dougfinke

By Michael J. Attisha, Ph.D. Quantum computing companies regularly file patent applications, but will the patents that result expire before they are commercially relevant, or could they skyrocket in value in a few years? As explained below, this is likely an excellent time to pursue patent protection for quantum technologies. Applicants should, however, present their technology carefully to get the most value out of their patent portfolio. Considerations for drafting a strong quantum patent application are described below. Is Now the Right Time to File? A patent attorney will usually tell you to file early and often. This can be good [...]

Conceptual Diagram of a Dual-Rail Qubit.Credit: Quantum Circuits Inc. Recently there have been two announcements of companies developing Quantum Error Detection technology that could provide an additional approach to combatting the effects of qubit noise and gate infidelity in a quantum computer. Although many people are working on Fault Tolerant Quantum Computing (FTQC) schemes to both detect and then correct errors, the problem with many of these approaches lies in the large number of physical qubits needed to create a logical qubit. In some implementation, the ratio of physical to logical qubits could be 1000:1 or even higher. This will require [...]

Mentoring a New Generation of Quantum Women Overview In this episode of “The Quantum Spin by HKA,” host Veronica Combs discusses how to support women in the quantum industry with Biliana Rajevic, Head of Strategy, Corporate Development, and Public Relations at Quantum Brilliance and the founder of Quantum Women. The conversation explores the motivations and initiatives of Quantum Women, including mentoring, networking, and raising the visibility of women’s work in quantum sciences. Biliana also shares her strategies for building relationships, and her thoughts on responsible quantum computing. Tune in to learn about her efforts to create an inclusive, equitable environment in [...]

At this week's Microsoft Ignite 2024 conference, the company has provide more information about the 1000+ physical / 50 logical qubit neutral atom based quantum computer that Microsoft had mentioned last September at the Quantum World Congress. The companies are finalizing the design and are starting to take orders now for delivery in late 2025. The computer will be available for on-premise installation. The computer is intended to be used in a hybrid environment that includes HPC and AI resources, so all offerings will include cloud service and Microsoft's qubit-virtualization system and other offerings such as Azure Elements. For on-premise users, [...]

Architecture diagram of a quantum–classical full-stack solution. Credit: HPE and others A group consisting of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Qolab, Applied Materials, 1QBit, Synopsis, Quantum Machines, and others have published a document that describes what they see as the technical challenges that need to be overcome to develop a useful Fault Tolerant Quantum Computer (FTQC) based upon superconducting technology. In this research, the hardware design was provided by Qolab, the software design by HPE, software scaling and real-time error correction designs were made by HPE, 1QBit, and Quantum Machines, and design simulations performed by Qolab, Applied, Materials. The intent is to [...]

Components of the IBM Quantum Platform. Credit: IBM IBM held its Quantum Developers Conference at its research headquarters in Yorktown Heights, New York this week and provided a progress report on their development activities and updates to its roadmap.  At a high level, there have two themes in their development efforts: Quantum must be performant Quantum must be easy-to-use The company advanced towards these goals through a combination of hardware improvements, software improvement, new tools, and collaboration with partners. We will cover each of these areas in this article. Hardware Improvements There were no dramatic changes from the roadmap IBM showed [...]

D-Wave has announced its Q3 2024 financial results. A quick summary of some key financial metrics comparing Q3 2024 versus Q2 2024 and the year ago quarter of Q3 2023 is shown in the chart below. Revenue for the quarter was slightly lower while expenses were slightly higher resulting in an increase in both operating an net losses versus the previous quarter and the year ago quarter. The decrease in revenue was due to a decrease in professional services engagements related to the timing of the closing of the engagements. QCaaS (Quantum Computing as a Service) revenue increased versus the year ago [...]

IonQ has announced its Q3 2024 financial results. A quick summary of some key financial metrics comparing Q3 2024 versus Q2 2024 and the year ago quarter of Q3 2023 is shown in the chart below. IonQ had another strong quarter in Q3 achieving a revenue of $12.4 million, slightly above their previous forecast of $9-$12 million. They also had a great books quarter of $63.5 million, with a large portion coming from a $54.5 million contract they signed with AFRL. The company is maintaining their previous expectation of $75 - $95 million in bookings for full year 2024, but they are [...]

IonQ will acquire the assets of Qubitekk in an all-cash deal for $22 million and members of the Qubitekk team will be joining the company. The deal also includes acquisition of Qubitekk's 118 U.S. and international patents in the areas of quantum networking hardware and quantum network security. IonQ has been investing in quantum networking technology in recent years with an acquisition of the assets of Entangled Networks in 2023 and a $54.4 million contract with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) for researching quantum networking. Qubitekk is one of the few U.S. based companies developing products for this area. Their product [...]

TNO has great experience in nanofabrication and advanced materials engineering. Equal1 has its hybrid UnityQ architecture and a vision to create single chip systems with millions of qubits on the chip. This partnership will leverage TNO's advanced fabrication facilities to fabricate Equal's spin qubit chips. A press release announcing this partnership is available on the Equal1 website here. November 2, 2024