Quantum experiment generated truly random numbers: JPMorgan Chase

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By Isabella Ward

  JPMorgan Chase & Co. has generated and certified so-called truly random numbers using a quantum computer, in a world-first that the bank hopes will have applications for security and trading.  

Researchers created the sequence using a quantum computer built by Honeywell’s Quantinuum, according to a paper published in the scientific journal Nature on Wednesday. JPMorgan researchers, alongside Argonne and Oak Ridge national laboratories and the University of Texas at Austin, then became the first to prove mathematically that they had produced “genuine randomness.” 

Most so-called random number generators, which are important for encrypting sensitive data, aren’t actually random. They’re pre-determined sequences. Computers run on a set of programmed mathematical operations that will always return the same answer, raising the risk that hackers with access to increasingly sophisticated computing power could crack encryption codes. 

Other companies have produced random number generation already. Quantinuum sells its products commercially for use in data centers and smart meters. But the certification gives users verifiable proof that the numbers are truly random, meaning higher-stakes industries like critical infrastructure and financial services can start using applications. 

“It would be good for anything that has an audit trail” to show the numbers are definitely randomly generated, for example the lottery, said Konstantinos Karagiannis, director of quantum computing services at consulting firm Protiviti, who did not participate in the experiment. “In cryptography the provability is the whole thing. It’s provably secure or it’s provably not secure. There is no gray area.” 

Between May 2023 and May 2024, cryptographers at JPMorgan wrote an algorithm for a quantum computer to generate random numbers, which they ran on Quantinuum’s machine. The US Department of Energy’s supercomputers were then used to test whether the output was truly random.  

“It’s a breakthrough result,” project lead and Head of Global Technology Applied Research at JPMorgan, Marco Pistoia told Bloomberg in an interview. “The next step will be to understand where we can apply it.” 

Applications could ultimately include more energy-efficient cryptocurrency, online gambling, and any other activity hinging on complete randomness, such as deciding which precincts to audit in elections. 

 

Excitement around quantum computing, which is still predominantly used by researchers, is growing as labs begin to demonstrate just how exponentially more powerful the nascent technology is than current computers. Still, it’s capped by struggles to find practical uses for the highly specialized and expensive machines. 

JPMorgan has made a push in that field in the last six years, enticed by promising applications in finance, artificial intelligence, optimization, and cryptography.  

“Quantum is particularly strategic for us,” said Pistoia, who is researching its potential for machine learning and to solve more complex problems, like portfolio optimization and derivative pricing.