Breakthrough neural network paves the way for quantum AI

Italian researchers recently developed the first functioning quantum neural network by running a special algorithm on an actual quantum computer. The team, lead by Francesco Tacchino of the University of Pavia in Italy, pre-published their research on ArXiv earlier this month in a research paper titled "An Artificial Neuron Implemented on an Actual Quantum Processor." Basically, they developed a single-layer artificial neural network (ANN) that runs on a quantum computer. This kind of rudimentary ANN is called a perceptron, and it's the basic building block of more robust neural networks. Previous attempts at building a perceptron on a quantum system have involved treating individual qubits as neurons in a network.