John Prisco, Security CEO & founder of Safe Quantum Inc., working with data-driven companies to develop and deploy quantum-safe technologies
Amid the ongoing funding news for bright, young quantum startups (see Classiq, SilQ Connect), recent news from the U.S. Congress and established technology companies is raising the stakes for quantum viability and the need to keep Chinese quantum development within reach.
Word on the street is that Nvidia plans to invest in PsiQuantum, the chipmaker’s first direct tie to quantum hardware. The move is especially interesting considering the position of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who said earlier this year that a viable quantum computer is still decades away.
This move would extend Nvidia’s ongoing interest in quantum, which includes quantum software development, a hybrid system framework and a new quantum research lab in Boston that will be devoted to leveraging AI-powered supercomputers alongside advanced quantum hardware.
The Nvidia news comes on the heels of other big-name investments in quantum this year.
Amazon joined the quantum party, nudging some of its chief cloud rivals like Google and Microsoft in the race for potential payoff when quantum goes commercial. Amazon touted its Ocelot quantum chip (announced a week after Microsoft’s own) as a high-efficiency approach to quantum and extending the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud-computing platform.
Microsoft doesn’t plan to allow access to its chip through the Azure public cloud infrastructure, however, focusing instead on building the capacity of its chip to add qubits—quantum bits of data.
The flurry of activity isn’t a moment too soon if you look at China’s movements in quantum. The Chinese announced in April a successful test of perfectly encrypted data communications over 750 miles, an extraordinary distance.
It’s yet another example of China’s emerging dominance in quantum development, a potential threat so serious that Microsoft President Brad Smith warned it puts the United States in jeopardy of falling irrevocably behind.
Smith has exhorted the current administration to prioritize quantum research, renewing programs such as the National Quantum Initiative Act and focusing on developing an educational pipeline initiative to cultivate quantum talent.
Already this year, a bipartisan group of U.S. representatives banded together to introduce a sandbox program to complement the National Quantum Initiative. The Quantum Sandbox for Near-Term Applications Act aims to provide a cloud-based workspace for government and commercial researchers to experiment with quantum applications for defense, healthcare, energy and manufacturing.
There are other bright spots.
Cisco, at the heart of the existing internet infrastructure, announced a new quantum lab and the development of a quantum chip prototype designed to enable quantum networks to scale.
IBM has partnered with Tata Consultancy Services to launch the largest quantum research and development center in India, alongside an IBM Quantum Systems Two installation with a 156-qubit Heron quantum processor.
The Indian investment is on top of IBM’s strategy to invest $150 billion (that’s BILLION) in the United States over the next five years to expand U.S.-based manufacturing of quantum computers and mainframe systems.
With the volume of investment in small and large technology companies, it’s clear that quantum’s future is calling. No doubt the next few years will also herald a time of mergers and acquisitions, as newer technologies come to market.
Smart investors would do well to especially consider companies with a focus on early-stage quantum solutions, such as quantum key distribution (QKD), with proven use cases that deploy quantum today over existing fiber optic networks.
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