IBM & Raytheon Technologies to Collaborate on AI, Cryptography & Quantum Tech

IBM and Raytheon Technologies will jointly develop advanced artificial intelligence, cryptographic and quantum solutions for the aerospace, defence and intelligence industries, including the federal government, as part of a strategic collaboration agreement.

Raytheon Technologies Corporation is an aerospace and defence company that provides advanced systems and services for commercial, military and government customers worldwide. With four businesses ― Collins Aerospace Systems, Pratt & Whitney, Raytheon Intelligence & Space and Raytheon Missiles & Defense ― the company delivers solutions for avionics, cybersecurity, directed energy, electric propulsion, hypersonics, and quantum physics.

Artificial intelligence and quantum technologies have the potential to give aerospace and government customers the ability to design systems more quickly, better secure their communications networks and improve decision-making processes. The companies state that by combining IBM’s “breakthrough commercial research” with Raytheon Technologies’ own “research, plus aerospace and defence expertise”, the companies will be able to crack “once-unsolvable challenges”.

“The rapid advancement of quantum computing and its exponential capabilities has spawned one of the greatest technological races in recent history – one that demands unprecedented agility and speed”, said Dario Gil, senior vice president, IBM, and director of Research.

“Our new collaboration with Raytheon Technologies will be a catalyst in advancing these state-of-the-art technologies – combining their expertise in aerospace, defence and intelligence with IBM’s next-generation technologies to make discovery faster, and the scope of that discovery larger than ever”.

In addition to artificial intelligence and quantum, the companies will jointly research and develop advanced cryptographic technologies. The novel technologies will be applied to some of the most complicated problems faced by the aerospace industry and government agencies.

“Take something as fundamental as encrypted communications”, said Mark E. Russell, Raytheon Technologies chief technology officer. “As computing and quantum technologies advance, existing cybersecurity and cryptography methods are at risk of becoming vulnerable. IBM and Raytheon Technologies will now be able to collaboratively help customers maintain secure communications and defend their networks better than previously possible”.

The companies are building a technical collaboration team to insert IBM’s commercial technologies into active aerospace, defence and intelligence programs. The same team will also identify promising technologies for jointly developing long-term system solutions by investing research dollars and talent.

You can find more information about the collaboration between IBM and Raytheon Technologies on the companies’ respective websites.

Stay up to date with the most recent automation, computer vision, machine vision and robotics news on MVPro. Read the best stories every Friday with our newsletter.