PsiQuantum, the US startup backed by Blackbird, and the Queensland and federal governments, is already running several months behind schedule on plans to build its Brisbane facility and deliver the world’s first quantum computer. Founded in Palo Alto in 2016 by four expat Australian professors, PsiQuantum was backed by $940 million in joint funding from… Read more »
Government investments worth more than $31 million in Canberra quantum computing startup Quantum Brilliance have led to the world’s first commercial quantum diamond foundry opening in Melbourne today to produce computer circuits using lab-grown gems. Quantum Brilliance, founded in 2019, using research undertaken at ANU, is the world’s leading developer of miniaturised quantum computing products,… Read more »
The federal department tasked with evaluating American firm PsiQuantum’s unsolicited proposal to build a quantum computer in Australia carried out an “appropriate” process despite minor issues with record keeping and planning for market testing, an internal audit has found. PsiQuantum proposed the build in November 2022, and its ultimately successful Brisbane plan — backed by… Read more »
PsiQuantum, the US startup with Australian cofounders, has raised a gobsmacking US$1 billion (A$1.5bn) in a round that’s more than doubled its valuation in four years to US$7bn (A$10.5bn). The California startup, founded in Palo Alto in 2015 by expat Australian professors Jeremy O’Brien, Terry Rudolph, Mark Thompson and Dr Pete Shadbolt, hopes to build… Read more »
Two Sydney quantum startups have combined forces to developed technology that effectively reduces the size of the circuits required to run a silicon-based quantum computer. Diraq and Emergence Quantum published details in Nature today. Quantum bits (or ‘qubits’) must be held at cryogenic temperatures, near absolute zero (–273.15 °C), to preserve their information. But they… Read more »
When a molecule absorbs light, it undergoes a whirlwind of quantum-mechanical transformations. Electrons jump between energy levels, atoms vibrate, and chemical bonds shift — all within millionths of a billionth of a second. These processes underpin everything from photosynthesis in plants and DNA damage from sunlight, to the operation of solar cells and light-powered cancer… Read more »
Australian quantum computing startup Diraq is heading to Chicago, having signed an agreement to set up in the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP) where it will join the likes of PsiQuantum and other deep tech firms. Diraq was spun out of the University of New South Wales by CEO and founder Professor Andrew Dzurak.… Read more »
A quantum startup cofounded by three former PhD students just nine months ago has raised $2 million in a pre-Seed round to develop faster and cheaper fault-tolerant architectures for quantum computing. The raise for Iceberg Quantum was led by Blackbird, supported by UK-based LocalGlobe. CEO Dr Felix Thomsen cofounded the Sydney startup with Larry Cohen,… Read more »
A quantum computing innovation developed by researchers at the University of Sydney is being used in Google’s latest quantum chip, called Willow. The processor, which was unveiled by the tech giant in December, utilises a breakthrough in error correction which can improve the performance of quantum devices. The technology was formally detailed in 2021 when… Read more »
Quantum computing has reached another milestone with a breakthrough hybrid computing workflow developed by Quantum Brilliance and Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre. The system integrates quantum processing with traditional high-performance computing (HPC), providing researchers and enterprises with a flexible and scalable way to explore real-world quantum applications. The milestone, led by Dr Pascal Elahi and Pawsey’s… Read more »
Australian quantum software startup Q-CTRL is ramping up its US presence, hanging up a shingle in San Francisco. The move comes as the city reciprocates the love with the local Chamber of Commerce naming the Sydney software business its 2025 Australian Company of the Year in the Bay area. Q-CTRL plays a key role in… Read more »
The federal government’s $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund has made its second investment, taking a $13 million equity stake in Canberra startup Quantum Brilliance. It follows $40 million for a mining tech manufacturer announced last month. The National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC) funding is for QB to build Australia’s first quantum diamond foundry for its… Read more »
Sydney quantum computing software startup Q-CTRL has been awarded $2.75 million contract by the federal government as part of a plan to deliver the defence sector additional capabilities in quantum and counter disinformation technologies. The Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator’s (ASCA) Emerging and Disruptive Technologies (EDT) program has signed 21 contracts as part of an investment… Read more »
The German government has faith in Australia’s quantum sector to build the world’s first mobile mobile quantum computer, with the nation’s cybersecurity agency, Cyberagentur, awarding a record $58 million (€35 million) contract to Canberra startup Quantum Brilliance and two others. Quantum Brilliance (QB), founded in 2019, is the world’s leading developer of room-temperature miniaturised quantum… Read more »
Last week, quantum computers were added to Australia’s Defence and Strategic Goods List of controlled items facing export restrictions. That’s because quantum technologies – which may soon provide huge advances in computing, communication and sensing – are rapidly growing in strategic importance. The AUKUS partnership between Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom includes… Read more »
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