Delivering Quantum Advantage: The Volkswagen Group of America Perspective

The smart office in downtown San Francisco could be home to a cool ecommerce or tech start-up. Scribbled quadratic equations on a whiteboard, open-plan, and a cute dachshund trotting around, not what you would typically associate with an 81 year old manufacturing giant. But for the past 2 and a half years, this has been the home of Florian Neukart, the Principal Scientist at Volkswagen Group of America, the German automotive leader. Using machine learning and quantum physics experience, gained through experience at VW Data Labs and an assistant professorship at the University of Leiden, Neukart’s role is to determine how to apply quantum technology into the VWGoA value chain, be it for customers or internal process improvement. He leads a team of engineers and scientists at the VWGoA innovation lab in San Francisco, California. 

The first project his team worked on was traffic flow optimization, using a sliver of real world data and embedding it on a chip to see if the problem could be solved. It turns out that it could. That initial success has given real momentum to the team to identify and solve other real-world problems that may be too complex for classical methods. 

“We see huge potential for quantum computers to help us in four key areas,” explains Neukart. “Firstly, solve time critical optimization problems like traffic flow, logistics, or tool distribution within production.”

“A second area we are exploring is machine learning. Is there a part of the ML algorithm that we can take and run on a quantum chip that will deliver us either faster or more accurate results? Or can we even find new algorithms that don’t really have a classical counterpart?” 

“Thirdly, simulation is an area of real interest, doing electronic structure calculations to understand the physical structure of molecules. These are very difficult to simulate classically, but with a quantum computer, once we have a stable, critical number of qubits, we will be able to. Last but certainly not least, is information security. What if someone steals data from us today, and then in 10 years is able to decrypt it with a quantum computer. We have to ready ourselves for that possibility now by thinking about quantum secure infrastructure.”

But given the tangible benefits that each of these applications can deliver, how does the team prioritize what to pursue?

“I would say the most promising area is simulation & electronic structure calculations. Right now, it isn’t possible for industrial relevant materials. It becomes interesting with 1000-1500 electrons, but at the moment we are at 80-100. Depending on the architecture of the chip, scalability can be a challenge too. The other area of high potential is machine learning and optimization. Falling within optimization, we see design optimization as a key area. For example, something we have worked on is the design of a mirror so that wind noise is minimized for a driver.”

With strong backing from the CIO Office, Florian is confident that VWGoA is building up the relevant expertise in quantum computing. The goal is to be quantum ready as an organization, and the methodology is simple: start with a toy model, prove the case, and then build the complexity. 

“We take a problem that is definitely too big to solve! We break it down, combine it with classical methods, process what we can on a quantum chip, and build the complexity slowly from there.”

There is plenty of speculation about when “quantum advantage” will be achieved, but for Neukart the advantage is clear and demonstrable.

“For us, quantum advantage is if a quantum chip can do things faster than classically. We already see quantum advantage in areas like mobility. We compare our quantum algorithms with our classical ones, and we see a clear advantage in specific, niche applications.”

What does the future hold for quantum technologies and what are the challenges to be overcome?

“Well, the good thing is that the hardware is now being offered on the cloud. That will really accelerate development. The work being done on building programming languages for quantum computers is really important too, as currently we still use a lot of classical languages like Python. We need to overcome the problem of refrigeration of course; otherwise getting these chips into devices will be very difficult.”

Although rooted in practical applications, the team does have license to explore blue sky ideas. 

“We are an innovation hub, so we are allowed to try things out, and we are allowed to fail too. We propose projects to work on, implement prototypes, and then approach specific departments with our prototypes to demonstrate whether they are useful. The sponsors that we have are those departments. Once they are convinced we can help them, they carry through the support. Thankfully, we have great sponsorship from Martin Hoffman, EVP, Group Chief Information Officer, Volkswagen AG, and Abdallah Shanti, EVP, Global Chief Information Officer Volkswagen Brand & Car-IT, who understand these technologies and their potential benefits.”

Given the immense disruption in the automotive industry with the twin factors of electrification and self-driving vehicles, remaining at the cutting-edge of technology is critical. With its’ investment in quantum computing, VWGoA is well positioned to reap the rewards.

For more information email me directly on amit.das@alphaevents.com

Visit the VWGoA website at: http://www.volkswagengroupofamerica.com/