We live in a world reliant on cell phone apps and beyond, losing a cell phone now is like losing a part of your mind (a helpful functioning part and the overly plugged in part). Data and data processing become king. All those small apps link to something — perhaps to mysterious and intricate quantum computers.
Another collaborative effort from two big names in the auto and tech world has begun. Volkswagen and Google are working together on quantum computers. The Volkswagen specialists are pursuing solutions for individual road users, EV owners, and better urban traffic planning.
Volkswagen notes that the joint effort will see the companies conducting application-oriented research. “The group IT wants to advance three development areas on the Google quantum computer. The specialists want to further develop traffic optimization, simulate material structures for high-performance e-vehicle batteries and new materials, and work with new methods of machine learning on artificial intelligence. …
“Volkswagen Group IT wants to test the potential of this quantum computer in several areas. So the specialists work on the further development of traffic optimization. They build on their successful research project and want to integrate in addition to the travel time reduction further variable sizes. These include urban traffic control systems, available e-charging stations or free parking areas.
“In another project, the specialists want to use an algorithm to simulate and optimize the material structure of high-performance e-vehicle batteries and other materials. The Volkswagen Group Research and Development expects to gain new insights into vehicle construction and battery research.
“In addition, the Volkswagen specialists want to use the potential of the Google quantum computer to work with new methods of machine learning on artificial intelligence (AI). Advanced AI systems are a prerequisite for autonomous driving.
“The Volkswagen Group is the world’s first automobile company to focus on quantum computing 
technology. Only in March 2017, Volkswagen announced its first successful research project on a quantum computer: a traffic optimization for 10,000 taxis in the Chinese capital Beijing.”
Martin Hofmann, Chief Information Officer of the Volkswagen Group, notes: “Quantum computer technology opens up new dimensions for us. It is the acceleration track for future topics. That’s why we at Volkswagen want to be among the first to use quantum computing as a business as soon as this technology becomes commercially available. Working with Google brings us a big step closer to that goal.”
The Volkswagen Group and Google just announced the comprehensive quantum computing research collaboration at the Web Summit 2017 technology conference in Lisbon. Members of Volkswagen’s Information Technology Centers (IT-Labs) in San Francisco and Munich, in particular, are the ones collaborating with 
Google — delving into algorithms, simulations, and optimizations to more deeply develop and integrate transportation vehicles and services.
Hartmut Neven, head of development at the Google Quantum Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, says, “Volkswagen has great expertise in solving important application-related tasks. We look forward to exploring together how quantum computing could transform and drive the automotive industry.”
Check out more via an interview with Martin Hofmann and Hartmut Neven published here.
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