Buzz
In early June, Iran grabbed headlines by announcing the successful development of the 'first quantum computing device' for military applications. The presence of Admiral Habibollah Sayyari from Iran only added to the credibility of the unveiling.
Admiral Habibollah Sayyari's presence from Iran further bolstered the credibility of the unveilingThis product was introduced as a square-shaped board with a premium design, gold-plated, developed by Imam Khomeini International University (IKIU). Its mission is to handle deceptive situations in maritime vessel positioning systems through highly sophisticated algorithms.
However, soon after, keen observers quickly noticed that this motherboard closely resembled a product available on Amazon, called ARM-based FPGA motherboard. On Twitter, Gabriel Noronha, a former US State Department advisor on Iran, discovered that this quantum processor is actually an FPGA motherboard priced at only $589 and widely sold on Amazon.
This quantum processor is actually an FPGA motherboard priced at only $589 and widely sold on Amazon.Subsequently, IKIU admitted that the motherboard is not a quantum processor and blamed the media. An IKIU representative told Tasnim News: 'The product launch conveyed a mistaken message, that it is a quantum processor, which is not true. The issue does not lie in the announcement and its articulation. The issue stems from media outlets from Iran'.
However, the deputy dean and head of the development team still affirmed that Iran is indeed developing quantum computing and sees this product as a tool to support military tasks. According to experts, FPGA boards are mainly used for video processing, motor control, and Linux/Android application development.
FPGA boards are mainly used for video processing, motor control, and Linux/Android application development.While it could also be used in some components of quantum computers to bridge the gap between classical and quantum computing, large-scale quantum machines do not utilize this type of motherboard. The board was found to be a ZedBoard Zynq-7000 development SoC, and its actual specifications are insufficient to power a quantum processor. With a storage capacity of 256GB, 512MB DDR3 RAM, and only a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor, the board does not meet the requirements of a quantum processing system.
A shopping website lists potential applications of the board as video processing, motor control, software acceleration, Linux/Android/RTOS development, and embedded ARM processing. The list does not mention any applications related to the quantum field. However, no one can be certain about the future and the potential development of technology.
Explore more: Silicon chip leveraging quantum technology for 100x the performance of conventional chipsIran's Tasnim news agency explains that to cope with future threats, it is necessary to explore and evaluate new and breakthrough technologies. They also emphasize that the board is used to process deception in the positioning system of vessels on the water through algorithms.
While the presence of FPGA boards has raised some doubts about Iran's technological claimsWhile the presence of FPGA boards has raised some doubts about Iran's technological claims, continued research and development of new technologies remain crucial for progress and ensuring security in the future. We need to consider transparently and carefully to ensure that technology information is conveyed accurately.
It is evident that government agencies sometimes provide misinformation to exaggerate issues. However, we should also accurately assess the problem as well as products that significantly impact political and sensitive issues to provide more accurate information.
- Explore more articles in the Discovery section
