China has just seen the release of its first domestically developed operating system designed specifically for use with quantum computers.
The “Origin Pilot” (Benyuan Sinan) (本源司南) operating system was officially launched in the Anhui province capital of Hefei earlier this week by Hefei-based computer firm Origin Quantum (合肥本源量子计算科技有限责任公司).
Origin Quantum said the operating system it’s developed enables quantum computers to run in a more efficient and stable manner, while also offering new functions including systematic management of quantum resources, parallel execution of quantum computing tasks, and automated calibration of quantum chips.
The next step for Origin Quantum will be for its R&D team to create an “open quantum computing services ecosystem” based upon its quantum computer line, the Origin Pilot OS, as well as related platforms and software applications.
Hefei has recently emerged as a key center for China’s quantum computing sector. In December 2020 the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei announced that they had achieved quantum supremacy and developed the world’s fastest quantum computer – the Jiuzhang.
According to its developers the Jiuzhang is 10 billion times faster than the quantum computer developed by Google in 2019, which was reportedly the first machine to achieve “quantum supremacy” by outperforming the world’s top supercomputers at quantum calculation.