Google has announced the launch of a new initiative known as Research Program at the Intersection of Life Sciences & Quantum AI (REPLIQA), which aims to apply advanced quantum science and AI to the life sciences. As part of REPLIQA, Google.org will commit $10 million to five US universities – Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California San Diego, University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of Arizona.
In its blog, Google said that REPLIQA is a foundational, long-term research effort by Google Quantum AI and Google.org “to build the essential tools, such as quantum sensors or quantum-enhanced AI algorithms”, that will lay the groundwork for future breakthroughs and the next generation of discoveries.
REPLIQA follows a slew of recent announcements regarding the use of quantum technologies in biology and the life sciences. Just this month, Cleveland Clinic, RIKEN, and IBM announced the successful simulation of protein complexes spanning up to 12,635 atoms, while Qubit Pharmaceuticals and Centre for Quantum Technologies announced a collaboration for drug discovery.
