Recent news items published within the last 6 months on quantum computing developments are listed below. Click on the hyperlinked item to go to the press release or news article for more details. For older news items published in 2023 click here, for 2022 click here, for 2021 click here, for 2020 click here, for 2019 click here, for 2018 click here, and for items published in 2015-2017, click here.

March 27, 2024 – News Brief
Quobly Partners with Nanoacademic Technologies to Advance Silicon Spin Qubits for Quantum Computing
Quobly, a French quantum hardware startup developing silicon spin qubit-based quantum computing, has announced a significant partnership with Montreal-based Nanoacademic Technologies, renowned for its digital simulation and modeling tools for quantum technologies. This collaboration aims to enhance Quobly’s research and development efforts surrounding silicon spin qubits by leveraging Nanoacademic Technologies’ QTCAD® software platform, the world’s first commercial finite-element modeling software for spin qubits in semiconductors. The integration of QTCAD® is expected to accelerate the journey towards realizing a scalable silicon-based quantum processor by providing advanced simulation capabilities. Quobly’s CEO & co-founder, Maud Vinet, expressed confidence in the partnership’s ability to drive the development of their silicon-based quantum computer to new heights. Nanoacademic Technologies’ CEO, Dr. Hong Guo, emphasized the significance of this collaboration in advancing quantum hardware design and manufacturing startups, highlighting Quobly’s ambitious goals and the alignment with their mission. For additional information, you can access a press release that can be accessed here.

March 27, 2024
Scaling Quantum Computing: Nu Quantum and SoftwareQ Will Partner to Study Modular Fault Tolerant Quantum Computers
Nu Quantum and SoftwareQ are collaborating to develop the theoretical framework a first fault-tolerant quantum computer, sponsored by Innovate UK under the Canada UK Commercialising Quantum Technology Programme: CR&D and National Research Council of Canada under the Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP). The companies have received funding of $1.2 million USD and started the project in September 2023 which will run for two years. Click here for more details about this project.

March 27, 2024
Diraq Demonstrates Spin Qubit Operation at 1 Degree Kelvin with Good Qubit Quality Measures
Australian quantum hardware company Diraq has published a technical paper describing operation of their spin qubits at a temperature of 1 degree kelvin while still maintaining some good qubit quality measures. Click here for our full article reporting on this development and potential implications for this technology.

March 27, 2024
Alice & Bob and Partners Receive a €16.5 Million ($17.8M USD) Grant to Develop a 100 Logical Qubit Processor by 2027
The grant was provided by Bpifrance on behalf of the French government as part of the France 2030 initiative. Alice & Bob’s partners in this effort include academic partners ENS de Lyon and Mines Paris – PSL. The project, named Cat Factory, will use Alice & Bob’s Cat qubit technology which we recently described here which combines a base Cat qubit which virtually eliminates bit flips with an LDPC code to create a much more efficient implementation. Click here for the rest of our article which describes more details about the system Alice & Bob is seeking to develop.

March 26, 2024 – News Brief
OrangeQS Accelerates Quantum Chip Production with Industry-Targeted System
Orange Quantum Systems (OrangeQS) has advanced its roadmap to cater to the burgeoning industrial quantum chip production market, as evidenced by the initial sale of its OrangeQS Industry System to a full-stack quantum computing company. Shipments to first customers is scheduled to start in Q4 of this year. This system is designed to facilitate the testing of 100+ qubit quantum chips, streamlining the chip development process through automated testing at scale. Rather than requiring a new chip to be tested in a full quantum processor, this system will allow the new chip to be tested in this test system at a faster rate, lower cost, and less labor intensity. Click here for more.

March 26, 2024 – News Brief
Quantum-Inspired Algorithm Revolutionizes Cyber Attack Detection
Researchers from Multiverse Computing and CounterCraft have collaborated to develop a quantum-inspired tensor network based algorithm enhancing cyber attack detection. Known as the Matrix Product State (MPS) model, it achieved 100% detection of attacks, employing adversary-generated threat intelligence instead of rule-based systems. This innovation significantly reduces false positives compared to classical models while enhancing interpretability, crucial for business users and regulators. The model’s efficacy was tested on various attack types, demonstrating its ability to distinguish normal from abnormal behavior. This development marks a significant advancement in cybersecurity defense, leveraging quantum techniques to anticipate and counteract evolving threats. A press release describing this cybersecurity detection algorithm is available here and further technical details about this approach can be found in the paper posted on ArXiv: “Tensor Networks for Explainable Machine Learning in Cybersecurity.

March 25, 2024
IQM Sells their Spark 5-Qubit Computer to the Jülich Supercomputing Centre
The Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC) has acquired a 5-qubit quantum system, the IQM Spark, from IQM Quantum Computers. The system is set to go into operation in July 2024 as part of Jülich’s JUNIQ quantum computing infrastructure and will be connected to JSC’s classical supercomputers. This will allow researchers to explore how quantum computers can accelerate calculations on classical supercomputers. For the rest of the story, click here.

March 22, 2024
Who’s News: Management Additions at Vescent Photonics and D-Wave
Vescent Photonics has added a new Chief Financial Officer and board member. And D-Wave has named a Chief Revenue Officer and a Chief Development Office. Click here for our article describing these management team changes.

March 21, 2024 – News Brief
Terra Quantum Partners with MegazoneCloud to Drive Quantum Adoption Across Asia
Terra Quantum AG, a prominent hybrid quantum computing company based in Germany and Switzerland, has entered into a strategic partnership with MegazoneCloud Corporation, a leading South Korean cloud managed services provider. The collaboration aims to drive the adoption of quantum technologies across key Asian markets, particularly focusing on sectors such as finance, manufacturing, weather forecasting, and smart city projects. South Korea’s ambitious goal to elevate its quantum technology capabilities to 85% of US levels by 2035 has spurred significant investments, positioning the country as a key player in the global quantum economy. The partnership between Terra Quantum and MegazoneCloud seeks to leverage European quantum expertise to address the growing demand for advanced technological solutions in Asia. By combining their strengths, the companies aim to develop cutting-edge quantum computing algorithms and applications tailored to the specific needs of the South Korean market. This collaboration marks a step towards improving access to quantum computing on a global scale, empowering organizations in Asia to harness the potential of quantum-powered innovation. A press release from Terra Quantum is available here.

March 20, 2024 – News Brief
Quantum Experts Unite for Eurostars Project ‘SupremeQ’ to Advance Photonic Quantum Computing
ORCA ComputingPixel PhotonicsSparrow Quantum, and the Niels Bohr Institute (NBI) have announced their collaboration on the Eurostars project ‘SupremeQ,’ aimed at accelerating the development and commercialization of photonic quantum computing technologies. Supported by Eurostars funding, the project will leverage single-photon sources from Sparrow Quantum and NBI, single-photon detectors from Pixel Photonics, and full-stack photonic quantum computing system architecture from ORCA Computing. The consortium aims to drive breakthrough innovation in photonic quantum computing, addressing key challenges such as system engineering for scale and high acquisition costs. The project targets pioneering solutions for performance, packaging, and system integration, with the ultimate goal of achieving universal fault-tolerant quantum computing. Consortium partners express confidence that the SupremeQ solutions will generate considerable interest, driving diverse applications and accelerating the adoption of quantum technologies across industries. A press release announcing this collaboration can be seen here.

March 20, 2024 – News Brief
IonQ and South Carolina Quantum Forge Partnership to Propel Quantum Computing in the State
IonQ and South Carolina Quantum (SC Quantum) have formed a strategic agreement aimed at advancing quantum computing in South Carolina. Under this agreement, IonQ will provide quantum computing capabilities and professional services to SC Quantum partners, including academic institutions. Additionally, both entities will collaborate to develop quantum-specific academic coursework to train future members of the quantum workforce. SC Quantum will work alongside IonQ to expedite the integration of quantum technologies into enterprises, startups, and industries across South Carolina. This partnership signifies South Carolina’s commitment to fostering quantum skill sets and building quantum-smart technologies within the state’s economy. The collaboration between IonQ and SC Quantum aims to position South Carolina as a competitive destination for quantum discovery, education, and entrepreneurship. IonQ has similar partnerships with the U.S. states of Maryland and Washington. For additional information, you can access the press release provided by IonQ here.

March 20, 2024
Quantum Hardware Manufacturer Alice & Bob Partners with NVIDIA to Integrate Cat Qubits into Future Datacenters
Alice & Bob, a quantum hardware manufacturer, is collaborating with NVIDIA to integrate cat qubits into future datacenters. Leveraging NVIDIA technology such as DGX Quantum and CUDA Quantum, this integration aims to advance quantum computing alongside classical computing methods. DGX Quantum combines NVIDIA GH200 Grace Hopper Superchips and the Quantum Machines’ OPX+ control system to provide quantum error correction, calibration, control and processing of hybrid algorithms at high performance. Click here for more.

March 19, 2024
IQM Quantum Computers Unveils IQM Resonance: A Cloud Service Facilitating Quantum Exploration and Research
IQM Quantum Computers introduces IQM Resonance, a cloud service designed to propel quantum exploration and research endeavors. With this offering, end users gain secure and straightforward access to IQM’s advanced quantum systems and quantum processing units (QPUs). The service offers access to two different quantum processors. The first one is called IQM Deneb which is a six qubit processor with high qubit connectivity due to its star topology. The high qubit connectivity can provide highly efficient implementation for some algorithms because it will minimize the number of SWAP gates in the program. The second processor is called IQM Garnet which contains 20 qubits with tunable couplers arranged in a square lattice. For additional information about this new cloud service, read our complete report on this announcement here.

March 18, 2024 – News Brief
French Consortium RESQUE Forms to Advance Post-Quantum Cryptography for Secure Communication Networks
Six French cyber players, including ThalesTheGreenBowCryptoExpertsCryptoNext SecurityANSSI, and Inria, have formed the RESQUE consortium to develop post-quantum cryptography solutions safeguarding communication networks against quantum computer threats. With €6 million ($6.5M USD) funding from the French government and EU, the project aims to create hybrid post-quantum VPNs and high-performance hardware security modules. Thales leads algorithm integration, while TheGreenBow focuses on VPN expertise, and CryptoExperts and CryptoNext Security handle encryption. ANSSI contributes research framework, and Inria provides fundamental research support. Thales, with €17.6 billion ($19.1M USD) sales in 2022, is a global leader in advanced technologies. CryptoExperts specializes in cryptographic consulting, while CryptoNext Security offers quantum-resistant cryptography solutions. TheGreenBow, established in 1998, provides VPN solutions globally, and ANSSI serves as France’s national cybersecurity authority. Inria is a leading French research institute focusing on digital science and technology. For additional information, access the press release here.

March 18, 2024
NVIDIA Announces New Supercomputer Projects, a Quantum Cloud, Academic Initiatives, and PQC Acceleration at Its Annual GTC Conference
NVIDIA is making a slew of product and other AI-related announcements this week during its annual GTC conference. But not to be overlooked are several announcements related to their quantum computing efforts which cover new supercomputer projects, academic initiatives, quantum clouds, and PQC acceleration. We will describe all of these announcements in this article. Click here for our full report on all of NVIDIA’s quantum related announcements.

March 18, 2024 – News Brief
QuSecure Introduces QuProtect Core Security: Enhancing Cisco Router Communications with Post-Quantum Cryptography
QuSecure™, Inc. has launched QuProtect Core Security, a solution designed to enhance Cisco router-to-router communications with advanced crypto-agile post-quantum cryptography. This product aims to strengthen network infrastructures for enterprises, government, and telecommunications providers against emerging quantum threats. It simplifies the upgrade cycle for quantum-safe encryption, requiring no hardware changes and integrating seamlessly with existing Cisco router frameworks. QuProtect Core Security offers telemetry, orchestrated encryption controls, and incorporates the NIST suite of post-quantum cryptographic algorithms. It provides a cost-effective alternative to quantum key distribution (QKD) networks and enables organizations to gain insight and control over their encryption for critical use cases. The launch signifies a significant advancement in making quantum-resistant encryption accessible globally. For more information, access the press release here.

March 16, 2024
Rigetti Announces Q4 2023 and Full Year 2023 Financial Results
Rigetti Computing has announced its Q4 2023 and 2023 financial results.  In their press release and subsequent conference call the company also discuss their financing status, technical and product progress, and commercial engagements. Click here for our full report about their announcement.

March 15, 2024
Qrypt Partnering with NVIDIA to Provide Quantum Secure Cryptography Between AI Clusters
Qrypt, a quantum-secure encryption company, has announced the launch of its Quantum Entropy and Quantum Secure Key Generation technologies. These technologies will be used to transmit AI workloads using NVIDIA BlueField-3 DPUs with quantum-secure encryption, providing protection against quantum computing threats to current cryptography. Click here for the full article.

March 15, 2024
POLARISqb Secures DARPA Funding to Propel Quantum Computing Applications in Drug Design
POLARISqb has been awarded a research contract by the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) under the IMPAQT initiative to advance quantum computing applications in drug design. Building upon their pioneering work in quantum-enabled drug discovery, POLARISqb aims to develop novel methods targeting protein-protein interactions (PPIs), a challenging aspect of drug design crucial for addressing emerging threats like the Ebola virus and persistent ailments like cancer. The project will focus on creating a variational quantum algorithm (VQA) capable of identifying small molecules that modulate PPIs, leveraging the unique capabilities of quantum computing to navigate vast solution spaces inaccessible to classical methods. For the full article, click here.

March 15, 2024 – News Brief
Japanese Consortium Wins Prime Minister’s Award for Quantum Computing Development
Japanese consortium including RIKENAISTNICTOsaka UniversityFujitsu Limited, and NTT wins Prime Minister’s Award for developing high-performance computing platform with Japan’s second domestically-made 64-qubit superconducting quantum computer. The platform, available on the cloud since October 2023, promotes commercial industrial research and development. Leveraging the technology from the first 64-qubit quantum computer released in March 2023, the group aims to advance quantum computing for various fields. Notably, RIKEN’s superconducting quantum bit chip design shows scalability potential up to the 1,000-qubit level. The platform, recognized at the 53rd Japan Industrial Technology Awards, signifies a significant step towards industrial quantum computing application. Supported by Japan’s Quantum Leap Flagship Program, this initiative fosters further research and development in quantum applications, accelerating the practical application of quantum computing technologies. A press release announcing this award has been posted on the Fujitsu website here.

March 14, 2024 – News Brief
Equal1 Establishes New Center of Excellence in Sherbrooke’s Quantum Innovation Zone
Equal1 inaugurates its new center of excellence in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, situated at the heart of Sherbrooke’s Quantum Innovation Zone. The center aims to cultivate talent in silicon spin qubits and promote collaborations with academic and industrial partners. It provides access to cutting-edge quantum measurement and fabrication facilities through the Quantum Technology Development Laboratory (DevTeQ). The proximity to Institut Quantique at the University of Sherbrooke, a leading quantum academic institution, offers opportunities for collaboration and access to highly qualified graduating students. Equal1’s CEO, Jason Lynch, emphasizes the strategic importance of Sherbrooke’s ecosystem for the company’s future success. The opening of the center marks a significant milestone for Equal1 and the collaboration between academia and industry. Martin Enault, Managing Director of Distriq, Quantum Innovation Zone, and Yves A. Sicard, Vice President Innovation Zone at Invest Quebec International, express their enthusiasm for Equal1’s presence and its potential to drive technological innovation within the Quantum Innovation Zone. A news release from Equal1 announcing this new center of excellence can be accessed here.

March 14, 2024 – News Brief
IonQ and DESY Research: Quantum Collaboration Enhances Airport Flight Gate Optimization
IonQ, in collaboration with DESY (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron), has demonstrated the potential of quantum computing to optimize airport flight gate operations. By leveraging IonQ Aria, the research aimed to address challenges such as minimizing traveler transit time and aircraft idle time while increasing gate throughput. The study utilized logarithmic-linear encoding to execute flight-gate optimization algorithms, showcasing the feasibility of handling complex scenarios involving multiple variables. The results signify a significant advancement in quantum computing’s applicability to real-world optimization problems, spanning various industries. IonQ plans to extend its research using IonQ Forte and IonQ Tempo, targeting optimization needs for European airports. This collaboration underscores IonQ’s commitment to developing quantum applications for diverse sectors. Additional information is available in a press release published on the IonQ website here. Also, a blog about this research is available here and a preprint paper has been posted on arXiv here.

March 13, 2024 – News Brief
Quantistry Secures €3 Million ($3.28M USD) Funding to Further their Chemical Simulation Platform
Quantistry, a leader in chemical simulations, has secured €3 million ($3.28M USD) in funding led by Ananda Impact Ventures to advance research and development (R&D) in chemical and material sciences. The funding, supported by notable co-investors including Chemovator the business incubator of BASFIBB Ventures, and a Family Office, will bolster Quantistry’s mission to revolutionize industrial R&D through its cloud-native platform, integrating Quantum and AI technologies. This approach aims to address challenges such as high costs and slow innovation, offering unprecedented benefits to industries seeking sustainable solutions. Marcel Quennet, CEO of Quantistry, indicated that chemical simulations will not only transform industrial R&D but will also help achieve a greener future. Alina Bassi, Investment Manager at Ananda Impact Ventures, highlights the crucial role Quantistry plays in fostering sustainability through quantum chemistry, chemical simulations, and AI. For additional information, you can access the press release provided by Quantistry here.

March 13, 2024
SemiQon Builds and Ships Its Initial 4-Qubit Silicon Chip to Research Partners
SemiQon, based in Espoo, Finland, has successfully produced, tested, and shipped to strategic partners a 4-qubit silicon-based quantum chip. These chips are now being shipped globally to support research and development efforts aimed at accelerating the utilization of quantum computing. The company’s approach combines classical and quantum elements at cryogenic temperatures, demonstrating low noise and enhanced transistor control, crucial for scalable quantum computers. As part of their technical strategy, SemiQon will be using fully-depleted silicon-on-insulator metal-on-semiconductor (FDSOI-MOS) transistors that will operate at cryogenic temperatures for the classical functionality allowing close integration with the silicon-based spin qubits. Click here for the rest of the article.

March 12, 2024
Pasqal Unveils Quantum Roadmap; Targeting Customers in Production by 2025
In a webinar presentation today, French quantum hardware manufacturer Pasqal has released a roadmap for its hardware and software development and also has described some of the early customers and applications who are working with their neutral atom based machine. The company has an aggressive schedule for improving their hardware along several fronts including the number of qubits, repetition rate, gate operations per calculation, hours of QPU availability, and software features. They are also working to expand the number of manufacturing facilities with a new one in Sherbrooke, Quebec slated to build and deliver a machine to its first customer later this year. Pasqal is currently working with over 50 customers who are testing out their applications and the company hopes that some of them will be able to move their application to regular production by 2025. For details about their roadmap, read our full article here.

March 12, 2024
QMware Collaborates with NVIDIA and Oracle to Advance Hybrid Quantum Computing for Enterprises
QMware, a leading hybrid quantum computing company, has announced a collaboration with NVIDIA and Oracle to advance hybrid quantum computing services for enterprises. Leveraging Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) powered by NVIDIA A100 Tensor Core GPU clusters and CUDA Quantum open-source hybrid quantum computing platform, QMware aims to develop a state-of-the-art quantum computing service for industrial use. The partnership aims to explore quantum computing applications in various fields such as AI, quantum machine learning, and optimization. This initiative demonstrates the rapid adoption and exploration of quantum technology with an initial version of the service set to be demonstrated at Oracle CloudWorld London. Click here for more.

March 11, 2024
Rolls-Royce, Riverlane, and Xanadu Team Up on Grants from the UK and Canadian Governments to Develop Quantum Jet Engine Design
Rolls-RoyceRiverlane, and Xanadu have secured over £400,000 ($512K USD) in grant funding from Innovate UK and CAD $500,000 ($370K USD) from National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP) to develop applications for quantum computers in modeling air flow through jet engines. The project, named CATALYST, aims to create a hybrid quantum-classical framework, enabling faster evaluation and implementation of quantum algorithms. For the rest of the article with additional details, click here.

March 9, 2024 – News Brief
IBM Releases Version 1.0 of Qiskit
As we indicated in our article last December about IBM’s roadmap, IBM has officially released version 1.0 of Qiskit. This release provides higher performance, a more stable platform, a leaner set of libraries, and an SDK built for an open-source ecosystem. It will have experimental native OpenQASM 3 support and includes support for dynamic circuits and disjoint qubit coupling maps for the new IBM Heron class of processors. Now that the software has reached version 1.0, future releases will be more structured and stable with major releases that might introduce breaking changes occurring at least one year apart. Minor versions and patch versions may occur more often to introduce new features or fix bugs, but these should not break previous functionality. IBM has posted a blog describing the release and details of the new features and it can be accessed here.

March 9, 2024
Who’s News: Management Changes at Quantum Circuits, Strangeworks, Unitary Fund, and the U.S. National Quantum Coordination Office
Quantum Circuits, Inc. has a new President and CEO, Strangeworks has added a SVP Revenue, the Unitary Fund has expanded it board with two new members, and the U.S. National Quantum Coordination Office (NQCO) has a new Director. Click here for our article when reports on these management changes.

March 9, 2024 – News Brief
Classiq and Alice & Bob Team to Create a Logical Qubit Emulator for Cat Qubits
Quantum software company Classiq and Alice & Bob, a company working on a fault-tolerant quantum computer, have announced a partnership to bridge the gap between quantum software and hardware. The collaboration will enhance the Classiq platform with Alice & Bob’s cat qubit technology and tooling for logical qubits. Classiq’s platform will expand to include an early-access program to the first logical qubit emulator, capable of simulating logical qubits based on cat qubits. Alice & Bob is working to develop a quantum computer with 100 logical qubits that have a 10-8 error rate and this will help researchers and developers get a better feel for what can be done with this type of machine. The partnership aims to accelerate the advancement of quantum computing by providing the quantum computing community access to state-of-the-art technologies. A press release announcing the collaboration between the two companies can be accessed here.

March 8, 2024
French Government Launches the PROQCIMA Program for Quantum Computing Development
To accelerate progress in French quantum technology, the French government has launched the PROQCIMA program to achieve two prototype fault tolerant quantum computers of French design with at least 128 logical qubits by 2032. A follow-on goal would be to have fault tolerant quantum computers with at least 2048 logical qubits by 2035. Click here for our article that describes more details about this newly announced program.

March 8, 2024
Intel Unveils Quantum SDK 1.1 with Enhanced Features for Quantum Algorithm Development
Intel has unveiled version 1.1 of its Quantum Software Development Kit (SDK), introducing significant enhancements to facilitate quantum algorithm implementation. The updated kit boasts an open-source compiler front end, two additional simulator back ends, and customizable qubit noise models, alongside enhanced programming tools for quantum algorithm expression. These features will enable developers to access Intel’s full quantum computer in simulation through the SDK. Designed to interface with Intel’s quantum hardware, including the Horse Ridge II control chip and Tunnel Falls quantum dot spin qubit research chip, the SDK offers seamless integration with C/C++ and Python applications. Click here for more about this new SDK release.

March 7, 2024
LuxQuanta Triumphs in EIC Accelerator Program, Secures €2.5 Million ($2.7M USD) Funding Boost
LuxQuanta, a European Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) manufacturer, has secured a notable victory in the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator program, receiving s €2.5 million grant. Co-founded by Dr. Sebastian Etcheverry and Dr. Saeed Ghasemi in 2021, and led by CEO Vanesa Díaz since 2022, LuxQuanta’s success underscores its innovative prowess in quantum cryptography. Out of 1,083 proposals, only 42 companies were selected, highlighting the rigorous vetting process of the EIC Accelerator. Click here for the rest of the article which provides additional details about LuxQuanta’s technology.

March 7, 2024
QuantrolOx and Zurich Instruments Forge Partnership to Enhance Quantum Computing Automation
QuantrolOx and Zurich Instruments have announced their partnership, integrating Zurich Instruments’ Quantum Computing Control System (QCCS) into QuantrolOx’s Quantum EDGE automation tool. The QCCS combines RF Signal Generators, Quantum Analyzers, and Qubit Controllers, offering advanced features such as over 1 GHz instantaneous bandwidth. This integration aims to enhance performance, reduce complexity, and streamline qubit experiments. Additionally, users can leverage the SHF+ product line for high-fidelity gate operations. The collaboration, facilitated by Zurich Instruments’ LabOne Q open-source software framework, aims to advance multi-qubit gate operations and refine readout capabilities. Click here for more.

March 7, 2024
Vescent Secures $5M Series Seed Funding to Provide Components Needed for Quantum Technology Commercialization
Vescent Photonics, a leading provider of components for quantum technology commercialization, has successfully closed a $5 million Series Seed funding round led by Corporate Fuel, with additional participation from Caruso Ventures. This funding will expedite the introduction of new products, enhance manufacturing capabilities to meet growing demand, and extend market penetration. Vescent’s offerings include Frequency Combs, Lasers, and Controls for quantum timing, computing, networking, and sensing applications, emphasizing low Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP), ruggedness, and performance. Click here for the rest of the article that describes how this new funding will be put to use.

March 7, 2024 – News Brief
Zero Point Cryogenics, Qubic Technology, and Team Win $3 Million Award for Quantum Sensing
Zero Point Cryogenics (ZPC) has secured funding from the Government of Canada through the Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security (IDEaS) program, in collaboration with the University of Waterloo. This initiative, aimed at advancing quantum technology research for defence and security applications, highlights Canada’s commitment to technological innovation. ZPC’s involvement in the ‘Microwave Quantum Radar’ project, alongside partners like Qubic Technologies and Carleton University, underscores the company’s dedication to pioneering quantum solutions. The project will be supported by a $3 million contribution agreement from the IDEaS program. Zero Point Cryogenics is an Edmonton, Canada based company that supplies dilution refrigerators. Qubic Technology located in Sherbrooke, Canada is developing a new quantum technology of microwave transmitters and receivers for telecommunications and remote sensing applications. For further details, refer to the original press release provided by Zero Point Cryogenics here.

March 7, 2024 – News Brief
Tabor Electronics and FormFactor Unveil Full Stack 5-Qubit Quantum Computer Project Powered by QuantWare
Tabor Electronics, in collaboration with FormFactor, is demonstrating the first phase of the Echo-5Q project, a full stack 5-Qubit Quantum Computer powered by QuantWare‘s Quantum Processing Unit (QPU). This achievement showcases a significant 250% enhancement in T1 times compared to similar systems, ensuring higher qubit fidelity and increased quantum operations per cycle. The Echo-5Q project addresses the growing demand for practical quantum computing test beds and a skilled workforce. Key components of this solution include FormFactor’s LF-600 Cryogen-free Dilution Refrigerator, Tabor Electronics’ Proteus Direct to RF Control Electronics, and QuantWare’s Soprano-D QPU. The collaboration leverages decades of experience from both Tabor Electronics and FormFactor, resulting in good performance from the QuantWare QPU. For additional information, you can access the press release posted on the Tabor website here and the Echo-5Q Overview sheet here.

March 7, 2024 – News Brief
ConScience AB Partners with Quantum Microwave to Distribute Quantum Devices in North America
ConScience AB, based in Gothenburg, Sweden, has entered into a distribution agreement with Quantum Microwave, a US-based company, covering the USA and Canada. This agreement follows ConScience AB’s launch of its first Quantum device, the QiB0, in Q1 2024. Quantum Microwave, known for distributing components in the quantum computing market, is pleased to include ConScience AB’s products in its portfolio, enhancing its ability to offer active quantum computing devices to clients. The QiB0 device features 4 single qubits and 2 coplanar waveguide (CPW) resonators with characteristics such as up to 80 µs qubit lifetime and 1 million quality factor of CPW resonators. Intended for research groups, companies, and universities, it facilitates the verification of quantum measurement systems and educates the next generation of quantum scientists and engineers. ConScience AB specializes in clean-room production and has a track record of providing expertise in micro- and nanofabrication to industries and academia. For additional information, you can access the press release provided here.

March 6, 2024 – News Brief
Qblox, Maybell, and QuantWare Assembled a Full-Stack Quantum System at APS March Meeting 2024
QbloxMaybell, and QuantWare collaborated to unveil a fully functional superconducting quantum computer at the APS March Meeting 2024, a global first for a conference setting. The system, assembled over a weekend, integrates quantum devices from QuantWare, a 10mK cryostat from Maybell, and control electronics from Qblox for live qubit operations. Featuring the Maybell Fridge, QuantWare Soprano chip, and Qblox Cluster control electronics, this innovation underscores the companies’ dedication to advancing plug-and-play solutions in quantum computing. Niels Bultink, CEO of Qblox, emphasized the significance of this achievement, noting the accelerated pace of quantum technology maturation. Corban Tillemann-Dick, CEO of Maybell Quantum, highlighted their commitment to accessibility and reliability in quantum technology. Matthijs Rijlaarsdam, CEO of QuantWare, stressed the value of a supply chain approach in rapidly advancing quantum computing. A blog post about this effort has been posted on the Qblox website here.

March 5, 2024 – News Brief
SCALINQ Unveils LINQER600: Largest Commercial Quantum Device Packaging Solution
SCALINQ introduces LINQER600, the largest commercially available quantum device packaging solution, enabling control of superconducting or spin qubit based quantum devices with hundreds of qubits. The LINQER600 includes a sample holder for the qubit chip and provides a means of routing up to 600 signal lines to the chip. Developed with IQM, LINQER600 underwent rigorous testing, demonstrating unparalleled functionality with Radiance, a 150-qubit quantum computer. This scalable solution marks a significant advancement, previously confined to major computing companies, now accessible to universities and businesses. LINQER series, known for its modular design, state-of-the-art performance, and non-magnetic properties, continues to support global quantum research. SCALINQ’s dedication to overcoming hardware limitations accelerates quantum computing development and makes it easier for organizations to create their own quantum computer. For additional information, refer to the original press release provided by the company here. You can also view a short video posted on LinkedIn here.

March 5, 2024
$5 Million XPRIZE Competition Announced to Develop Real World Applications Quantum Applications
Google Quantum AI along with additional support from the Geneva Science Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA) Foundation is sponsoring a 3 year, $5 million prize competition to encourage development of novel algorithms, new applications, or ways of implementing enhanced performance of quantum solutions that can help solve real-world challenges. The contest will be administered by the XPRIZE Foundation, a non-profit set up in 1994 to host public competitions intended to encourage technical breakthroughs. Click here for our full article that provides additional details about this contest.

March 5, 2024 – News Brief
Multiverse Computing Raises €25 Million ($27M USD) in Oversubscribed Series A Funding Round
Multiverse Computing, a leading European quantum software company, has successfully raised €25 million ($27M USD) in Series A funding. The investment round, oversubscribed, was led by Columbus Venture Partners and Quantonation Ventures, with contributions from various other investors including the European Innovation Council Fund and Redstone QAI Quantum Fund. This funding will be utilized to advance the development of Multiverse’s proprietary quantum and quantum-inspired algorithms and software, including their flagship product Singularity and the recently launched LLM compressor, CompactifAI. Singularity enables professionals from various industries to utilize quantum and quantum-inspired computing for AI and optimization applications, while CompactifAI compresses large language models with quantum-inspired tensor networks. The company also plans to use the funding to support its global expansion efforts, aiming to bring quantum and quantum-inspired utility to new markets and industries. With this investment, Multiverse Computing reinforces its position as a leader in the quantum software landscape, poised to deliver significant advancements in quantum computing applications. A press release from Multiverse announcing this fundraising is available here.

March 4, 2024
Maybell Quantum Secures $25M Series A Funding Led by Cerberus Ventures
Maybell Quantum, a quantum infrastructure company, has secured $25M in Series A funding led by Cerberus Ventures. The funding will enable Maybell to scale manufacturing and open a new production facility in 2024. Maybell, founded in 2021, provides quantum infrastructure products such as their cryogenic platforms, the Fridge and the Big Fridge. In 2023, they launched MayQ Labs, quantum research spaces in Denver and Copenhagen, to democratize and accelerate quantum innovation. Click here for more.

March 1, 2024
Quantum Computing Inc. Introduces Its Dirac-3 Entropy Quantum Computer for Optimization Applications
Quantum Computing Inc. (QCi) has launched Dirac-3, a quantum optimization platform designed to solve complex problems using nonlinear quantum optics. The system encodes a problem into its photonic architecture and modulates the interaction between variables, ultimately finding an optimal solution. Unique to Dirac is its ability to solve integer problems using up to 964 quantum digits (qudits) with each qudit capable of 200 discrete modes, expanding the use of quantum technology beyond quantum bits (qubits). The system is designed to solve complex problems using nonlinear quantum optics. Click here for the rest of our article describing the highlights of this machine.

March 1, 2024
SBQuantum and Silicon Microgravity Partner to Develop Drone-based Dual Sensor Systems for Mineral Exploration
SBQuantum, a company developing diamond quantum magnetometers, and Silicon Microgravity, a company developing innovative inertial and gravity sensors, have partnered to accelerate mining exploration using quantum sensing. Their project, QUAMINEX (Quantum Accelerated Mining Exploration), involves the development of a drone-based system of sensors that combine magnetics and gravimetry. This system will improve the location and analysis of underground mineral deposits, reducing the time and capital required for field operations and improving 3D geological readouts. The project is partially financed by the governments of Canada and the UK, contributing $500,000 CAD ($368K USD) and £414,000 ($523K USD) respectively. Additional details about this project can be seen in our full article here.

March 1, 2024 – News Brief
Three Quantum Companies in Denmark Join BioInnovation Institute’s Venture Lab Program
The BioInnovation Institute (BII), is an international non-profit foundation in Denmark that incubates and accelerates world-class life science research. They have just announced that twelve companies have been selected to join their 12 month Venture Lab acceleration program which supports startup companies with business acceleration, scientific, and team development. The program also provides each startup with a €500 thousand ($541K USD) convertible loan and access to BII’s labs and offices in Copenhagen. Of the twelve companies, three of them work in quantum technology including Alea Quantum Technologies, a company developing quantum random number generators, DiaSense, a company working on diamond-magnetic microscopes for use neuroscientists to diagnose diseases and find cures, and Sqale ApS, a company leveraging quantum-enhanced optimization, agile pipeline development, and other techniques to revolutionize biopharmaceutical manufacturing. More details about this program and companies selected can be seen in a news release posted on the BII website here.

March 1, 2024 – News Brief
Rigetti Computing Secures Innovate UK Grant to Develop 24-qubit Quantum Computing System for National Quantum Computing Centre
Rigetti Computing’s UK subsidiary has secured a Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) grant from Innovate UK, in collaboration with the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC), to develop and deliver a 24-qubit quantum computing system. This system, based on Rigetti’s fourth-generation Ankaa™-class architecture, will be deployed at NQCC’s Harwell Campus. The proposed technology promises faster gate times, higher fidelity, and greater connectivity compared to previous quantum processing units (QPUs). Rigetti’s software development tools, including pyQuil®, Quilc™, and Quil-T™, will be integrated with the system, alongside Riverlane’s Quantum Error Correction Stack. Once operational, the quantum computer will be accessible to NQCC researchers for testing, benchmarking, and exploratory applications development. This collaboration aims to accelerate the development of the UK’s quantum computing capabilities and infrastructure. For additional information, access the original press release provided here.

February 29, 2024 – News Brief
Zurich Instruments Launches SHF+ Line for High-Fidelity Qubit Control
Zurich Instruments introduces the SHF+ product line, comprising the SHFSG+ Signal Generator, SHFQC+ Qubit Controller, and SHFQA+ Quantum Analyzer, designed for high-fidelity qubit control and readout. With a 10 dB increase in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), these products minimize thermal qubit excitation, enhancing algorithm fidelity and reducing phase errors. The SHF+ line offers noise-optimized signal chains and the ability to mute outputs for sensitive qubit measurements. Collaborating with leading quantum computing research groups, Zurich Instruments aims to advance qubit quality and scalability, marking a step toward longer quantum circuits and more powerful Quantum Processing Units (QPUs). A news release for these products provided by Zurich Instruments can be seen here. Also, a web page for the SHF+ product line can be accessed here.

February 29, 2024
QuantWare Unveils Next-Gen Quantum Processors: Contralto-D and Soprano-D
QuantWare unveiled its latest offerings, Contralto-D and Soprano-D. These devices are intended for customers who want to build up their own systems and just want to purchase the individual qubit chips. Although going that route is much more complex than purchasing a fully complete system, doing so can potential save a significant amount of money. These upgraded off-the-shelf superconducting-based quantum processors boast enhanced specifications, improved reliability, ease of use, and shortened lead times. For more about these new products, click here to read our full article that include information about the key technical specifications for these devices as well as the pricing.

February 28, 2024
IonQ Announces Q4 and Full Year 2023 Financial Results Showing Strong Growth
IonQ announced the financial results for 2023 showing strong growth over 2022. In addition, they announced several new technical, personnel, and other developments at the company during their recent Q3 financial results call. Click here for our report on these developments.

February 28, 2024
Q-CTRL Forges Strategic Partnerships to Advance Quantum Computing Ecosystem
Q-CTRL, a leading provider of quantum infrastructure software, has announced strategic partnerships with WolframAqariosqBraidQbloxKeysight, and QuantWare. These collaborations aim to enhance quantum research, commercialization, and adoption by integrating Q-CTRL’s AI-driven performance-management software with diverse hardware and software platforms. Click here for more.

February 27, 2024
Riverlane, Rigetti, and ORNL to Research HPC-Quantum Integration Using ORNL’s Summit Supercomputer
Riverlane and Rigetti Computing are collaborating on a project led by the US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to explore the integration of quantum computers with large-scale supercomputing centers. The project will build the first-ever benchmarking suite, ‘QStone’, to measure the performance of a joint High-Performance Computing (HPC) + Quantum system. This suite will be run on ORNL’s Summit, the fifth fastest supercomputer in the world. For the rest of the article, click here.

February 27, 2024
Quantum Education Initiative: D-Wave Launches ‘Foundations for Quantum Programming’ Course
D-Wave Quantum Inc. has introduced a new six-module online course titled “Foundations for Quantum Programming,” aimed at addressing the growing demand for skilled quantum programmers. This self-paced course focuses on enhancing learners’ mathematics and Python skills, laying a robust foundation for quantum computing programming. The course includes video presentations, quizzes, and hands-on programming activities, requiring approximately 10 hours to complete. Upon finishing the course, learners will have acquired crucial skills such as problem objective identification, mathematical expression representation, and basic Python programming for quantum programming. The list price for the course is $350 per seat. Click here for additional information.

February 27, 2024 – News Brief
Keysight Unveils QuantumPro: Integrated EDA Workflow for Superconducting Qubit Design
Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: KEYS) has unveiled QuantumPro, the first integrated electromagnetic design and simulation tool and workflow tailored for creating quantum computers based on superconducting qubits. The QuantumPro solution, integrated into the Advanced Design System (ADS) 2024 platform, consolidates essential functionalities including schematic design, layout creation, electromagnetic analysis, nonlinear circuit simulation, and quantum parameter extraction. Traditional microwave engineers faced limitations in addressing quantum design, leading to lengthy and costly design cycles. QuantumPro bridges the gap between quantum and microwave engineering, translating microwave outputs into adjustable quantum parameters within the ADS platform. Key features include accelerated development of quantum chips using cost-effective electromagnetic simulation, simplification of quantum amplifier design, and a library of quantum layout components for seamless chip creation within ADS. Qilimanjaro Quantum Tech, an early adopter of QuantumPro, praises its complete workflow and ease of use. For additional information, you can access a press release provided by Keysight Technologies here.

February 27, 2024
Quantum Machines Unveils Advanced Control System MW-FEM for Quantum Computing Advancement
Quantum Machines introduces the MW-FEM, an advanced digital direct-synthesis (DDS) microwave front-end module for its OPX1000 quantum control platform, marking a significant milestone in quantum computing control technology. This industry-first module combines a processor-based controller with all-digital signal generation, enabling precise microwave signal generation in the 0.1 – 10.5 GHz frequency range directly from digital waveforms. Click here for our full article that provides some of the key specs for this device.

February 24, 2024 – News Brief
Quokka Quantum Educational Device Launched at Quantum Australia Conference
At the recent Quantum Australia conference in Sydney, Professor Chris Ferrie announced his new company called Eigensystems focused on providing quantum educational tools along with its first product, a device called Quokka Quantum. The Quokka device is a personal quantum computer that plugs into a laptop to help develop quantum literacy. It will come with four difference programming levels ranging from Quokka Basic to Quokka Advanced to provided a comprehensive library of content and lessons. targeted for high school students. The device fits in the palm of one hand and will commence shipments in the middle of 2024. The Quokka website is still under development, but some additional information about the device can be found in a LinkedIn post here and another post on X here.

February 24, 2024
Xanadu Receives a $3.75 Million CAD ($2.78M USD) Loan from the Canadian Government
The Government of Canada, through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), has provided a repayable contribution of $3.75M CAD to Xanadu, a leading company in photonic quantum computing. This funding is part of the Regional Quantum Initiative (RQI) which will have $23 million ($17M USD) available for funding over a six year period. The Xanadu funding will be used to accelerate the development of PennyLane, Xanadu’s open-source, cloud-based software framework for quantum machine learning, quantum chemistry, and quantum computing. Click here for more.

February 23, 2024
Apple to Support PQC in Its Next Operating System Release
Apple Computer has implemented Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC) support within the iMessage app of its next operating system updates iOS 17.4, iPadOS 17.4, macOS 14.4, and watchOS 10.4 scheduled to be released in early March. Apple calls this feature PQ3 and it has several interesting features. In this implementation they are taking a conservative approach by implementing a hybrid cryptography protocol that includes both their current elliptic curve algorithms along with the ML-KEM (Kyber) being standardized by NIST. This will ensure that even if an issue were to be found in the future in ML-KEM, the encryption would still be at least as secure as the previous versions of iMessage that use elliptic curve encryption alone. Read the rest of the article here.

February 22, 2024 – News Brief
New Superconducting ‘Flowermon’ Superconducting Qubit Designed to Greatly Increase Coherence Times
Terra Quantum and collaborators unveil the ‘flowermon’ superconducting qubit, demonstrating exponential suppression of environmental effects on qubit coherence. The innovative qubit, formed by twisting atomically thin crystals together, promises extended coherence times and simplified fabrication processes, marking a significant advancement in quantum technology scalability. Published in Physical Review Letters, the research showcases the flowermon’s unique properties, offering robust protection against charge noise and quasiparticle dissipation. Funded by various entities including the European Union and Terra Quantum, this development holds promise for enhancing the feasibility of scaling superconducting quantum processors, paving the way for practical quantum applications. For further insights, access the full press release here.

February 22, 2024
IonQ Breakthrough: Pioneering Ion-Photon Entanglement for Quantum Networking
IonQ achieves a significant breakthrough in quantum networking by demonstrating ion-photon entanglement, a crucial step towards enabling communication and information transfer between quantum systems. This achievement, a first in the commercial sphere outside academic environments, underscores IonQ’s commitment to advancing quantum computing capabilities. By generating and collecting single photons from ion qubits and verifying ion-photon entanglement, IonQ’s research team lays the groundwork for developing photonic interconnect protocols essential for future quantum computing applications. Click here for the rest of the article.

February 22, 2024
IQM Quantum Computers Provides Latest Benchmark Results for their 20-Qubit Quantum Computer
IQM Quantum Computers has achieved a significant milestone with its 20-qubit quantum computer, showcasing remarkable technology capabilities aimed at advancing large-scale commercial quantum adoption. The achievement, announced on February 20, 2024, highlights the integration of key technology components, including Quantum Processing Units (QPUs) fabricated at IQM’s quantum chip facility. The chip is based on IQM’s tunable-coupler concept, enabling fast two-qubit gate speed and state-of-the-art fidelity. Click here for our article with the details.

February 21, 2024 – News Brief
Diraq’s Quantum Leap: New Commercial Lab Opens in Sydney
Diraq inaugurates a new commercial quantum computing laboratory in Sydney, Australia, marking a significant stride in advancing fault-tolerant quantum computing. Situated at the UNSW campus, the lab boasts cutting-edge infrastructure to facilitate the production of silicon chips housing billions of qubits. The facility spans 200 square meters (2152 sq. feet) and is equipped with state-of-the-art cryogenic testing and precision measurement equipment for silicon quantum devices. Diraq’s CEO, Andrew Dzurak, emphasized the company’s focus on developing highly integrated silicon chips through standard semiconductor foundries, aligning with its mission to revolutionize quantum computing. Supported by substantial funding, including grants from the U.S. Army Research Office and Australian Government including the CRC-P and QCCF, Diraq aims to harness existing chip fabrication technology to realize the transformative potential of quantum computing on a commercial scale. The press release from Diraq announcing the opening of this laboratory can be accessed here.

February 21, 2024
Who’s News: Quantum Computing Pioneers Join Alice & Bob’s Consultative Board
Alice & Bob, a prominent developer in fault-tolerant quantum computers, has announced its newly constituted Consultative Board, comprising quantum computing pioneers Daniel GottesmanDavid DiVincenzoJohn Martinis, and Yasunobu Nakamura. The board will advise on the long-term roadmap and prioritization of milestones. More details are here.

February 20, 2024 – News Brief
PASQAL, University of Calgary, and Quantum City Forge Quantum Computing Partnership
PASQAL, in collaboration with the University of Calgary and Quantum City, has initiated a partnership aimed at advancing quantum computing research and education. This collaboration seeks to foster innovative research, develop a robust talent pipeline in Alberta, and contribute to the global quantum ecosystem. Key initiatives include educational programs, workshops, and providing industry experience for students and researchers. PASQAL commits to supporting research initiatives, faculty recruitment, and investing in Alberta’s quantum ecosystem, while the University of Calgary will provide space in its qHub, collaborate on research projects, and connect with local talent and funding opportunities. Raphaël de Thoury, CEO of PASQAL-Canada, emphasized the partnership’s significance in unlocking new quantum innovations. Rob Thompson, Associate VP at the University of Calgary, highlighted the university’s dedication to cultivating a vibrant quantum ecosystem. A press release provided by Pasqal can be accessed here.

February 19, 2024 – News Brief
NEC Australia and D-Wave Are Partnering to Expand Quantum Business in Australia
NEC Australia and D-Wave Quantum Inc. are launching two quantum services in Australia: the Quantum Consultancy Service and access to the Leap™ Quantum Cloud Service. These services aim to solve complex problems faster than traditional computers, benefiting the commercial sector, governments, and academia. The Quantum Consultancy Service develops and tests quantum solutions, while the Leap™ Quantum Cloud Service provides access to D-Wave’s real-time quantum cloud service. These services can improve efficiency in various areas, such as emergency response and cargo transfers. NEC Australia and D-Wave have been delivering successful local quantum applications since 2021. Additional information is available in a press release posted on the D-Wave web site here and also a brochure from NEC about their quantum consultancy services available here.

February 17, 2024
Who’s News: Management Updates at IQM, Pasqal, Diraq, and Silicon Quantum Computing
IQM has announced a new company structure and named a new co-CEO to help manage the company. Pasqal has appointed a new Chairman of its Board and has also promoted someone to be co-CEO. Diraq has added to its Board of Directors as a result of the recent A-2 funding it received. And Silicon Quantum Computing has appointed a new Chair and added an additional person to serve as Director on its board. Click here for the details on these management changes.

February 15, 2024 – News Brief
IonQ Opens Its Washington State Manufacturing Facility
We had reported in January 2023 that IonQ would open a new facility in Bothell, Washington, a suburb of Seattle, to serve as the main manufacturing facility for their quantum computers and also to serve as IonQ’s second quantum data center. The company has now announced that the facility is completed and is now open. What is a little different in this announcement versus the one a year ago is the size of the facility at 105,000 square feet versus the 65,000 square feet planned when it was originally announced. This will provide additional space to house IonQ’s second quantum data center and other future systems and networks. This facility is unique as it will manufacture quantum computers that are replicable and deployable in customers’ data centers. The first IonQ Forte Enterprise system built in this facility is scheduled to be shipped to QuantumBasel in Switzerland in Q4. IonQ’s press release announcing the opening of the facility is available here.

February 14, 2024 – News Brief
Q-CTRL and Partners Win $4.3 Million AUS ($2.8M USD) Grant to Develop Airborne Quantum Sensors for Resources and Environmental Monitoring
The grant was provided by the Australian government as part of Round 15 of the Cooperative Research Centres Projects (CRC-P). Q-CTRL will be partnering with the Australian National University and Transparent Earth Geophysics to support flight testing of airborne gravimeters. These devices can be used in geophysical surveying and be of high value to Australia’s mineral exploration and water monitoring sectors. The funding will be $4,311,854 AUS for a period lasting from February 1, 2024 to January 31, 2026. Additional information is available in a LinkedIn post here, and the listing of CRC projects selected in Round 15 here.

February 14, 2024
Quantum Computing Inc. Wins Subcontract for Using Entropy Quantum Computing to Denoise Lidar Spectral Information
Quantum Computing Inc. (QCi), a company specializing in quantum optics and nanophononics technology, has been awarded a fourth project from NASA. QCi is unique in its ability to use Entropy Quantum Computing (EQC) to denoise LiDAR spectral information. This project, already underway, involves providing a new method to remove sunlight noise from LiDAR spectral mapping in lower earth orbit. This technology will allow NASA to measure the unique physical properties of clouds and aerosols effectively and affordably, preparing for space missions at any time of day. The EQC method is superior to traditional noise reduction methods that require larger lasers and restrictive bandwidth filtering, which are more costly in terms of size, weight, power, and cost. Click here for more.

February 14, 2024
EuroHPC JU Released Another Tender for a Superconducting Quantum Computer with a €7 Million ($7.5M USD) Budget
The European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) has initiated a tender for the installation of LUMI-Q, a new EuroHPC quantum computer. This computer will be located in Czechia and integrated into the EuroHPC supercomputer KAROLINA. LUMI-Q will be a digital quantum computer based on superconducting qubits in a star-shaped topology, which minimizes the number of swap operations and enables the execution of complex quantum algorithms. Click here for our full article about this new tender.

February 13, 2024 – News Brief
IonQ Renews Alliance with South Korea’s Sungkyunkwan University
IonQ has renewed its alliance with South Korea’s Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) to continue providing access to IonQ’s trapped-ion quantum systems through SKKU’s Q Center. This renewal follows a Memorandum of Understanding with the South Korean government to promote quantum education and training. The alliance aims to establish South Korea as an international hub for quantum computing. Since 2021, researchers across South Korea have used IonQ’s systems for applications in quantum machine learning and chemical engineering. The renewal ensures continued access to IonQ’s systems for exploring solutions to complex challenges. This announcement is part of IonQ’s initiatives in South Korea, including a collaboration with Hyundai Motors on quantum computing projects. IonQ’s quantum systems are available through major cloud providers and direct API access. A press release provided by IonQ with this announcement can be accessed here.

February 13, 2024 – News Brief
D-Wave Puts Online Their 1200+ Qubit Advantage2 Prototype
We described earlier this month D-Wave’s Progress and Future Roadmap and that article mentioned that they had developed a 1200+ qubit prototype of their Advantage2 architecture. D-Wave indicates that the Advantage2 architecture has several significant improvements over their original Advantage architecture including an increase in qubit connectivity from 15 to 20, a multilayer superconducting integrated-circuit fabrication stack, a doubling of qubit coherence time, faster time to solution, and a 40% higher energy scale to deliver higher quality solutions. Further, they indicate that even though this prototype features fewer qubits than their current 5000 qubit Advantage2, it can provide better performance for many problems. Although this prototype machine is just a stepping stone to their ultimate goal of having a 7000 qubit Advantage2, the company has decided to make the machine available to their end users via the Leap Quantum Cloud Service so that the end users can take early advantage of its increased capabilities. The company has released a press release announcing the availability of this machine which you can access here.

February 12, 2024 – News Brief
Diraq Raises $15 Million USD in Series A-2 Funding
Diraq, a Sydney-based quantum computing company, has successfully completed a Series A-2 capital raise of USD $15 million. This funding round was led by Quantonation, the world’s first venture capital fund dedicated to quantum technologies, based in Paris. Other participants in the funding round included John Higgins Family Investments and the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney. This new funding will be used to expand Diraq’s team in Australia, launch in the U.S., and capitalize on existing international partnerships. Click here for our full article which contains additional information about Diraq and its technology.

February 10, 2024 – News Brief
IonQ and Seoul National University Sign MOU to Support Quantum Workforce Development in Korea
IonQ has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Seoul National University’s Center for Quantum Information Science Education (CQISE). The agreement aims to promote workforce development in quantum information and communication science and technology. This partnership will establish educational and joint research programs, enabling academia and industry professionals to respond to the evolving demands of industry sectors. The agreement includes mutual personnel exchange, joint research, and internship development for quantum-related activities. This collaboration is expected to open new horizons in quantum computing research and education at Seoul National University and contribute to the vitalization of the domestic quantum computing field. This agreement follows a similar MoU IonQ signed last year with South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT, demonstrating IonQ’s commitment to growing quantum ecosystems through pioneering research, technology, and innovative solutions. A press release about the new effort has been posted on the IonQ website here.

February 10, 2024 – News Brief
SemiQon to Supply CMC Microsystems With Prototypes of Its Semiconductor Based Quantum Processor Chips
SemiQon, a Finnish company, and Canada’s CMC Microsystems have announced a collaboration to advance silicon-based quantum processor technology. SemiQon will supply CMC with prototypes of its semiconductor-based quantum processor chips for research. The collaboration aims to accelerate the development of processors for more powerful quantum computers, targeting the million-qubit era. SemiQon’s technology addresses three major challenges in quantum computing: scalability, price, and sustainability. CMC, with 40 years of experience in semiconductor technology, offers quantum services to provide access to state-of-the-art quantum hardware and software technologies to organizations in the Canadian quantum ecosystem. Both companies commit to publicly disseminate the results obtained from this collaboration, with the goal of advancing the global quantum ecosystem. Additional information is available in a press release posted on the CMC Microsystems website here.

February 10, 2024
D-Wave and Zapata AI Partner to Develop Solutions Using Quantum Machine Learning
D-Wave Quantum Inc., a leader in quantum computing, and Zapata Computing, Inc. (operating as Zapata AI), an industrial generative AI software company, have announced a multi-year strategic partnership. The collaboration aims to develop and bring to market commercial applications that combine generative AI and quantum computing technologies. The partnership will focus on joint technical development and commercial deployment of applications for customers dealing with computationally complex problems. Click here for the rest of the article.

February 10, 2024
Post Quantum Cryptography Alliance Formed to Promote the Advancement and Adoption of Post-quantum Cryptography
The Linux Foundation has launched the Post-Quantum Cryptography Alliance (PQCA), an initiative aimed at advancing and adopting post-quantum cryptography. The PQCA, comprising industry leaders, researchers, and developers, will address security challenges posed by quantum computing and support the development of new post-quantum algorithms. The PQCA will serve as a central foundation for organizations and open-source projects seeking production-ready libraries and packages aligned with the U.S. National Security Agency’s Cybersecurity Advisory concerning the Commercial National Security Algorithm Suite 2.0. The alliance is backed by founding members including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Cisco, Google, IBM, IntellectEU, Keyfactor, Kudelski IoT, NVIDIA, QuSecure, SandboxAQ, and the University of Waterloo. Click here for our full article with additional information about the projects that the PQCA will undertake.

February 10, 2024 – News Brief
EuroHPC JU Has Issued a Call for Tender for a Photonic Quantum Computer
The European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) intends to install a photonic quantum computer at the TGCC (Très Grand Centre de calcul du CEA (Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives)) in Bruyères Le Châtel, France. The specifications calls for a machine with at least 10 qubits, average two-qubit gate fidelity of 99%, average readout fidelity of 95%, and an installation date no later than 18 months after signature of the contract. It will be connected to the Joliot-Curie classical supercomputer at that site and be made available to a wide range of European end-users, including the scientific community, industry, and the public sector. The budget for this quantum computer is  €11.4 million ($12.3M USD). The deadline for submission of an application for the tender is March 7, 2024. Additional information can be found in a news release from EuroHPC JU here, and detailed requirements information on a Funding and Tender Opportunities page here.

February 8, 2024
PASQAL and Partners Develop Quantum Algorithm to Help Plan Cellular Networks
Researchers from PASQAL and LINKS have successfully implemented a noise-resilient, hybrid quantum-classical algorithm on a PASQAL quantum computer. This algorithm addresses the Physical Cell Identifier (PCI) assignment problem in cellular networks, which is crucial for efficient data transfer as smartphones move from one cell tower to another. The algorithm exploits the characteristics of the PASQAL machine, making it resistant to variations in the results. It’s particularly effective for large graphs where classical computing methods would be exponentially slower. The PASQAL hardware, which uses lasers to capture and manipulate atoms, is ideal for solving graph-based problems like PCI impairments. Click here for more.

February 8, 2024
Nord Quantique Describes a New and Efficient Quantum Error Correction Scheme Based Upon Based Upon Reservoir Engineering of GKP States in a Superconducting Device
Nord Quantique, a quantum computing startup, has become the first company to demonstrate quantum error correction at the individual qubit level, improving qubit coherence lifetime by 14% without using additional physical qubits. The company’s approach incorporates redundancy into every logical qubit, reducing the number of physical qubits required for error correction once scaled. This makes their quantum computers highly efficient and scalable, potentially reaching fault-tolerance in a shorter time. The company has also demonstrated the ability to correct both bit-flips and phase-flips, the most common types of errors in quantum computing, by applying GKP bosonic codes for error correction at the individual qubit level. This approach may require between 1,000 and 10,000 times fewer physical qubits than other computing models to effectively manage errors in the superconducting system and deliver useful results. Click here for the rest of the article.

February 8, 2024
Quantum Machines Introduces Two New Products for Scaling Quantum Processors to 1000 or More Qubits
Quantum Machines, a provider of quantum control solutions, has announced the addition of two new high-density solutions to its product family: the QDAC-II Compact and the QSwitch. The QDAC-II Compact is an ultra-stable, ultra-low-noise 24-channel voltage source designed for tuning superconducting and spin qubits for optimal performance. It retains all the features of the QDAC-II but is more compact, fitting into one fourth the space. The QSwitch is a software-controllable breakout box with 240 relays. It allows users to pre-program experiments and quickly switch between setups and instruments, saving valuable research and development time. Click here for the rest of our article that provides additional information about these new products.

February 8, 2024
Multiverse and Single Quantum Receive a $1.4 Million Contract from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) for Quantum Materials Science Research
Multiverse Computing and Single Quantum have launched a $1.4 million industrial materials science research and development project with the German Aerospace Center’s DLR Quantum Computing Initiative (DLR QCI). The project aims to use quantum simulation to improve the transmission capabilities of superconducting nanowire single photon detectors, which are essential for quantum communications devices. The project is expected to enable quantum applications that outperform classical methods in the short- to mid-term on quantum hardware currently under development. Click here for more.

February 8, 2024
Quantware Introduces Its Next Generation Josephson Travelling Wave Parametric Amplifier (J-TWPA)
A qubit chip isn’t the only critical component that is needed in a superconducting quantum computer. Another important components is the device that can provide for ultra-low-noise readout of the qubits in order to measure their state. Quantware has just introduced its next generation cryogenic device to do that called the Crescendo-S J-TWPA as well an associated cryogenic holder call Concerto which houses and shields up to six of the Crescendo-S devices. Click here for the rest of our article which provides information on the specs of this device.

February 5, 2024
UK Government Investing £45 Million ($56M USD) for 13 Quantum Projects In Two Different Programs
The UK government announced two sets of awards to further quantum research and development. The first is a set of seven awards totaling £30 million ($37.6M USD) for the Quantum Computing Testbeds competition provided by the UKRI Technology Missions Fund and the UK’s National Quantum Computing Centre. The awardees are being asked to will develop and deliver quantum computing testbeds at NQCC’s facilities in south Oxfordshire by March 2025. The second set of awards came from the the Quantum Catalyst Fund is intended to fast-track the integration of quantum solutions in the public sector. This program has made six awards that covers both quantum computing and quantum sensing applications for a total of £15 million ($18.8M USD). Click here for our full article that lists the organizations receiving the awards and their projects.

February 3, 2024
Who’s News Management Updates at D-Wave, PASQAL, and Quantum Computing Inc.
D-Wave has added a new member to its Board of Directors, PASQAL has appointed a General Manager for South Korea, and Quantum Computing Inc. has a new CEO. Click here for our article reporting about these changes.

February 3, 2024
Pasqal Partners with KAIST and the City of Daejon to Enhance the Quantum Ecosystem in Korea
Pasqal, one of the leaders in neutral atom quantum computing, has announced a partnership with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and Daejeon City. This collaboration aims to enhance the quantum ecosystem in Korea and globally. Click here for our article reporting about this new collaboration.

February 3, 2024
planQC and d-fine Win Contract from the German Aerospace Center (DLR)
The German Aerospace Center (DLR) is collaborating with planqc and d-fine to develop compilers and a remote access platform for DLR’s quantum computers. The goal is to manage quantum algorithms and their execution efficiently. The platform will also enable access to DLR’s quantum computers for other institutes and partners. The project, known as ALQU, emphasizes the importance of co-designing hardware and software in quantum computing, incorporating hardware metrics and error models into the algorithms, and ensuring efficient execution of these algorithms. A press release with additional information about this collaboration has been posted on the planqc website here.

January 31, 2024
Riverlane is Partnering with MIT to Find Quantum Algorithms that Can Simulate Plasma Dynamics
Researchers from Riverlane and the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center are collaborating to develop efficient quantum algorithms for simulating plasma dynamics. This project is part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) program, which aims to expand our understanding of matter at high temperatures and densities and to develop a fusion energy source. The program will last for three years until 2026 and Riverlane’s award amount will be approximately $400,000. For our full article reporting on this award click here.

January 31, 2024
ConScience Launches Qubit-in-a-box 0 (QiB0) Device Containing 4 Qubits for Use in Research and Education
ConScience AB, a company located in Gothenburg, Sweden, is launching its first Quantum Device, the Qubit-in-a-box 0 (QiB0). This device can demonstrate simple quantum processes and calibrate and verify the performance of quantum computing test setups. It’s a significant milestone as it’s the first commercial quantum device fully designed and manufactured in Sweden. The QiB0 device uses superconducting technology and features 4 single qubits and 2 coplanar waveguide (CPW) resonators, characterized with up to 80 µs qubit lifetime and 1 million in quality factor of the CPW resonators. The device is available off-the-shelf and can be shipped immediately upon order. Click here for additional information about ConScience and the device.

January 30, 2024
Orca Computing Acquires Integrated Photonics Division of GXC
ORCA Computing has acquired the photonics-related assets of the Integrated Photonics Division of GXC (formerly known as GenXComm), including intellectual property and existing technology. Members of the photonics team based in Austin, Texas will be merged with Orca’s own development teams. This group has developed an architecture call a Photonic Tensor Core (PTC) that provides ultra-low loss photonic integrated circuit for photonic communication and computation. Click here for the rest of the article..

January 30, 2024 – News Brief
Nu Quantum & Cisco Partner to Develop Groundbreaking Modular Quantum Network Prototype with £2.3 Million ($2.9M USD) in UK Government Funding
Nu Quantum, in collaboration with Cisco, has secured a significant contract from the UK government to develop a pioneering quantum networking project named LYRA. Funded by the UK Government’s SBRI initiative, LYRA aims to create a deployable prototype of a modular, rack-mount, and scalable quantum data center unit. This project introduces discrete 19-inch rack-mount modules for control-plane and optical interfacing, facilitating in-field upgrades to support different quantum computer modalities and alternative wavelengths. The collaboration with Cisco, a leading networking infrastructure supplier, will contribute to defining key system requirements and evaluating final deliverables. With a gross value of £2.3 million ($2.9M USD), this contract represents a substantial step towards realizing commercially viable quantum computing solutions. For additional information, you can access a press release Nu Quantum has provided here.

January 29, 2024 – News Brief
IBM to Install an IBM Quantum System Two in Korea by 2028
Korean Quantum Computing (KQC) has served as an IBM Quantum Innovation Center since 2022 and provides access to IBM’s fleet of quantum computers over the cloud to Korean customers. IBM has now announced with KQC that they will install an IBM Quantum Systems Two processor on-site at KQC’s facility in Busan, Korea by 2028. In that time frame, we would expect the processor to be part of the IBM Flamingo family which has 156 qubits per processor module with support for up to 7 modules. As part of KQC’s engagement with IBM, they will also offer access to IBM’s most advanced AI software and infrastructure, including watsonx. KQC has been actively working to expand quantum research with organizations in the financial, bio-healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors. Korean companies they have been working with include Hanlim Pharmaceutical Co. for drug discovery and DNEURO for financial applications. A press release provided by IBM announcing this expanded collaboration is available here.

January 29, 2024
Infleqtion Acquires Two Integrated Silicon Photonics Companies to Accelerate their Efforts in Commercializing Quantum Products
Infleqtion announced today that it has acquired both SiNoptiq Inc. and Morton Photonics Inc. Both companies work in the area of photonics. SiNoptiq has developed a ultra-low loss silicon nitride platform while Morton Photonics develops advanced silicon photonics-based component and sub-system technologies. These products can have significant use in quantum sensors, quantum networks, and quantum computers. SiNoptiq is located in Santa Barbara, California and was founded in December 2022. Morton Photonics was formed in 2002 and has locations in Palm Bay, Florida and Santa Barbara, California. For the rest of the article, click here.

January 26, 2024 – News Brief
Canadian Province of Ontario is Providing $14.9 Million CAD ($11.1M USD) to the Quantum Valley Ideas Lab
Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development, Vic Fedeli, announced up to $14.9 million in funding for Quantum Valley Ideas Lab in Waterloo, Canada. This investment aims to propel advancements in quantum technology, particularly optimizing antennas in smartphones, vehicles, drones, and more. The funding, drawn from the Critical Technology Initiative Fund, underscores Ontario’s commitment to real-world challenges and commercialization in key tech sectors. Quantum Valley Ideas Lab, backed by Mike Lazaridis’ Quantum Valley Investments, serves as a crucial incubator for quantum startups. The lab’s efforts include developing a commercial-ready prototype for a radio frequency measurement device, a significant step towards market transition. Ontario’s investment will support graduate internships and accelerate quantum innovation commercialization. For additional details, refer to an article from the Waterloo Region Record here.

January 26, 2024
Fujitsu Quantum Simulator Challenge Winners Announced
Fujitsu recently concluded its global competition, the “Fujitsu $100,000 Quantum Simulator Challenge,” aimed at advancing research in quantum technologies using its 39 qubit quantum simulator. The company revealed the four winning teams during the Fujitsu Quantum Day event held on January 25, 2024, in Delft, The Netherlands. There were 43 participating teams from startups and universities from 17 countries and regions. The total award amount was $100,000 USD. Click here for the list of winners.

January 25, 2024 – News Brief
Qrypt Awarded STTR Phase 1 Contract by AFWERX and Department of Air Force to Enhance National Defense Against Quantum Threats
Qrypt has been awarded an STTR Phase 1 contract by AFWERX and the Department of Air Force (DAF), aimed at enhancing national defense against quantum threats. Teaming up with the University of Texas at San Antonio, Qrypt will focus on bolstering cybersecurity with its quantum-secure encryption solution. The collaboration aims to address vulnerabilities in traditional encryption methods and combat emerging threats like “harvest now, decrypt later” attacks through Quantum Key Generation (QKG), which enables the independent generation of encryption keys without transmission. Qrypt’s Chief Technology Officer, Denis Mandich, emphasizes the importance of advancing quantum-secure encryption to protect critical communications and sectors. Partnering with the National Security Collaboration Center (NSCC) at UTSA, Qrypt seeks to evaluate its solution on DAF-specific use-cases and challenges, contributing to the advancement of quantum-resistant cryptography. For additional details, refer to the original press release provided here.

January 25, 2024 – News Brief
Fujitsu and Delft University of Technology Establish Fujitsu Advanced Computing Lab Delft for Quantum Computing
Fujitsu and Delft University of Technology have launched the Fujitsu Advanced Computing Lab Delft to spearhead quantum computing advancements. Positioned within QuTech, the lab will focus on diamond-spin quantum computing, aiming to develop scalable quantum computing solutions. Additionally, it will explore quantum applications in computational fluid dynamics. Vivek Mahajan, Fujitsu’s SEVP, CTO, and CPO, highlights the potential for breakthroughs in quantum hardware and talent development. Prof. Tim van der Hagen of Delft University of Technology applauds the collaboration’s alignment with societal challenges. Dr. Shintaro Sato from Fujitsu Research expresses confidence in the lab’s outcomes, while Kees Eijkel from QuTech emphasizes shared visions for economic impact. The collaboration aims to create a blueprint for scalable quantum computing and achieve fault-tolerant quantum computation. For more details, refer to the original press release here.

January 25, 2024
IonQ Increases their Quantum Processor Performance from #AQ29 to #AQ35
IonQ has improved the performance of their Forte processor from #AQ29 ro #AQ35. IonQ’s #AQ performance metric is based upon work performed by the QED-C to develop a quantum performance benchmark. As can be seen in the picture below the improvement allowed the machine to run larger versions of the Phase Estimation and Hamiltonian Simulation test with an increase of six qubits from 29 to 35. Although that may not seem very large, it represents an increase in the number of potential quantum states by a factor of 64. Click here for the full article which provides additional information on how IonQ was able to achieve this improvement.

January 25, 2024
Phasecraft Develops a More Efficient Quantum Materials Modeling Algorithm and Publishes a Materials Modeling Quantum Complexity Database
Phasecraft has published in Nature Communications a paper that describes their approach which reduces the gate depth by roughly 5 or 6 orders of magnitude for a Trotter layer of time-dynamics simulation. Their software can support either a  variational quantum eigensolver (VQE) to approximate the ground state of a Hamiltonian variational ansatz or a time dynamics simulation (TDS) algorithm. As an example, the company’ assets that their algorithm can simulate a lithium copper oxide (Li2CuO2) material with 410,000 gates versus a baseline of about 1.5 trillion with a more traditional quantum algorithm. With reductions like these, one of their quantum material simulation algorithms could be expected to run successfully for many materials on quantum processors that we expect to be available within the next few years. Phasecraft has used its algorithms to create a Materials Modeling Complexity Database that compares the number of qubits and gate levels needed to simulated 46 different materials between a more traditional baseline approach and their approach. Click here for more.

January 24, 2024 – News Brief
University of New Mexico and Sandia National Laboratories Launch Quantum New Mexico Institute to Help Establish the State as a National Quantum Hub
The University of New Mexico (UNM) is collaborating with Sandia National Laboratories to establish the Quantum New Mexico Institute (QNM-I), aiming to position New Mexico as a national quantum hub. UNM, having produced over 40 QIS leaders, envisions the QNM-I fostering interdisciplinary collaboration across departments such as Chemistry, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mathematics, and Physics. Aligned with the National Quantum Initiative (NQI) Act of 2018, the QNM-I aims to expand quantum education, promote multidisciplinary research opportunities, address knowledge gaps, and enhance facilities for quantum research. The Center for Quantum Information and Control (CQuIC), integrated into the QNM-I, participates in NQI Centers and offers fellowship programs. QNM-I’s vision is to attract global quantum talent to New Mexico, solidifying its position in quantum research and technology. Additional information is available in a news release provided by the University of New Mexico here.

January 24, 2024 – News Brief
Rescale and IonQ Forge Strategic Partnership for Hybrid Quantum Computing Advancements
Rescale, a cloud-based high-performance computing (HPC) leader, is teaming up with IonQ, a quantum computing expert, to integrate accelerated cloud computing with quantum technology. This collaboration targets intricate challenges in product development, healthcare, finance, and more. Rescale’s cloud platform, hosting over 1,000 R&D applications, complements IonQ’s advanced quantum computers, like the 29-qubit IonQ Forte, enabling the resolution of previously impossible problems. The partnership emphasizes delivering hybrid (classical and quantum) solutions, crucial for unlocking quantum-enabled business potential. Joris Poort, Rescale’s CEO, notes the collaboration accelerates R&D and fosters a collaborative ecosystem for groundbreaking scientific exploration. IonQ’s Chief Revenue Officer, Rima Alameddine, sees it as a transformative venture, combining high-performance computing, AI, and quantum capabilities to solve complex problems. Additional information is available in a press release provided by Rescale here.

January 24, 2024
PsiQuantum, MUFG, and Mitsubishi Chemical Form Quantum Alliance for Energy-Efficient Material Design
PsiQuantum, in collaboration with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) and Mitsubishi Chemical, has initiated a partnership under the Qlimate initiative. The joint project aims to leverage PsiQuantum’s fault-tolerant quantum computing capabilities to model and analyze excited states of photochromic molecules. These molecules hold significant potential for applications like smart windows, energy-efficient data storage, solar energy storage, and more. The project will assess the feasibility of achieving high-accuracy estimates of excited state properties on early-generation fault-tolerant quantum computers, concentrating on diarylethenes for energy-efficient photo-switching applications. Click here for additional information about this alliance.

January 23, 2024 – News Brief
Thales and Quantinuum Introduce PQC Starter Kit for Quantum-Resilient Encryption Testing
Thales and Quantinuum have jointly unveiled the PQC Starter Kit, a pioneering solution designed to assist enterprises in preparing for the era of Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC). Released in response to the impending threat posed by quantum computing attacks, the kit facilitates swift and efficient testing of quantum-hardened PQC-ready encryption keys. As 73% of organizations acknowledge the vulnerability of traditional cryptography to quantum computing, the PQC Starter Kit becomes crucial for assessing and fortifying the security of business infrastructure. Todd Moore, Global Head of Data Security Products at Thales, emphasizes the importance of testing applications, data, and devices relying on traditional cryptography to ensure a seamless transition to PQC. The kit, incorporating Luna HSMs and Quantinuum’s Quantum Origin technology, enables organizations to test various security use cases within a trusted lab environment. The solution empowers enterprises to identify potential weaknesses in encryption deployment and implement changes to safeguard their IT infrastructure effectively. For additional information, you can access the press release Thales has provided here.

January 23, 2024 – News Brief
D-Wave and Deloitte Forge Alliance to Propel Quantum Adoption in Canada
D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS) has partnered with Deloitte Canada to drive the adoption of quantum computing solutions in the Canadian public sector and businesses. The alliance focuses on joint go-to-market efforts, harnessing D-Wave’s quantum computing expertise and Deloitte’s global leadership in public sector services. Targeting complex challenges faced by the Canadian government, the collaboration emphasizes near-term quantum technologies such as annealing quantum computing and quantum-hybrid solutions. Building on their prior collaboration in the United States, particularly in transportation and national security, D-Wave and Deloitte aim to transform the Canadian government’s operations through the computational power of quantum technology. This strategic partnership aligns with Canada’s national quantum strategy, integrating Deloitte’s professional services with D-Wave’s quantum capabilities, addressing issues ranging from logistics to artificial intelligence. A press release announcing the partnership has been posted on the D-Wave website here.

January 23, 2024
Alice & Bob Collaborates with Inria to Develop High Efficiency Error Correction Codes Using Cat Qubits and LDPC
Alice & Bob has worked with French resource group Inria to develop a potential highly efficient quantum error correction scheme that uses a combination of Cat qubits and an LDPC error correction code. They have posted a theoretical paper on arXiv describing the architecture and the presumable next step is that they will work to implement this on a chip. Click here for our write-up of this new architecture with links to the arXiv paper and other information.

January 23, 2024
D-Wave Unveils 1,200+ Qubit Advantage2™ Quantum Prototype, Showcasing Significant Performance Gains
D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS) has unveiled its 1,200+ qubit Advantage2™ prototype, featuring a new lower-noise, multilayer superconducting integrated-circuit fabrication stack. Set to be integrated into the Leap™ quantum cloud service, the prototype exhibits a 20-fold increase in solving spin glasses, showcasing 40% higher energy scale, 20-way qubit connectivity, and doubled qubit coherence time compared to its predecessor. This performance leap is attributed to the lower-noise fabrication stack, promising improved coherence, connectivity, and energy scale. The full Advantage2 system, anticipated as D-Wave’s sixth-generation quantum system, is poised to feature 7,000 qubits with a novel 20-way qubit connectivity design. See our full article that covers this announcement here.

January 22, 2024
ORNL Secures $10.75 Million in Funding for Quantum Initiatives to Advance Quantum Networking, Quantum Computing and Power Grid Applications
The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) unveiled its Quantum Roadmap at the Quantum on the Quad event, showcasing a strategy built on 20-plus years of quantum research and a Quantum Science Center. Recognized for their quantum advancements, ORNL secured three funding awards to solidify their position in quantum computing and networks. To learn more about these three awards, read our full article here.

January 20, 2024
Microsoft Makes Major Enhancements to its Azure Quantum Development Kit and Resource Estimator
Microsoft has made a major rewrite of their Azure Quantum Development Kit (QDK) to make it 100X faster, 100X smaller, and able to run in a browser. The new version has just been released as the Azure Quantum Development Kit 1.0. The key change driving the improvements is that the internal code base was converted to the Rust programming language known for its higher efficiency in runtime and memory usage. They have also made the Azure Quantum Resource Estimator open source and have integrated its functionality into the new QDK. Click here for our article that describes the changes in more detail.

January 20, 2024 – News Brief
QuSecure Has Won Another U.S. Government SBIR Award for PQC from the U.S. Air Force
QuSecure, Inc., a leader in post-quantum cryptography (PQC), has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract by AFWERX to address challenges in the Department of the Air Force. The Air Force will use QuSecure’s QuProtect™, the industry’s first end-to-end PQC software-based solution designed to protect encrypted communications and data with quantum resilience. This contract follows similar SBIR contract awards QuSecure has won from the U.S. Army in 2023 (Phase II SBIR) and the U.S. Government in 2022 (Phase III SBIR). The award recognizes QuSecure’s ability to enhance the combat fighting capabilities necessitated by modern warfare. The U.S. Government has shown urgency to move toward a quantum-safe future, with recent actions such as the Endless Frontiers Act and the Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Preparedness Act. A press release from the company announcing the award is available here.

January 20, 2024
NATO Creates a Quantum Technology Strategy
NATO has put together a strategy to foster a secure, resilient and competitive quantum ecosystem amongst the NATO allies that will cooperate together to understand technology development status, potential applications, and responsible use of quantum technologies. They are looking to create a Transatlantic Quantum Community to help keep track of the fast-paced developments in the field. Click here to read our full article about this and other associated efforts at NATO to help promote and enhance cooperation in quantum tech amongst the NATO Allies.

January 19, 2024
Quantum Research Sciences Secures a U.S. Air Force STTR Phase III $2.5 Million Contract for Quantum Software that Helps to Manage Supply Chains
Quantum Research Sciences (QRS) has been awarded a $2.5 million, three-year Phase III Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) contract from the U.S. Air Force, marking the Department of Defense’s inaugural operational quantum computing software. Specializing in optimization scenarios, QRS employed quantum computers to enhance supply chain inventory management, particularly in predicting demand for military inventory. QRS’s quantum software demonstrated a 28% improvement in accuracy over classical computing methods, addressing challenges faced by government and commercial entities in inventory forecasting. The software provides not only quantity estimates but also precise timing and logistics information, offering a comprehensive solution to inventory management complexities. Click here for rest of the article.

January 17, 2024
QphoX Secures €8 Million ($8.7M USD) Funding to Advance Quantum Modem Technology for Quantum Internet
Dutch quantum computing company QphoX has secured €8 million in funding, marking the largest investment in a quantum company in the Netherlands to date. The round, led by QDNL Participations, included participation from the EIC Fund, along with existing investors Quantonation, Speedinvest, High-Tech Gründerfonds, and Delft Enterprises. This substantial investment follows a grant from the EIC Accelerator, supporting the development of QphoX’s disruptive quantum technology. For more about QphoX and this investment, click here.

January 16, 2024 – News Brief
QuEra and Pawsey Supercomputing Forge Global Partnership for Quantum Innovation
QuEra Computing and Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre have joined forces to advance quantum technology and supercomputing on a global scale. The collaboration involves the development of high-performance quantum emulation software optimized for Pawsey’s Setonix supercomputer, ranked as the world’s fourth greenest. Leveraging Pawsey’s expertise in high-performance computing and QuEra’s proficiency in quantum emulation, the partnership aims to accelerate research capabilities and pursue national government-sponsored quantum computing projects. QuEra will grant Pawsey access to its neutral-atom-based quantum computers, located in Boston, facilitating collaborative research through quantum machine time, consulting services, and specialized training. QuEra’s Aquila-class quantum computers, featuring 256 qubits and innovative analog quantum processing, have been publicly accessible since November 2022. The collaboration emphasizes practical, focused innovation, anticipating more efficient solutions and accelerated discoveries at the intersection of supercomputing and quantum computing. Additional information can be found in a press release provided by QuEra here.

January 16, 2024
Quantinuum Announces a $300 Million Equity Investment
Quantinuum has announced it has raised $300 million in a new investment brining the total capital raised by the company to about $625 million with a pre-money valuation of $5 billion. The investors included JPMorgan Chase, Mitsui & Co., Amgen and Honeywell who have all worked with the company for many years. The company believes that this will be the last private fund-raising that would be needed before an eventual IPO. Click here for our full article with details about this new investment.

January 16, 2024
Q-CTRL to Collaborate with USGS on Quantum Sensing Applications
Q-CTRL, a global quantum technology leader, has entered a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to investigate quantum computing and sensing applications for geological sciences. The collaboration seeks to leverage Q-CTRL’s expertise in quantum control engineering to address critical challenges in geophysics and environmental sensing. The partnership aims to advance USGS missions, including underground water resource management, polar ice-sheet monitoring, natural-hazard preparedness, and energy and mineral resource discovery. Click here for additional information about the applications that will be explored as part of this R&D agreement.

January 16, 2024
Accenture and SandboxAQ Collaborate to Tackle AI-Driven Cyber Threats and Quantum Risks with Joint Quantum Computing Solutions
Accenture and SandboxAQ have joined forces to offer artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing solutions, addressing organizations’ cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Accenture’s research highlights executives’ concerns about adapting to technological advancements and AI-driven cyber threats in 2024. The collaboration integrates Accenture’s expertise with SandboxAQ’s Security Suite for AI-enabled cryptographic management. The solution enables comprehensive scanning of files, applications, and network traffic, securing data across on-premise and cloud platforms. The focus is on safeguarding against quantum computing-based decryption attacks, anticipated to escalate with ongoing quantum advancements. Accenture will also help clients leverage SandboxAQ’s simulation and quantum sensing products for applications such as drug discovery, materials science, navigation systems, and medical imaging. For the full article, click here.

January 15, 2024
Finland’s Quantum Leap: €13 Million ($14.2M USD) Investment for the Finnish Quantum Flagship Program
Finland’s quantum landscape receives a substantial boost as the Research Council of Finland allocates €13 million to the Finnish Quantum Flagship (FQF), initiating an ambitious eight-year project starting March 2024. A collaboration of prominent institutions, including Aalto University, VTT Technical Research Centre, and others, the FQF aims to position Finland at the forefront of quantum research and development. For the rest of the article, click here.

January 14, 2024 – News Brief
MSU Quantum Computing Project Advances with $500K DOE Grant
Mississippi State University’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, supported by a three-year $550,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is advancing quantum computing research. Led by Principal Investigator Gautam Rupak, the Three-body Interactions on a Quantum Computer project aims to train MSU students in quantum computing and information science. The interdisciplinary effort involves collaboration with experts in nuclear physics, Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) computers, and machine learning. Rupak’s team will develop and test algorithms on existing quantum computers to analyze three-body nuclear forces, impacting future studies on nuclear structure and reactions across various atomic masses. The research targets the precise calculation of the binding energy of the triton—a positively-charged particle with potential applications in drug and chemical research. A press release from the university announcing the award can be accessed on their website here.

January 13, 2024
Who’s News: Management Updates at Infleqtion and Pasqal
Infleqtion has announced the addition of a new Senior Vice-President of Business Development, a Chief Marketing Officer, a Global Vice-President of Manufacturing, and three additional members to its Board of Directors. And Pasqal has a new Chief Commercial Officer. Click here for the details.

January 12, 2024
PASQAL and Mila Forge Partnership to Advance Quantum AI Generative Modeling
PASQAL, a prominent French quantum computing company specializing in ordered neutral atom processors, has joined forces with Mila, a leading AI research institute, to enhance generative modeling in Quantum AI. The collaboration aims to leverage quantum benchmarking and tensor networks, exploring the intersection between quantum computing and machine learning. PASQAL’s quantum application engineer, Slimane Thabet, will work with Mila Professor Guillaume Rabusseau’s team on a one-year research plan focused on deepening the understanding of quantum concepts and structured data generation. Click here for the rest of the article.

January 11, 2024 – News Brief
Grant Awarded to HRL Laboratories and UCLA to Advance Spin Qubit Based Quantum Processors
HRL Laboratories, LLC, in collaboration with UCLA researcher Jason Petta, has secured a grant from the Army Research Office and the Laboratory for Physical Sciences (LPS) to advance silicon-based quantum processors. The project, named Universal Control of Scaled Spin Systems (UCS3), aims to bring spin qubits, a promising next-generation quantum computing element, to a functional multi-qubit array. By embedding cutting-edge quantum science technology onto silicon chips, the team seeks to leverage existing semiconductor infrastructure for scalable quantum computing, mirroring the transformative impact of transistors on conventional electronics in the 1940s. The partnership combines HRL’s industrial wafer fabrication capabilities with UCLA’s academic research agility to enable unprecedented quantum measurements on single electron spin qubits. The UCS3 grant builds on initiatives to expand quantum science research in the Los Angeles area, fostering collaboration between academia and industry. For additional information, access the full press release posted on the HRL Laboratories website here.

January 11, 2024 – News Brief
Rigetti Computing and Partners Secure Innovate UK Grant for Quantum Machine Learning in Finance
Rigetti UK Limited, a subsidiary of Rigetti Computing, has secured an Innovate UK grant, collaborating with Amazon Web Services (AWS)Imperial College London, and Standard Chartered. The consortium’s focus is on developing quantum machine learning techniques to enhance financial institutions’ ability to process and interpret complex data streams. Financial tasks such as credit risk evaluation and market-making services often face challenges with classical machine learning methods due to the intricate nature of data streams. The collaboration aims to leverage Rigetti’s quantum computing capabilities, AWS’s classical high-performance computing resources, Imperial College London’s expertise in classical machine learning models, and Standard Chartered’s datasets. The research objectives include advancing quantum signature kernels, benchmarking results against classical methods, and building quantum algorithms for efficiently computing signatures and signature kernels for extensive and high-dimensional data streams. This project, initiated on January 1, 2024, is set to last 18 months. For additional information, you can access the original press release from the company here.

January 11, 2024 – News Brief
T-Systems and AQT Collaborate to Provide Cloud Quantum Computing Access for European Customers
T-Systems has initiated a collaboration with AQT, the European market leader in ion trap-based quantum computers. T-Systems Quantum Cloud customers can now access AQT’s quantum computers, reinforcing Europe’s sovereignty in quantum computing. The partnership enables users to engage in quantum use cases via cloud access, integrated into T-Systems’ multi-quantum cloud offering. Successful test runs have been conducted, allowing customers immediate access to solutions and consulting services. T-Systems supports Quantum Cloud users with training, offering access to pre-built quantum algorithms and applications through the European PlanQK platform. Various service packages, including computing time-based models and volume packages, are available for customers ranging from one-day introductions to multi-month proofs-of-concept. Jörn Kellermann, SVP Global Portfolio and Technology Excellence at T-Systems, emphasizes the significance of quantum computing as a key technology for the future, fostering European infrastructure. AQT’s CEO, Thomas Monz, anticipates the collaboration will unlock new capabilities and markets for Europe. For further details, refer to the original press release here.

January 10, 2024
Entrust Unveils First Commercially Available Post-Quantum Ready PKI Platform for Quantum-Safe Security
Entrust has unveiled its Post-Quantum Ready PKI-as-a-Service (PKIaaS PQ) platform, marking the first commercially available solution of its kind. The cloud-based PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) platform offers both composite and pure quantum-safe certificate authority hierarchies, empowering enterprises to explore and implement quantum-resistant scenarios and infrastructure. Click here for more information about Entrust’s PKIaaS and the incorporation of Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC) technology within it.

January 10, 2024 – News Brief
Qrypt Joins NVIDIA Inception to Bolster Data Security Against Quantum Threats
Qrypt, a leading quantum-secure encryption company, has joined NVIDIA Inception, a program supporting startups driving technological advancements. The company focuses on protecting data integrity and confidentiality in AI-driven environments using quantum-secure encryption technology. With the increasing reliance on generative AI and large language models, securing data in-transit is crucial, given the looming threat of quantum computing compromising existing encryption technologies. Qrypt’s acceptance into NVIDIA Inception strengthens its ability to fortify data security against immediate and future threats, specifically addressing the “harvest now, decrypt later” (HNDL) risk associated with quantum advancements. Denis Mandich, CTO and co-founder of Qrypt, emphasized the inevitability of quantum computing breaking classical encryption, underscoring the company’s commitment to leveraging NVIDIA Inception resources for safeguarding valuable data assets in the AI industry. For further details, access the original press release from Qrypt here.

January 10, 2024
Taiwan Targets Domestic Quantum Computer Production by 2027
Taiwan’s National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) has announced its objective to domestically manufacture a quantum computer by 2027, marking a pivotal advancement in computational power, according to NSTC’s Department of Natural Sciences and Sustainable Development Head, Luo Meng-fan. Collaborating with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Academia Sinica, the NSTC is implementing a five-year, NT$8 billion (US$258.86 million) quantum technology initiative initiated in 2022. Click here for more.

January 9, 2024
RIKEN Chooses Quantinuum’s H1 Quantum Computer for a Quantum-HPC Hybrid Platform
RIKEN, one of Japan’s premier research institution, has set its sights on the future of computing with its selection of Quantinuum’s H1 ion-trap quantum computer for its ambitious hybrid quantum-supercomputing platform. The H1 processor is expected to be installed and operational by early 2025. This collaboration, driven by a consortium of leading academic institutions and supported by Japan’s national research agency, promises to accelerate the development of software tools and applications that harness the combined power of classical supercomputers with cutting-edge quantum technology. Alongside RIKEN, prominent institutions including SoftBank, the University of Tokyo, and Osaka University will work to develop the necessary tools and applications to achieve an effective integration between the quantum and classical computers. Click here for more.

January 9, 2024
SandboxAQ Expands AI Simulation Capabilities with Strategic Acquisition of Good Chemistry for Accelerated Drug Discovery and Material Science
SandboxAQ, a prominent enterprise SaaS company, has recently acquired Good Chemistry, a leading computational chemistry firm specializing in AI, quantum, and advanced technologies for expediting drug discovery and materials design. This acquisition, marking SandboxAQ’s entry into the AI simulation sector, brings valuable technologies, customers, and top-tier talent to the company. Good Chemistry, previously spun out of 1Qbit in 2021, brings with it a wealth of experience and industry insights from collaborations with key players such as Dow and the Japanese chemical manufacturer Dī Ai Shī Kabushiki-gaisha. Click here for the rest of the article.

January 9, 2024
QuEra Computing Unveils Its Three Year Roadmap
Coming on the heels of the announcement last month that Harvard, MIT, QuEra and others were able to demonstrate a system with up to 48 logical qubits (see our articles here and here), QuEra has announced a roadmap for the next three years that will work to leverage this research along with experience fielding its Aquila 256 qubit analog quantum processor that takes the next steps to go beyond this milestone. QuEra’s will work to commercialize the fault tolerant technology to make it available to end users. Click here for our full article that reports on this roadmap.

January 7, 2024
Origin Quantum Computing Places a 72 Qubit Superconducting Processor Online
Chinese QC startup Origin Quantum Computing has announced that it has put its 72 qubit superconducting processor named Origin Wukong on-line and is offering free access until February 6, 2024. This machine contains 72 computational qubits and also include 126 couplers between the qubits to provide higher qubit fidelity. This third generation processor follows earlier developments of 6 qubit and 24 qubit devices that Origin had developed over the past few years. Click here for the rest of our article with additional technical details about this processor.

January 7, 2024
EuroHPC JU Expands Quantum Computing Infrastructure with New Call for Hosting Entities
The European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) has launched an initiative to bolster Europe’s quantum computing capabilities: a call for expression of interest to select entities that will host and operate two new EuroHPC quantum computers in 2024. This marks a significant step in solidifying Europe’s position at the forefront of this rapidly evolving field. Click here for additional details for this Call for Expression of Interest to host quantum computers in Europe.

January 5, 2024
Baidu Ends Its Quantum Computing Research and Donates Lab and Equipment to the Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences
We had reported in November who Alibaba had decided to shut down its quantum research team and donate the remaining equipment to Zhejiang University. And at that time, we cautioned that we could see more of this. Now, Baidu has announced that it is donating a quantum computing laboratory and equipment to the Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences (BAQIS). The parties are still working out the details and it is not known if the researchers who were working on Baidu’s quantum research will also join BAQIS or stay with Alibaba or go elsewhere. Click here for the rest of the article.

January 5, 2024 – News Brief
Rigetti Announces Public Availability of Its Next Generation 84 Qubit Ankaa-2 Processor
Rigetti Computing has announced that its Ankaa-2 processor is now publicly available to their customers on Rigetti’s Quantum Cloud Services (QCS) platform. This uses a fourth generation architecture and includes numerous improvements of the previous generations including tunable couplers, a square lattice topology, and other improvements in fabrication and electronics to provide more qubits and higher levels of qubit quality. A key area of focus was in improving the two qubit gate fidelity which has now reached 97.5% on the Ankaa-2 versus about 95.1% on the predecessor Aspen-M-3 device (see here for details on these metrics). A press release from Rigetti announcing the availability of this processor has been posted on the company’s website here.

January 5, 2024
POLARISqb and Scientist.com Unveil Quantum-Aided Drug Design Platform for Accelerated Drug Discovery
POLARISqb and Scientist.com have forged a groundbreaking partnership, introducing the Quantum-Aided Drug Design (QuADD) platform, marking a significant leap in drug discovery technology. POLARISqb’s QuADD is a quantum-enabled molecular optimization tool for drug discovery that utilizes quantum annealing computers, completing calculations over 500 times faster than traditional computers. It translates the molecular library building problem into an optimization challenge, providing a library of potential drug candidates targeting specific binding pockets in 1-3 days This collaboration allows Scientist.com users access to POLARISqb’s QuADD platform, leveraging quantum computing to expedite the creation of optimized molecular libraries for drug design within days. Click here for additional comments about this new partnership.

January 4, 2024
UCLA’s Center for Quantum Science and Engineering (CQSE) Will Receive a New Facility in a Former Shopping Mall
California Governor Gavin Newsome and University of California President Michael Drake have announced that the state has acquired a 700,000 square foot building that was formerly known as the Westside Pavilion which will now be the location of the UCLA Research Park. The facility is located approximately 2 miles from UCLA’s main campus and the rumored price of the acquisition was $700 million. The research park will be the home of the California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy at UCLA, the UCLA Center for Quantum Science and Engineering (CQSE), and eventually other programs. Click here to learn more about CQSE and the timeline for converting the facility from a former shopping mall to a research lab.

January 4, 2024 – News Brief
D-Wave Achieves SOC 2 Type 2 Compliance for Data Security
D-Wave Quantum Inc. has successfully completed its SOC 2 Type 2 audit, marking a significant milestone as the first full-stack quantum computing provider to achieve this compliance. This audit covers how a cloud-based service provider handles sensitive information and includes both the suitability of a company’s controls and their operating effectiveness. The audit, conducted by A-LIGN, reinforces D-Wave’s commitment to data security as the company witnesses increased adoption and production use of its quantum computing solutions. Dr. Alan Baratz, CEO of D-Wave, emphasized the strategic significance of SOC 2 compliance in establishing and regularly reviewing commercial-grade security measures. D-Wave plans to conduct annual SOC 2 Type 2 assessments and will provide the latest report to customers upon execution of a nondisclosure agreement. For those seeking more information, the original press release and information on how to obtain D-Wave’s SOC 2 Type 2 report are available through the company’s official communication channels here.

January 4, 2024
Rigetti Collaborates with Moody’s Analytics to Pioneer Quantum-Enhanced Machine Learning in Finance
Rigetti, a frontrunner in full-stack quantum computing, is advancing quantum-enhanced machine learning in collaboration with Moody’s Analytics, a global financial intelligence and analytics leader. With a steadfast focus on achieving narrow quantum advantage, Rigetti aims to solve practical problems more efficiently than classical alternatives. The collaboration, initiated in April 2023, showcased promising results in recession forecasting using a hybrid approach of classical signature kernels and quantum-enhanced data transformations. Click here for more.

January 4, 2024
SandboxAQ and Carahsoft Forge Strategic Partnership to Distribute Quantum and AI Powered Solutions to the Public Sector
SandboxAQ, a leader in quantum solutions, has joined forces with Carahsoft Technology Corp., a trusted government solutions provider, to extend the distribution of its cutting-edge cybersecurity and AI-enabled quantum solutions within the Public Sector. Under the partnership, Carahsoft will deliver SandboxAQ’s Security Suite, a modern cryptography management platform, alongside other AI and quantum technology solutions, leveraging its extensive network of resellers, integrators, and consultants.  SandboxAQ and Carahsoft will not only address this challenge but also provide Simulation & Optimization solutions for advanced material discovery and quantum sensing solutions applicable in various domains. Click here for our full article about this new collaboration.

January 1, 2024 – News Brief
QuantrolOx Releases Their First Product, Quantum Edge
QuantrolOx has released Quantum Edge Asparagus, a software platform that provides automated qubit control for automating the tuning and calibration of quantum computers. As quantum hardware developers continue to scale up the number of qubits in their machine, it becomes increasingly impractical to have engineers manually calibrate and tune-up the machine because the complexity of the task increases exponentially with the number of qubits. The Quantum Edge software currently interfaces with control electronics from Qblox and Quantum Machines with plans to support additional control electronics providers in the future. Key functions provided by the software include QPU Monitoring, Automation Workflows, and Data Visualisations. An announcement of the software release can be seen in a LinkedIn post here. A web page for the product can be seen here. And a video demo of the software has been posted on YouTube here.

December 30, 2023 – News Brief
Three Universities in Arkansas Win a $5M Grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation for Quantum Research and Education in the State
The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff will create a Quantum Information Science and Engineering program in the state along with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the University of Arkansas Fayetteville. The $5 million grant will have a five year time period. UA Pine Bluff will be the lead institution and will receive $3.5 million of this funding to set up a quantum laboratory and quantum curriculum for bachelors and masters students. Another $750 thousand will be provided to UA Little Rock for quantum dot research. And UA Fayetteville will also receive $750 thousand for fabricating integrated quantum photonic devices. Additional information can be found in an article at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette here and also a news release posted on the UA Little Rock website here.

December 23, 2023 – News Brief
Rydberg Technologies Demonstrates Ultra Sensitive, High Bandwidth RF Quantum Sensing to the U.S. Army
Rydberg Technologies, a leader in Rydberg quantum technologies and radio frequency (RF) quantum sensing, has successfully demonstrated the world’s first long-range radio communications with an atomic quantum sensor. The demonstration took place at the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) C5ISR Center Network Modernization Experiment 2023 (NetModX23) event. The Rydberg atomic receiver device showed exceptional sensitivity across high-frequency (HF) to super high-frequency (SHF) bands and set new industry standards in size, performance, and environmental resilience. The device’s unique features include high sensitivity, selectivity, and wideband coverage using a single atomic detector element. This technology has the potential to revolutionize RF surveillance, safety, communications, and networking capabilities. The development of the Rydberg Atomic Receiver was supported by the National Security Innovation Capital (NSIC) funding initiative. A press release from Rydberg Technologies announcing this successful demonstration can be accessed here.

December 22, 2023 – News Brief
Qubitekk and Qunnect Demonstrate Quantum Networking Interoperability on the EPB Quantum Network
Quantum technology companies Qubitekk and Qunnect have successfully demonstrated the first interoperability of equipment on a commercial quantum network, EPB Quantum Network℠, marking a significant milestone in the quantum technology industry. The demonstration involved Qunnect’s Automatic Polarization Controller (QU-APC), which was tested for compatibility with Qubitekk’s entangled photon source. The QU-APC performed fast channel stabilization, maintaining 99% fidelity with 99%+ channel uptime. This collaboration paves the way for the integration of diverse quantum technologies for enhanced communication capabilities and is a crucial step towards identifying solutions for aerial fiber quantum networks or hybrid buried/aerial networks. Qunnect was just recently added as a user onto the EPB network with a goal of testing interoperability and this is the first result of their testing. A press release with additional details about these tests is available on the EPB website here.

December 22, 2023 – News Brief
Quantum Collaboration Advances HVAC Design: VINCI Energies, QuantumBasel, and D-Wave Lead Sustainable Innovation
An international collaboration between VINCI EnergiesQuantumBasel, and D-Wave has achieved a breakthrough in sustainable building design using quantum computing. Spearheaded by VINCI Energies | DIANE, uptownBasel | QuantumBasel, and D-Wave, the project focused on optimizing heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems for complex buildings. In the first phase, the team successfully translated the HVAC network generation problem into a constrained quadratic model (CQM), poised for efficient resolution by D-Wave’s quantum-classical hybrid solvers. This marked a significant departure from conventional methods towards a more innovative quantum-classical hybrid approach. The implementation phase saw the CQM translated into Python code and processed by D-Wave’s hybrid solvers. Results showcased superior HVAC network designs, surpassing traditional data-driven methods. Notably, these designs offered quicker solutions with reduced duct lengths and construction elements, validated by VINCI Energies’ experts. Moving forward, the project aims to translate technical improvements into tangible business impact, promising reduced computation time and less manual engineering effort. A press release with additional information about this project has been posted on D-Wave’s website here.

December 21, 2023
Japan Unveils Third Superconducting Quantum Computer at Osaka University
A groundbreaking collaboration led by the Center for Quantum Information and Quantum Biology at Osaka University has successfully unveiled Japan’s third superconducting quantum computer. Partnering with key institutions such as RIKENNTT Corporation, and Amazon Web Services, and a consortium including e-trees.Japan, Inc.Fujitsu LimitedQuEL, Inc.QunaSys Inc., and Systems Engineering Consultants Co.,LTD, the consortium leveraged a 64-qubit chip from RIKEN, showcasing a commitment to utilize Japanese domestic components. Set to be accessible via cloud services starting December 22, 2023, this achievement marks a significant stride in quantum computing accessibility. Additional information about this projects can be seen in our full article here.

December 20, 2023
Alice & Bob Tapes Out New Chip with Error Correction in Quest to Achieve a 0.0001% Logical Qubit Error Rate
The chip is codenamed Helium 1 and contains 16 qubits to test out Alice & Bob’s cat qubit architecture for achieving a very high fidelity logical qubit. The term “tape out” means that the company has finished the design and sent the design files to a fabrication facility for construction. After the chip has been built, it will undergo extensive testing, characterization, and calibration by the company’s engineering team to realize the optimum performance and then made available for external use by the company’s customers. Any lessons learned during this process will be utilized in the design of the next chip so that even better characteristics can be achieved. Click here for the remainder of the article about this Alice & Bob’s technology and this new chip.

December 20, 2023
PsiQuantum and Microsoft Selected to Move on to Phase 2 of DARPA’s Underexplored Systems for Utility-Scale Quantum Computing (US2QC) Program
About a year ago, the Defense Advanced Project Research Agency announced a new program called Underexplored Systems for Utility-Scale Quantum Computing (US2QC). Its purpose is to provide some funding for underexplored and revolutionary approaches to quantum computing that might achieve progress faster than some of the more conventional QC approaches being taken. (In other words, superconducting and ion trap developers need not apply!). At that time, DARPA selected three hardware providers to participate in Phase 1. Now, DARPA has announced that it is has selected Microsoft and PsiQuantum to move on to Phase 2 which will involve building and demonstrating a small-scale fault system design for a fault-tolerant prototype. For our full article that discusses this new development, click here.

December 20, 2023
Infleqtion Joins Japan’s Quantum Moonshot Program, Pioneering Neutral Atom Quantum Computing Advancements
Infleqtion, a leading quantum information company, has been chosen by Japan’s Science and Technology Agency for the Quantum Moonshot program, positioning itself as the sole foreign quantum computing partner. This collaboration signifies a groundbreaking moment for Infleqtion’s quantum computing platform. Working under the guidance of Professor Kenji Ohmori, a global authority in ultrafast atom control for quantum computing, Infleqtion will contribute to the development of a large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer based on atomic qubits. Professor Ohmori’s recent achievement of an ultrafast 2-qubit gate between single atoms has dramatically accelerated the operation of neutral atom quantum computers. Click here for the rest of the article which provides additional information on Japan’s Quantum Moonshot program.

December 20, 2023
QuantaMap Receives €1.4 Million ($1.5M USD) in Early Stage Venture Funding
QuantaMap, a Dutch quantum technologies startup, has secured €1.4 million in early-stage funding to improve the production of quantum computer chips. The funding round was led by QDNL Participations and will be combined with a grant for SMEs provided by the Quantum Delta NL foundation. The funds will be used to further develop the technology and scale production capabilities. Click here for the rest of the article.

December 19, 2023
Riverlane Partners with Rolls-Royce and NQCC to Explore Accelerating Materials Design Using Quantum Computing
RiverlaneRolls-Royce, and the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) have partnered to accelerate materials discovery using quantum computing. The collaboration aims to build computational tools to simulate large, complex materials on a quantum computer, a task that is currently challenging for classical algorithms. The Quantum Accelerator for Materials Design (QuaMaD) project, building on Riverlane’s existing algorithms research, will significantly reduce the number of qubits (quantum bits) required for the quantum simulation of new materials. This is crucial as modern pharmaceutical, chemical, and materials companies rely on simulation to develop new materials and medicines. Click here for the rest of the article.

December 19, 2023
Kipu Quantum Raises a €10.5 Million ($11.5M USD) Seed Round
Kipu Quantum, a German quantum software company, has successfully raised a seed round funding of 10.5 million EUR. This funding will be used for the further development of their hardware-specific quantum algorithms. The financing round was led by HV Capital and DeepTech & Climate Fonds (DTCF) with additional participation from existing shareholders, Entrada Ventures, Quantonation, and First Moment Ventures, and also new investors Onsight Ventures and QAI Ventures. The funds will be used to expand their team of quantum scientists, researchers, and engineers, with the goal of reducing the time to industrially-useful quantum computers by several years. Click here for more.

December 19, 2023 – News Brief
Quantum South’s Automatic Package Selection and Ordering (APSO) is Now Available on the International Air Transportation Association’s (IATA) Open API Hub
Quantum-South’s product, Automatic Package Selection and Ordering (APSO), is a quantum-inspired optimization tool that increases cargo load factors in load planning scenarios. It considers multiple optimization objectives and constraints to return optimal load plans for each container. APSO is now available on the International Air Transportation Association’s (IATA) Open API Hub, a hub which allows airline industry organizations to discover and collaborate with APIs from trusted providers. It is a Software as a Service (SaaS) designed to optimize package selection during loading scenarios for airlines, cargo handlers, and warehouse operators. It addresses capacity utilization challenges in the air cargo industry, enabling optimal selection and ordering of packages within Unit Load Devices (ULDs). The APSO API token on the IATA Hub is limited for free demo testing. Quantum-South has conducted Proof-of-Concepts with industry leaders like IAG Cargo and Amerijet International, increasing capacity utilization by up to 30%. Additional information is available in a blog posted on the Quantum South website here and also a product page for APSO which can be seen here.

December 16, 2023
Who’s News: Managements Updates at Quantinuum, Q-CTRL, Zapata, Qrypt, and PsiQuantum
Quantinuum has recruited a Chief Scientist for Algorithms and Innovation. Q-CTRL has appointed a Head of Engineering, Zapata has added both a Chief Revenue Officer and a Chief People Officer. Qrypt has added a new member to their Board of Advisors. And PsiQuantum has created a new Government Board of Advisors. Click here for details on all these new appointments.

December 16, 2023 – News Brief
Australia’s CSIRO to Provide $3.6 Million AUD ($2.4M USD) in Funding for 16 Quantum PhD Scholarships
Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is implementing a Next Generation Quantum Graduates Program which allocates $3.6 million to fund four quantum research initiatives. The program will provide 16 PhD scholarships for projects across 11 Australian universities, focusing on areas from quantum internet to sub-atomic biological processes. The program, announced by Labor in May 2022 and funded by CSIRO in April, will run from 2024 to 2029. It aims to leverage existing university resources to tackle industry challenges and accelerate Australia’s quantum technology industry. Lead institutions for the funding include Deakin University, the University of Queensland, Swinburne University of Technology and the Sydney Quantum Academy, a collaboration between four universities. Additional information can be seen on the InnovationAus.com website here.

December 16, 2023 – News Brief
QNu Labs Obtains $6.5 Million in Pre-Series A Funding
The investment was led by Ashish Kacholia of Lucky Investments, with additional participation from Speciale Invest. QNu labs is a quantum cybersecurity company founded in 2016 from IIT, Madras Research Park. They provide QKD, QRNG, and PQC products for enterprises to protect their critical infrastructure from quantum attacks by adversaries using future quantum computers. The company is headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India and will be using the funds to expand their sales, marketing, and engineering teams. They will also work to accelerate the deployment of their solutions and expand into new geographic markets. Additional information is available on the website of Startup Outlook India here.

December 15, 2023
Orca Computing is Installing Two Boson Sampling Processors at the Poznań Supercomputing and Networking Center (PSNC)
ORCA Computing is installing two of its PT-1 quantum photonics processors the year at the the Poznań Supercomputing and Networking Center (PSNC). These systems will be installed at PSNC’s high-performance computing data center in Poznań, Poland, and will enhance its quantum computing work in various scientific and application fields, including biology, chemistry, and machine learning. Click here for the full article.

December 15, 2023 – News Brief
IQM to Partner with UC Berkeley and Expand into the U.S.
IQM Quantum Computers, a global leader in building quantum computers has announced its plan for expansion into the United States market. As part of this expansion, IQM has signed a strategic partnership with the University of California, Berkeley, to advance Quantum Information Science (QIS) through the development and operation of the next generation of advanced superconducting quantum processors. The partnership with UC Berkeley will focus on developing 3D-integrated versions of novel quantum processors that have high quantum coherence and minimal levels of unwanted crosstalk. This expansion aligns with IQM’s long-term strategy to begin by driving quantum adoption with education and research organizations and afterwards collaborate with high-performance computing (HPC) service providers across the US to commercialize its technology to a larger base of potential users. A press release from IQM announcing its collaboration with UC Berkeley and U.S. expansion has been posted on their website here.

December 15, 2023
QC Design Launches Plaquette+, a Design Automation Tool for Fault-tolerant Quantum Computers
QC Design, a company specializing in quantum computing, has launched Plaquette+, a fault-tolerance design automation software. This tool provides advanced fault-tolerance methods and hardware-specific error models, making it the first industry-grade tool of its kind available to all quantum computer manufacturers. Plaquette+ allows for the design of fault-tolerant quantum computers across all matter and photonic platforms, and can analyze arbitrary hardware imperfections in thousands of qubits. Click here for more.

December 15, 2023
Aliro Quantum Introduces the Aliro Simulator for Designing Quantum Communication Networks
The Aliro Simulator is a versatile, modular quantum network simulator that can model all portions of a quantum network, from the smallest optical components to the largest heterogeneous networks. It implements discrete event simulation, multiple quantum state computation backends, generic quantum and classical device components, optical components, noise models, networking concept abstractions, and support classes. It allows organizations to test and identify issues, as well as make informed decisions about any trade-offs. It provides a valuable way for organizations to assess their quantum needs, establish proof of value, design to their requirements, and obtain guidance on how to best implement quantum networks. See our full article here with additional information about the Aliro Simulator.

December 14, 2023
IBM and University Partners Seek to Educate 40,000 Students in the U.S., Japan, and Korea on Quantum Technology
IBM has announced a collaboration with Keio University, The University of Tokyo, Yonsei University, Seoul National University, and The University of Chicago to support quantum education activities in Japan, South Korea, and the United States. The aim is to advance the training of up to 40,000 students over the next 10 years to prepare them for the quantum workforce and promote the growth of a global quantum ecosystem. Click here for the rest of the article.

December 14, 2023
Zapata Introduces BenchQ, an Open-source Tool for Quantum Computing Resource Estimation and Benchmarking
One of the products that has resulted from the DARPA Quantum Benchmarking program that we reported on earlier this month is BenchQ, a tool developed by Zapata AI along with partners at Aalto University, IonQ, the University of Technology Sydney, and the University of Texas at Dallas. A key purpose of the tool is to provide a user with an estimate of the quantum processor resources required to solve high-utility problems. Click here for the rest of our article that describes ways that this new tool can be used and where to find it.

December 14, 2023
Terra Quantum Announces TQ42, a Quantum Software as a Service Platform
Terra Quantum, a leading quantum software company, has launched TQ42, a unique Quantum Software as a Service platform. This platform makes quantum solutions easily accessible to enterprises across various sectors. TQ42 provides access to Terra Quantum’s advanced quantum algorithms and robust hybrid quantum cloud infrastructure. It offers a streamlined, secure gateway for a range of users, including developers skilled in Python, APIs, and command-line operations. Currently, TQ42 is available to select companies in beta. After the initial beta period, TQ42’s no-code web interface will be available, empowering a broad spectrum of data scientists and business analysts to create quantum solutions without needing advanced computing or coding expertise. For the rest of our article about TQ42, click here.

December 13, 2023
Broadcom to Fund a Broadcom Quantum Laboratory at Caltech

The California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and Broadcom have announced a multi-year partnership to advance quantum science research and innovation. The partnership, backed by a significant (but not publicly announced) investment from Broadcom, will establish the Broadcom Quantum Laboratory at Caltech, fostering collaboration among experts in quantum computing, sensing, measurement, and engineering. The investment will support joint research to expedite discovery. Over the next five years, an annual symposium will be hosted by both organizations to explore mutual interests and future development opportunities. Click here for more.

December 13, 2023
The  Leibniz Supercomputing Centre (LRZ) is Purchasing a 20 Qubit Quantum Processor from AQT for Around €9.8 Million ($10.7M USD)
The Leibniz Supercomputing Centre (LRZ) is collaborating with Munich Quantum Valley (MQV) to procure a quantum computer based on trapped-ion technology. This computer, developed by the Austrian start-up Alpine Quantum Technologies (AQT), uses 20 qubits implemented in an ion trap. The new system will be made available to the seven member organizations of MQV, primarily for conducting research in system software. The quantum computer is funded by the Bavarian State Ministries for Science and the Arts (StMWK) and for Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy (StMWi) with around 9.8 million euros ($10.7M USD) as part of the Hightech Agenda Bavaria. For the rest of the article, click here.

December 13, 2023 – News Brief
EAGLYS, Mitsui, and Quantinuum Partner on Hardened Encryption Keys Using Quantum Computing
EAGLYS, Inc.Mitsui & Co., Ltd., and Quantinuum have partnered to integrate Quantum Origin into EAGLYS’ secure computation product, DataArmor. This strengthens the platform against quantum threats to encrypted data. DataArmor uses homomorphic encryption, allowing data analysis while maintaining encryption, thus protecting sensitive data and AI models. The integration of Quantum Origin, a solution that uses quantum computing processes to strengthen encryption keys, enhances DataArmor’s resilience against quantum-computing-based attacks. Quantum computers, expected to create significant value in the future, also pose a threat to cryptographic security measures. RSA, a widely used cryptographic algorithm, may soon be deciphered by cybercriminals, exposing confidential data. Organizations are increasingly concerned about ‘Hack now, Decrypt later’ attacks, where malicious third parties steal and store encrypted data for future decryption. A news release from Quantinuum announcing the collaboration is available on the Quantinuum website here.

December 13, 2023 – News Brief
Infleqtion and L3 Harris Partner on Quantum RF Sensors
Infleqtion, a leading quantum information company, and L3Harris, a global aerospace and defense firm, have announced a strategic collaboration to develop and transition quantum radio frequency (RF) sensing technology from the lab to the field. This partnership aims to advance quantum capabilities for advanced dual-use applications. The collaboration will result in a revolutionary RF receiver that defies traditional constraints, enabling continuous tuning from Hz to THz, with resilience to interference and sensitivity close to the blackbody radiation limit. L3Harris and Infleqtion recently won a classified quantum RF sensing program, demonstrating the strength of their partnership and their ability to deliver innovative solutions for sensitive and critical defense applications. Infleqtion’s Quantum RF solution, SqyWire, was recently demonstrated at the Army C5ISR NetModX23 evaluation. Dr. William Clark, Vice President of Quantum Development at Infleqtion, stated that this collaboration marks a significant step forward for Infleqtion to enhance secure communications using quantum applications. A press release from Infleqtion announcing the partnership can be accessed here.

December 9, 2023 – News Brief
Atlantic Quantum Releases Software Tools for Compiling OpenQASM and Storing Experimental Data
Atlantic Quantum, a venture-backed start-up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is launching an open-source software framework to aid in the control and calibration of quantum processors. This project, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, includes two main components: Svalbard, a database for storing experimental data, and Shipyard, a compiler for OpenQASM, an open-source language for quantum circuits initially developed by IBM. These tools aim to support the quantum ecosystem and make quantum computing more accessible and they are accessible on Atlantic Quantum’s GitHub page. A news release from Atlantic Quantum announcing their release has been posted here.

December 9, 2023
Oxford Quantum Circuits and Classiq Partner to Make Advanced Quantum Computing More Accessible
Classiq, a leading quantum software company, and Oxford Quantum Circuits (OQC), a quantum computing hardware company, announced a partnership aimed at making advanced quantum computing more accessible and streamlined for users across research and industry. The partnership aims to unlock the power of quantum by abstracting away complexity for developers. As part of this collaboration, they will partner to further integrate their respective technologies with data centers and HPC (high-performance computing). To learn more about the contributions of each partner, click here.

December 9, 2023
Wave Photonics and Partners Receive s £500 Thousand ($627K USD) Grant from Innovate UK for Researching Photonics Chips for Trapped Ion Processors
Wave Photonics, a startup based in Cambridge, UK, is spearheading a £500 thousand ($627K USD) funded by Innovate UK project to develop integrated photonic components for trapped ion quantum computers and establish a UK supply chain. The project is a collaboration with Oxford Ionics, the CORNERSTONE foundry at the University of Southampton, and the Compound Semiconductor Applications (CSA) Catapult. The goal is to enhance the UK supply chain for integrated photonics and quantum technologies. Click here for more.

December 9, 2023
Rigetti Formally Announces Its Novera QPU Devices for Researchers
When Rigetti Computing released their Q3 financial report, they mentioned that they had developed a 9 qubit QPU chip and had sold one to the Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Center (SQMS) at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and sold another one to an unnamed U.S. national laboratory. The company has now given a name of Novera to this product and announced it is now available for other customers. The product consists of a chip with 9 qubits arranged in a 3×3 matrix that used tunable couplers along with a second chip with 5 qubits without tunable couplers intended for testing single qubit operations along with other components. See our report here that provides more details about this product.

December 9, 2023
EPB Quantum Network℠ Powered by Qubitekk Adds Qunnect and the University of Tennessee Chattanooga as Users
The EPB Quantum Network℠ powered by Qubitekk announced that Qunnect has joined as their first customer and the University of Tennessee Chattanooga (UTC) as the first academic institution connected to their network. Qunnect is seeking to demonstrate interoperability between quantum component providers on a dedicated commercial network infrastructure. The Quantum Initiative at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga will be using the network for research and education. Among other things, they will be exploring quantum sensing applications using the network. Additional details about these announcements can be found in our full article located here.

December 9, 2023
Riverlane, Infleqtion, and Nüvü Camēras Partner to Improve Qubit Readout on Neutral Atom Processors
The project, titled ‘Scalable Qubit Array Detection for Rydberg Quantum Computers’, will see quantum computing companies Infleqtion and Riverlane team up with imaging systems specialists Nüvü Camēras. The goal is to develop systems that significantly enhance the readout of qubit status. Click here for our full article that provides more details about this project.

December 6, 2023
Team Led by Harvard with Collaborators QuEra Computing, MIT, and NIST/UMD Demonstrate an Error-corrected Quantum Computer with 48 Logical Qubits
The team successfully executed large-scale algorithms on an error-corrected quantum computer utilizing 48 logical qubits. This represents a significant advance over previous demonstrations, which were limited to one or two logical qubits. The research demonstrates enhanced computation stability and reliability through quantum error correction, operating logical qubits with a fidelity superior to the component physical qubits. The fidelity improves as the code distance increases, allowing the correction of more errors. Click here for our full article reporting on this development.

December 6, 2023
Multiverse Computing and Moody’s Analytics Introduce Quantum SaaS Platform
Multiverse Computing, in collaboration with Moody’s Analytics, has launched QFStudio, a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform. This initiative, announced in San Sebastián, Spain, combines Multiverse’s expertise in quantum algorithms with Moody’s extensive experience in risk management. The platform is tailored to offer quantum computing solutions for applications in machine learning, optimization, and financial simulations. Click here for the rest of the article.

December 5, 2023 – News Brief
Unitary Fund Releases Its 2023 Quantum Open Source Survey (QOSS)
Once again, the Unitary Fund has surveyed a wide variety of users to help the industry gain a better understanding of the who the users are, what tools and software they are using, and the strengths and needs of the ecosystem. The survey covers areas including user demographics, programming languages used, experience level, cloud services used, OSS (Open Source Software) development and research, community and resources, diversity and inclusion, and other things. The survey received 798 responses from a broad audience ranging from business leader to hobbyist, people from 56 countries, who worked at academic institutions, enterprises, startups, government labs, and other places. There is a lot of data useful for those who want to understand more about the current user base in quantum. A full report showing the results of the 2023 Quantum Open Source Survey (QOSS) is available here and a blog posting that summarizes some of the key findings can be found here.

December 4, 2023
IBM Promises a Disruptive Leap for Quantum in 2024
At its annual Quantum Summit in New York, IBM unveiled its quantum roadmap for both hardware and software through the next 10 years. It represents a continuation of the roadmaps they have presented but also promises a disruptive leap for 2024. C;lick here for our full article that covers IBM’s announcement.

December 2, 2023
Zapata, Rigetti, and Others Win Phase II Awards for DARPA Quantum Benchmarking Program
In April 2021, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced a Quantum Benchmarking program to estimate the long-term utility of quantum computers by creating new benchmarks that can quantify progress towards specific computational challenges. Additionally, the program will estimate the hardware-specific resources required to achieve different levels of benchmark performance. We had previously reported (see here and here) on several Phase I awards that were made last year. Now, DARPA has issued awards for Phase II that includes teams from Zapata, Rigetti, and others. Click here to read about two of the recent Phase II awards that were made as part of this program.

November 30, 2023
ParTec AG and Quantum Machines Add to their Collaboration on Quantum Technology
ParTec AG, a leader in modular supercomputers, and Quantum Machines, a provider of quantum control solutions, announced plans to intensify their collaboration. They aim to develop products that combine Quantum Machines’s Quantum Orchestration Platform with ParTec’s proprietary IP. By 2024, ParTec will offer a comprehensive qubit-agnostic solution with Quantum Machines’s technology embedded within. This solution will allow customers to acquire various quantum processing unit (QPU) technologies from different manufacturers and integrate them into a uniform system architecture tailored to their specific needs. Click here for the rest of our article describing the collaborations between these two companies.

November 30, 2023
QSimulate Receives $2.5 Million in a New Funding Round
Quantum Simulation Technologies, Inc. (QSimulate) has secured $2.5M in funding from 2xN, UTokyo IPC, and Kyoto iCAP. The investment will bolster QSimulate’s business, which focuses on its quantum physics-based drug-discovery platform, QSP Life. This platform includes QUELO, QuValent, and QuantumFP, which cover various aspects of drug design. QSimulate employs proprietary quantum physics-based algorithms to predict solutions to large-scale biological problems. Its technology has facilitated the first quantitative application of quantum mechanics to drug design, offering predictions with unparalleled accuracy. Click here for our full article which contains additional information about QSimulate’s customer partnerships.

November 30, 2023
Alice & Bob Partners with OVHcloud to Launch Felis, an Emulator for Logical Qubits
Alice & Bob, a hardware developer in quantum computing, has partnered with OVHcloud to launch Felis, the first quantum emulator capable of predicting the behavior of logical qubits. Available through the OVHcloud Public Cloud universe, Felis allows users to tune error rates and abstracts error correction, simplifying quantum algorithm testing. Click here for more.

November 29, 2023 – News Brief
AWS Announces Braket Direct for Reserving Dedicated Time on a Quantum Processor
One of the frustrations users sometimes have in using quantum computers on the cloud can be the long job queues and the delays a user may see from the time they submit a job to when the job is finally run and the results returned. This can certainly impact productivity. To help solve this issue, AWS has introduced a Braket Direct program that allows a user to reserve a dedicated time. You can reserve time in 1 hour increments but you will pay for all the time you reserve, even if the machine is idle for portions of the period. Braket Direct is now available for the IonQ Aria, QuEra Aquila, and Rigetti Aspen-M-3 processors. Also, the IonQ Forte 30 qubit machine will only be available through Braket Direct. Besides the reservation, AWS will offer free consulting in a 30 minute reservation prep session from one of their experts to enable users to get the most from their reservation. Also 30 minute Office Hours slot to provide advice to users is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Additional details about Braket Direct are available in a blog post located on the AWS web site here.

November 29, 2023
PASQAL to Receive a $15 Million CAD ($11M USD) Loan to Establish Its Canadian Subsidiary in DistriQ, a Quantum Innovation Zone in Quebec
PASQAL, a quantum computing company, has announced a $90 million initiative over five years in Sherbrooke, Quebec. The project aims to manufacture and commercialize quantum computers, and conduct research and development in collaboration with academic and industrial partners within DistriQ, a quantum innovation zone. The goal is to establish Sherbrooke as a globally recognized quantum hub. The Government of Quebec is supporting this investment project with a $15 million CAD ($11M USD) loan for the establishment of PASQAL SAS’ subsidiary in DistriQ. The project is expected to create 53 permanent jobs over five years. Click here for more.

November 29, 2023
Q-CTRL Error Suppression Technology Integrated into IBM Quantum’s Pay-As-You-Go Plan
Q-CTRL and IBM have announced that Q-CTRLs error suppression technology, named Q-CTRL Embedded, has been integrated into the IBM Qiskit runtime system. This feature is currently only available for users on the Pay-As-You-Go plan. There is no additional cost for those users who utilize this capability. This is the first time that IBM has integrated third party software into their system in this manner. The software can be invoked with a single line of code. This software can provide users with a significant improvement in the quality of the calculated results versus a run using standard settings. Click here for our full article with additional details about this integration.

November 27, 2023 – News Brief
QuantumDiamonds Raises €7 Million ($7.6M USD) in Seed Funding for Development of Quantum Sensors
QuantumDiamonds is a Munich, Germany based company formed in 2022 by graduates of the Technical University of Munich. The first €3 million of the funding was led by funding led by IQ Capital and Earlybird with additional participation from Onsight VenturesFirst MomentumCreator FundUnternehmerTUM, and various angel investors from the semiconductor industry. In addition, the company received €3 million in grant funding from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator and the Bavarian state to bring the total to €7 million. The company develops atom-sized quantum sensors for non-destructive, nano-scale imaging of magnetic fields based upon nitrogen-vacancy (NV) diamond technology. These types of sensors can be useful for semiconductor manufacturing, medical diagnostic applications, and other applications. The company indicates that four of the world’s top 10 semiconductor manufacturers are testing their devices. They will be using the funds to hire more quantum engineers and to take the product form the current prototype status to commercial production. Additional information about the funding can be seen on the Tech.eu website here.

November 27, 2023
Oxford Quantum Circuits Receives a $100 Million Series B Investment and Announces Its 32-Qubit Toshiko Platform
Oxford Quantum Circuits is a quantum processor manufacturer using superconducting technology and formed in 2017 and based in the UK. The $100 million Series B investment was led by SBI Investment with additional participation from previous investors Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE), University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners (UTEC), Lansdowne Partners, and OTIF, acted by manager Oxford Investment Consultants (OIC). The company has also announced that the Toshiko processor is now available in private beta. It is an upgradable design that currently supports 32 qubits. It is intended for deployment at commercial data centers where it can be integrated with the classical HPC resources for a hybrid compute environment. For more information about these announcement click here to see our full article.

November 25, 2023 – News Brief
Entropica Labs Raises $4.7 Million USD in Series A Funding
The round was led by Italian Deep Tech venture capital firm Liftt and existing investor Wavemaker Partners. Additional investors include SEEDS Capital, the investment arm of Enterprise Singapore; California-based CerraCap Ventures; SUTD Venture Holdings; and previous seed investors, Elev8 VC. Entropica Labs is a quantum software company based in Singapore that is building development tools for error correction and fault tolerance. Entropica will be using the funding to grow their team and perform testing of Entropica’s products on real quantum hardware. A news release announcing the funding can be found on the Entropica website here.

November 24, 2023 – News Brief
Quantum Application Lab (QAL) Receives a €1.2 Million ($1.3M USD) Award for Quantum Application Development
The Quantum Application Lab (QAL) is a consortium of six Dutch organizations in The Netherlands that works on quantum application development and use case evaluation. They have received a  “Subsidie Economische Structuur en Arbeidsmarktversterking” (SESA) grant from the municipality of Amsterdam to grow its organization and further their work in quantum application development. This follows another grant of €600 thousand received in October from Quantum Delta NL for co-financing five new projects in the next years. QAL will be adding additional Quantum Innovation Officers and help to grow a skilled workforce in quantum technologies. Additional information about this new SESA award can be found in a blog posting on the QAL website here.

November 24, 2023
UK Government Announces Five Quantum Missions as Part of Its National Quantum Strategy
As part of the UK Government’s 2023 Autumn Statement, they have released five key missions that provide more specific goals as a follow-on to the March 2023 release of the UK’s National Quantum Strategy. The National Quantum Strategy called for an investment of £2.5 billion ($3.15B USD) in quantum over the next ten years and a portion of those funds will be utilized to achieve these technical missions. Click here for additional information on what each mission is expected to accomplish.

November 24, 2023
Government of Ireland Releases Its National Quantum Technologies Strategy
Similar to efforts we have seen in many other countries, the government of Ireland has released a document titled Quantum 2030 – A National Quantum Technologies Strategy for Ireland with the tagline “Putting Ireland in a Quantum Superposition”. Their goal is to ensure that by 2030 Ireland is established as an internationally competitive hub in quantum technologies. Click here for the rest of our article describing Ireland’s quantum strategy and the five pillars it is based upon.

November 23, 2023
Kipu Quantum Joins DLR’s BASIQ Program to Simulate Battery Materials
The German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, also known as DLR) has established a three year program called BASIQ which has a goal of using quantum computing to simulate battery chemistries to better understand the atomic processes involved and pave the way for future improvements in battery performance. Kipu Quantum has been awarded a contract to develop novel algorithms for static and dynamic quantum chemical simulations that can be run on the DLR QCI (Quantum Computing Initiative) quantum computers. Click here for more.

November 23, 2023
SandboxAQ Partners with NVIDIA to Accelerate Simulations of Quantum Mechanical Effects for Material Science
SandoxAQ has announced they will be collaborating with NVIDIA to use NVIDIA’s GPUs to accelerate some of the tensor network based algorithms used in these simulations. Specifically, NVIDIA will be able to utilize up to 32 NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPUs along with NVIDIA’s cuTENSOR and cuQuantum software to achieve the high performance needed to provide useful results in a reasonable period of time. Click here for our full article describing this collaboration.

November 19, 2023 – News Brief
US Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) Awards $6.7 Million Grant to Team for Studying Materials Characterization and Modeling of Silicon Spin Qubits
The award was made by the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) to a team led by the University of Rochester with collaborators from the University at Buffalo, SUNY Stony Brook, NY Creates, University of California Los Angeles, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. They will study issues that can negatively impact coherence times of silicon spin qubits such as charge noise, valley splitting, and spatial variations in electron G-factor. By better understanding the basic materials issues that causes these issues, the team may be able to find improved ways of manufacturing the qubits to achieve higher quality and lower error rates in a quantum processor. A news release from the University of Rochester announcing the award can be accessed here.

November 18, 2023
Who’s News: Management Changes at Quantinuum, IonQ, and Quantum Brilliance
A senior executive at Quantinuum has left the company, IonQ has added a Chief of Marketing and Vice-President of Software to its executive team and Quantum Brilliance has appointed a new Country Manager for the United Kingdom. Click here for our article with more details about these changes.

November 18, 2023
Quantum Computing Inc. Reports Third Quarter Financial Results

Quantum Computing Inc. (QCI) report achieving third quarter 2023 revenue of $50 thousand. This compares to revenue of $38 thousand in the year ago quarter and $112 thousand in the previously second quarter of 2023. Net loss was $8.2 million compared to $7.5 million in Q3 2022 and $4.6 million in Q2 2023. The company ended the quarter with $7.3 million in cash and cash equivalents compared to $7.2 million at the end of Q2. Click here the rest of our article about QCI’s Q3 financial results and company status.

November 18, 2023 – News Brief
qBraid Now Provides Access to Intel’s Quantum SDK
qBraid, a quantum computing platform, announced that it is the first provider outside of Intel to offer access to the Intel Quantum SDK, a software development kit for quantum programming. The Intel Quantum SDK allows users to program quantum kernels using C++ language extensions and run them on various qubit-simulator backends, including one that simulates Intel’s quantum hardware under development. The QCR ran a review of Intel’s Quantum SDK which you can find here. qBraid and Intel have collaborated to pilot courses using the Intel Quantum SDK at the Ohio State University, where students and researchers learned and developed quantum algorithms. Additional details about aBraid’s support of Intel’s Quantum SDK are available in a press release provided by qBraid here.

November 17, 2023
Alice & Bob Partner with Equinix to Expand Access to Alice & Bob’s Quantum Processors
Equinix, a global digital infrastructure company, has announced a strategic partnership with Alice & Bob, a leading quantum computing company. This collaboration aims to provide Equinix customers worldwide, including in the United States, with secure access to Alice & Bob’s advanced quantum technology through Equinix Metal and Equinix Fabric. Additionally, businesses can leverage Alice & Bob’s quantum strategy services to unlock potential opportunities in areas such as simulation, optimization, machine learning, and cryptography. Click here for the rest of the article.

November 16, 2023 – News Brief
QDM.IO Introduces a Quantum Diamond Microscope
QDM.IO is a quantum sensor startup with technology that originated from research at Harvard University and the University of Maryland. The Quantum Diamond Microscope uses nitrogen vacancy diamond quantum technology to measure magnetic fields at nanotesla sensitivities with image resolution better than a thousandth of a millimeter and a field-of-view up to about a centimeter. They have already provided pilot units to Oxford University, Washington University, SUNY Buffalo, and New York University. QDM also provides with the unit a Python-based control software called Ferrum that provides a graphical user interface all allows users to set up automated scans. List price for the unit starts at $150,000 with an expected lead-time of a few months. Additional information about the unit is available in a product brochure located on the QDM website here and also a press release announcing the product here.

November 16, 2023 – New Brief
SpeQtral and SPTel Selected to Build a Quantum Network in Singapore
The  Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore (IMDA) will be building up a new quantum network in the city-state of Singapore called the National Quantum-Safe Network Plus (NQSN+). This network will be an upgrade of the the National Quantum-Safe Network (NQSN) that we reported on earlier this year and this network is intended to cover the entire island-country. SPTel, a joint venture company of ST Engineering and SP Group, and SpeQtral have been selected to build this network. These companies will leverage SPTel’s experience in providing digital communication infrastructure in Singapore with SpeQtral’s expertise in developing both terrestrial and space-based solutions for quantum networks. In November 2022, the companies announced that they had successfully completed a trial test of  quantum secure network on SPTel’s diverse fiber network. A press release provided by SpeQtral announcing their appointment with SPTel to build the NQSN+ network has been posted on their website here.

November 16, 2023 – News Brief
University of Illinois Wins a $1 Million Grant to Study Josephson Junction Defects in Superconducting Qubits
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign team has won an award for a two-year program from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research to look at ways of reducing defects in the deposition process of the aluminum/aluminum oxide/aluminum junctions used in superconducting Josephson junctions. Defects in the junction can negatively impact coherence time in a superconducting qubit so improvements that can reduce the disorder in the material can help improve the overall qubit quality. The team will be using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) as well as low temperature characterization to be able to develop a full picture of a the Josephson junction deposition. Additional information is available in a news release posted by the University of Illinois here.

November 15, 2023 – News Brief
Quoherent Closes a $4.7 Million Seed Round Financing
Quoherent, Inc., a Huntsville, Alabama quantum hardware startup, has secured a $4.7 million in a seed round led by Morpheus Ventures with additional participation from Draper Associates, Khosla Ventures, and Alpha Edison. The company is developing a novel quantum modality that used topological materials that operate at room temperature. The could potentially enable installing a quantum computer at the edge or in portable systems. The funds will be used to will be used to accelerate development of Quoherent’s “third-wave” solid state quantum qubits. Additional information is available in a press release provided by Quoherent which available here.

November 14, 2023
NVIDIA Unveils Collaborations with BASF, IQM, Classiq, and Terra Quantum
In several announcements that came out in conjunction with The International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage, and Analysis conference being held this week, NVIDIA has announced several collaborations with quantum end users and quantum providers that use its CUDA Quantum software platform. To learn more about these several collaborations, click here to view our full article that provides additional information.

November 11, 2023
Quantum Machines and QuEra Receive a Grant to Develop a Photonic Control Unit
Quantum Machines and QuEra Computing have received an innovation grant from the Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation to jointly develop over a 24 month period a photonic control unit (PCU) that can significantly accelerate the computational power of quantum computers. The PCU is based on QuEra’s advanced photonic microchips and Quantum Machines’ high-speed analog controllers. The PCU will be integrated into QuEra’s quantum computers and Quantum Machines’ testing facilities and product lines. Click here for the rest of the article.

November 11, 2023 – News Brief
Fermilab SQMS Center Opens “The Quantum Garage”
The Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Center (SQMS) at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory has built a 6,000 square foot lab devoted to advanced research in quantum technology. The facility will provide start-ups, academia and industry with access to advanced scientific tools, equipment, and facility to perform their cutting-edge research. This includes two large dilution refrigerators. The facility will also help train a future quantum workforce, among one of the key missions of SQMS. SQMS has 34 partners across industry, academia and federal labs, including Ames National Laboratory, NASA, NIST, Northwestern University, Rigetti Computing, the Italian Institute of Nuclear Physics, the U.K. National Physics Laboratory and others who will be able to participate in the use of the facilities. A press release announcing the opening of the Quantum Garage has been posted on the Fermi website here and a video of the event celebrating the opening is available here.

November 11, 2023 – News Brief
Quantum Motion Partners with the University of Pennsylvania to Help Develop Test Techniques for Quantum Motion’s Spin Qubit Chips
Quantum Motion will be providing the Penn Quantum Hardware Lab at the University of Pennsylvania with its latest silicon qubit chips along with funding to work on techniques for testing Quantum Motion’s silicon-based quantum processor chips. The funding provided will support a postdoctoral scholar, a PhD student, for three years as well as additional testing equipment in the lab. The Penn Quantum Hardware Lab has considerable expertise in developing new methods to encode and control electron spin qubits to enable devices with improved qubit-to-qubit connectivity and new control approaches. A press release has been posted by Quantum Motion announcing this collaboration and it can be seen on their website here.

November 11, 2023 – News Brief
Quandela Receives €50 Million ($53.5M USD) in Funding
Quandela, a French quantum hardware startup developing photonic based processors, received has closed on €50 million in funding to support international expansion and continue with their R&D efforts. The investors include Serena, Credit Mutuel Innovation, the European Innovation Council Fund, Bpifrance, OMNES Capital and Quantonation. This amount also include funding from the French government through the France 2030 Plan. The company also announced it had delivered their first quantum computing machine, called MosiaQ to the OVHcloud datacenter. MosiaQ is a photonics based processor that can support anywhere between 2 and 12 qubits. The company also indicated it has started the production of three additional machines in its factory for delivery in 2024. A press release about the funding is available from Quandela on their web site here and another press release announcing the installation of the MosiaQ processor at OVHcloud can be accessed here.

November 11, 2023 – News Brief
IQM Announces Its Upgradable Radiance Series Quantum Processors with both 54 and 150 Qubit Versions
IQM has announced its Radiance series of upgradable quantum processors. These are based upon IQM’s superconducting quantum technology and the processors will come in two versions, a 54 qubit version available availability planned for Q3 2024 and a 150 qubit version with availability planned for Q1 2025. Customers purchasing the 54 qubit version will be able to upgrade to the 150 qubit version when it is available. And customers with the 150 qubit version should be able to upgrade to more advanced IQM processors when those become available. Target customers for these machines include businesses, high performance computing centers, data centers and governments. One of the first customers to receive the 54 qubit version will be the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland which had previously installed an IQM 20 qubit machine earlier this year. A press release from IQM announcing these new machines can be accessed here and a web page for the Radiance series of quantum processors is available here.

November 11, 2023
Rigetti Computing Reports on Its Q3 2023 Financial Results
Rigetti Computing achieved revenue in Q3 of $3.1 million versus $3.3 million in Q2 2023 and $2.8 million in Q3 of 2022. Operating costs were $19.1 million in Q3 versus $18.9 million in Q2 and $33.3 million in Q3 of 2022. This year over year decrease was largely due to a reduction in stock compensation expense along with a company reduction in force implemented earlier this year. Loss from Operations was $16.8 million in Q3 versus $16.2 million in Q2 and $31.3 million in Q2 2022. The company ended the quarter with $110 million in cash, cash equivalents, and available-for-sale investments compared with $105 million at the end of Q2. The increase was due to the sale of $12.7 million of stock as part of a common stock purchase agreement with B. Riley. Click here for the rest of our article about the company’s Q3 financial results and description of the company’s commercial and technical progress during the quarter.

November 11, 2023
D-Wave Reports its Q3 2023 Financial Results
D-Wave Quantum Inc. has reported its Q3 results and said it achieved revenue of $2.56 million in Q3 compared to $1.71 million in Q2 and $1.69 million a year ago in Q2 2023. Operating expenses decreased to $19.9 million in Q3 from the $21.6 million the company had in Q2 and compared to $16.2 million in Q2 2023. Adjusted EBITDA loss was $11.6 million versus $4.9 million in Q2. Click here for our full article covering the highlights of D-Wave’s Q3 financial release.

November 10, 2023
IonQ Announces Q3 Financial Results
IonQ has announced its Q3 financial results and reported revenues of $6.1 million for the quarter. This represents an 11% increase over the Q2 revenues of $5.5 million and a 111% increase over the Q3 2022 revenues of $2.7.6 million. However, operating costs also continued to increase coming in at $48.3 million in Q3 versus $38.6 million in Q2. Adjusted EBITDA loss was $22.4 million this quarter versus $19.4 million in Q2. The company ended the quarter with $485.1 million in cash, cash equivalents, and investments. Click here for more.

November 8, 2023
Photonic Inc. Receives a $100 Million Venture Investment from Microsoft and Others. Will also Collaborate with Microsoft on Quantum Technology

Photonic Inc. has raised $100 million USD to continue development of its unique silicon spin qubit architecture. The investors in this round include British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI), Microsoft Corporation, the UK government’s National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSSIF), Inovia Capital, and Amadeus Capital Partners bringing the total amount invested in the company so far to $140 million USD. Besides the investment, Microsoft and Photonic, Inc. also announced an agreement to collaborate in two technical areas, developing the technology for creating a long distance quantum internet and integrating a future Photonics processor with Microsoft Azure Quantum Elements.  Click here for our article with more on these announcements.

November 4, 2023
Who’s News: Management Updates at Rigetti Computing, Alice & Bob, Infleqtion, and IonQ
Rigetti Computing has a new Chairman of its Board of Directors, Alice & Bob has appointed a their President of Alice & Bob USA subsidiary, Infleqtion has promoted a new President of Infleqtion UK and recruited a new Director of Business Development, and a founder and Chief Science Office of IonQ is returning to academia. Click here for details on these recent management changes in the quantum industry.

November 3, 2023 – News Brief
PASQAL Contributes $500,000 CAD ($366K USD) to Create a Research Chair in Quantum Computing at the Université de Sherbrooke
PASQAL, a global leader in neutral atom quantum computing, is supporting the Faculty of Engineering, Université de Sherbrooke (UdeS), a leader in education and applied research in Canada, to create a research chair in applied quantum computing. The chair holder will develop quantum software solutions for industry, using PASQAL’s hardware and technology. PASQAL is setting up a facility to manufacture quantum processors at Espace Quantique 1 of DistriQ – Quantum Innovation Zone in Sherbrooke, Canada. This will help accelerate the adoption of neutral atom quantum computing in the North American market. The research chair is part of PASQAL’s strategy to deliver real-world applications and quantum advantage in the short term. PASQAL is contributing $500,000 CAD to the position, which will be matched by Canadian federal and/or provincial granting agencies. The Faculty of Engineering, UdeS, is known for its collaborative research, technology transfer, and student training. It has several research centers and institutes, including the Interdisciplinary Institute for Technological Innovation (3IT), the Institut quantique (IQ), and the Centre de collaboration MiQro Innovation (C2MI). A press release from PASQAL announcing this support can be viewed here.

November 3, 2023 – News Brief
ParityQC Awarded Contract from DLR to Develop New QC Methods of Molecular Simulation
The German Aerospace Center (DLR) has created a project called QuantiCom (Quantum Computing for Materials Science and Engineering) to research the use of quantum computers for rapid development of new materials. One of the subprojects of this endeavor is called QuantiCom Q2H which is intended to demonstrate the use of quantum computing for performing atomic level simulations of molecules. ParityQC has won a three year contract that goes through 2026 to develop quantum algorithms for performing these simulations and will start with two small molecules, hydrogen and water. Once they have developed a quantum based simulation algorithm, they will then compare the results with current classicalal HPC (high performance computing) methods to determine if the quantum approach can provide better results. It is hoped that the new algorithms resulting from this research can be then applied in the future to the more complex types of materials used in aircraft and spacecraft that are of high interest at DLR. Advances that help development of lighter, stronger, and more durable materials are always welcome in the aerospace industry, particularly if they can also be produced at a lower cost. A press release from ParityQC announcing receipt of the award is available here.

November 3, 2023
Rigetti Computing Receives an Innovate UK Award to Research Using QC for Money Laundering Detection

Rigetti Computing announced that it was awarded an Innovate UK grant as part of the Feasibility Studies in Quantum Computing Applications competition. The grant will support a project to enhance quantum machine learning methods for money laundering detection, a critical method for identifying and preventing financial crime. Rigetti UK Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Rigetti Computing, will collaborate with HSBC, the Quantum Software Lab (QSL) based at the University of Edinburgh, and the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) in this project. The consortium aims to improve the performance of current-state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms by using quantum computing techniques. Click here for more information in our full article about this award.

November 3, 2023
IARPA Funds Two Projects with up to $40 Million for Research on Entangled Logical Qubits (ELQ)
The Intelligence Advanced Projects Research Activity (IARPA) is a U.S. government agency that invests in high risk, high payoff research that can help to tackle some of the Intelligence Community’s (IC) most difficult challenges. They launched an Entangled Logical Qubits (ELQ) project earlier this year as a four year program to fund projects which can demonstrate high-fidelity entanglement between two error-corrected logical qubits in a fully fault tolerant manner. To learn more about the organizations participating in this program and the approaches they are taking, click here.

November 2, 2023 – News Brief
Analog Quantum Circuits to Receive $3 Million AUD ($1.9M USD) in Funding
Analog Quantum Circuits is a superconducting hardware components startup based in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. They were founded in 2022 by a team that came from the University of Queensland. The company develops miniaturized core microwave components such as such as amplifiers, attenuators, circulators, and other components. These components can be integrated on-chip to help enable the scale-up of superconducting quantum processors. Uniseed is Australia’s longest running early-stage commercialisation fund and the Uniseed-managed funds have committed to invest $3 million AUD in the company. Additional information is available in a news release posted on the Uniseed website here and also an article posted on the Australian website startupdaily here.

November 2, 2023 – News Brief
Nu Quantum Raises £7M ($8.5M USD) in a Pre-Series A Round
Nu Quantum is a quantum networking startup that was formed as a spinout of the Cavendish Lab at the University of Cambridge. They are focusing on providing the technology that will allow multiple quantum processors to be hooked together in a quantum network with a product they call the Quantum Networking Unit (QNU). The funding The round was led by Amadeus Capital Partners, Expeditions Fund, and IQ Capital, with additional participation from Ahren Innovation Capital; Seraphim Capital; University of Cambridge and Martlet and new investors including Presidio Ventures backed by Sumitomo Corporation, the National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSSIF), and Deeptech Labs. This funding follows a £2.1 million ($2.5M USD) seed round invested in the company in September 2020. The company has posted a news release on their website with additional information about this new investment and it can be seen here.

November 2, 2023
NobleAI Collaborates with Microsoft Azure Quantum Elements for Chemical and Materials Discovery
NobleAI has announced that it will be offering its AI based materials discovery platform with the recently announced Microsoft Azure Quantum Elements which provides access to both high performance computing (HPC) and quantum processors for accelerating the calculations. NobleAI is one of the early users of Microsoft Quantum Elements which was just announced last June. NobleAI’s customers include large enterprises in the chemical and energy industries and they help these organizations improve their product development by shortening development times, help identify ways of improving the performance of the materials, and also helping to make the new materials and chemicals more environmentally sustainable. Click here for our full article that reports on this new collaboration.

October 31, 2023
QuEra Wins Two Grants from DARPA as Part of the Imagining Practical Applications for a Quantum Tomorrow (IMPAQT) Program
QuEra Computing, a company that develops neutral-atom quantum computers, has received two grants from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) as part of the Imagining Practical Applications for a Quantum Tomorrow (IMPAQT) program. The first grant is for a project on “Quantum Reservoir Learning using Neutral Atoms and its Applications”. The second grant is for a project on “Error-Corrected Quantum Architectures Based on Transversal Logical Gates”. In addition, QuEra has five partners that have also received DARPA IMPAQT grants for their projects which will use QuEra’s neutral-atom hardware. Click here for our article with more information about these projects.

October 31, 2023
Boeing Provides $3.5 Million in Funding to the Chicago Quantum Exchange for Quantum Research and Talent Development
An expanded collaboration between Boeing, a global aerospace company, and the Chicago Quantum Exchange (CQE), a network of academic institutions and national labs that work on quantum information science and engineering (QISE) has been announced. The collaboration aims to support early-career scientists, seed new research projects, and develop next-generation quantum sensors and networks. The collaboration also renews Boeing’s corporate partnership with the CQE, which started in 2019. The collaboration involves a $3.5 million investment from Boeing, which will fund technical workshops, graduate student and postdoctoral fellowships, and an award for innovative researchers in the field of QISE. Click here for our full the article about the collaboration between Boeing and the CQE.

October 31, 2023 – News Brief
Multiverse, OQC, and Moody’s Analytics Win Innovate UK Award to Develop Large-scale Flood Prediction Models using Quantum Computing
Multiverse ComputingOxford Quantum Circuits (OQC), and Moody’s Analytics will team up to develop two-dimensional hydrodynamical models that numerically solve Shallow Water Equations (SWE) to improve to flood risk assessment and help make management of flood conditions better and more accurate. These calculations are too complex for traditional classical techniques to make accurately so the team will be looking at Quantum Physics-Informed Neural Network (QPINN) and Variational Quantum Circuit (VQC) algorithms with hybrid classical/quantum processing to see if that approach can do it better. Moody’s estimates that flood losses cost £700 million ($850M USD) in the UK every year. In this project Multiverse will be lead contractor and software developer, OQC will supply the quantum hardware, and Moody’s Analytics will provide industry expertise, data requirements, and insights on computational efficiency. This initial Innovate UK grant is a Phase 1 award for a three month period which will finish at the end of November. At that time, the team will need to demonstrate enough progress to warrant a Phase 2 award which would last for 15 months. More information about the award can be found in a news release available here.

October 30, 2023 – News Brief
Cisco Investments Joins the Series A Investment Round in Aliro Quantum
Earlier in October we reported that Aliro Quantum had received a Series A venture investment from Accenture Ventures and Flybridge Leaders Fund. The round has now been joined by Cisco Investments. Cisco is a very large company involved with classical computer networking and has been watching the quantum networking space for some time. They have now decided to make their first quantum investment with Aliro Quantum that provides customers with a product called AliroNet, the world’s first full-stack multi-purpose end-to-end entanglement-based secure network solution. Unlike standalone venture capital firms, Cisco Investments is participating as a strategic investor and can additionally contribute expertise in networking, systems engineering, and systems integration to help accelerate Aliro’s technology development and marketing efforts. A press release provided by Aliro announcing their new venture investor is available here and a blog posting by Cisco Investments featuring an interview with Dr. Prineha Narang, founder and CTO of Aliro, can be accessed here.

October 29, 2023
In order to promote diversity and inclusion to make the technology more accessible, Q-CTRL has teamed up with the Quad Investors Network to provide fully subsidized licenses of Black Opal to students who attend  Technical and Further Education (TAFE) vocational training institutions in Australia and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the US. Implementation of this program will start in 2024. Click here for more about this announcement.

October 28, 2023 – News Brief
PASQAL to Collaborate with Sumitomo’s QX-PJ Project on Low Altitude Air Traffic Control
As drones and other low flying objects like drones and flying cars proliferate, the sky will face increasing complex air traffic control issues as there may be hundreds or thousands of them travelling at a low altitude in the same geographic area. One thing to remember is that the problem might be even more complex than terrestrial traffic control because this scenario needs to work in three dimensions while automobile traffic only travels in two dimensions. In 2021, the Sumitomo Corporation in Japan formed a Quantum Transformation Project (QX-PJ) to research this problem and has now turned to PASQAL in what is called “Quantum Sky” to see how PASQAL’s system can run the necessary calculations. Previously, the QX-PJ project used a quantum annealer for the calculations but now they will explore using the PASQAL processor using both analog and digital mode to see if it can accomplish the tasks any better. A press release from PASQAL announcing their participation in this project is available here.

October 28, 2023 – News Brief
BlueQubit Wins a DARPA Award
BlueQubit, a California based quantum software company, has received an award from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) as part of DARPA’s Imagining Practical Applications for a Quantum Tomorrow (IMPAQT) program. The company will be focusing on finding hybrid classical/quantum algorithms that will maximize the potential of full NISQ devices to find solutions without requiring fault-tolerant quantum computers. This will include areas where classical methods fall short, particularly in Gibbs sampling. For this project, BlueQubit will be collaborating with QuEra to use QuEra’s neutral atom computer to execute the quantum programs. BlueQubit’s press release announcing the award can be accessed here.

October 28, 2023 – News Brief
QMware and QuEra Collaborate to Integrate QuEra’s Processor with QMWare’s Hybrid Quantum Computing Cloud
QMware is a European base provider of Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) that provides a hybrid quantum cloud that includes classical high-performance computing capabilities, quantum simulators, and quantum processors in a secure private quantum runtime environment. The target a broad spectrum of European customers across research, industry, and academia as potential clients. In this new development, QMware will be integrating QuEra’s 256 Aquila-class machines and FPQA™️ technology with their platform to offer end users a hybrid quantum/classical capability that can also offer customers an analog quantum computing capability. Additional information is available in a press release posted on the QMware website here and also the QuEra website here.

October 28, 2023 – News Brief
PASQAL Will Partner with GESDA to Support the Open Quantum Institute
Earlier this month, we reported on the launch of the Open Quantum Institute (OQI) supported by UBS, the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator Foundation (GESDA), CERN, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), and the Swiss universities ETH Zurich and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL). The purpose of the institute will be to accelerate the usage of quantum computing to support implementation of six of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). PASQAL has now signed a Memorandum of Understanding with GESDA to support OQI’s activities. The support will include providing cloud access to PASQAL’s quantum devices, providing tools and training, and contributing technical support for the implementation of use cases. Additional information can be found in a news release posted on the PASQAL website here.

October 27, 2023
D-Wave Extends and Expands Its Agreement with QuantumBasel
D-Wave has announced that they are extending and expanding their agreement with QuantumBasel. The extension will be for another two years and the expansion will be an agreement for D-Wave to open a European office on the QuantumBasel campus. This will make it easier for D-Wave to support its European customers including such organizations as  Koç Holding, Satispay, Poznan Superconducting and Network Center, and Cineca. Click here for our full article which provides additional background about this agreement.

October 27, 2023
New Office Expansions for Quantum Machines and Alice & Bob
Quantum Machines is opening up a new office in Stuttgart, Germany and Alice & Bob is opening up their first North American office in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Click here for our article reporting on these expansions.

October 25, 2023
IonQ is Making Progress with Its Future Generation Barium Based Platform
In December 2022, IonQ announced that it was researching the use of barium instead of ytterbium for a future generation machine. Barium has certain potential advantages in an ion trap machine because it is more compatible with telecom wavelengths for control and also allows the use of higher power lasers which can improve gate delays. But, up until now, none of the IonQ publicly announced machines had yet switched to using barium. The previous Harmony, Aria, and Forte machines and also the upcoming Tempo processor announced last month will continue to use ytterbium. However, in a clear sign the company is making progress, they have announced been able to achieve a performance metric of #AQ29 on a prototype machine they have developed that uses barium. Click here for more.

October 25, 2023
Another Quantum Networking Test Bed Being Set up in Quebec, Canada with $10.1 Million CAD ($7.3M USD) in Funding
The test bed will start being set up in the DistriQ Quantum Innovation Zone in Sherbrooke in October 2023, followed by Montreal and Quebec City in early 2024. It is being managed by Numana, a non-profit organization that will be responsible for the deployment and operation of the test bed.  The test bed will be used by business and other organizations to experiment with quantum networking and is designed to be open, collaborative, adaptable and scalable. It will include terrestrial, aerial and satellite network components. Initially, the network will be set up a three separate metropolitan networks in each location with an eventually desire to tie them together in the future to establish a Quebec-wide quantum communication network. Click here for additional details about this quantum networking test bed announcement.

October 25, 2023
SCALINQ and Atlantic Quantum Partner on Large-scale Quantum Computing Via Cutting-Edge Hardware
SCALINQ is bringing its expertise in cryogenic, microwave devices to a partnership with Atlantic Quantum by the cryogenic hardware necessary for its experiments. LINQER SCALINQs packaging solution hosts multiple devices simultaneously and the solution allows them to reliably measure devices repeatedly, and efficiently. It combines flexibility and scalability, supporting a high density of control lines with PCBs that can be customized to fit Atlantic Quantum’s requirements. Click here for our full article.

October 24, 2023
Atom Computing Previews an 1180 Qubit Neutral Atom Processor
Atom Computing has previewed its next generation neutral atom process that will sport 1180 qubits on a 1225 site (35 x 35) array. The system is currently being tested in Atom’s laboratory in Boulder, Colorado and expected to be made available to clients in 2024. In many respects, the machine is a scale up of their preceding 100 qubit processor, but it does have some key differences. The most significant is that they have changed the atom species used from Strontium to Ytterbium, and the machine is built for uptime. The design is build in modules and offers continuous loading of the atoms in real time if needed. Click here for more.

October 23, 2023
Chicago Region Designated as a U.S. Tech Hub for Quantum Technology as Part of the U.S. Chips and Science Act
A second U.S. area has been designated as a Tech Hub for quantum technology. A group called the Bloch Tech Hub, led by the Chicago Quantum Exchange (CQE), has been chosen to participate as part of Phase 1 of the U.S. Tech Hub program under the Chips and Science Act. A total of 31 regions were designated as tech hubs in eight different technical categories. In addition to the Chicago region, Colorado was also chosen as a tech hub for quantum. Of the 31 regions selected for Phase 1, the Economic Development Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce will select 5-10 Tech Hubs to proceed to Phase 2 for receiving approximately $50-75 million in implementation grants. Click here to read our full article on this development.

October 21, 2023 – News Brief
Colorado To Be Awarded U.S. Tech Hub Funding for Quantum Technology as Part of the U.S. Chips and Science Act
As part of the U.S. Chips and Science Act signed in August 2022, $10 billion was allocated for programs that extend from Fiscal Year 2023 through Fiscal Year 2027 to create 20 geographically distributed regional technology and innovation hubs. Colorado will be announced as one of the 20 recipients for quantum technology. The twenty recipients of Tech Hub awards were selected from a total of 192 applications in 10 different categories. As an initial step, the Colorado Tech Hub will receive a planning grant of up to $500,000 and subsequently be able to apply for an implementation grant of $50 to $75 million which will be awarded in 2024. Colorado has significant quantum activity already with a major NIST facility in Boulder, the University of Colorado at Boulder, the JILA Research Institute, quantum computing companies Atom ComputingQuantinuum, and Infleqtion as well many other quantum component suppliers such as Maybell QuantumVescent Photonics. Companies in the region have established a consortium called Elevate Quantum with over 70 members to promote quantum technology in the region. Additional information is available in an article published by The Colorado Sun here and also a letter of support from Jared Polis, Colorado state governor which can be seen here.

October 21, 2023 – News Brief
Quantum Machines Announces QBoard-II, an Improved Cryogenic Sample Holder
Quantum Machines has introduced a next generation modular, PCB-based cryogenic sample holder as a follow-on to the original QBoard sample holder introduced by its QDevil subsidiary in 2020. This new sample holder improves upon the previous generation with more compact dimensions, new PCB, interposer, and daughterboard designs, and the addition of a shielding lid for better signal integrity and radiation protection. It includes connectors that can support RF signals as high as 8 Ghz as well as a number of lines for DC. The product is targeted for use by experimenters working with low-temperature spin-qubit chips, superconducting circuits, and general transport experiments to make it easier and quicker to exchange samples in their system. Additional information about QBoard-II is available in a press release provided by Quantum Machines here as well as a web page for the device which can be seen here.

October 20, 2023 – News Brief
PASQAL and Partners to Research a New Type of Photonic Quantum Computer in a Program Funded by the European Innovation Council
PASQAL along with its partners at Sorbonne UniversitéPixel Photonics GmbH (PIX)The Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO), and Institut d’Optique Théorique et Appliquée (IOTA) have received a four year grant to research a new type of photonic quantum computer funded by the Pathfinder-2023 challenge grant of the European Innovation. Council. This photonic based processor would be completely different from the ones currently being developed by companies such as PsiQuantum and Xanadu because it leverages some of the technology, such as optical tweezers and neutral atoms, that PASQAL has developed for its standard neutral atom computers. It also works significantly different that PASQAL’s processors because a basic concept is that the information is stored as continuously variable quantum information in the photons as exotic states of light, rather than having the information stored in the state of the neutral atoms themselves. This is a long term research program and a processor based upon this new approach would not be expected for another 5 or 10 years. Additional information about this project is available in a news release provided by PASQAL that can be accessed here.

October 18, 2023
Fermilab and Argonne National Lab Will Each Receive $9 Million for Advanced Quantum Network Research
The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science has provided awards to both Fermilab and Argonne for research into advanced quantum networks with a goal of furthering the development of technology needed for a U.S. national quantum network. Click here for details about these projects.

October 18, 2023
POLARISqb just received a Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) award supporting the  use of quantum computers to design drugs. The research contract is part of DARPA’s Imagining Practical Applications for a Quantum Tomorrow (IMPAQT) program. The DARPA-funded project,  “Quantum Computing Solutions for Inhibiting Protein-Protein Interactions for Emerging Threats,” is tasked with making a novel variational quantum algorithm (VQA) that can identify small molecules that inhibit protein-protein interactions (PPIs), a major challenge in drug design.  Click here for our full article about Polarisqb’s approach to quantum drug discovery and this award.

October 14, 2023 – News Brief
Open Quantum Institute to be Launched in Geneva, Switzerland with Two Million Swiss Francs ($2.2M USD) in Funding from UBS
A consortium led by UBS and including the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator Foundation (GESDA), CERN, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), and the Swiss universities ETH Zurich and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) will be established at CERN beginning March 2024 to accelerate the usage of quantum computing to support implementation of six of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The effort will have a three year pilot implementation from 2024-2026 with UBS contributing funding of two million Swiss francs per year. The effort will include over 40 partners from more than 20 different countries to work towards four objectives they call the “4A’s”. These include accelerating applications for humanity, providing access for all, advancing capacity building, and activating multilateral guidance for SDGs. For additional information on this Open Quantum Institute announcement you can view a press release provided by UBS here, another news release from GESDA here, and the web page for the Open Quantum Institute here.

October 12, 2023
PASQAL Introduces Qadence Software for Digital Analog Quantum Computing
PASQAL has innovated with a new approach for quantum computing called Digital Analog Quantum Computing (DACC) that can use the two together to utilize the best features of each. They are providing an open-source Python library called Qadence to support this. The program configures the qubits into blocks. Single quantum gates can be applied to the qubits within a block and then the blocks are fed into an analog block that will evolve the quantum system continuously in a controlled fashion. Click here for our full article describing this new software and how it works.

October 12, 2023 – News Brief
$100,000 Quantum Startup Pitch Competition to Be Held at Q2B23 Silicon Valley
Early quantum startups will have a chance to receive a $100,000 investment from Qubits Ventures, a VC firm investing in early-stage quantum tech startups in a pitch competition that will be held on day 2 of the Q2B23 Silicon Valley event on December 6, 2023. Any startup with a focus on quantum solutions that has raised less than $2.5M in funding is eligible to apply.‍ Applications will be evaluated on their uniqueness, feasibility, financial viability, and market desirability. The deadline to submit a pitch for consideration is November 15, 2023. From the submitted entries, seven finalists will be selected to make a live pitch on stage at the event. For terms and conditions of the competition as well as to apply, you can check out the web page for it here.

October 11, 2023 – News Brief
D-Wave and Satispay Partner to Apply Quantum Solutions to Customer Rewards Programs
Satispay is a company based in Italy that provides a means to make digital payments between friends and/or merchants without using credit cards. They have been working with D-Wave to utilize D-Wave’s Constrained Quadratic Model (CQM) hybrid solver to improve their customer rewards program that will help increase their membership. They have developed an application that shows a 50% improvement for the same amount of budget and plan on putting it into weekly production soon. Additional information about the partnership between the two companies is available in a new release posted on the D-Wave website here.

October 10, 2023 – News Brief
Aliro Quantum Receives Series A Funding
Aliro Quantum has received its Series A funding from several venture firms including Accenture Ventures and lead investor Leaders Fund. Although the company didn’t release the exact amount of the funding, they indicated it was less than $20 million. Aliro is a software company that specializes in providing software that can  emulate, pilot, and deploy entanglement-based quantum networks. It was spun out of the NarangLab at Harvard University in 2019. Their software was recently selected as the vehicle for providing quantum network configuration, control and orchestration in the EPB Quantum Network Powered by Qubitekk in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The company will be using the new funds to accelerate R&D, expand their professional services, and increase their efforts in sales and marketing. A press release from Aliro announcing this new funding is available here.

October 10, 2023 – News Brief
IQM and VTT Have Installed Finland’s First 20 Qubit Quantum Processor
As part of a program announced in November 2020 to install a series of quantum computers in Finland, IQM and theVTT Technical Research Centre of Finland have reached the next milestone and installed a 20 qubit superconducting based processor at the Micronova research facility in Espoo, Finland. It joins a 5 qubit machine that was installed at Micronova in November 2021. The 20 qubit processor includes improved manufacturing, integration, signaling, and packaging techniques which the team will leverage for reaching their next milestone, which will be the installation of a 50+ qubit processor by the end of 2024. Beyond that, the Finnish government has allocated a budget of €70 million ($74M USD) for a follow-on program to develop a 300 qubit quantum processor. A press release announcing the installation of this 20 qubit processor has been posted on the VTT website and can be accessed here.

October 7, 2023 – News Brief
Deep Tech Lab – Quantum Established in Denmark as an Accelerator for Quantum Startups
The Deep Tech Lab – Quantum will be operated as part of the Danish BioInnovation Institute (BII) in Copenhagen in cooperation with the Niels Bohr Institute at Copenhagen University, Denmark’s Technical University, Aarhus University, and the Danish National Metrology Institute. Their mission is to leverage Denmark’s world-leading research in quantum physics with BII’s recognized excellence in creating, fostering, and maturing start-up and spin-out companies within the Life Science field. They will support early-stage companies based on quantum and quantum-enabling technologies with programs tailored for this field and with the same goal of ensuring that they too can realize their full commercial potential. Their tailored programs will focus on developing interdisciplinary teams, identifying and developing the most promising business case(s), and determining the most suitable technology development pathways for commercial viability and company growth. Click here for additional information about this new initiative in Denmark.

October 7, 2023 – News Brief
PsiQuantum to Work with the UK’s Hartree Centre to Develop Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computing Applications
We reported last March that PsiQuantum had received  £9 Million in funding from the UK government at what is now the new STFC-PsiQuantum R&D facility for developing advanced cryogenic technology. PsiQuantum has now announced a second activity that will occur at that facility and that is to work with the the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Hartree Centre on a 12-month project to develop Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computing (FTQC) applications in the UK. The 12 month project will including training personnel on FTQC principles, identifying potential applications with high potential impact and value, and developing algorithms for two industrial relevant use cases. Additional information about this project is available in a press release provided by PsiQuantum that is available here.

October 7, 2023 – News Brief
PlanQC and d-fine Wins €1 Million ($1.06M USD) Contract to Improve Climate Models Using Quantum Machine Learning
The contract was awarded by the German Aerospace Center Quantum Computing Initiative (DLR QCI) in association with the DLR Institute for Atmospheric Physics for a project called KLIM-QML that started in December 2022 and will continue through November of 2026. PlanQC and d-fine will work with DLR experts with a goal of improving the predictions about climate trends and more effective adaptation and mitigation strategies against climate change. There will be two parts to the work. The first will be to tune the free parameters in the climate model and the second will involve parameterization of the climate model. PlanQC is a German quantum startup founded in April 2022 that is pursuing quantum processors using neutral atom technology and d-fine is a European technology consulting company providing solutions to problems using sustainable technologies. Additional information about this project is available in a news release posted on the DLR QCI website here as well as additional news releases posted by PlanQC and d-fine here and here.

October 7, 2023
Fujitsu and Riken Launch a 64 Qubit Hybrid Quantum/Classical Computing Platform
In August of 2022, we described the establishment of the RIKEN RQC-FUJITSU Collaboration Center for joint development of quantum computers based upon superconducting technologies. Their eventual goal is to achieve a machine that supports 1,000 qubits. But for now, Fujitsu and Riken have just announced the launch of a 64 qubit hybrid computing stepping zone that combines a 64 qubits superconducting processor with a powerful quantum computing simulator developed by Fujitsu that can perform a classical simulation of up to 40 qubits. The platform can be accessed over the cloud through such serverless computing services like AWS Lambda. The qubit control software for this processor was developed by NTT. Click here for the rest of our article about this new quantum development in Japan.

October 5, 2023
Infleqtion Teams with QinetiQ to Win Award for Q-CALC (Quantum Contextual Artificial Intelligence for Long-range Correlations) Program
As part of the £15 Million awards provided by the UK’s Quantum Catalyst program  funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and Innovate UK (IUK)Infleqtion and QinetiQ with additional partners will be pursuing research that used contextual AI for long range correlations. The involves using recent work in a property called quantum contextuality to draw long range correlations from large sets of data such as multiple frames of images from a security camera, sentiment analysis of a large number of social media posts, or data from multiple sensors. The goal is to find ways that a quantum algorithm can process this type of data when it become too much for a classical algorithm to handle. For additional information award as well as some other awards that Infleqtion has recently received from the UK government, read our full article here.

October 4, 2023 – News Brief
Rigetti Computing Receives a DARPA Grant for Better Quantum Solutions for Solving Combinatorial Optimization Problems
The grant was provided to Rigetti Computing under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Imagining Practical Applications for a Quantum Tomorrow (IMPAQT) program. The project titled “Scheduling Problems with Efficient Encoding of Qubits” (SPEEQ) seeks to develop a novel and qubit efficient encoding of optimization problems related to scheduling problems with the goal of enabling larger problems to be mapped to currently available NISQ-era quantum computers which have a limited number of qubits. These scheduling problems are very common in industry and Rigetti will work to take advantage of its hybrid classical/quantum system architecture to develop an apporach that is more competitive with current pure classically based algorithms. Additional information about this award can be found in a news release on the Rigetti website here.

September 30, 2023
Who’s News: Management Updates at Infleqtion, Quantum Algorithms Institute, Qrypt, and Quantum Computing Inc.
Infleqtion has a new CFO. The Quantum Algorithms Institute has appointed a new CTO, Qrypt has a new member of their Board of Advisors, and Quantum Computing Inc. has appointed a fourth member to their Technical Advisory Board. Click here for our article that provides the details of these appointments.

September 30, 2023 – News Brief
IBM Offering Quantum Credits to Quantum Researchers and Developers Working on Highly Innovative Projects
IBM is updating its access plans for its IBM Quantum systems. First, it will transition its fleet to only those systems that contain more than 100 qubits. This includes users who access via the free Open Plan. These users will be able to obtain 10 minutes of free runtime per month on the IBM Qiskit Runtime. A new offering will be the IBM Quantum Credits. IBM is interested in supporting researchers who are developing applications approaching quantum utility and will provide selected members of the research community with a pre-set amount of access to their more powerful utility-scale systems over the cloud. For those who aren’t using the Open Plan or the Quantum Credits, IBM will be retaining the Pay-As-You-Go plan which provides additional access to IBM’s more advanced systems at a rate of $1.60 per second as well as the Premium Plan intended for enterprises with volume rates negotiated on a contractual basis. For additional information about the new Quantum Credit program, you can visit an IBM blog post announcing it here and you can also submit an application to receive the credits here. For a chart that compares the IBM Open Plan, Pay-As-You-Go plan, and the Premium Plan, you access a chart that shows a comparison of them here.

September 30, 2023
PsiQuantum Partners with SLAC to Utilize their Cryogenic Cooling Capabilities
PsiQuantum will be working with the  the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (formerly known as the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center), operated by Stanford University under the direction of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) leverage the cryogenic cooling capabilities needed to cool the large number of photon detectors need to operate in their system. SLAC has built two large cryoplants for use in cooling their high power free X-ray lasers. PsiQuantum will leverage these capabilities along with SLAC’s staff of 25 cryogenic engineers to obtain within the next year a level of 100 watts of cooling power at a 2° Kelvin temperature. This a 100 times increase over the current capacity in their development lab. Click here for our full article describing this collaboration.

September 30, 2023
Wellcome Leap Announces Selected Participants for Phase 1 of Its $50 Million Quantum for Bio Program
Wellcome Leap is a non-profit organization funded by the Wellcome Trust with a mission to be the “Global ARPA for Health”. They fund bold, unconventional programs that aim to deliver breakthroughs in human health over 5 – 10 years. One of their latest programs is called Quantum for Bio (Q4Bio) which is a challenge program with a goal of identifying, developing, and demonstrating biology and health applications that will benefit from the quantum computers expected to emerge in the next 3-5 years. The program has budgeted $40 million in funding for research that will progress along three phases and another $10 million in prize money for teams that have demonstrated certain technical goals. Click here for our full article and a list of the 12 teams selected for participation in Phase 1.

September 30, 2023
EPB Quantum Network Powered by Qubitekk is Now Open and Software Configurable
A collaboration between EPBQubitekk, and Aliro Quantum has announced that the EPB Quantum Network Powered by Qubitekk is now open for customers and includes a software configuration capability for flexibility. The quantum-as-a-service network currently includes 216 dedicated, managed dark fibers with capacity for 10 quantum interconnected nodes across downtown Chattanooga as shown in the diagram above. It can also utilize a separate 9000-mile fiber optic network located in the Chattanooga metropolitan area for additional scalability. It is currently intended for use by both commercial and non-commercial organizations to test out applications, develop new products, validate equipment performance, and experiment with how one can best utilize quantum networking technology. For the rest of this article, click here.

September 27, 2023 – News Brief
Post Quantum Cryptography Coalition Formed
A new coalition to raise the awareness and drive adoption of post-quantum cryptography has been formed with founding members IBM QuantumMicrosoftMITREPQShieldSandboxAQ, and the University of Waterloo. Their goal is to accelerate the global adoption of PQC in commercial and open-source technologies by providing their expertise, outreach, and education. Key areas they will be focusing on include advancing standards relevant to PQC migration, creating technical materials to support education and workforce development, producing and verifying open-source, production-quality code, implementing side-channel resistant code for industry verticals, and ensuring cryptographic agility. A press release announcing the formation of this group is available here.

September 27, 2023
IonQ Announces Two New Quantum Processors and a $25.5 Million Contract Award from the U.S. Air Force
At the Quantum World Congress today, IonQ announced two new rack mounted quantum processors intended primarily for on-premise installation as part of a continuing expansion of its product line. These include the IonQ Forte Enterprise with an IonQ performance metric of #AQ35 which will ship in 2024 and the IonQ Tempo with an IonQ performance metric of #AQ64 and an expected shipment date of 2025. These processors are designed to fit into existing data center infrastructure and be easy to install and integrate with an organizations classical computing systems. With these systems, IonQ believes that its customers will be able to achieve a quantum advantage over classical approaches for some problems within the next two years. They also announced a contract award from the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) for $25.5 million. Click here for details.

September 27, 2023
SEEQC Integrates NVIDIA’s Grace Hopper CPU/GPU Into Its Control Stack
SEEQC is announcing that it is integrating NVIDIA’s Grace Hopper CPU/GPU into its quantum processor stack. Their approach will provide very tight coupling and low latency between the classical and quantum portions of the system which is very important for such functions including qubit control, mid-circuit measurement, error detection and correction, and hybrid algorithms such as QAOA. Read our full article describing this development here.

September 26, 2023
Partec to Invest €5 Million ($5.29M USD) in a Quantum Computer Production Facility
Partec AG has announced they are establishing a “Partec Quantum Factory” in the greater Munich area that will serve as an integration facility that will assemble and test quantum components from various suppliers, including Quantum Machines, and provide full hybrid classical/quantum systems to their customers. This is an extension of their classical supercomputing business and in both cases, they are hardware agnostic and plan to use whatever vendor’s hardware best fits the clients application. This factory is expected to start operations in the second half of 2024. Click here for our full article about this development.

September 23, 2023 – News Brief
IBM System One Processor Installed in Bromont, Canada for Use by The Platform for Digital and Quantum Innovation of Quebec (PINQ²)
A 127 qubit IBM System One quantum processor has been installed at an IBM facility in Bromont, Quebec, Canada. It will be administered by PINQ² (Platform for Digital and Quantum Innovation of Quebec), a non-profit organization (NPO) founded by the Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Energy of Quebec and the Université de Sherbrooke. The processor is only IBM’s fourth quantum processor to be installed outside of IBM’s facilities in New York state and is the only one located in Canada. The machine will be used for advanced quantum computing research and for quantum workforce training. The machine will support quantum activity in the DistriQ, a quantum innovation zone in Quebec to promote quantum expertise and innovation. A press release from IBM announcing this milestone is available here and additional comments from IBM Canada President Dave McCann have been posted on the IBM Canada website here.

September 23, 2023
Nanofiber Quantum Technologies and ColibriTD Secure Venture Funding
Two new quantum funding deals were just secured, Nanofiber Quantum Technologies Inc. (NanoQT), raised $8.5m and Paris-based ColibriTD closed €1M ($1.6M USD). Venture capital was the source of both deals. Our full article with additional details about these companies and the investments can be viewed here.

September 23, 2023
Atlantic Quantum Receives a $1.25 Million SBIR Grant from the U.S. Air Force
AFWERX is a U.S. Air Force program intended for fostering a culture of innovation with the Air Force. It is designed to provide small amount of funding to small business and startups to help develop innovative technology which can be utilized by the service in the future. AFWERX and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) have awarded Atlantic Quantum with a $1.25 million Direct-to-Phase II contract to develop quantum computing hardware based upon Atlantic Quantum’s fluxonium based superconducting qubit technology. Click here for more.

September 22, 2023
SBQuantum’s Magnetic Sensor Chosen as a Finalist for the Third Phase of the MagQuest Challenge to Create a World Magnetic Model
Magquest is a competition created by the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to find appropriate solutions for creating a World Magnetic Model (WMM) that has been ongoing since the competition was launched in March 2019. SBQuantum has announced that along with its partner Spire Global, it has been chosen as one of three companies invited to participate in the final phases of the challenge. The SBQuantum magnetic sensor is based upon a Nitrogen Vacancy (NV) Diamond technology that provides sensing of both magnitude and direction of the magnetic field along four axes in a very small volume. Their solution includes a machine learning algorithm to compensate for magnetic field interference to provide more accurate and stable readings. Their solution will be coupled with Spire Global’s existing infrastructure for satellites, ground stations, and data processing. Click here for additional information about the purpose of the Magquest competition and its current status.  

September 22, 2023 – News Brief
IQM Signs MoU with Korean Cybersecurity Firm Norma to Collaborate on the Introduction and Expansion of Quantum Computers in South Korea
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 QuEraIonQIBMQuantum MachinesXanadu, and the U.S. government. A press release from IQM announcing the signing of this MoU has been posted on the IQM website here.

September 21, 2023
Wolfram Research’s Mathematica Now Is Supporting QuEra’a Neutral Atom Processor
Wolfram Research is now providing support for QuEra’s quantum computing capabilities directly within the Mathematica environment. Users can create and execute quantum algorithms targeted for QuEra’s analog quantum computing platform and submit them for execution on QuEra’s Aquila quantum processor through Amazon Braket. This capability is targeted for a broad range of Mathematica users including educators, students, researchers, scientists, engineers, data scientists, and financial analysts. Click here for our full article that describes this new collaboration between the two companies.

September 20, 2023
SandboxAQ Partners with FedLearn to Create an Introductory Online Quantum Course for the U.S. Government
FedLearn is a provider of AI-based adaptive online learning to train U.S. government employees on various topics. They have partnered with SandboxAQ to create a self-paced, two-hour online course provides an overview of the key opportunities, challenges and risks in quantum technology research and development. The course is non-technical, but should provide the learners after they finish the course with some sense of the risks and opportunities inherent with the use of quantum technology. The material course was created by the SandboxAQ education team. Additional information can be found in a news release provided by SandboxAQ and FedLearn which is available here.

September 20, 2023
Rigetti Receives Award to Provide Foundry Services to the AFRL
In this most recent announcement, Rigetti has been awarded a five-year Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to continue providing foundry services. AFRL will have Rigetti fabricate such devices as quantum integrated circuits (QuICs), quantum-limited amplifiers, cryogenic microwave components, and 9Q QPUs and AFRL will use for their quantum computing and quantum networking research. Even though the basic terms are “Indefinite” this contract will help formalize the relationship and make it easier for Rigetti to plan. Click here for our full article that provides additional background on this fabrication facility and their activity in providing wafer foundry services.

September 15, 2023
QuEra Computing, the Sejong Special Autonomous City, and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) Agree to Establish a Quantum Industry Ecosystem in Sejong City, South Korea
Boston based neutral atom quantum processor company QuEra will be partnering with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), and Sejong City to build infrastructure and R&D capabilities for the quantum computing industry in Sejong City. The activity will include developing educational programs, cooperating on international academic exchanges, conducting joint efforts to secure government public procurement projects, and raising awareness to the community of quantum technology. Additional information is available in a news release that QuEra has been posted on their website here. Click here for the rest of the article with additional details.

September 14, 2023 – News Briefs
Qblox and ScalinQ Agree to Promote Qblox’ Control Electronics with Scalinq’ Cryogenic Hardware
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 to work together has been posted on the ScalinQ website here.

September 14, 2023
NOVONIX and SandboxAQ to Harness AQ Software for Battery Tech Testing and Processes
A collaboration was just announced by NOVONIX and Alphabet spin-off SandboxAQ leveraging SandboxAQ’s AI-driven chemical simulation software and NOVONIX’s Ultra-High Precision Coulometry (UHPC) technology. The enhanced data and analytics capabilities of the collaboration complements NOVONIX’s UHPC testing equipment, R&D prototyping, and testing services to provide actionable information faster. Accurately predicting cell life using short-term, high-throughput UHPC testing with advanced AI models will accelerate innovation for new battery chemistries. For more about this collaboration, click here.

September 13, 2023
Riverlane Unveils a Decoder Chip for Quantum Error Correction
Riverlane has developed IP that will perform high performance the error decoding function that will be mandatory for implementing fault tolerant computers. They are working on two forms of this IP. The first is code programmed in the Verilog hardware design language that can allow the IP to be implemented in an FPGA. The second form is a dedicated ASIC that can potentially implement this function more efficiently, although not as flexibly as the FPGA. Read our article here that describes their technology, how it can be used, and future plans for implementation.

September 13, 2023
D-Wave Makes Progress in Its Gate Model Quantum Computing Development Program
D-Wave has announced some early results from a test chip it has developed to characterize the fluxonium superconducting qubits it plans on using. D-Wave has taken a different path from some of the other superconducting processor manufacturers including IBM, Google, Rigetti, and others who are using what are called transmon qubits. The fluxonium approach is more recent and it combines features of both flux and charge qubit circuits. Click here for the rest of our article with additional details including some test results about this development.

September 12, 2023 – News Brief
Quantagonia’s HybridSolver is Now Accessible through the Strangeworks Platform
Strangeworks has added another partner to their quantum syndicate of hardware, software, and service providers. This new one is Quantagonia, a German software company that specializes in providing optimization solutions for customers through their HybridSolver. Quantagonia’s software can accept problem formulations in multiple ways including mixed integer programming (MIP), linear programming (LP), and quadratic unconstrained binary optimization problems (QUBO) and compile the problem to run it on many different quantum and quantum-inspired backends including CPUs, GPUs and QPUs. Optimization represents an important class of use cases and Quantagonia’s tools and experience can help a user find the best optimization approach from the many available. For users with a Strangeworks account, they can access Quantagonia’s HybridSolver for free on problems that have up to 50 variables. Running problems larger than that will entail some charges. Strangeworks has issued a press release announcing their new partnership with Quantagonia that is available here.

September 12, 2023 – News Brief
Xanadu and NVIDIA Team to Provide High Performance Simulation of Quantum Circuits
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 qubits. This may not seem a great many but it is important to remember that every time one adds one more qubit to a simulation, the hardware resources needed to perform a classical simulation will double. Both Xanadu and NVIDIA have posted blogs about their work with multi-GPU simulations with Pennylane. The NVIDIA blog can be seen here and the Xanadu blog is available here.

September 12, 2023
Infleqtion Announces Open Beta of Superstaq, a Hardware Agnostic, Optimizing Compiler
Superstaq was originally announced in September 2021, by Super.tech, a quantum software spinout from the University of Chicago that was subsequently acquired by Infleqtion. They have been providing access to the software to a select group of private beta users since then and continuing to develop upgraded versions. Now Infleqtion is making the software generally available to anyone. Click here for more.

September 12, 2023 – News Brief
Swedish Semiconductor Foundry ConScience AB Delivers First Quantum Chips to a U.S. Client
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 quantum processors. Additional information is available in a press release that can be accessed here.

September 10, 2023
Quantum Related U.S.-India Collaboration Announcements at the G20 Summit in India
Several quantum related announcements came out last week at the G20 Summit in New Dehli, India. First, the U.S. and India have agreed to elevate and expand the U.S.-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) originally signed in May 2022. Second, the Chicago Quantum Exchange (CQE) anounced that the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) has joined the CQE as an international partner. And finally, the Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C) announced that India’s S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Kolkata has been accepted as a member. Click here for our article that provides additional information about these announcements.

September 9, 2023
UK’s Quantum Catalyst Fund Announces Awards for Its £15 Million ($18.7M USD) Program to 30 Quantum Research Projects
The UK’s Quantum Catalyst Fund is a Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) competition funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and Innovate UK (IUK). Its aim is to explore the benefit of using quantum technologies in various areas of interest for the UK Government and accelerate the adoption of quantum solutions for the public benefit. They have announced an initial set of phase 1 awardees that will receive up to £120,000 ($150K USD), inclusive of VAT for a three month phase 1 period. After this three month period the UK government will assess the progress of each of these projects and invite some of them to continue and participate phase 2 where they can receive  £1 million and £2.5 million ($1.25 to $3.1M USD), inclusive of VAT for projects that can last up to 15 months. For additional details, read our full article here

September 9, 2023 – News Brief
UK Rejoins Horizon Europe Under a New Deal Enabling Renewed Opportunities for Quantum Research Collaborations
Horizon Europe is a program under the European Union to fund key programs for advanced research and innovation. A key program Horizon Europe funds is the Quantum Flagship which supports many different quantum technology projects. An issue for organizations in the UK was that as a result of Brexit, they haven’t been eligible to apply for grants or bid to take part in projects in Horizon Europe or Quantum Flagship programs for the last few years. However, under a new deal just negotiated between the UK government and the European Union, UK UK researchers will be able to apply for grants and bid to participate in projects under the Horizon Europe programs. Since there is a great deal of quantum research occurring in both the UK and continental Europe, the prospect of organizations in the two regions collaborating on projects will help strengthen the development of the technology in Europe overall. Additional details can be found in a press release issued by the UK’s Prime Minister Office available here.

September 9, 2023 – News Brief
Rice University to Receive $1.2 Million Grant from the DOE to Compare Different Physical Architectures for Quantum Computers
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 award can be seen here.

September 8, 2023 – News Brief
Honeywell to Use Quantinuum’s Quantum Origin for Generating Cryptographic Keys in Smart Meters for Gas, Water and Electric Utilities
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 encryption keys. Honeywell is the first smart meter manufacturer to do so. The move is logical for Honeywell, since Quantinuum was originally formed as a spinoff from the Honeywell Quantum Solutions division which then merged with Cambridge Quantum Computing. and Honeywell still holds a substantial portion of the equity in Quantinuum. Honeywell has issued a press release with additional information that you can find here.

September 8, 2023 – News Brief
Classiq to Open a New Office in Boston
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 7, 2023
Zapata and Andretti: A Marriage Made on the IndyCar Circuit
In another SPAC combination, Zapata AI (formerly known as Zapata Computing) will merge with the special purposed acquisition company (SPAC) Andretti Acquisition Corp. to become a public corporation. The projected terms of the deal will give Zapata a pre-money valuation of about $200 million and provide the new corporation with about $84 million from the SPAC trust fund before redemptions and transaction costs and to have a pro forma equity value of the combined company between $281 million and $365 million, depending on the level of redemptions. After the transaction closes, Zapata’s existing shareholders will roll over their equity and own about 61% of the new company, public shareholders will own about 14.3%, founders shares will represent 17.5%, and bridge investors will own about 7.2%. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024. Click here for the rest of the article that provides more details about Zapata’s strategy and approach.

September 7, 2023
Terra Quantum and HSBC Collaborate to Explore the Application of Hybrid Quantum/Classical Technology for Financial Optimization Applications
Terra Quantum and HSBC will be collaborating to see how Terra Quantum’s TetraOpt hybrid solver could be used to solve Quadratic Unconstrained Integer Optimization (QUIO) problems. One the areas the companies will investigate is collateral optimization. The goal for a bank is to balance risks, liquidity, and profitability of these assets while minimizing the cost and still meeting regulatory requirements. Click here for our full article about this collaboration.

September 7, 2023 – News Brief
Delft Circuits Receives €6.3 Million ($5.35M USD) in Series A Funding
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 GründerfondsQuVest CapitalScholt 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 will use the funds to upgrade the production capacity and expand the team. As the quantum computing manufacturers continue to scale up the size of their systems there will be increased demands for their products. A press release from Delft Circuits announcing the investment is available here.

September 6, 2023
Q-CTRL and Diraq Will Partner on Three Multi-Million Dollar Quantum Projects
These two Australian headquartered companies will be working together on two projects sponsored by the Australian New South Wales (NSW) Office of the Chief Scientist and one from the U.S. Army Research Office. In each case Diraq will develop and provide access to its silicon spin qubit based hardware and Q-CTRL will be providing the quantum infrastructure software solution to maximize the capability of the hardware for the end user. Click here for the rest of our article that provides more details about these grants.

September 6, 2023 – News Brief
Unitary Fund Granted $1.48 Million from the NSF for Their Mitiq Project
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 seen in a blog posting on the Unitary Fund website here and also an award notice posted on the NSF website here.

September 6, 2023
Zurich Instruments Introduces Control Electronics Solution for Multi-Hundred Qubit Systems
Zurich Instruments has introduced a new device called the Quantum System Hub (QHub) designed to help engineers scale up their quantum processors to sizes of as many as 300 superconducting qubits. It provides up to 56 Zsync ports that can connect to and coordinate operations with other Zurich Instrument devices such as their SHFQA (Quantum Analyzer)SHFQC (Qubit Controller)SHFSG (Signal Generator), or HDAWG (Arbitrary Waveform Generator) to synchronize up to 448 microwave channels. A key to this technology is the Star Architecture as shown in the picture above. This ensures that the system can have high synchronization accuracy and low feedback latency. These characteristics are important for implementing things like mid-circuit measurement or error correction algorithms. Click here for the rest of our article about this new product introduction.

September 5, 2023 – News Brief
Orange Quantum Systems Receives a €1.5 Million ($1.6M USD) Seed Investment
Orange Quantum Systems is a startup based in Delft, Netherlands that provides diagnostic tools and quantum chip testing equipment to the quantum R&D market. They have received this funding from the QDNL Participations Fund and Cottonwood Technology Fund. This funding, along with an Accelerator Grant the company received from the European Innovation Council, will allow the company to develop its next generation of quantum chip test equipment. This Automated Test Equipment (ATE) device will enable automation of testing quantum chips and take an activity that may take dedicated quantum engineers several weeks to finish to something that is more automated, more reliable, and much quicker to complete. A blog article from Orange Quantum Systems announcing this seed investment is available here.

September 2, 2023
U.S. Department of Energy Selects Three Projects to Receive a Total of $24 Million in Funding for Quantum Network Research
The funding is being made under a program announcement titled Scientific Enablers of Scalable Quantum Communication that will provide up to a total of $24 million in funding for projects that can last up to three years. The projects selected are all collaborative efforts between a DOE national laboratory and two or three universities. Click here for additional details on the three projects selected.

September 2, 2023 – News Brief
Oxford Quantum Circuits Lets the QAT Out of the Bag
Oxford Quantum Circuits (OQC) has released new open source software calledQuantum Assembly Toolchain (QAT). It is a low-level, python based compiler that supports input in circuits written in both QASMv2.0 and base-profile compliant Quantum Intermediate Representation (QIR). It also supports pulse level control with a OpenPulse interface and has built-in optimizer functionality as well as support for the optimizers functionality in Quantinuum’s TKET. The software can be accessed by users either through OQC’s private Quantum Computing as a Service (QCaaS) or through AWS Braket. One of OQC’s goals with this software is to make it flexible so that users can experiment, adjust and contribute functionality to the software for their own particular needs. OQC has made a blog posting announcing the software which can be seen here. And the software can be accessed on GitHub here.

September 1, 2023
Oxford Ionics Raises an Additional £2 Million ($2.5M USD) from the UK’s National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSSIF)
The NSSIF is a corporate venturing arm for dual-use advanced technologies that is a joint initiative between the UK Government and the British Business Bank. They provide patient capital for companies developing advanced technology. Oxford Ionics is a quantum hardware startup developing an ion trap based quantum processor using a proprietary, patented Electronic Qubit Control (EQC) technique based on microwave signals for controlling the qubits instead of the more common laser based controls. Oxford Ionics had received a £30 Million ($36.6M USD) Series A venture round in January and now has added these additional funds. They will be using the funds to expand their R&D team and to complete the the construction of a 30,000 square foot office and laboratory space. Additional information about this investment is available in a article on the Silicon Canals website here.

September 1, 2023
Who’s News: Management Updates at Infleqtion, Atom Computing, Aliro Quantum, Qrypt, Oxford Ionics, and QuEra Computing
Infleqtion has a new Director of Partnerships and has already recruited an additional advisor. Atom Computing has recruited a Vice President of Public Sector and has also added to its Board of Directors. Aliro Quantum has recruited a new Chief Product Officer. Qrypt has added two individuals to their Board of Advisors. Oxford Ionics has appointed a non-executive director. And QuEra Computing has added a President. Click here for the details on these management additions within the quantum industry.

August 31, 2023 – News Brief
QuEra Partners with QAI Ventures to Provide Access to QC Access to Startups in QAI’s Quantum Accelerator Program
QAI Ventures has started a quantum accelerator program that is part of Switzerland’s QuantumBasel quantum hub. The program started this July with an initial cohort consisting of AnaqorKipu QuantumMiraexMoonlight AI and qdc. As part of the program, the cohort members will be given access to various quantum processor platforms to conduct experiments and develop their technology. QuEra will be one of the hardware partners that will support this effort. They will provide premium access to their Aquila 256 qubit analog quantum processor along with the companion Blocade software as well as custom training and consulting services from QuEra’s scientists. For QuEra, this will allow them to expand their marketing efforts in Europe with the potential to obtain increased revenues from this region. For more information about this partnership between these two organizations, you can access a press release from QuEra and QAI Ventures with additional information.

August 30, 2023 – News Brief
IQM Introduces 5 Qubit IQM Spark Processor for Universities and Research Labs
For universities and research labs that want to have their own on-premise quantum computer for training and experimentation, IQM has just introduced a five qubit, IQM Spark superconducting quantum processor. Having a machine on-site allow an organization to have full control of the activity on the machine to perform research experiments and provide students with hands-on experience with an actual quantum computer. IQM supplements the learning experience with their IQM Academy, a free online training course to teach the foundations of quantum technology. The company indicates pricing for the machine is under 1 million Euros that would make it affordable for some organizations. They have already installed 5-qubit quantum computers to some universities and research institutions, including the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre in Germany. The estimated lead-time to receive an IQM Spark is about five months after contract. Additional information about the IQM Spark can be seen in a press announcement located here and a product page on the IQM website which is available here.

August 29, 2023
Quantum Machines Introduces the OPX1000 Quantum Controller for Large Scale Quantum Computing
Quantum Machines has introduced a large quantum control unit called the OPX1000 for providing the electronic signals which control qubit operations in a quantum processor. This unit is a big brother to its previous flagship product the OPX+. A single OPX1000 unit can fit into a 3U rack panel space and can provide 64 outputs with 16 inputs. In addition, a user can stack many of these units together to create a solution that is able to provide hundreds of outputs and inputs for large scale systems that may have hundreds of qubits. Click here for our article with additional information about this new product introduction.

August 25, 2023 – News Brief
UCLA Wins $1 Million Award from the NSF for Quantum Sensors Research
The award was given as part of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Quantum Sensing Challenges for Transformational Advances in Quantum Systems (QuSec-TAQS) program which has budgeted $25 million to make 10-12 awards for projects that will last up to four years. The UCLA research team will be studying quantum sensors to measure and understand atmospheric and aerosol chemistries with contribute to poor air quality and climate change. The goal of the program will be to demonstrate that the improved sensitivity of a sensor based upon quantum technology will be able to detect minute quantities of substances such as ammonia, nitrogen oxides and organic hydroperoxides which cannot be sensed using classical sensors. A press release posted on the UCLA website announcing the award can be found here.

August 25, 2023 – News Brief
MathWorks Introduces a MATLAB Support Package for Quantum Computing

MATLAB is a very popular program language for use in numeric computing and has millions of users with backgrounds in engineering, science, and economics to perform data analysis, develop algorithms, and create models. They have now introduced a support package for quantum computing that can be integrated with MATLAB that allows a user to build gate-based quantum circuits, simulate the circuits, connect to quantum hardware, and analyze and plot results. The package currently provides support for connecting with Amazon Braket and IBM Qiskit. Additional details about the support package are available on the MathWorks website here, as well as instructions on how to use it with IBM Qiskit here and another set of instructions for Amazon Braket here.

August 25, 2023 – News Brief
QuEra Processor Availability Increased on Amazon Braket by Fourfold
QuEra first made its Aquila quantum processor available on Amazon Braket last November. This processor is a little unique because it is the first neutral atom based Aquila processor accessible through a major cloud provider. It has up to 256 qubits and operates in an analog mode that uses a technology QuEra calls “Field-programmable qubit arrays (FPQA)” that allow a user to place the qubits in near-arbitrary configurations. Although QuEra is also planning on supporting a more traditional gate-based approach, they believe this analog mode may allow end users to achieve quantum advantage with their application in an earlier timeframe than the gate-based approach. The latest development is that QuEra has now increased the availability of their machine on Amazon Braket from the original 10 hours to 48 hours per week. This is a possible sign of increased customer demand to use their processor as well as a lower requirement internally at QuEra to need time with the machine for maintenance, calibration, and experimentation. A news release from QuEra announcing this increase in availability on Amazon Braket can be accessed here.

August 24, 2023
Amazon Braket Speeds Up Hybrid Applications with Rigetti Processors by Supporting Parametric Compilation
Amazon Web Services has just announced that it is now supporting a Parametric Compilation feature for customers who are accessing Rigetti processors through Amazon Braket. This is a feature useful for variational hybrid classical/quantum algorithms that allows a circuit to be compiled once, have the result saved in a cache, and then run multiple variations of the circuit on the quantum processor without requiring any additional compilations by just having the runtime system feed a new parameter for each execution. As a result, they are reporting a 10X performance improvement for certain hybrid classical/quantum processing jobs that use this feature with the Rigetti machines. Click here for more information about how this feature works.

August 24, 2023
NIST Releases Draft Standards for the First Three PQC Algorithms
NIST has released draft standard documents for three out of the four PQC algorithms selected last year and the documents have entered into a three month public comment period as the next step on the way to formal approval. Read our full article here.

August 22, 2023
D-Wave Enhances Performance of Its Constrained Quadratic Model (CQM) Hybrid Solver
One of the technologies that D-Wave provides to its customers that should get more attention is three portfolio of three different hybrid solvers that will take a user specification of a problem as input and translate it into a program that can run on their quantum annealer. Currently, the company has three different solvers available including the BQM (Binary Quadratic Models), DQM (Discrete Quadratic Models), and CQM (Constrained Quantum Models). D-Wave is continuing to improve the functionality of these solvers and has just announced another improvement in the CQM solver that demonstrates continuing improvements ovr the BQM and DQM solver by providing the best answer in 80% of the 2045 problems tested. Click here for our full article.

August 19, 2023 – News Brief
The U.S. NSF is Providing $38 Million in New Grants for 22 Quantum Research Projects
As part of the the U.S. National Quantum Initiative Act originally passed in 2018, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has established a Expanding Capacity in Quantum Information Science and Engineering (ExpandQISE) program to help build capacity and broaden participation in quantum research and education. Twenty-two grants have been announced selected from submissions to a solicitation posted earlier this year. The grants are divided into two separate categories. Seventeen institutions received Track 1 grants which provides an amount up to $800 thousand for a project that can last three years. Another five institutions received Track 2 grants which provides an amount of $5 million for a project that can last five years. The projects will work in a number of different quantum related areas including physics, computer sciences, materials research, engineering, chemistry, education, and workforce development. The grants were all made to academic institutions with about half of the awards made to historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions, and institutions from EPSCoR (Estab­lished Program to Stim­u­late Com­pet­i­tive Research) jurisdictions. An announcement providing a listing of the awards has been posted on the NSF website here.

August 18, 2023
Quantum Computing Inc. Releases Second Quarter Financial Report
Quantum Computing Inc. (QCI) announced that its second quarter 2023 revenue was $112 thousand compared to $121 thousand in the first quarter of 2023 and $65 thousand in the second quarter of 2022. Operating expenses were $3.8 million compared to $7.9 million in Q1 and $4.8 million a year ago. The company indicated that the decrease in operating expenses was largely due to a decrease in other SG&A costs driven by QPhoton merger-related expenditures for legal expenses and intangible asset adjustments. Net loss was $4.6 million versus $8.5 million in Q1 2023 and $5.1 million a year ago in Q2 2022. The company ended the quarter with about $7.2 million in Cash and Cash Equivalents an increase of over $1.8 million from the amount held on December 31, 2022. This was due to a $14.7 million infusion of capital from the company’s At-The-Market (ATM) facility it has in place with Ascendiant Capital Markets, LLC. Click here for more.

August 18, 2023 – News Brief
IonQ Partners with BearingPoint to Help Penetrate the European Market
One trend we are seeing in a number of places is quantum computing companies partnering with consultants or other organizations that have deep experience servicing clients using classical computing technology. This allows the quantum companies with an extended sales channel for customers they previously had no relationship with and also provides the consultants with some new technology to include in their portfolio of solutions. The latest example is IonQ, a leading provider of ion trap based quantum processors working with BearingPoint to provide professional services and access to IonQ systems to their clients in Europe. Until recently, IonQ had little presence in Europe, although that will be changing a little due to their recent agreement with Quantum Basel to set up a quantum data center in Switzerland. BearingPoint operates in 24 countries and works with over 1000 clients worldwide. The two companies will be working together to help accelerate the spread of quantum knowledge and encourage exploration of quantum use cases to European clients. A press release provided by IonQ announcing their agreement with BearingPoint can be accessed on the IonQ web site here.

August 17, 2023
SandboxAQ Establishes an Academic Advisory Board to Guide Their Efforts to Expand the Quantum Workforce.
SandboxAQ is a company that was originally formed as a group within Alphabet (Google’s parent company) and was spun off in March 2022 to pursue software applications that utilize Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Quantum Technology. The company has a strong belief that the current level of people being trained in these fields is nowhere near what will be required over the next few years. So the company is determined to do something about that. Click here for our article that describes a few of the many efforts the company is undertaking to help increase the number of trained workers that will be needed to take full advantage of the benefits available with AI and quantum technologies.

August 17, 2023 – News Brief
Phasecraft Receives £13 Million ($16.5M USD) in Series A Funding
This Series A funding for Phasecraft was led by Playground Global with additional participation from AlbionVC, and existing investors existing investors Episode1, Parkwalk Advisors, LCIF, and the UCL Technology Fund. The UK based quantum software company specializes in developing efficient algorithms for materials discovery. The company was established in 2018 and has published 17 technical papers. Their software can provide a 1,000,000 times improvement for modelling materials over the best previous quantum algorithm. They partner with quantum hardware providers including Google, IBM, and Rigetti as well as end users like specialty materials developer Johnson Matthey and solar cell developer Oxford PV. The company will be using these new funds to continue building their technical staff. Their goal is to provide customers with a means to achieve an early commercial quantum advantage benefit by utilizing Phasecraft’s more efficient algorithms. This new funding brings their total of venture investment to £17.25 million ($22M USD). In addition, they also received grants from Innovate UK and the European Research Council for another £3.75 million ($4.7M USD). A press release with additional details on this new funding round has been posted on the Phasecraft web site and can be accessed here.

August 16, 2023
Zapata AI Collaborates with IonQ to Research Quantum Based Generative AI
Zapata AI (formerly Zapata Computing) has announced they will be working with quantum processor provider IonQ to research how quantum processors can be used in generative AI applications. Zapata possesses significant software technology and expertise in quantum so they will be combining this with their more recent experience in generative AI to research possible applications. Zapata also has experience working previously with IonQ on several quantum projects, Click here for our full article that provides more background details about this effort.

August 15, 2023
PQC Coming Soon to a Browser Near You

Google has announced that the next release of their Chrome internet browser, version 116, will include support for Kyber-768, one of the Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC) algorithms selected by NIST. During the initial negotiation process when a connection is first established, the TLS (Transport Layer Security) function in the browser will check to see if Kyber-768 is supported by the computer on the other end. If it is supported, the browser will use a hybrid key encapsulation mechanism that includes both Kyber-768 and X25519, an elliptic curve algorithm, in a hybrid algorithm called X25519Kyber768. Click here for more.

August 11, 2023
Rigetti Computing Announces Its Q2 Financial Results and First External QPU Sale
Rigetti Computing achieved a Q2 revenue of $3.3 million, an increase of over 50% versus the $2.2 million in Q1 2023 and $2.1 million in Q2 of 2022. Operation expenses were $19.0 million versus $23.7 million in the previous quarter and $27.0 million in Q2 of 2022. Net loss for the quarter was $16.9 million compared to $22.0 million in Q1 and $12.2 million in Q2 of 2022. The $12.2 million loss a year ago included a $6.5 million non-cash credit for a change in fair value of earn-out liabilities. The company also indicated that have created a 9 qubit device using the new Ankaa architecture and have sold this 9 qubit QPU to a national lab. Click here for full our full article covering the company’s Q2 earnings report and technical progress.

August 11, 2023
IonQ Announces Its Q2 Financial Results
IonQ continues to show growth in the latest quarter with revenue of $5.5 million in the second quarter of 2023 compared to $4.3 million in the first quarter and $2.6 million in the second quarter of 2022. This was significantly better than their expected outlook of $4.1 to $4.5 million they had announced in May. However, operating expenses also increased at $38.6 million versus $32.3 million in Q1 and $21.5 million in Q2 of 2022. Adjusted EBITDA loss for the quarter was $19.4 million versus $15.9 million last quarter and $11.6 million in the year ago quarter. The company ended the quarter with $375 million in cash, cash equivalents, and short term investments. For additional information about their Q2 financial report, click here for our full article.

August 11, 2023 – News Brief
Kipu Quantum Signs Research Agreement with University of Santiago de Chile
Kipu Quantum and the University of Santiago de Chile will work together to research digital, analog, and digital-analog quantum computing solutions for quantum processors using superconducting, trapped ions, and neutral atom modalities. Kipu Quantum focuses on developing application and hardware-specific quantum algorithms which they believe can provide industrial usefulness much earlier than other more general approaches which may be more flexible, but require more powerful hardware to provide useful results. Earlier this year Kipu Quantum signed other research agreements with QuEraPasqal, and the University of Valencia. A news release announcing the agreement between Kipu Quantum and the University of Santiago de Chile has been posted on LinkedIn here.

August 10, 2023
D-Wave Announces Its Second Quarter Financial Results
D-Wave reported its second quarter revenue at $1.7 million, an increase of $124 thousand from the previous quarter and $336 thousand from Q2 of 2022. Bookings were $2.5 million compared to $2.9 million in the previous quarter and $1.0 million in Q2 of 2022. Operating expenses were $21.6 million, compared to $25.1 million in Q1 2023 and $13.1 million in Q2 2022. And a Net Loss of $25.9 million versus $24.6 million in the previous quarter and $13.3 million in the year ago quarter. Click here for the rest of our article covering D-Waves Q2 financial report.

August 10, 2023
QuantrolOx and Qblox Partner to Provide an Integrated Control Stack Solution for Superconducting Processors
One very important step in running a quantum processor is to calibrate, tune, and optimize the electrical control pulses that control the qubits. Initially, this optimization was performed manually by one of the PhD quantum engineers and can get quite tedious. But more and more smart software is coming to market that can do this automatically making it much quicker and also freeing up the quantum engineer to work on higher level activities. QuantrolOx has just introduced its first product, called Quantum Edge, that will do this and they have announced a new partnership with Qblox to integrate Quantum Edge with the Qblox’ Cluster hardware. Click here for more details about this new hardware/software control stack partnership.

August 9, 2023
President Biden Signs Executive Order Proposing Limitations on Quantum Technology Investments in China by U.S. Persons
The Executive Order directs the Department of Treasury to establish and implement a program to regulate U.S. investment in quantum computing, artificial intelligence related to military uses, and advanced semiconductors. These technologies are deemed critical for use in military, intelligence, surveillance, and cyber-enabled capabilities and could form a risk to U.S. national security.  The Executive Order would prohibit prohibit U.S. persons from engaging in certain transactions and require that U.S. venture capitalists and other investors notify Treasury of prospective investments in companies located in China, Hong Kong, or Macau working in these fields. Click here for more about this Executive Order.

August 8, 2023
Q-CTRL Achieves ISO 27001 Certification for Information Security
In the classical world, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) had established a standard, called ISO 27001, for “establishing, implementing, maintaining and continually improving an information security management system within the context of the organization.” As we all know, information security has become a big concern over the years and the document can define best practices that organizations should use in order to keep their information as secure as possible. So now, Q-CTRL has achieved certification of the most recent version of this standard called ISO 27001:2022 and is the first independent quantum software vendor to do so. Click here to read more about this standard and why it could give Q-CTRL an advantage when competing for new contracts from security aware enterprises in the future.

August 8, 2023
SandboxAQ Introduces Sandwich, an Open Source Framework and Meta-library of Cryptographic Algorithms
As we have mentioned many times previously, the IT community will need to make some major changes over the next few years to the cryptography protocols used in today’s computer communications networks in order to ensure they are still secure and quantum resistant to future quantum computers. A key feature that the industry is emphasizing in this process is called Crypto-Agility. By providing cryptographic frameworks that are more modular, it will make it less complex for IT departments to perform the upgrades, increase security, reduce errors, and make it more flexible for future changes. To facilitate this, SandboxAQ is introducing its Sandwich framework and meta-library to help accomplish these goals. Click here for more.

August 8, 2023
Multiverse Partners with Tech Mahindra as Part of a Go-to-Market Strategy
Multiverse Computing has announced they are partnership with Tech Mahindra’s Makers Lab group to develop quantum and quantum-inspired solutions for Tech Mahindra’s worldwide clients. A key focus of the Multiverse/Tech Mahindra partnership will be around Multiverse’s Singularity product which allows a user to specify a problem in an Excel spreadsheet without any knowledge of quantum and then have the software automatically translate this into something that can be run on a quantum processor. Tech Mahindra’s group that focuses on quantum technology is based in Ipswich, UK. Although both this group and Multiverse are based in Europe, Tech Mahindra indicates they are intending to leverage this partnership to work with their clients globally. Click here for the rest of our article about this partnership.

August 5, 2023
Who’s News: Management Updates at Alice & Bob, QuSecure, Quix, and BTQ
Alice & Bob has appointed a new Executive Chairman, QuSecure has added a new member to its Board of Directors, Quix has recruited a CFO, and BTQ has appointed a new member to its Board of Advisors. Click here to read our full article about these management updates.

August 4, 2023 – News Brief
Qubrid Joins NVIDIA’s Inception Program for Startups
To encourage new startups to develop products and technology that take full advantage of NVIDIA’s offerings, NVIDIA has created a free Inception Program designed to help startups by providing technical tools, opportunities to connect with investors, and other resources. Qubrid, subsidiary of Dihuni which provides a  flexible platform for Quantum and Machine Learning/AI developers, has joined this program to receive these member benefits and also integrate its hybrid quantum-classical cloud computing platform with NVIDIA’s cuQuantum SDK, optimized libraries and tools for accelerating quantum computing workflows, and CUDA Quantum, an open-source programming model. This will make it easier for end users to focus on developing their applications rather and let Qubrid take care of providing the infrastructure for running the programs. A press release from Qubrid announcing their joining the NVIDIA program has been posted on their website here.

August 3, 2023 – News Brief
Quantinuum Partners with BMW and Airbus to Model Hydrogen Fuel Cell Membranes
As aircraft and auto companies research new technologies for creating low carbon emitting vehicles, an electric engine powered by a hydrogen fuel cell is considered a promising candidate. A leading approach uses an Oxidation Reduction Reaction (ORR) that passes hydrogen through a proton-exchange fuel cell (PEMFC) membrane that is coated with platinum or some other material as a catalyst. An important design choice to optimize the efficiency of the PEMFC is to choose the best material for use as the catalyst. This is where a quantum computer’s chemical modelling capabilities can be used. In this research the team modelled the oxidation reduction reactions for membranes that used both platinum and platinum-capped cobalt surfaces using Quantinuum’s InQuanto computational chemistry software and then ran the simulations on Quantinuum’s H1-1 quantum processor. The companies will be continuing their collaborations to find additional uses of quantum computing for relevant industry challenges. A press release provided by Quantinuum announcing this collaborative research can be accessed on their website here and a technical paper describing the research in more detail is available as a pre-print posted on arXiv here.

August 2, 2023
QuEra Announces On-Premise and Premium Access Models for Its Quantum Computers
QuEra had made its 256 qubit analog mode quantum processor called Aquila available through Amazon Braket last November. For many users that access method will be sufficient for the research and test cases they are looking to perform. However, for more demanding users, some customers may require a direct connection to the machine and premium support while others may want to have a machine installed on their premises for security or other reasons. To service these customers, QuEra has introduce both a Premium Access model as well as an On-Premise access model. Click here for more details about these two new access models for QuEra’s processors.

August 1, 2023 – News Brief
Q.ANT Joins the PlanQK Consortium as an Associate Partner
PlanQK is a consortium supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate that was created to develop a platform and an ecosystem for quantum applications. It consists of 19 partners and 84 associate partners from industry and the research communities. It consists of a serverless quantum platform, a quantum knowledge platform, a quantum marketplace, and an expert community. Q.ANT is a quantum hardware startup based in Stuttgart, Germany formed in 2018 as part of the TRUMPF group. Q.ANT has joined PlanQK to contribute their knowledge of photonic based quantum hardware and to provide manufacture capabilities for quantum chips to the PlanQK ecosystem. A press release with additional information that announces Q.ANT has joined the PlanQK consortium can be accessed here.

July 29, 2023 – News Brief
D-Wave Announces Two New Research Collaborations with the University of Waterloo Funded by NSERC
These two multi-year projects will be performed by D-Wave Quantum Inc. and the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) at the University of Waterloo. The projects were funded by the Canadian Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Quantum Alliance program and will research ways to improve both device design and materials quantum for improving coherence in superconducting qubits. By taking steps to improve coherence times, it will provide for more accurate quantum calculations with fewer errors for algorithms running on a quantum processor. A press release announcing these new collaborations has been posted on the D-Wave website and can be accessed here.

July 28, 2023 – News Brief
Oxford Quantum Circuits Added to Cogniframe’s FirstQ Quantum Application Store
Oxford Quantum Circuits (OQC) and Cogniframe have announced that OQC quantum processor is being added to the FirstQ plug-and-play application store. The OQC processor will be joining Toshiba’s Simulated Bifurcation Machine (SBM) and Cogniframe’s own gate level simulator as execution backends for problems submitted to FirstQ. The FirstQ software provides support for end users to submit problems either as a gate level circuit or as an Ising model or as a pre-curated hybrid and quantum-only use case via the desktop app. The problem will be compiled and optimized to run on the OQC hardware and then executed on the machine. Because of its support for predefined use cases, FirstQ makes it easier for quantum novices to get started with quantum computing because they can submit a problem at a high level using and see the results of running it on a quantum processor without having to bother with low level coding. Initial tests by OQC and Cogniframe have been performed on problems related to the healthcare sectors with additional testing and for other areas planned for the future. A news release provided by the companies announcing their partnership is available here. Users wishing to test out the OQC machine on the FirstQ platform can register here.

July 28, 2023
The EPB Quantum Network Now Accepting Applications to Connect
Last December we reported on a new quantum network that was being set up in the Chattanooga, Tennessee area by EPB, the local electric power and telecommunications company, and using equipment supplied by quantum networking supplier Qubitekk. They have now announced they are accepting applications for customers to connect to the network and start testing their quantum networking applications. Click here for the rest of the article about this new quantum network.

July 28, 2023
Quantum-South Demonstrates Air Cargo Optimization with Amerijet International
Optimizing the loading and air cargo is a very complex task because it need to take into account a large number of constraints such as package size, weight, center-of-gravity, priorities, etc. while simultaneously optimizing other factors such as revenue per flight, service levels, payloads, efficiencies and other things. In the POC, Quantum-South took data from 451 Amerijet flights and used its recently updated advanced Air Cargo Optimization solution to show how their software could increase payload by up to 30% and volume by up to 76% over the load planning tools the company was previously using. Click here for the rest of our article that cover this project.

July 28, 2023
U.S. Department of Energy Awards $11.7 Million to Six Collaborative Quantum Research Projects
A total of 12 organizations will be receiving funding from these awards including the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, The Mitre Corporation, and ten universities. Several of these organizations are teaming together to work on a specific project, so there will be a total of six projects. These projects will generally have a four year duration and will look into such topics as the assessment of quantum utility, NISQ computer limits, qubit connectivity, approaches to quantum benchmarking and others. Click here for our article that provides additional details about these awards.

July 28, 2023 – News Brief
Rigetti and ADIA Lab Collaborate to Research Quantum Applications for Probability Distribution Classification for Financial Applications
One of the most promising areas for the usage of quantum computers is for various financial problems. One advantage for financial applications is that a successful algorithm could be deployed in production very rapidly. Other types of applications, such as drug or materials discovery, may take much longer to be put into production either due to requirements for additional testing, field trials, or integration with an existing IT infrastructure and training requirements within an enterprise. For this project, Rigetti Computing will be working with ADIA Lab, an independent Abu Dhabi-based laboratory dedicated to basic and applied research in data and computational sciences, to find an optimal quantum approach for classifying probability distributions. ADIA Lab will provide Rigetti with classical datasets and Rigetti will use its Quantum Cloud Services (QCS™) platform to build and test a quantum solution for the problem. The team will then compare the quantum results against classical results to determine how well the quantum model performed. Additional information about this project is available in a news release posted on the Rigetti website here.

July 27, 2023 – News Brief
Quantum Brilliance and Q-CTRL Win Awards of $2.34 Million and $1.44 Million AUD ($1.6M USD and $1.0M USD) from the NSW Quantum Computing Commercialisation Fund (QCCF)
We reported last week that the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) had established a Quantum Computing Commercialisation Fund (QCCF) with a budget of $7 million AUS to encourage quantum research and development, as well as jobs, within Australia. We also indicated that Diraq had received a $3 million grant from that fund to continue its research on silicon spin based qubits. Now two additional grants have been made public from this fund. The first additional grant is to Quantum Brilliance which will receive $1.44 million AUD for development and commercialization of its room temperature NV Diamond based quantum accelerators. The second additional grant is to Q-CTRL for continued development and commercialization of its quantum control and quantum sensing technologies. More information about these awards is available on the Australian website startupdaily and can be seen here.

July 26, 2023 – News Brief
PASQAL to Sponsor a Hackathon with €50,000 ($55K USD) in Prizes
The hackathon being organized by the PASQAL company and an advisory firm called Blaise Pasqal Advisors is called the The Blaise Pascal [re]Generative Quantum Challenge. It will run in multiple phases from October 5, 2023 to November 10, 2023 and will conclude with a virtual demo day scheduled for November 15, 2023 and an awards ceremony on November 28, 2023. The object will be for each team to pick a a use case related to environmental, social, human, or economic issues and show how quantum computing can provide a solution for it. The total prize fund will be €50,000 split into awards of €15,000 for the first place, €10,000 for second place, €5,000 for third place, and twenty awards of €1,000 each for the finalists and shortlisted projects from Phase 1 and Phase 2. The registration for entering will open on August 16, 2023, but pre-registration is available now at this webpage. Additional information about this hackathon can be found in a news release here and also a web page for the hackathon which can be accessed here.

July 26, 2023
NIST Receives 40 New Candidates for Additional PQC Digital Signatures
Last September we reported that NIST was seeking additional proposals for quantum resistant digital signatures for its Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC) program.  Although NIST selected three Lattice-Based algorithms for digital signatures as part of their Round 3 selection, NIST wanted to standardize a diversity of approaches in case some common weakness was found with the Lattice-Based algorithms. There were several non Lattice-Based algorithms NIST was evaluating during Rounds 1, 2, and 3 of the original PQC selection program, but all of them were dropped due to weaknesses subsequently found that would have jeopardized the security. Click here for more.

July 26, 2023
Duality Accelerator Announces the Companies Selected for Cohort 3
The Duality accelerator at the University of Chicago has selected its third set of companies to participate in the 12 month program. The program will provide these companies with new quantum startup companies with mentorship, facilities, and $50,000 in cash to help them get started and succeed in their efforts. Click here for our article with additional description of the program and a description which companies were selected for this third cohort.

July 26, 2023 – News Brief
SemiQon and Qblox Receive a €2.5 Million ($2.77M USD) Grant to Develop a Spin Qubit Based Quantum Processor
The funds are being provided by the European Innovation Council through their Transition funding program to SemiQon and Qblox for a 30 month duration program called SCALLOP to integrate Qblox’ control electronics hardware with SemiQon’s quantum dot based qubit technology. The team’s goals in this project include improving qubit quality and reducing the need for cooling by implementing low-charge-noise quantum dots and monolithically integrating a cryo-CMOS multiplexer. The work on this progeram will be carried out at SemiQon’s headquarters in Espoo, Finland as well as Qblox’ headquarters in Delft, Netherlands. Additional details about this program can be found in a news release posted on the SemiQon website here.

July 26, 2023 – News Brief
Zapata Computing Receives $4.8 Million in Non-Equity Financing
In a Form D filing earlier this month with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Zapata Computing it has received to date $4,857,000 million in either a loan or option or warrant financing. This is different from their previous fund raises with venture capital companies that received equity in the company in exchange for their funds. Overall, the company is seeking to raise up to $20 million with this financing instrument. Additional details of this latest transaction have not yet been made public. The company has most recently been emphasizing its work in Generative AI and is no longer solely focusing on software solutions for quantum computers. The Form D filing can be found on the SEC website here.

July 25, 2023 – News Brief
Silicon Quantum Computing Raises A$50.4 Million ($34.1M USD) in a Series A Round
The investors in this Series A raise for Silicon Quantum Computing (SQC) include the Australian Government, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), Telstra and the University of New South Wales (UNSW). Interestingly enough, there were no new investors in this round because these same organizations invested in SQC’s seed round in 2017. The company did indicate that the overall company valuation for this round increased to A$195.3 million ($132.3M USD) from the previous valuation of A$82.8 million ($56.1M USD). The company had indicated in a press release in June 2022 that it was ultimately hoping to raise A$130 million ($88M USD), but hasn’t yet met that level. The company will need to raise more in the future, but might be able to obtain even more favorable terms if their valuation continues to increase as they make technical progress. A near term goal for the use of this funding will be to create the industries first logical qubit using a spin qubit technology. SQC has posted a press release on their website announcing this fund raise which can be viewed here.

July 25, 2023 – News Brief
Q-CTRL Adds Morpheus Ventures as a New Investor
In January, we had reported that Q-CTRL had raised $27.4 million in a Series B-1 venture funding bringing the total amount they had raised to $52 million. And today they have announced the additional of Morpheus Ventures as an additional investor in their Series B bringing the total amount raised to $54 million. Morpheus invests in early stage companies and is based in Los Angeles. Previously, Morepheus had invested in Rigetti Computing in the quantum space. Included in the announcement of this new investor, Q-CTRL mentioned that they achieved a cash-flow positive financial results for the first half of 2023. This is an impressive milestone that very few of the quantum startups have achieved, particularly one with over 100 employees located in Sydney, Los Angeles, Berlin, and London. A press release from Q-CTRL announcing that Morpheus Ventures is a new investor has been posted on the Q-CTRL website here.

July 25, 2023 – News Brief
IQM to Partner with Deutsche Telekom T-Systems Subsidiary to Offer Quantum Cloud Access
IQM has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with T-Systems to provide T-Systems customers with access to IQM computers over the cloud. As part of this project, T-Systems plans on offering customers a variety of services to help train the customers and develop use cases. This services can last anywhere from one day for initial training to multiple months for helping a customer develop use cases. T-Systems is a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom and is one of Europe’s largest IT services companies. They have over 28,000 employees and had revenue of €4.2 billion ($4.6B USD) in 2020. The arrangement is similar to one that T-Systems announced in March where they indicated they will provide their customers with cloud access to IBM’s 127 qubit Eagle processor. This new announcement follows several other announcements for IQM of customer installations including Finland’s first commercial 54-qubit quantum computer with VTT, an IQM-led consortium’s (Q-Exa) HPC quantum accelerator in Germany, and a quantum accelerator in Spain. Additional information about this agreement between these two companies is available in a press release located on the Deutsche Telekom website here.

July 22, 2023
Australia’s Diraq Wins Two Different Grants for $3 Million AUS ($2M USD) Each to Further Develop Its Technology
Diraq has won two different grants that will be used to further develop its technology. The first grant is one from the Australian federal government that the company will be sharing with the University of New South Wales in Sydney and commercial IC design company Perceptia Devices. The grant will fund a four year long program to develop a Quantum Control Unit (QCU) chip which can be directly integrated with Diraq’s Quantum Logic Unit (QLU). The second grant is from the Australian state of New South Wales that will help fund Diraq’s continued development of its semiconductor based spin qubit quantum processor technology which includes its first product, a 10-qubit silicon quantum processor. Click here for our full article that provides more details about these grants.

July 22, 2023
D-Wave Provides an Update to Its Guidance for Fiscal Q2 and Full Year Financial Results
Although D-Wave isn’t scheduled to provide their official Q2 financial results until August 10, 2023, they did provide some preliminary numbers this week to give investors an early sense of what these results will be. Click here for our summary what they reported.

July 22, 2023
D-Wave, Vinci Energies, and QuantumBasel Partner to Study How to Optimize the Design of HVAC Systems
When a new building is being designed, one of the important elements is properly design the Heating, Ventilation, and Cooling (HVAC) systems to maximize user comfort, minimize environmental burden and reduce the cost of materials under the constraints of adhering to required safety and sustainability requirements. These types of optimization problem can get very complex and can become difficult to solve effectively with classical computing technology. The D-Wave quantum annealer is well suited to solving these types of optimization problems so the company is working with Vinci Energies and QuantumBasel to study how D-Wave’s technology can solve this type of problem. Click here for additional details in our article about how these organizations will be working together to research how quantum can help find good solutions to the HVAC design problem.

July 22, 2023 – News Brief
Infleqtion and QinetiQ Win Award from Innovate UK for Quantum Based Combinatorial Optimization
Infleqtion, a quantum startup that provides both quantum and hardware solutions, has teamed up with UK Defense firm QinetiQ to win an award from Innovate UK for a project titled Quantum End-to-end Compilation for Combinatorial Optimisation (QECCO). The three year program will work on developing quantum software tools that will compile end-user applications directly to quantum hardware making it easier for end users to create applications that leverage quantum technology. The QECCO team will be focusing on the logistics and transport areas to solve such problems as job-shop scheduling, packing, routing, and satisfiability problems. For this project, Infleqtion will be utilizing the expertise of its Chicago-based Super.tech software team which it acquired in May 2022. A press release with additional information about this award has been provided by Infleqtion and is available here.

July 21, 2023
SEEQC System Red Runs HQS Quantum Simulations Algorithm
SEEQC and HQS Quantum Simulations announced a successful run of an HQS algorithm on the SEEQC System Red system. According to SEEQC, theirs is the first full-stack quantum computer to run HQS’s Quantum Simulation algorithm, testing for the first time its quantum simulation approach on noisy quantum computers on real hardware. HQS developed a unique way to simulate spin systems on noisy quantum computers and solving inherent spin problems is a valuable step towards serious quantum algorithm design. For more about this collaboration, click here.

July 21, 2023
Eeroq Unveils Details of Its “Wonder Lake” Electron on Helium Quantum Processor Technology
Eeroq, a Chicago based quantum hardware startup has been operating largely in stealth mode up until now, but it has now just taped-out its “Wonder Lake” processor chip for fabrication at an American semiconductor founder and is providing additional details about the chip and its architecture. Eeroq is using a unique electron on liquid helium architecture. Although a few academic groups are researching this technology, Eeroq is the only commercial company that we know of that is working with this modality. Click here for additional details about Eeroq’s technology and their Wonder Lake chip.

July 20, 2023
Atom Computing and the U.S. NREL Partner to Add Quantum Optimization to Electric Grid Operations
A collaboration agreement using quantum computing to better optimize electric grid operations was recently penned between Atom Computing and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). At a recent IEEE Power and Energy Society general meeting, NREL researchers demonstrated how Atom’s atomic array quantum computing technologies were incorporated into the lab’s Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) research platform and hardware-in-the-loop testing. The combination created a first-of-a-kind “quantum-in-the-loop” capability. Click here for our full article that provides additional information about this collaboration.

July 20, 2023
Q-CTRL and Oxford Quantum Circuits Partner and Quickly Show Performance Gains with Complex Algorithms
Q-CTRL and Oxford Quantum Circuits (OQC) have announced a partnership to utilize Q-CTRL’s error suppression software with the OQC’s Lucy processor and have demonstrated impressive results for improved accuracy in early tests. Click here for our full article that provides more details about this collaboration.

July 15, 2023
MUFG Bank Acquires 18% of Groovenauts in Japan
MUFG Bank has acquired approximately 18% of Groovenauts shares and the two companies will be working together to apply Groovenauts’ quantum technology to the financial sector in several different areas as shown below. As part of these efforts Groovenauts will be leveraging its MAGELLAN BLOCKS SaaS software which incorporates cutting-edge technologies and advanced mathematical models, including world-leading use of quantum annealing. Click here for our full article about this investment and the future collaborations between these companies.

July 15, 2023 – News Brief
Quantum-South Introduces an Advanced Version of Its Air Cargo Optimization Solution
Last year, we reported on a quantum solution provided by Quantum-South, a software company based in Montevideo, Uruguay, that utilizes the power of quantum computing to handle multiple variable optimization problems for loading cargo into airplanes. These considerations must take into account load shape, weight, and center of gravity as well as important plane and flight characteristics such as shear and fuselage shape. The company has now introduced a more advanced version of this software that provides Unit Load Device and Pallet Load Optimization, Aircraft Load Optimization, and Fuel Optimization. These are all important considerations because they maximize efficiency, minimize cost, and provide environmental benefits by reducing fuel consumption. The company has been working on this application for several years since its participation in the Airbus Quantum Computing Challenge in 2019. The company indicates that this solution may also be applicable in other industrial areas including maritime cargo operations. A press release about this new release has been posted on the Quantum-South website here.

July 15, 2023
Quantum Xchange Announces CipherInsights Product for Monitoring of Flaws in Network Encryption Traffic
Quantum Xchange has introduced for general availability a new product called CipherInsights™ that will passively monitor network traffic to alert an IT manager for communications traffic which is not quantum safe, or uses outdated cryptographic protocols, or has bad certificates, or is sending messages in clear text that should be encrypted.  Click here for more.

July 13, 2023
HSBC–First Bank to Join the UK’s Commercial Quantum Secure Metro Network
HSBC will connect two UK sites using Quantum Key Distribution (QKD). The sites include the company’s global HQ in Canary Wharf and a datacenter in Berkshire, 62km apart. Trials will involve financial transactions, secure video communications and one-time-pad encryption scenarios for the secure transmission of test data using fiber-optic cables. AWS edge computing capabilities using an AWS Snowball Edge device in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) is an important part of the efforts. Click here for our full article.

July 13, 2023 – News Brief
Quobly (formerly Siquance) Lands €19 Million ($21.2M USD) in Seed Financing
Quobly (formerly named Siquance) is a spin-off from CEA and CNRS found in 2022 and located in Grenoble, France. They are developing a quantum processor based upon spin qubit technology that will leverage the French and EU semiconductor fabrication capabilities at CEA and CNRS. The have received a €19 million funding round led by Quantonation, Bpifrance, Supernova Invest, and Innovacom. In addition, Crédit Agricole Alpes Development, CEA Investment, Caisse d’Epargne Rhone Alpes, and BNP Paribas also participated in the round. This amount is the largest “seed” funding round ever for a European quantum company. The company will use the funds to add additional technical talent to their team with a goal of reaching 50 employees by the end of 2024. Additional details are available in a news release (in French) provided by the company here and also a blog posting (in English) on the Quantonation website here.

July 11, 2023
Q-CTRL Partners with the Australian Department of Defence to Develop Quantum Sensors for Enhanced Positioning and Navigation
Q-CTRL has entered into a contract to develop such a sensor with the Australian Department of Defence. Q-CTRL, which created a Quantum Sensor division in 2022, has develop software defined quantum sensor technology that can sense minute changes in gravitational field and also acceleration. Since the earth’s gravitational field is not uniform, a magnetic sensor can help determine the location by comparing the current measured gravitational field with one that had been previously measured and recorded on a map. A key technology that Q-CTRL will be using is their advanced quantum control software which can remove noise from the signal and provide ruggedness so the accuracy won’t be affected when the device installed on moving platforms. Software control also provides flexibility so that the sensor can be changed quickly to measure different things with just a software change. Click here for more information about this program and Q-CTRL’s sensor activity.

July 10, 2023 – News Brief
Alice & Bob Partners with Atos Subsidiary Eviden
French quantum hardware startup Alice & Bob has announced it is partnering with Atos subsidiary Eviden to provide emulation capabilities of the Alice & Bob hardware on Eviden’s Qaptiva platform. This will allow end users to start gaining experience with Alice & Bob’s architecture that utilizes what are known as “cat” qubits. This architecture greatly reduces the presence of bit-flip errors so that users only need to be concerned about phase-flip errors. This would significantly reduce the complexity of error correction codes needed and could reduce the number of physical qubits needed to create a logical error corrected qubits by an estimated factor of 60. Although the access is only provided for emulating an Alice & Bob computer currently, access to a real Alice & Bob quantum processor is planned for the future. Alice & Bob announced a €27 Million ($29.7M USD) Series A funding round a few months ago and has hired over 70 employees. A press release announcing this partnership between the two companies can be found here.

July 7, 2023
Terra Quantum Partnering with Cirdan Capital on Efficient Algorithms to Price Exotic Financial Options
Pricing a financial option for an asset is a complicated job especially when it is an “exotic” option that contains multiple assets and is auto callable. The current method most financial companies are doing this is with compute intensive Monte Carlo simulationsTerra Quantum has been working with Cirdan Capital to come up with an improved options pricing algorithm that is based upon tensor networks. The nice thing about tensor network algorithms is that they can initially be implemented on classical computing hardware including GPU’s, what some people call a quantum-inspired approach. Terra Quantum is indicating that their experience in this project already shows a 75% speedup versus the more traditional methods while still using the same classical computing hardware. Click here for more.

July 7, 2023 – News Brief
Quantum Delta NL Receives €60 Million ($65M USD) To Participate in a Trilateral Quantum Program with France and Germany
In December of last year, France, German, and the Netherlands announced an agreement to support a program to join forces and develop European leadership in the field of quantum technology. Now, the Dutch government’s National Growth Fund has allocated €60.2 million to support Quantum Delta NL’s participation in the program. The program is intended to strengthen the R&D cooperation between the different countries and accelerate the development of the European quantum technologies industry. The funds will be used to create shared centers of excellence where researchers from different organizations and countries can work together on joint projects. A second use will be to fund a small number of strategic, international based quantum projects for quantum tech R&D. Additional details about this funding and this program are available in a news release posted on the Quantum Delta NL website here.

July 7, 2023 – News Brief
Delta g Ltd Receives £1,500,000 ($1.9M USD) in Pre-Seed Funding
Delta g is a UK based company that has recently spun out of the UK Quantum Technology Hub Sensors and Timing at the University of Birmingham. It is a company focused on developing a precision cold atom gravity gradiometer for scanning beneath the earth’s surface for utility mapping, smart cities, smart mining, and building information modelling. The have received a funding round led by Science Creates Ventures, with additional investments from Quantum Exponential, Newable Ventures, Bristol Private Equity Club and angel investors. In addition, they have received a £500,000 ($641K USD) Innovate UK project grant via the ISCF Commercialising Quantum Technologies program. The funds will be used to create a commercial demonstrator of their technology, perform trials with end users, and developing plans for manufacturing and commercialization. Additional information is available in an announcement located on the Quantum Exponential website here.

July 6, 2023 – News Brief
Quantagonia Increases Its Seed Funding to €4.3 Million ($4.67M USD)
Quantagonia is a quantum software company headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, Germany that offers a hybrid quantum platform, that provides solutions for compute intensive industrial applications in the areas of AI/ML, simulation and optimization. They have announced that they have added Tensor Ventures as one of their investors which has increased their total seed funding to €4.3 million. The company will be using the funds to continue with the development of their software and to expand their sales efforts. A press release (in German) from Quantagonia announcing the additional funding can be accessed here.

July 6, 2023 – News Brief
Quside Extends Its Series A Round with Additional Investors
We reported in January that Quside had received a Series A round in the single-digit millions in a round led by Trumpf Ventures. They have now announced they have received additional funds in this round including the Catalan Institute of Finance (ICF) and several business angels. This bumps up the total funding to exceed €10 million ($10.8M USD). Quside is a spin-off of the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO) of Barcelona and develops Quantum Random Number Generators (QRNG). The company will be using the funds to add additional members to its team, accelerate its sales and marketing efforts, and enhance the scalability of its technology. Additional details are available in a blog entry on its website here.

July 5, 2023
PASQAL, POSCO Holdings and Qunova Computing to Develop Quantum Tech for Traditional Steelmaking and Material Development

POSCO Holdings steel company, PASQAL and Qunova Computing announced they will collaborate to develop quantum-computing technologies for traditional steelmaking. POSCO Holdings’ New Experience of Technology Hub plans to conduct research and development of quantum AI algorithms jointly with PASQAL. The efforts will focus on optimizing the hydrogen reduction steelmaking process (HyREX) and developing secondary battery materials using POSCO Group’s AI technology and PASQAL’s quantum computer technology. Click here for more.

July 1, 2023
Who’s News: Management Updates at Quantonation, Quantum Computing Inc., HQS Quantum Simulations, and Infleqtion
Quantonation has added a new partner. Quantum Computing Inc. has appointed a new CFO. HQS has a new Chair of Its Advisory Board. And Infleqtion has added a new Executive Advisor. Click here for the details on these management changes.