Today’s Brief Commentary:
The above image is an example of a “hockey stick graph.” Progress is going well and consistently; then, BANG, some metric shoots up exponentially. There can be valid reasons for this: a social media post goes viral, a doll becomes the most-wanted holiday gift, a new manufacturing process or capacity increase allows more sales, or a breakthrough allows a technology to scale rapidly, for example.
In my opinion, most people don’t believe such curves when they see them unless they are showing historical data. While the provider might hope for a “wow, that’s amazing!” response, what they often get, usually silently and politely, is a “Yeah, right, prove it” reaction.
These graphs are not new and are starting to become well-used by quantum computing companies to indicate how their systems will scale.
How do you overcome the skepticism you introduced with such a prediction? Give a lot of detail about how you will accomplish the “miracle.” Give milestones in months, not years, and then announce that you hit them and how people can access your great new systems and test your results for themselves. If you change strategy or technology, tell people about your latest thinking. Intelligent people learn and adjust all the time.
For me, the primary way to make your hockey stick real will be to introduce high-fidelity quantum networking among quantum processing units. Yes, you can improve qubit density, add more qubits, and change the physical configuration of your devices. These are all crucial parts of your story. Tell us more details and avoid the “and then a miracle occurs” reaction.
On another note, Bob Sorenson, Hyperion Research’s Chief Analyst for Quantum Computing, and I will participate in the Google Cloud Advanced Computing Community webinar on Tuesday, May 27th, at 9 AM PDT/ Noon EDT. Our discussion topic will be “Quantum Computing: Analysts’ Perspectives on What’s Real, What’s Needed, & What’s Next.”
Don’t forget to check out and bookmark our new sortable list of upcoming quantum technology conferences.
The latest Sutor Group report is freely available online: Quantum Processing Unit (QPU) Market Landscape (Abridged) – April 3, 2025. Updates and the full report are available for purchase or by subscription. Contact us for details.
Contents
Post-Quantum Cryptography and Security
Post-Quantum Cryptography Comes to Windows Insiders and Linux | Microsoft
Author: Aabha Thipsay
Date: Monday, May 19, 2025
Excerpt: We are pleased to announce the next significant milestone in our PQC journey: We’re making PQC capabilities available for Windows Insiders, Canary Channel Build 27852 and higher, and Linux, SymCrypt-OpenSSL version 1.9.0.
Quantum Computing Applications
Lockheed Martin & IBM combine quantum computing with classical HPC in new research | IBM Quantum Computing Blog
https://www.ibm.com/quantum/blog/lockheed-martin-sqd
Authors: Javier Robledo-Moreno; Gavin Jones; Roberto Lo Nardo; and Robert Davis
Date: Thursday, May 22, 2025
Excerpt: Researchers conduct chemistry simulations with sample-based quantum diagonalization (SQD), a prime candidate for near-term demonstrations of quantum advantage.
Quantum Computing Systems
Xanadu Sets Sights on Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computing Data Center by 2029 | HPCwire
Author: John Russell
Date: Monday, May 12, 2025
Excerpt: If all goes according to plan, sometime around 2029 there will be a Xanadu quantum computing data center, on an acre or two of land, with 1000s of quantum server racks networked together, and able to perform faul-tolerant, universal quantum computing.
NVIDIA Powers World’s Largest Quantum Research Supercomputer | NVIDIA Newsroom
https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-powers-worlds-largest-quantum-research-supercomputer
Date: Sunday, May 18, 2025
Excerpt: ABCI-Q’s AI supercomputing is integrated with a superconducting qubit processor by Fujitsu, a neutral atom quantum processor by QuEra and a photonic processor by OptQC — enabling hybrid quantum-GPU workloads across multiple qubit modalities.
Quandela to launch Belenos, the world’s most powerful photonic quantum computer
Date: Thursday, May 22, 2025
Commentary: 12 qubits. Respectfully, doesn’t seem to indicate the “leader in quantum computing.” In the photonic space, compare with ORCA Computing, PsiQuantum, and Xanadu, for example.
Excerpt: Quandela, the leader in quantum computing, announces the launch of Belenos, the world’s most powerful photonic quantum computer. This is a key milestone in the company’s Roadmap 2030, which is on track to meet its ambitious timeline. Accessible to commercial and industrial partners in the cloud, Belenos offers 4,000 times more computing power than the previous generation, unveiled just two years ago with the launch of the first photonic quantum computer in the cloud. The first fully integrated version will be delivered in a supercomputer at the end of 2025.
China’s Origin Quantum upgrades its software for chip debugging | Asia Times
https://asiatimes.com/2025/05/chinas-origin-quantum-upgrades-its-software-for-chip-debugging/#
Author: Jeff Pao
Date: Friday, May 23, 2025
Excerpt: Origin Quantum has upgraded its self-developed software to improve debugging, a process to improve the performance of its quantum machine.
Sutor Group Intelligence and Advisory
Dr. Bob Sutor is the CEO and Founder of Sutor Group Intelligence and Advisory. Sutor Group provides broad market insights and deep technical expertise based on over four decades of experience with startups and large corporations. It advises Deep Tech startups, companies, and investors on quantum technologies, AI, and other emerging tech fields.
Sutor Group shares its knowledge and analysis through direct client engagements and seminars, reports, newsletters, books, written and on-air media appearances, and speaking and panel moderation at the top conferences and client events.
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