Quantum News Briefs: April 18, 2024: News from Quantropi and Reticulate Micro • SemiQon and Cisco • QuEra • PhotonVentures fund • Zapata AI • QuSecure • Imperial College London • MIT and MORE!
Quantum News Briefs, April 18, 2024:
Reticulate Micro and Quantropi Announce Exclusive Partnership
Reticulate Micro, Inc., a firm specializing in resilient communications for both commercial and defense sectors, and Quantropi, a Canadian cybersecurity company, have announced an exclusive partnership to market their advanced video encoding and quantum security technologies. This collaboration aims to address emerging threats highlighted by the U.S. National Security Agency, which has warned that quantum technology advancements could soon compromise encryption systems protecting sensitive information across various sectors. Under this partnership, Quantropi’s QiSpace™ platform will enhance Reticulate’s VAST™ video compression and VisionOS™ development platform with post-quantum cryptographic capabilities, offering integrated solutions to both defense and commercial clients. This strategic move seeks to preemptively counteract the vulnerabilities posed by quantum and AI technologies to current encryption models.
SemiQon’s quantum processor testing and measurement facilities at the VTT MIKES premises up and running
SemiQon, a deep-tech company, has successfully completed and launched its measurement and testing facilities within the premises of the National Metrology Institute VTT MIKES, enabling access to one of the world’s premier metrological research infrastructures for low-noise, high-precision measurement. This development is pivotal for advancing quantum metrology, a field critical for the accurate measurement essential in quantum information processing. SemiQon’s new facilities, equipped with state-of-the-art cryogenic setups and full-scale wafer probing capabilities, will bolster its endeavors in developing scalable quantum processing units while maintaining low qubit error rates. The facility not only strengthens the region’s position in quantum technology, as demonstrated by Otaniemi, Finland being nominated for a NATO DIANA test center, but also signifies a deepening collaboration with partners like Bluefors, enhancing the metrological and commercial landscape.
Local Qubit Control Brings New Capabilities to QuEra’s Quantum Computer
QuEra Computing, a leader in neutral-atom quantum computers, announced enhancements to its 256-qubit Aquila quantum computer, introducing local qubit control or “local detuning,” which allows for independent programming of qubits. This update significantly advances QuEra’s journey towards developing large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers. The new feature, available on Amazon Braket, enhances Aquila’s user flexibility in qubit programming and expands its problem-solving capabilities, particularly in fields like machine learning and optimization. This comes alongside other improvements such as more flexible qubit position programmability and larger system sizes, underpinning QuEra’s dual strategy of scaling and increasing control in its quantum computing offerings. These developments promise broader application possibilities across various industries, including pharmaceuticals, where it could revolutionize approaches to drug discovery and development.
Dutch deep tech fund PhotonVentures, focusing on photonics startups reaches €75M after second close
PhotonVentures, a Dutch venture capital firm dedicated to advancing Europe’s photonics industry, has successfully completed its second fundraising round, raising over €15 million and increasing its total capital to €75 million. This deep tech fund focuses on supporting startups and scaleups that develop photonic chip solutions for a diverse array of applications, including data transmission, health diagnostics, smart sensors, and augmented and virtual reality. PhotonVentures plans to invest in 20 early-stage companies that show promise for international growth, with funding amounts ranging from €1 million to €2.5 million during Seed to Series A funding rounds. As a spinoff and strategic partner of PhotonDelta, a leading manufacturer in the photonic microchips sector, PhotonVentures leverages a robust network and industry expertise to nurture the growth of the photonics field across the Netherlands and Europe.
Zapata AI Announces Significant Commercial Expansion with Andretti Global
Zapata AI (Nasdaq: ZPTA), an Industrial Generative AI company, announced a significant expansion of its partnership with Andretti Global, marked by a $1,000,000 commercial expansion under their existing agreement. Officially becoming Andretti’s AI Partner, this development is set to drive quarter-over-quarter bookings growth for Zapata AI. The partnership expansion enhances Zapata AI’s engagement with Andretti’s engineering and operations teams, focusing on delivering operational efficiencies and innovations across Andretti’s global racing endeavors in various series. This collaboration not only bolsters the companies’ co-branding and marketing efforts but also involves the creation of an AI-ready database to optimize race strategies and setups, further integrating Zapata AI’s advanced generative AI and machine learning technologies into Andretti’s racing strategy to enhance performance and decision-making processes in real-time racing scenarios.
QuSecure Launches QuProtect Core
QuSecure has unveiled a groundbreaking product, QuProtect Core, in collaboration with Cisco, designed to enhance router-to-router communications with orchestrated post-quantum cryptography fortification. This innovative solution can be seamlessly integrated as an overlay with existing Cisco routers, providing enterprises with a straightforward approach to implement quantum-resilient cryptography across web, network, and router layers. QuProtect Core is unique in its capability to consolidate control of these security layers through a single QuSecure orchestration interface, making advanced cryptographic protection accessible for companies looking to safeguard their communications against emerging quantum threats. Read the whitepaper here.
Imperial College London Researchers Head Up Team, for the first time, created a crucial connection for ‘quantum internet’
Researchers from Imperial College London, the University of Southampton, and the Universities of Stuttgart and Wurzburg have made significant progress in quantum networking by creating a system that interfaces quantum memory devices with quantum information generators, using standard optical fibers for data transmission. Published in Science Advances, this breakthrough addresses a major challenge in quantum communication—loss of quantum information over long distances—by successfully interfacing these crucial technologies. The system, which utilizes a quantum dot to generate photons and a rubidium atom cloud for storage, operates at telecommunications wavelengths, allowing integration with existing fiber-optic networks. This advancement is a pivotal step towards practical quantum networks, offering a scalable method for secure communication and distributed quantum computing, which are crucial for applications such as financial risk analysis, data encryption, and material sciences.
In Other News: MIT News article: “A blueprint for making quantum computers easier to program”
According to a recent MIT News article, researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have made significant strides in quantum computing by developing a new conceptual model, the “quantum control machine,” aimed at simplifying the programming of quantum computers to be as intuitive as classical ones. This model addresses a fundamental issue in quantum computing—the lack of a straightforward control flow similar to what exists in classical computing, which uses a program counter and conditional jumps to navigate through instructions. The team’s approach, which features reversible instructions compatible with quantum mechanics, could potentially allow for the implementation of quantum algorithms for complex tasks like number factoring and chemical simulations more effectively. The research, which will be presented at the ACM Conference on Object-oriented Programming, Systems, Languages, and Applications, seeks to bridge the gap between quantum and classical computing by making quantum programming more accessible and functional within the limitations of current technology.
In Other News: Research and Markets Report: Global Quantum Technology Industry Research 2024: Market will Reach $61.3 Billion by 2029 – Developments in the Areas of Hybrid Quantum Applications, Quantum Machine Learning, and Much More
The “Quantum Technology Market by Computing, Communications, Imaging, Security, Sensing, Modeling and Simulation 2024 – 2029” report from ResearchAndMarkets.com offers an extensive analysis of the quantum technology sector, projecting significant growth with a market value of $61.3 billion by 2029. This comprehensive study evaluates the impact of quantum technologies on various fields such as edge computing, blockchain, IoT, and big data analytics, with insights into investments, R&D, and prototyping activities globally. The report emphasizes the integration of quantum technologies in different industries, forecasting enhanced capabilities in communications encryption, sensing, imaging, and simulation applications. Notably, the analysis predicts that quantum computing will dominate the market growth, particularly in North America and Asia Pacific, led by China, with substantial advancements also expected in the European market, particularly Germany. Additionally, the study highlights the potential for quantum technology to revolutionize areas like healthcare, transportation, and public safety through improved sensing and imaging techniques.
