Alice & Bob raises 100 million euros to build the first quantum computer resistant to errors in the world by 2030

The French quantum calculation startup Alice & Bob Sas said today that he has collected 100 million euros ($ 104.2 million) in a series B financing series led by future French champions, Axa Venture Partners and Bpifrance.

La Ronde has also seen the participation of all investors in the A round series, notably Elaia Partners, Breega and Supernova Invest, as well as new investors such as FFC and the European Innovation Council, highlighting the enormous optimism on its approach to the next evolution of IT.

Alice & Bob said that funding will help her mission to create the world’s first quantum computer by 2030, and he found new technology to try to do so. The company is the creator of what he calls “Chat qubits»Which bears the name of Schrödinger cat Thought of thought.

Cat qubits are a special type of superconductive qubit which is intended to make quantum computers more robust and error resistant. They solve problems with traditional qubits, which have the unique capacity to be in a state of 0, 1 or a superposition of the twoBut are extremely sensitive to the environment. All disturbances, even as meticulous as something like a change in the magnetic field of the earth, or the vibration of a drop -down pin on the ground, can cause the degradation of qubits, a process called “decoherence”.

When this happens, qubits lose their state of overlap, causing calculation errors. This is a problem that technology giants such as Google LLC and IBM Corp. have been struggling for years.

But it is much more difficult for chat qubits to undergo decoherence, because they are protected by error thanks to a process that stores quantum information on several particles, which makes them more resistant to environmental disturbances. They also have an economical equipment design which reduces the requirements for a defect.

Alice & Bob says that her cat’s qubits are particularly good for removing “Flip Bit errors”, which is one of the two main types of error that afflict quantum computer platforms today. This property is essential to build quantum computers tolerant with failures that can be useful in real world applications.

The founder and chief executive officer of the startup, Théau Peronnin (illustrated on the left, alongside the Executive President Elie Girard) said that the financing round marks a new phase for the company, which is now focusing on the construction of A quantum computer that will provide precious results.

“Cat qubits are unique because they make quantum computers on a practical scale,” he said. “When conventional approaches require millions of qubits, we would only need thousands.”

Alice & Bob said he planned to use today’s rounds to improve the performance of its CAT -based systems and further improve her error correction capacities, in order to create The first logical qubit corrected for error. As such, around half of the money collected in the Tour will be spent to build a special laboratory and a production installation. The rest of the money has been reserved for the expansion of the company team, which has already doubled in the past year.

This year could well be the year when we see real cases of use quantum computer science emerging, assuming that the advances promised by Alice & Bob and other companies materialize, Holger Mueller of Constellation Research Increch said .

“It is interesting to note that European companies appear at the forefront of this race, Alice & Bob just the last quantum computer startup in the region to attract substantial funding,” said the analyst. “It is good for the quantum scene as a whole, because greater diversity and regional competition is always a promising development from the point of view of innovation. Now we must see how much Alice & Bob can bring its online chat qubits and make them work for practical commercial applications. »»

François Robinet, AVP director of AVP, shared Mueller’s optimism, saying that he has already followed the progress of the quantum computer industry for years and has become convinced that he is leaving the pure phase of Research and development.

“It is entering an industrial phase ” where it will soon address real use cases, thanks to the technology that Alice & Bob develops, which will reduce the material requirements for the creation of a practical quantum computer scale, “he said.

Quantum IT startups have been in recent momentum lately. Earlier this month, Australian and German Society Quantum Brilliance GmbH Closed out of $ 20 million In funding to start quantum computers based on diamond producers. This tour followed Seed financing of $ 16 million Round New Year’s Eve.

Also last month, the quantum startup based in San Francisco Bluequbit Inc. closed $ 10 million in fundingShortly after sandboxaq collected a huge $ 300 million To continue the idea of ​​”large quantitative models”, which are models of artificial intelligence that work on quantum material.

Photos: Alice & Bob