quantum players like ColibrITD, QuantFI, QubitSoft, Qubit Pharmaceuticals, QuRISK and Multiverse Computing to integrate them in Qaptiva and to address industry-specific use cases related to automotive, defense, energy, finance, life science and retail. For quantum computing hardware, after the signature of an agreement with our forward-thinking partner IQM Quantum Computers in 2022, Eviden is now also collaborating with French technology leaders Quandela and Pasqal for joint commercial offers.”

Hyperion Research chief quantum analyst Bob Sorensen was positive on the Eviden strategy and is quoted in the official announcement, “With the launch of Qaptiva, a complete as-a-service offer focused on applications development, Eviden is on the right path toward rapid innovation and adoption of Quantum Computing for enterprises and businesses. This allows Eviden to acquire new capabilities, extend its solutions to address new markets, and meet customer needs.” He also noted Eviden would be able to leverage its HPC strength to support blended Quantum-HPC-AI efforts.

While Atos’ historical HPC strength has been in Europe, it’s always been a global player. The acquisition of the U.S.-based Nimbix HPC cloud occurred as Atos was ramping up a push in the U.S. Eppe said its consulting groups, which develop quantum customers, have tended be developed on a country/region bases and that the U.S and Asia were areas of increased activity.

Subscribe to HPCwire's Weekly Update!

Be the most informed person in the room! Stay ahead of the tech trends with industry updates delivered to you every week!

MLPerf Inference 4.0 Results Showcase GenAI; Nvidia Still Dominates

March 28, 2024

There were no startling surprises in the latest MLPerf Inference benchmark (4.0) results released yesterday. Two new workloads — Llama 2 and Stable Diffusion XL — were added to the benchmark suite as MLPerf continues Read more…

Q&A with Nvidia’s Chief of DGX Systems on the DGX-GB200 Rack-scale System

March 27, 2024

Pictures of Nvidia's new flagship mega-server, the DGX GB200, on the GTC show floor got favorable reactions on social media for the sheer amount of computing power it brings to artificial intelligence.  Nvidia's DGX Read more…

Call for Participation in Workshop on Potential NSF CISE Quantum Initiative

March 26, 2024

Editor’s Note: Next month there will be a workshop to discuss what a quantum initiative led by NSF’s Computer, Information Science and Engineering (CISE) directorate could entail. The details are posted below in a Ca Read more…

Waseda U. Researchers Reports New Quantum Algorithm for Speeding Optimization

March 25, 2024

Optimization problems cover a wide range of applications and are often cited as good candidates for quantum computing. However, the execution time for constrained combinatorial optimization applications on quantum device Read more…

NVLink: Faster Interconnects and Switches to Help Relieve Data Bottlenecks

March 25, 2024

Nvidia’s new Blackwell architecture may have stolen the show this week at the GPU Technology Conference in San Jose, California. But an emerging bottleneck at the network layer threatens to make bigger and brawnier pro Read more…

Who is David Blackwell?

March 22, 2024

During GTC24, co-founder and president of NVIDIA Jensen Huang unveiled the Blackwell GPU. This GPU itself is heavily optimized for AI work, boasting 192GB of HBM3E memory as well as the the ability to train 1 trillion pa Read more…

MLPerf Inference 4.0 Results Showcase GenAI; Nvidia Still Dominates

March 28, 2024

There were no startling surprises in the latest MLPerf Inference benchmark (4.0) results released yesterday. Two new workloads — Llama 2 and Stable Diffusion Read more…

Q&A with Nvidia’s Chief of DGX Systems on the DGX-GB200 Rack-scale System

March 27, 2024

Pictures of Nvidia's new flagship mega-server, the DGX GB200, on the GTC show floor got favorable reactions on social media for the sheer amount of computing po Read more…

NVLink: Faster Interconnects and Switches to Help Relieve Data Bottlenecks

March 25, 2024

Nvidia’s new Blackwell architecture may have stolen the show this week at the GPU Technology Conference in San Jose, California. But an emerging bottleneck at Read more…

Who is David Blackwell?

March 22, 2024

During GTC24, co-founder and president of NVIDIA Jensen Huang unveiled the Blackwell GPU. This GPU itself is heavily optimized for AI work, boasting 192GB of HB Read more…

Nvidia Looks to Accelerate GenAI Adoption with NIM

March 19, 2024

Today at the GPU Technology Conference, Nvidia launched a new offering aimed at helping customers quickly deploy their generative AI applications in a secure, s Read more…

The Generative AI Future Is Now, Nvidia’s Huang Says

March 19, 2024

We are in the early days of a transformative shift in how business gets done thanks to the advent of generative AI, according to Nvidia CEO and cofounder Jensen Read more…

Nvidia’s New Blackwell GPU Can Train AI Models with Trillions of Parameters

March 18, 2024

Nvidia's latest and fastest GPU, codenamed Blackwell, is here and will underpin the company's AI plans this year. The chip offers performance improvements from Read more…

Nvidia Showcases Quantum Cloud, Expanding Quantum Portfolio at GTC24

March 18, 2024

Nvidia’s barrage of quantum news at GTC24 this week includes new products, signature collaborations, and a new Nvidia Quantum Cloud for quantum developers. Wh Read more…

Alibaba Shuts Down its Quantum Computing Effort

November 30, 2023

In case you missed it, China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba has shut down its quantum computing research effort. It’s not entirely clear what drove the change. Read more…

Nvidia H100: Are 550,000 GPUs Enough for This Year?

August 17, 2023

The GPU Squeeze continues to place a premium on Nvidia H100 GPUs. In a recent Financial Times article, Nvidia reports that it expects to ship 550,000 of its lat Read more…

Shutterstock 1285747942

AMD’s Horsepower-packed MI300X GPU Beats Nvidia’s Upcoming H200

December 7, 2023

AMD and Nvidia are locked in an AI performance battle – much like the gaming GPU performance clash the companies have waged for decades. AMD has claimed it Read more…

DoD Takes a Long View of Quantum Computing

December 19, 2023

Given the large sums tied to expensive weapon systems – think $100-million-plus per F-35 fighter – it’s easy to forget the U.S. Department of Defense is a Read more…

Synopsys Eats Ansys: Does HPC Get Indigestion?

February 8, 2024

Recently, it was announced that Synopsys is buying HPC tool developer Ansys. Started in Pittsburgh, Pa., in 1970 as Swanson Analysis Systems, Inc. (SASI) by John Swanson (and eventually renamed), Ansys serves the CAE (Computer Aided Engineering)/multiphysics engineering simulation market. Read more…

Choosing the Right GPU for LLM Inference and Training

December 11, 2023

Accelerating the training and inference processes of deep learning models is crucial for unleashing their true potential and NVIDIA GPUs have emerged as a game- Read more…

Intel’s Server and PC Chip Development Will Blur After 2025

January 15, 2024

Intel's dealing with much more than chip rivals breathing down its neck; it is simultaneously integrating a bevy of new technologies such as chiplets, artificia Read more…

Baidu Exits Quantum, Closely Following Alibaba’s Earlier Move

January 5, 2024

Reuters reported this week that Baidu, China’s giant e-commerce and services provider, is exiting the quantum computing development arena. Reuters reported � Read more…

Leading Solution Providers

Contributors

Comparing NVIDIA A100 and NVIDIA L40S: Which GPU is Ideal for AI and Graphics-Intensive Workloads?

October 30, 2023

With long lead times for the NVIDIA H100 and A100 GPUs, many organizations are looking at the new NVIDIA L40S GPU, which it’s a new GPU optimized for AI and g Read more…

Shutterstock 1179408610

Google Addresses the Mysteries of Its Hypercomputer 

December 28, 2023

When Google launched its Hypercomputer earlier this month (December 2023), the first reaction was, "Say what?" It turns out that the Hypercomputer is Google's t Read more…

AMD MI3000A

How AMD May Get Across the CUDA Moat

October 5, 2023

When discussing GenAI, the term "GPU" almost always enters the conversation and the topic often moves toward performance and access. Interestingly, the word "GPU" is assumed to mean "Nvidia" products. (As an aside, the popular Nvidia hardware used in GenAI are not technically... Read more…

Shutterstock 1606064203

Meta’s Zuckerberg Puts Its AI Future in the Hands of 600,000 GPUs

January 25, 2024

In under two minutes, Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, laid out the company's AI plans, which included a plan to build an artificial intelligence system with the eq Read more…

Google Introduces ‘Hypercomputer’ to Its AI Infrastructure

December 11, 2023

Google ran out of monikers to describe its new AI system released on December 7. Supercomputer perhaps wasn't an apt description, so it settled on Hypercomputer Read more…

China Is All In on a RISC-V Future

January 8, 2024

The state of RISC-V in China was discussed in a recent report released by the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. The report, entitled "E Read more…

Intel Won’t Have a Xeon Max Chip with New Emerald Rapids CPU

December 14, 2023

As expected, Intel officially announced its 5th generation Xeon server chips codenamed Emerald Rapids at an event in New York City, where the focus was really o Read more…

IBM Quantum Summit: Two New QPUs, Upgraded Qiskit, 10-year Roadmap and More

December 4, 2023

IBM kicks off its annual Quantum Summit today and will announce a broad range of advances including its much-anticipated 1121-qubit Condor QPU, a smaller 133-qu Read more…

  • arrow
  • Click Here for More Headlines
  • arrow
HPCwire