ORCA Computing announced yesterday that it is leading the development of advanced multiplexing and switching technologies for large-scale quantum data transfer. It aims to advance quantum networking for use in quantum computing and data centers. The consortium includes top quantum experts from organizations such as Toshiba Europe, Ltd., Bay Photonics, Ltd., Imperial College London, and University College London.

SandboxAQ launched yesterday the world’s first dual-use real-time magnetic navigation system powered by AI and quantum technology (AQ), which can provide real-time location information during uncontrolled operational flights. AQNav is a dual-use military and civilian magnetic navigation system for Assured Positioning Navigation and Timing (APNT), offering an unjammable, all-weather, and terrain-agnostic APNT solution.

Pasqal, a developer of neutral-atom quantum computers, announced yesterday that the company has successfully trapped more than 1,110 atoms in its quantum computing device with 2,080 trapping sites. This breakthrough marks a crucial step in Pasqal’s progress towards quantum advantage and scalable quantum processors. In Pasqal’s quantum computing architecture, the atoms are confined and manipulated using electromagnetic fields. The internal energy states of these atoms serve as the quantum states of the qubits.

IBM will deploy Korea's first IBM commercial quantum computer at Yonsei University’s Songdo campus in Incheon in the latter half of this year. Yesterday, The full-scale model of the IBM Quantum System One was displayed at the Quantum Korea 2024 event held in Goyang, South Korea. It is understood that Yonsei University and IBM announced their collaboration to build the "Yonsei-IBM Quantum Computing Center" in July last year, making South Korea the fifth country to deploy IBM's superconducting quantum computer locally.

Recently, scientists from the Matteo Zaccanti of the Italian National Institute of Optics have created a dense gas composed of lithium-chromium (LiCr) molecules at a temperature of 200 nanokelvin. This gas consists of ultracold molecules with strong magnetic dipoles. The researchers say that transferring the molecules to their absolute ground state, expecting to create a doubly polar molecule Bose-Einstein condensate with both electric and magnetic dipole moments. These dipolar molecules could potentially lead to new quantum simulation and quantum computing schemes.

Crypto Quantique, a provider of quantum-driven security for IoT, recently announced that it has established partnerships with ZARIOT, a cellular IoT connectivity provider, and Kigen, an eSIM solution vendor. This international partnership will implement an IoT-SAFE technology that leverages the Hardware Root-of-Trust of any SIM and enables native access to quantum-safe technologies.

Recently, British quantum sensing technology developer QLM announced the appointment of Robby Vaughn as its Head of Business Development, Energy, Americas. QLM said that Robby, who has held technical roles in Upstream Oil and Gas, brings 20+ years of industry experience and expertise in natural gas measurement and quantification, which will create value for the company and its customers.

Quantum Circuits recently announced the launch of an integrated quantum software platform to pave the way for its forthcoming quantum hardware systems and accelerates the path to commercial-ready, fault-tolerant quantum computing. The company said that software enables users to manage qubit error detection in their algorithms in real time, thus enhancing the algorithms' performance and scalability.

QpiAI, an Indian quantum computing startup, recently announced that it has secured its first external investment of $6.5 million. The pre-Series A funding round was led by Yournest and SVCL. QpiAI said that the proceeds from this funding round will be used to build a 25-qubit superconducting quantum computer and to develop generative AI products and platforms.

A new report recently released by the Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C) shows that the number of new job postings in the quantum technology sector declined again last month. Globally, the number of newly published job positions in May dropped by 16.9% compared to the number in April. Among these, Europe experienced a 25.9% decline, North America a 17.9% drop, and other regions of the world a 45.2% decrease. This data has been on a downward trend for three consecutive months.

The Israeli Quantum Computing Center (IQCC) has officially opened for operation. The center, located within Tel Aviv University, was built with financial support from the Israel Innovation Authority. IQCC currently possesses a 25-qubit superconducting quantum computer equipped with a quantum processor provided by Quantware, and an 8 qumodes photonic quantum computer by ORCA. Additionally, it has deployed DGX Quantum hybrid quantum-classical computing system for the first time. All these computers utilize Quantum Machines' OPX control system.

Intel recently introduced a millikelvin-level low-temperature quantum control chip named "Pando Tree." Intel claims it is the industry's first demonstration of a low-temperature control electronic device capable of controlling spin qubits within a dilution refrigerator. Utilizing Pando Tree's demultiplexing capabilities, Intel needs only about 20 cables to control one million qubits. This innovation represents a significant step forward in addressing the wiring bottleneck that limits the scaling of quantum computing.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have shown that quantum states of single electron spins can be selectively manipulated using spin-polarized currents (electronic currents with uniformly aligned spins). Unlike electromagnetic field manipulation, spin-polarized currents act very locally and can be steered with a precision of less than a nanometre. Therefore, this current can precisely manipulate electronic circuit elements in quantum devices, offering improved control of the quantum states of magnetic qubits.

Classiq recently announced a collaboration with NVIDIA and the BMW Group in the field of quantum computing applications to optimize mechatronic systems. It aims to use advanced quantum algorithms such as QAOA and HHL to solve complex computational challenges and design electrical and mechanical systems with optimal architectures. The goal of the collaboration is to enhance efficiency and reduce energy waste, which can result – among other things – in the increased efficiency of electric vehicles.

The University of Ottawa research team has pioneered an optimized technique named Fourier Quantum Process Tomography (FQPT) for evaluating the performance of quantum circuits. This method allows for the complete characterization of quantum operations with a minimal number of measurements. Instead of performing a large number of projective measurements, FQPT utilises a well-known map, the Fourier transform, to perform a portion of the measurements in two different mathematical spaces. The physical relation between these spaces enhances the information extracted from single measurements, significantly reducing the number of measurements needed. 

A research team from Chalmers University of Technology has created a unique system based on continuous-variable quantum computing, which uses a harmonic oscillator with a built-in control system to encode information linearly. The method can address the problem of quantum systems with effective error correction and longer computation time having defects in the ability to control quantum states. The system enables extremely complex operations on a multi-state quantum system, at an unprecedented speed, and because it offers a much larger number of physical quantum states, it can be significantly better equipped against errors and noise.

IonQ, a leader in the quantum computing industry, recently announced that Dr. Dean Kassmann has been promoted to Senior Vice President of its newly formed Engineering and Technology division. IonQ said that since Dr. Kassmann joined the company, he and his team have achieved several important milestones, and their work has facilitated the company's business growth and technological innovation.

Researchers at the Max-Planck Institute for the Science of Light and Jozef Stefan Institute in Ljubljana, Slovenia,  have demonstrated spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) for the first time in a ferroelectric nematic liquid crystal phase, using it as a source of entangled photons. It marks the first instance of SPDC outside of solid materials. By applying an electric field of just a few Volts, researchers were able to switch the generation of photon pairs on and off, as well as to change the polarization properties of these pairs. This advancement paves the way for developing efficient and electric-field tunable next-generation quantum sources. The study has been recently published in Nature.

IQM Quantum Computers (IQM), announced yesterday the opening of its first quantum data centre in Munich, Germany, to support industry applications, with plans to place up to 12 quantum computers in the data centre. At present, the data centre is equipped with two of IQM’s quantum computers, the facility, housed in the company’s Munich premises.

Post-quantum cryptography technology company BTQ recently announced that it has registered and established an Australian subsidiary in Sydney. The subsidiary will primarily advance its research and development efforts in quantum algorithms to enhance the security and efficiency of communications. In addition, it has also announced a partnership with Macquarie University and the Sydney Quantum Academy to cultivate the next generation of quantum technology specialists.