Commentary and a selection of the most important recent news, articles, and papers about Quantum.
Today’s Brief Commentary
While it sometimes seems that everyone who has heard the term “AI” has started their own Substack newsletter on the topic, we are not quite there with quantum computing. Nevertheless, we appear to be gaining at least one new one a month. There’s a great selection out there, and the number is still small enough to get a broad perspective on the industry without spending your whole day reading.
Today, I’ve included a link to Part 1 of Russ Fein’s guide to getting investments in your quantum enterprise. The second newsletter linked is André M. König’s view on, well, everything else. Seriously, André provides wise words in these days of wild stock speculation.
NVIDIA will be having a Quantum Day at its upcoming GTC event. This is a smart move after their CEO caused ripples in the market with his prediction that quantum computing will not be truly useful for at least 15 to 30 years.
Finally, though we associate the word “commercial” with someone selling something and money exchanging hands, there is no guarantee that what is sold is more useful than what the buyer already has. It’s great, of course, if you have quantum products that generate revenue, but being a “commercial quantum company” is no guarantee that your systems are production-ready.
Don’t forget to check out and bookmark my new sortable list of upcoming quantum technology conferences.
Contents
- Earnings Announcements and Financial Dealings
- Internships
- Newsletters
- Quantum Computing
- Quantum Computing | Technical
Earnings Announcements and Financial Dealings
SEEQC Raises $30 million to Advance Quantum Computing Platforms
Date: Tuesday, January 14, 2025
Excerpt: SEEQC – the first company to create digital chips to power full-stack quantum computing systems that work with all quantum computing technologies – has raised $30 million to further accelerate the capabilities and commercial rollout of its chip platform. The round was led by NordicNinja and Booz Allen Ventures with participation from SIP Capital, alongside existing investors EQT Ventures, M-Ventures (Merck), BlueYard Capital, FAM and Asset Management.
Internships
Internships | Chicago Quantum Exchange
https://chicagoquantum.org/education-and-training/internships
Excerpt: The Chicago Quantum Exchange partners with companies, national laboratories, and others to provide opportunities for CQE students and trainees, including internships and collaborative research opportunities, that expose them to a broad array of experiences in industrial, academic, and government facilities. For job opportunities at CQE member and partner institutions, visit our jobs page.
Newsletters
How to Raise Money for your Quantum Company | Part I: Seeking Capital
https://russfein.substack.com/p/how-to-raise-money-for-your-quantum
Author: Russ Fein
Date: Friday, January 10, 2025
Excerpt: Most Quantum Leap posts have attempted to explain quantum technologies and players in ways that a layperson can understand. However, as a venture investor I’m aware how foreign the investment landscape can be for most quantum entrepreneurs, so this is the first in a two-part series of posts that are aimed at quantum companies and entrepreneurs, to provide some insights into the world of finance. In this “Part I” I’ll describe the overall funding landscape and provide some suggestions on how to navigate through it. In “Part II” I’ll discuss some typical deal terms and structures.
The Quantum Computing Opportunity is NOW (but not in the stock market)
https://quantumcomputing.substack.com/p/the-quantum-computing-opportunity
Author: André M. König
Date: Sunday, January 12, 2025
Commentary: André has produced and extensive state-of-the-state of quantum. I might quibble with a few numbers, but he lays it all out for you.
Excerpt: Rather than exaggerated pessimism or optimism, and a myopic, misguided focus on revenues and cash flow models; active pragmatism is in order. I’ll anticipate the punchline: senior executives, government officials, and big investors need to act now.
Quantum Computing
GTC Quantum Day to Illuminate the Future of Quantum Computing | NVIDIA Blog
https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/gtc-2025-quantum-day/
Author: Timothy Costa
Date: Tuesday, January 14, 2025
Excerpt: At the first-of-its-kind event, NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang will host industry leaders to discuss where quantum computing is headed.
2025: The year to become Quantum-Ready | Microsoft Azure Quantum Blog
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/quantum/2025/01/14/2025-the-year-to-become-quantum-ready/
Author: Mitra Azizirad
Date: Tuesday, January 14, 2025
Commentary: Though the term “Quantum Ready” is not new one, it’s important to continually reassess the state of quantum computing technology and how it will apply to your business. As many recent discussions illustrate, we don’t know when we will reach Practical Quantum Advantage, but you certainly would not want to be Quantum Unready relative to your competitors.
Excerpt: Clearly, without strategic readiness, it’s a challenging proposition for leaders to assess the risks and returns, or to design effective and responsible quantum strategies that are necessary to create a full-on quantum roadmap for their organization.
Quantum Computing | Technical
[2501.05694] Myths around quantum computation before full fault tolerance: What no-go theorems rule out and what they don’t
https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.05694
Authors: Zimborás, Zoltán; Koczor, Bálint; Holmes, Zoë; Borrelli, Elsi-Mari; Gilyén, András; Huang, Hsin-Yuan; Cai, Zhenyu; Acín, Antonio; Aolita, Leandro; ; …; and Maniscalco, Sabrina
Date: Friday, January 10, 2025
Excerpt: In this perspective article, we revisit and critically evaluate prevailing viewpoints on the capabilities and limitations of near-term quantum computing and its potential transition toward fully fault-tolerant quantum computing. We examine theoretical no-go results and their implications, addressing misconceptions about the practicality of quantum error mitigation techniques and variational quantum algorithms. By emphasizing the nuances of error scaling, circuit depth, and algorithmic feasibility, we highlight viable near-term applications and synergies between error mitigation and early fault-tolerant architectures. Our discussion explores strategies for addressing current challenges, such as barren plateaus in variational circuits and the integration of quantum error mitigation and quantum error correction techniques. We aim to underscore the importance of continued innovation in hardware and algorithmic design to bridge the gap between theoretical potential and practical utility, paving the way for meaningful quantum advantage in the era of late noisy intermediate scale and early fault-tolerant quantum devices.
Disclosures
Bob Sutor is a former employee of IBM and Infleqtion and holds equity positions or stock options in each company. He is a Non-Executive Director for Nu Quantum.
