Patent 11295207 was granted and assigned to Microsoft on April, 2022 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Boltzmann machines are trained using an objective function that is evaluated by sampling quantum states that approximate a Gibbs state. Classical processing is used to produce the objective function, and the approximate Gibbs state is based on weights and biases that are refined using the sample results. In some examples, amplitude estimation is used. A combined classical/quantum computer produces suitable weights and biases for classification of shapes and other applications.