繁体中文

PsiQuantum completes $1 billion equity financing

553
2025-09-16 14:10:34
查看翻譯

PsiQuantum, the Palo Alto startup at the forefront of photonics-based quantum computer development, says it will break ground on two manufacturing sites after closing a series E venture round that raised $1 billion.

The new funding, led by private equity giant Blackrock and featuring several others including Nvidia’s venture capital wing, will enable the firm to build quantum computing sites in Brisbane, Australia, and Chicago.

PsiQuantum says it will also support the deployment of large-scale prototype systems to validate systems architecture and integration, and further advance the performance of its quantum photonic chips and fault-tolerant designs.


Silicon and BTO wafer fabrication


The company believes that a combination of photonic qubits and high-volume semiconductor manufacturing is needed to overcome the scaling challenges of manufacturability, cooling, and networking that are faced when building a fault-tolerant quantum computer with a million qubits.

PsiQuantum’s CEO and co-founder Jeremy O’Brien added: “Only building the real thing - million-qubit scale, fault-tolerant machines - will unlock the promise of quantum computing.

“We defined what it takes from day one: this is a grand engineering challenge, not a science experiment. We tackled the hardest problems first - at the architectural and chip level - and are now mass-manufacturing best-in-class quantum photonic chips at a leading US semiconductor fab.

“With this funding, we’re ready to take the next decisive steps to deliver the full potential of quantum computing.”

Barium tantanate switch
The semiconductor fab in question belongs to GlobalFoundries, which partnered with PsiQuantum on the development of a “quantum photonic” chipset known as Omega.

Fabricated on full-size silicon wafers at the firm’s “Fab 8” silicon photonics facility in upstate New York, it features key components including high-performance single-photon sources, superconducting single-photon detectors, and a “next-generation” optical switch based on barium titanate (BTO).

BTO is seen as critical. As one the highest-performing electro-optic materials, it is well suited to ultra-high-performance optical switches, regarded as the missing component when it comes to scaling optical quantum computing.

PsiQuantum manufactures 300 mm-diameter wafers of BTO at its facility in California, before they are integrated with the silicon photonics wafers produced by GlobalFoundries.

The latest funding will also enable PsiQuantum to scale up BTO production towards the volumes needed for utility-scale quantum computing, says the startup, adding that its BTO-enabled optical switch may also find use in next-generation AI supercomputers - where low-power, high-speed optical networking is growing in importance.

Other key optical components in the Omega chipset are known to include waveguides, beamsplitters, bends, and chip-to-fiber input/output couplers.

Nvidia collaboration
Pete Shadbolt, who co-founded the company after completing a PhD under O’Brien’s supervision at the UK’s University of Bristol and is now PsiQuantum’s chief scientific officer, commented: “Nearly nine years after we started, we have pushed the technology to an unprecedented level of maturity and performance.

"We have the chips, we have the switches, we have a scalable cooling technology, we can do networking, we have found the sites, we have the commercial motive and the government support - we’re ready to get on and build utility-scale systems.”

Alongside the fundraising, PsiQuantum has also agreed a new collaboration with Nvidia covering a broad range of development areas, including quantum algorithms and software, GPU-QPU integration, and PsiQuantum’s silicon photonics platform.

Co-led by Temasek and Bailie Gifford, the latest round is said to value PsiQuantum at $7 billion, and attracted new investors in the form of Macquarie Capital, Ribbit Capital, Nvidia’s “NVentures” unit, Adage Capital Management, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Type One Ventures, Counterpoint Global (Morgan Stanley), 1789 Capital, and S Ventures (SentinelOne).

It follows the firm’s $450 million series D effort announced in July 2021, which was also led by Blackrock, and featured both Baillie Gifford and Microsoft’s “M12” venture fund.

Source: optics.org

相關推薦
  • Particles have "fuzzy memory" in solid-state batteries

    When you shoot a laser at a solid-state battery, you find that the particles inside are not thrown into the chaos. This surprised a team of researchers from the United States and the United Kingdom.The team discovered the persistence of memory in ions that help move electricity around solid-state batteries.This discovery has improved the understanding of solid-state batteries, which are candidate...

    2024-02-18
    查看翻譯
  • Breakthrough in optical quantum simulation using long-lived polariton droplets

    Abstract: A groundbreaking discovery by CNR Nanotec and scientists from the University of Warsaw has revealed a robust method for creating long-lived quantum fluids using semiconductor photonic gratings. This study, published in the journal Nature Physics, marks a significant step forward in simulating complex systems through unique polariton droplets that demonstrate stability in lifespan and rec...

    2024-03-27
    查看翻譯
  • Progress in Research on Transparent Ceramics for 3D Printing Laser Illumination at Shanghai Institute of Optics and Mechanics

    It is reported that the Research Center for Infrared Optical Materials of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics has made progress in the research of additive manufacturing (3D printing) transparent ceramics for laser illumination.Recently, the Research Center for Infrared Optical Materials of the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics, Chines...

    2023-10-17
    查看翻譯
  • Munich Shanghai Light Expo and Light Academic Publishing Center further strengthen cooperation

    In November 2024, based on the mutual trust and cooperation over the past years, the Munich Shanghai Optical Expo and the Light Academic Publishing Center of the Changchun Institute of Optics, Precision Mechanics and Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (hereinafter referred to as the "Light Center") reached a consensus on further strategic development as they ushered in the year of disruptive sci...

    2024-12-05
    查看翻譯
  • Latest breakthrough! 3500W free output blue semiconductor laser

    The 3500W free output blue semiconductor laser beam is output in a free space manner, with a rectangular spot directly acting on the material surface without the need for fiber optics or laser processing heads. This laser has a wavelength of 455 ± 10nm, with continuously adjustable power and a maximum output power of over 3500W. It is mainly used for non-ferrous metal cladding, quenching, etc., to...

    2024-09-03
    查看翻譯