DARPA selects industry partners for second phase of QBI
An IBM quantum computing mixing chamber in the company's Thomas J Watson Research Center. (IBM)
Programme officials with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) have selected 11 US and international companies to participate in the agency's premiere quantum computing initiative.
The hand-picked companies will participate in the second stage of DARPA's Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI), âwhich aims to rigorously verify and validate whether any quantum computing approach can achieve utility-scale operation ... by the year 2033â, according to an agency statement issued in November.
Overall, the QBI programme is specifically designed âto significantly increase engagement with and funding for quantum computing hardware companiesâ to uncover innovative technologies within quantum computing, according to a June 2024 DARPA statement.
This work, agency officials said, will help DARPA and the Pentagon âpredict if quantum computing will grow from a primarily scientific endeavour to a critical industrial toolâ that can be used by or against the US armed forces.
The companies selected by the agency for QBI include IBM, Colorado-based Atom Computing and Quantinuum, along with QuEra Computing in Massachusetts and IonQ, a Maryland-based information technology and computing company, according to the November DARPA statement.
Joining the US-based companies picked for QBI are Australian companies Diraq and Silicon Quantum Computing; Canadian companies Nord Quantique, Photonic Inc, and Xanadu; with UK-based Quantum Motion rounding out the group of 11, the statement said.
All 11 selected companies who participated in the initial stage of QBI development, dubbed Stage A, âcharacterised their unique concepts for creating a useful, fault-tolerant quantum computerâ, agency officials said in the statement.
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