Doug Finke

By Doug Finke Imagine you are hiking deep in the woods and suddenly realize you’ve lost your map, your cell phone is dead, and you forgot to bring a compass. While few people are actually careless enough to end up in such a precarious position, we often see a similar lack of preparation in the professional world. Whether it is a corporation, an investor, a government, or an individual plotting a career path, many attempt to journey through the complicated world of quantum technology without seeking the complete and accurate data necessary to guide their strategy. Instead, they rely on guesswork [...]

Yuval Boger interviews Bob Sorensen of Hyperion Research about the growing convergence of quantum computing and high-performance computing. They outline a problem-first adoption playbook for HPC centers: identify bottlenecks, benchmark classical options and costs, then evaluate quantum as an accelerator with clear ROI and procurement targets. Sorensen weighs cloud versus on‑prem tradeoffs, argues quantum hardware needs short lifecycles with upgrade paths, and explains why HPC managers mainly worry about seamless integration. They close with practical definitions of quantum advantage (speed, capability, and power), real-world case studies, and why error-correction-driven architecture is increasingly shaping modality decisions. Transcript Yuval: Hello, Bob, and thank you [...]

Italian Competition Authority The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) has officially opened a sector inquiry (IC59) into the burgeoning quantum computing (QC) market. Citing the technology’s potential to revolutionize complex problem-solving in strategic fields like cybersecurity, biotechnology, and fintech, the Authority aims to identify potential competition risks before the technology reaches full commercial maturity. Key Competition Concerns The inquiry was prompted by several structural risks that could lead to "technological pre-emption" by a few dominant players. These might include: Strategic Acquisitions: The AGCM is closely monitoring "early acquisitions" of specialized start-ups by larger entities, a trend that could consolidate power prematurely. Hyperscaler [...]

For many years IBM has offered an Open Plan that provides free quantum computing time to beginning users who want to try out programming one of IBM's quantum processors. This plan has typically provided access to some of IBM's older and smaller processors and included limits on how many minutes a user could use per month. It is intended for students and beginners to run small circuits and try out algorithms. The limits for the free time has been 10 minutes of runtime every 28 days. For users who required more time IBM overs a Pay-as-You-Go plan with pricing of $96/minutes [...]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a significant new Request for Application (RFA), DE-FOA-0003612, titled the Genesis Mission. This interdisciplinary initiative aims to leverage novel artificial intelligence (AI) models and frameworks to accelerate scientific discovery and R&D workflows across the Department's mission space. With a total anticipated funding pool of $293.76 million allocated among thirty different Challenge Areas. Of particular interest to the quantum community are Challenge Areas 7 and 8, which focus on the convergence of AI and quantum information science (QIS) to overcome current computational and hardware limitations. The program is structured in two phases to transition [...]

Yuval Boger interviews Christian Weedbrook, Founder and CEO of Xanadu. They discuss Xanadu’s photonic approach to gate-based quantum computing, the advantages of room-temperature operation, and the company’s plan to scale through optical networking. Christian also describes PennyLane, photonic error correction, customer engagements, and Xanadu’s target of building a 500-logical-qubit system by 2029–2030. The conversation also touches on partnerships, manufacturing, likely early applications in chemistry and materials, and much more. Transcript Yuval Boger: Christian, thank you for joining me today. Christian Weedbrook: Thank you for having me. I appreciate it. Yuval: So who are you and what do you do? Christian: My name is Christian Weedbrook [...]

Q-Day Part II: Infrastructure Exposure in a Post-Shor Scenario If Shor's algorithm can be executed at scale, RSA and ECC-based systems are vulnerable. But migrating cryptographic systems cannot happen overnight. In this article GQI qualifies the risk to real-world systems in the event of a Shor algorithm demonstration on RSA-2048. Part I of this series examined how the "Pinnacle Architecture" analysis (arXiv:2602.11457) compresses the physical qubit requirement for factoring RSA keys to approximately 100,000 qubits, an order of magnitude reduction from Craig Gidney’s 2025 benchmarks. While significant engineering trade-offs remain, the direction of travel suggests the hardware threshold for a cryptographically [...]

Does institutional risk modeling account for non-linear improvements in error-correction efficiency, or has the timeline for a cryptographically relevant quantum computer (CRQC) narrowed beyond existing forecasts? The technical baseline for evaluating RSA-2048 was updated in February 2026 with the "Pinnacle Architecture" analysis (arXiv:2602.11457). This research identifies a specific pathway to reduce the physical qubit overhead for Shor’s algorithm by an order of magnitude. While Craig Gidney’s 2025 work brought physical qubit requirements below one million, the integration of Quantum Low-Density Parity-Check (QLDPC) codes suggests a footprint of approximately 100,000 physical qubits. The demonstration indicates that the trajectory to demonstrating Shor's algorithm [...]

Pasqal, a prominent leader in neutral atom quantum computing, has entered into a definitive business combination agreement with Bleichroeder Acquisition Corp. II (Nasdaq: BBCQ). The transaction values the French quantum hardware company at $2.0 billion pre-money and is expected to result in Pasqal listing on the Nasdaq in the second half of 2026. Transaction Overview and Financial Highlights The deal is structured to provide Pasqal with substantial capital to scale its operations and accelerate its technical roadmap. Key financial details include: Valuation: A pre-money rollover equity value of $2.0 billion, with a pro forma market capitalization estimated at $2.6 billion. Gross [...]

Yuval Boger interviews Scott Aaronson, a UT Austin computer science professor known for his work on quantum computing theory. They explore the current state of quantum hardware, the narrowing case for quantum skepticism, and the realistic path toward fault-tolerant, useful quantum machines. The conversation also covers quantum algorithms, cryptography risks, ethics, hype in commercialization, and advice for the next generation of quantum researchers. Transcript Yuval: Hello Scott, thank you for joining me today. Scott: Thanks, it’s great to be here. Yuval: So who are you and what do you do? Scott: I’m Scott Aaronson, a computer science professor at the University of Texas at Austin, [...]