Google and NASA have teamed up to launch a new laboratory focused on advancing machine learning. The Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab — hosted at NASA's Ames Research Center in California — will contain a quantum supercomputer that will be used by researchers from the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) and all over the world to pioneer breakthroughs in artificial intelligence.

Google believes quantum computing may prove invaluable in developing its web searching and speech recognition technology, while also assisting researchers in the creation of better models of disease and climate patterns. It has already developed quantum machine-learning algorithms that are capable of quickly recognizing data to save power on mobile devices and efficiently sort out erroneous information from "highly polluted training data." Supplied by D-Wave Systems, the quantum computer operates differently from traditional supercomputers by combining atoms to work together as quantum bits. By isolating and forcing these bits to interact, Google and NASA will be able to carry out two or more calculations simultaneously, helping them find "the optimal solution."