All articles tagged with #quantum computing
Quantinuum, the Honeywell-backed quantum computing company, is pursuing a US initial public offering expected to raise about $1.05 billion to fund its growth and research & development efforts.
IBM and Multiverse Computing demonstrated a quantum-classical hybrid approach that inserts Cayley-parameterized unitary adapters into a frozen Llama 3.1 8B model and runs the training-then-inference cycle on an IBM 156-qubit Quantum System Two. The result is a 1.4% reduction in perplexity with only about 6,000 extra parameters (a tiny, 0.000075% increase), enabling the hybrid model to answer certain questions correctly that the base model got wrong. The work shows a path toward quantum-enhanced AI on real hardware, but faces challenges from quantum noise and the need for future work to encode the entire quantum circuit to push perplexity further with even smaller classical needs.
The US unveiled $2 billion in quantum-computing investments tied to the CHIPS Act, prompting lawmakers who say the spending isn’t aligned with the Act’s purpose; IBM-backed Anderon will be created as a quantum foundry with $1 billion from IBM and $1 billion from the government, transferring IP and staff to fabricate quantum chips. While the move could accelerate progress by giving startups better access to high-quality fabrication, it also raises questions about legality, government priorities, and the long-term market for such specialized hardware.
Quantum stocks jumped after the U.S. government moved to award $2 billion in CHIPS Act funds to nine quantum companies, with IBM slated to receive the largest share and to co-fund a new quantum foundry called Anderon. The funds spurred rallies across peers such as QBTS (D-Wave), RGTI (Rigetti), INFQ (Infleqtion) and others, illustrating renewed investor enthusiasm amid government backing, even as the sector remains volatile and long-term profitability remains uncertain.
Scientists unveiled the first working quantum battery: a laser-charged prototype that stores energy via quantum effects and remains charged far longer than its charging time, though the device is currently tiny and discharges in nanoseconds. The team envisions scaling up so a minute of charging could yield years of power, potentially enabling contactless drone charging and applications in quantum computing, but consumer‑grade batteries are still years away.
D-Wave’s stock rally spurred by $2B CHIPS Act incentives highlights a strategic pivot from hardware to software: three revenue streams — Leap cloud subscriptions, algorithm licensing/services, and hardware sales — could collectively hit about $3.9B in run rate over a decade, with cloud subscriptions and licensing driving high-margin growth and a path to a multi‑billion software business; the market’s optimism hinges on enterprise traction and execution amid hardware-cycle risks.
Stocks edged higher as quantum-computing names led gains after the Commerce Department announced $2 billion in incentives under the CHIPS and Science Act. The Dow rose 364 points (0.7%), while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq gained about 0.6%. Notable moves included Merck’s China study-positive drug data, BJ’s Wholesale Club beating earnings, IMAX exploring a potential sale, and Lenovo rallying on strong AI-driven revenue. Premarket movers featured Booz Allen Hamilton and Generac higher, with Futu dropping on a China crackdown. Global markets were broadly higher, Asia in particular, as investors weighed inflation trends and Fed policy expectations, with Nordea signaling a likely rate hold for now.
Walmart’s warning on gas prices is expected to influence consumer spending and the retail outlook, while Honeywell pursues quantum initiatives that could affect future tech-driven efficiency and growth.
The United States is committing about $2 billion to back quantum‑computing firms, signaling a push to accelerate quantum development and post‑quantum cryptography as debates over Bitcoin security intensify.
Quantum computing stocks jumped in premarket trading after a Wall Street Journal report that the Trump administration is awarding about $2 billion in grants to nine quantum firms in deals that include government equity stakes, lifting names such as Rigetti (RGTI), IonQ (IONQ), and D-Wave (QBTS) as the Commerce Department and related agencies weigh state involvement.
Experts warn that practical quantum computers could crack widely used encryption by around 2029, shrinking the window to secure data and forcing governments and companies to accelerate the adoption of post-quantum cryptography and related defenses. The risk includes harvest-now, decrypt-later attacks, potential threats to financial systems and health devices, and the reality that cryptographic migrations can take 10–20 years even with existing standards (NIST post-quantum algorithms) and urgency from guidance aiming for 2035. While some safeguards exist, broad, timely migration remains uncertain, underscoring the need for proactive upgrades to preserve data security in the quantum era.
Nature Reviews Physics features Katia Moskvitch describing how she started a quantum-computing podcast with her child to make quantum ideas approachable for a young audience, using storytelling and simple explanations to boost science engagement and demonstrate the value of parent–scientist collaboration in education.
ETH Zurich researchers have demonstrated a geometry-based swap gate for neutral-atom qubits in an optical lattice, yielding far greater resilience to laser noise and timing fluctuations. The gate achieved over 99.9% fidelity in under a millisecond across 17,000 qubit pairs and enables half-swap gates, marking a significant step toward scalable, fault-tolerant quantum computers, though practical machines still face scale and fidelity challenges ahead.
China unveils Hanyuan-2, a 200-qubit dual-core quantum computer built on neutral-atom technology that uses under 7 kW and can operate in conventional environments, with its two cores sharing workloads and aiding error correction for real-world industrial use, developed by CAS Cold Atom Technology in Wuhan for commercialization.
Origin Quantum unveiled its fourth-generation superconducting quantum computer, the Origin Wukong-180, now online globally. The system features a single-core 180-qubit chip with about 100-qubit-level power on a single chip and is built with four independently developed subsystems, signaling a move from usable to practical quantum computing integrated with AI. The prior Wukong (72-qubit) has seen extensive use since 2024, handling around 900,000 tasks across 160+ countries, with 2025 marking China’s first overseas export of quantum power. The company also rolled out quantum AI tools like Origin Brain and QPanda3 Runtime MCP.