Inside Quantum Technology

Niche Entities (Silicon Quantum) and Major Multinationals (IBM & Toshiba) Make Waves in Quantum Technologies Sector

(DailyHodl) Niche entities within the quantum ecosystem are starting to gain notoriety as big-name scientists join smaller firms with big ideas. At the same time, big brands not typically associated with quantum computing are beginning to make waves as the upside of quantum grows massive.
Five recent announcements in the quantum technology domain and the significance of each as detailed by analyst Stephanie Long are summarized below.
1) Silicon Quantum Computing (SQC) gains new talent with John Martinis leaving Google as its top quantum scientist and joining the Australia-based startup.
2) Cambridge Quantum Computing (CQC) unveiled the latest updates to its quantum software development kit named t|ket>. The recent updates increase the number of supported quantum devices and improve circuit optimization and noise mitigation. CQC’s t|ket> is supported on Amazon Bracket and IonQ systems.
3) Toshiba unveiled plans to develop commercial-grade quantum key distribution (QKD). The vendor has a deal inked with the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) in Japan to install its QKD at multiple points on NICT’s network. The system is expected to be rolled out in 4Q20 and deployed in 2Q21.
4) IBM, in partnership with The Coding School, has committed to providing free quantum education to 5,000 students globally. This investment is aimed specifically at high school students with the goal of increasing overall accessibility and diversity among those studying quantum computing.
5) D-Wave made headlines this month for an undesirable reason as its valuation was slashed nearly in half. This development came following a refinancing effort on the part of the annealing quantum company. Specifically, D-Wave’s initial $450 million valuation was cut to about $170 million during a restructuring that raised $40 million in funds, of which NEC Corp. contributed $10 million.

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