News Brief

Norma is a cybersecurity specialist headquartered in Korea that was original established in 2011. They are now working to get involved in quantum security and have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Finnish company IQM Quantum Computers. The companies will be working together to introduce and expand quantum computers in South Korea, joint development of quantum applications, and joint implementation of quantum education programs. This announcement is a continuation of a recent trend of collaborations between South Korean and Western organizations. In recent months we have reported on others collaborations between Korean entities and QuEra, IonQ, IBM, Quantum Machines, Xanadu, [...]

Qblox is a Dutch manufacturer of control electronics units that provide the controls to the qubits in a quantum computer. ScalinQ is a manufacturer of cryogenic hardware components that quantum processor engineers need to use to build their systems. The components include LINQER, a sample holder for quantum chips, CliQ, a compact lowpass infrared quantum filter, and BriQ, a high density breakout box. By marketing the devices together, they can ensure that these components can be integrated easily and make it more convenient for the engineers building up the quantum processor. A press release from the two companies announcing their agreement [...]

In June of this year, Xanadu released version 0.31 of its Pennylane quantum programming platform which had a new feature that supports multi-node/multi-GPU calculations. This capability requires explicit installation of the NVIDIA cuQuantum SDK but when that is installed it opens up the capability to perform large state-vector simulations. The Brookhaven National Laboratory is current running simulations that use up to 256 NVIDIA A100 Tensor Core GPUs to simulate about three dozen qubits and Xanadu has an end of year a goal of supporting simulations that have up to 1000 nodes (or 4000 GPUs) to provide state vector simulations of more than 40 [...]

Photograph of Qubit Chip Designed and Fabricated by ConScience. Credit ConScience AB ConScience AB is a company based in Gothenburg, Sweden that operates a state-of-the-art cleanroom laboratory and provides foundry services in micro and nanofabrication to academic and industrial organizations. In the past they have worked with several academic institutions including Oxford, Cambridge and Harvard and are now looking to extend that client base to quantum companies. Among other process technologies that have in their portfolio is a leading-edge superconducting Al and III/V process technology.They have just announced delivery of a quantum chip to an unnamed U.S. company developing superconducting based [...]

The grant will be for a four year program to study the strengths and limitations of different physical systems used to build quantum computers. The team from Rice University will use theory, numerical simulations and quantum hardware-run algorithms to compare the viability and computational potential of different approaches for building quantum computers. One point of contention among quantum researchers is which of several modalities is the best and this project will help provide a framework for that comparison. This award was made under the Quantum Testbed Pathfinder program which we described last March. A press release from Rice University announcing the [...]

One of the big concerns that cybersecurity experts have is the potential for hackers to start infiltrating critical infrastructure and interfere with basic utilities like gas, water, and electricity that are used by everyone. This is particularly true as the meters become smarter and send digital communications over a network. An example is the Honeywell E-Mon Class 6000 Smart Meter which Honeywell introduced in 2021. To enhance the security of their smart meters, Honeywell has integrated the Quantum Origin solution from Quantinuum into these products to make them resistant to future hackers who might possess a quantum computer from stealing the [...]

In an effort to expand the company's worldwide presence, Classiq announced it is opening a new office in Boston, Massachusetts. Shai Lev, the company's vice-president of strategic partnerships, will move there to direct the company's growth in North America. Classiq, founded in 2020 and headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, builds the top layer of the quantum software stack bringing automation and synthesis to the quantum algorithm design process making it faster and easier for end users to take advantage of quantum computing. Classiq's press release announcing the opening of this new office can be accessed on their website here. September 8, [...]

Cri/oFlex® I/O Module for a Quantum Computer. Credit: Delft Circuits A large portion of Delft's Circuits' Series A funding came from new investor DeepTechVC which supplied €5 million. The remainder came from their previous seed investors including High-Tech Gründerfonds, QuVest Capital, Scholt Group. Delft Circuits produces highly advanced cryogenic cabling solutions under the product name of Cri/oFlex that are used in quantum computers, quantum communications and other devices that operate at low temperatures. These cables can operate at frequencies of up to 26.5 Ghz. and can include custom connectors. The company currently has 40 employees and 400 square meters of fabrication space. They [...]

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has provided a two year grant to the Unitary Fund to further develop and grow their open source Mitiq project which develops algorithms for quantum error mitigation. The grant is awarded by NSF's Pathways for Open Source Ecosystem (POSE) program launched last year. Mitiq has proven be quite popular since its introduction and has recently had over 100,000 downloads with over 50 contributors worldwide. Mitiq currently provides several different error mitigation algorithms including zero noise extrapolation, probabilistic error cancellation, variable noise Clifford data regression, digital dynamic decoupling, and readout error mitigation. Additional information can be [...]