The next is a joint announcement by the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing and IBM.
IBM and MIT today announced the launch of the MIT-IBM Computing Research Lab, advancing their long-standing collaboration to shape the subsequent era of computing. The brand new lab expands its scope to incorporate quantum computing, alongside foundational artificial intelligence research, with the goal of unlocking recent computational approaches that transcend the bounds of today’s classical systems.
The MIT-IBM Computing Research Lab builds on a distinguished history of scientific excellence on the intersection of research and academia. Evolving from the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab, which originated in 2017 on MIT’s campus, the brand new lab reflects a transformed technology landscape — one which AI has entered mainstream deployment, and quantum computing is rapidly advancing toward practical impact. Together, MIT and IBM aim to assist lead research in AI and quantum and to redefine mathematical foundations across each domains.
“We expect the MIT-IBM Computing Research Lab to emerge as considered one of the world’s premier academic and industrial hubs accelerating the longer term of computing,” says Jay Gambetta, director of IBM Research and IBM Fellow, and IBM chair of the MIT-IBM Computing Research Lab. “Together, the brightest minds at MIT and IBM will rethink how models, algorithms, and systems are designed for an era that will probably be defined by the sum of what’s possible when AI and quantum computing come together.”
“For a decade, the collaboration between MIT and IBM has produced leading-edge research and innovation, and provided mentorship and supported the skilled growth of researchers each at MIT and IBM,” says Anantha Chandrakasan, MIT’s provost, who, as then-dean of the School of Engineering, spearheaded the creation of the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab and can proceed as MIT chair of the lab. “The incredible technical achievements sets the bar high for our work together over the subsequent 10 years. I sit up for one other decade of impact.”
Addressing the subsequent frontiers in computation
The MIT-IBM Computing Research Lab will function a focus for joint research between MIT and IBM in AI, algorithms, and quantum computing, in addition to the mixing of those technologies into hybrid computing systems. The lab is designed to speed up progress toward powerful recent computational approaches that benefit from rapid advances in AI and quantum-centric supercomputing, including those who mix maturing quantum hardware with classical systems and advanced AI methods.
This research initiative will include improving capabilities and integrating AI with traditional computing, alongside pursuing advances in small, efficient, modular language model architectures, novel AI computing paradigms, and enterprise-focused AI systems designed for deployment in real-world environments, where reliability, transparency, and trust are essential.
In parallel, the lab will rethink the mathematical and algorithmic foundations that underpin the subsequent era of computing by accelerating the event of novel quantum algorithms for complex problems, with impacts in areas comparable to materials science, chemistry, and biology.
Moreover, the lab will investigate mathematical and algorithmic foundations of machine learning, optimization, Hamiltonian simulations, and partial differential equations, that are used to approximate the behaviors of dynamical systems that currently stump classical systems beyond limited scales and accuracy. Innovations from the lab could have wide implications for global industries, from more accurate weather and air turbulence prediction to raised forecasts of economic market performance. Similarly, with improved optimization approaches, research from the lab could help lower risks in areas like finance, predict protein structures for more targeted medicine, and streamline global supply chains.
With its concentrate on AI, algorithms, and quantum, the MIT-IBM Computing Research Lab will complement and enhance the work of two of MIT’s strategic initiatives, the MIT Generative AI Impact Consortium and the MIT Quantum Initiative. MIT President Sally Kornbluth launched these strategic initiatives to broaden and deepen MIT’s impact in developing solutions to serious global challenges. The MIT-IBM Computing Research Lab may also leverage IBM’s longtime leadership and expertise in quantum computing. As a part of its ambitious roadmap, IBM has laid out a transparent path to delivering the world’s first fault-tolerant quantum computer by 2029, and is working across industries to drive value from quantum-centric supercomputing, tightly integrating quantum computers with high-performance computing and AI accelerators to resolve the world’s hardest problems.
Deep integration with scientific domains
The MIT-IBM Computing Research Lab may also proceed to function a foundation for training the subsequent generation of computational scientists and innovators. It is going to achieve this by engaging faculty and students across MIT departments, enabling recent computational approaches to speed up discoveries within the physical and life sciences.
The lab will proceed to be co-directed by Aude Oliva, senior research scientist at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, and David Cox, vice chairman of AI Foundations at IBM Research. MIT and IBM have appointed leads for every of the lab’s three focus areas — AI, algorithms, and quantum. Jacob Andreas, associate professor within the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), and Kenney Ng, principal research scientist at IBM Research and the MIT-IBM science program manager, will co-lead AI; Vinod Vaikuntanathan, the Ford Foundation Professor of Engineering in EECS, and Vasileios Kalantzis, IBM Research senior research scientist, will co-lead algorithms; and Aram Harrow, professor of physics, and Hanhee Paik, IBM director of Quantum Algorithm Centers, will co-lead quantum.
“The MIT-IBM Computing Research Lab reflects a vital expansion of the collaboration between MIT and IBM and the increasing connections across AI, algorithms, and quantum. This deepened focus also underscores a robust alignment with the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing’s mission to advance the forefront of computing and its integration across disciplines,” says Dan Huttenlocher, dean of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing and MIT co-chair of the lab. “I’m enthusiastic about what this next chapter will enable in these three areas, and their impact broadly.”
Constructing on nearly a decade of collaboration
The MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab helped pioneer a model for academic-industry research collaboration, aligning long-term scientific inquiry with real-world impact. Since its inception, the lab has funded over 210 research projects involving over 150 MIT faculty members and over 200 IBM researchers. Collectively, the projects have led to over 1,500 peer-reviewed articles. The lab also helped shape the profession growth of numerous MIT students and junior researchers, funding greater than 500 students and postdocs.
“The true measure of this lab will not be just innovation, but transformation of a field. A whole bunch of scholars have contributed to 1000’s of publications in top conferences and journals, demonstrating their capabilities to handle meaningful problems,” says Oliva. “The MIT-IBM Computing Research Lab builds on a unprecedented legacy of impact to advance a trusted collaboration that may redefine the longer term of AI and quantum computing in a way never seen before.”
“By coupling academic rigor with industrial scale, the lab goals to define the computational foundations that may power the subsequent generation of AI, quantum, and scientific breakthroughs,” says Cox. “By bringing together advances in AI, algorithms, and quantum computing under one integrated research effort, we’re creating the conditions to rethink the mathematical and computational foundations of science and engineering.”
The MIT-IBM Computing Research Lab will capitalize on this foundation, expanding each the scientific scope and the ecosystem of collaborators across the Cambridge-Boston region and beyond.