Rigetti Computing manufactures quantum integrated circuits, and they become computers when the silicon is made programmable. Programming a quantum computer is fundamentally different than programming a classical one. The earliest quantum computers will run hybrid quantum/classical algorithms, marrying traditional software approaches with very non-traditional paradigms born out of quantum mechanics.

In this light, open source quantum software serves dual purposes. First, it makes the mathematical realities of quantum computing more accessible to non-experts, and second, it leverages the vast innovations made by countless open source software engineers around the world. Both of these serve to maximize the power of near-term quantum computers.

We discuss the fundamental nature of an open source quantum development ecosystem, starting with the quantum programming language Quil, and discuss how that's made into a practical tool through open source quantum software development kits. We discuss Rigetti's open source quantum ecosystem called Forest, and how we see it developing in the coming year.