US Government To Develop Superconducting Computer

The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) – a secretive data collection branch operating under the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) – recently announced plans to build a powerful new “superconducting computer.” The ultimate goal is to create a computer that’s 1 exaflop faster (AKA 40 times faster) than the world’s current fastest computer. Big-name tech organizations like IBM, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumen have signed on to assist the government agency in developing this superconducting computer.

So, what’s the purpose of building a superconducting computer that’s 40 times faster than current computers? With it still being in the early stages of development, we really don’t know the answer to this question. However, it’s safe to assume that the NSA and other intelligence agencies would use it to crack encrypted messages and data.

According to an article published by ReCode, the project is part of the IARPA’s Cryogenic Computing Complexity (C3) program. The goal of the C3 program is to develop a new form of exascale computing that’s not limited by the power constraints of current computing tasks. Some of the world’s fastest computers currently consume 10 megawatts of power while generating 20 petaflops of computation. That’s incredibly fast, but it’s still too much power and not enough computation when speaking of super computers.

The answer to this solution is a superconducting computer: one that uses superconductivity to minimize resistance in circuits and transistors. Assuming all goes well, a superconductor can theoretically produce phenomenal computation power at the cost of very little power and heat.

The United States isn’t the only country trying to developing a superconducting computer. Reports indicate that Europe, Japan and China are also building an exascale.

“Computers based on superconducting logic integrated with new kinds of cryogenic memory will allow expansion of current computing facilities while staying within space and energy budgets, and may enable supercomputer development beyond the exascale,” said Marc Manheimer, C3 program manager at IARPA, said in the statement. “The energy demands of today’s high-performance computers have become a critical challenge for the Intelligence Community that the C3 program aims to address,” he added.”

Will we ever see a consumer-grade superconducting computer? Maybe, but it won’t be anytime soon. With government agencies throughout the world racing to develop this technology, it could be the next generation of computers. However, there are countless hurdles faced when developing such a computer.