Microsoft today introduced Majorana 1, the world’s first quantum chip powered by a new Topological Core architecture that it expects will realize quantum computers capable of solving meaningful, industrial-scale problems in years, not decades.

The “Photonic Technologies” call is now open for applications. NWO and the PhotonDelta Foundation want to further stimulate early-stage research on photonic technologies in this way. This will ultimately allow groundbreaking photonic materials, photonic chips, devices and systems to be delivered. A total of 7 million euro is financed by PhotonDelta.

Key specialists are being called upon to join a board advising the UK government in seizing the transformative potential of quantum technologies today.

Announced in Brussels, Belgium, the European Space Agency (ESA) and European Commission formalised their cooperation agreement, partnering to strengthen support of a groundbreaking quantum communication network across the EU. European Quantum Communication Infrastructure (EuroQCI) marks a significant step forward in meeting the EU’s Digital Decade target of being at the forefront of quantum capabilities by 2030. The agreement was signed between Roberto Viola, the European Commission's Director-General of DG Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT), and Laurent Jaffart, ESA's Director of Connectivity and Secure Communications.

IonQ, a leader in the quantum computing and networking industries, today announced a landmark partnership with the University of Maryland and the State of Maryland with the aim to establish Maryland as the “silicon valley” of the quantum computing industry. The proposed initiative will aim to fuel the growing quantum economy of the U.S. capitol region, provide access to IonQ’s cutting-edge quantum technology, and dramatically strengthen Maryland’s workforce with new quantum-focused jobs.

SandboxAQ today announced a round of more than $300 million from Fred Alger Management, LLC, T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., Mumtalakat, Parkway Venture Capital, Breyer Capital, Rizvi Traverse, S32, US Innovative Technology Fund, Ava Investors, Eric Schmidt, Marc Benioff, David Siegel, Yann LeCun, IQT, and other prominent investors. The funding round valued the company at $5.3 billion on a pre-money basis.

Alice & Bob, a global frontrunner in the race for fault-tolerant quantum computing, has unveiled its white paper and five-year roadmap. The white paper outlines a clear path to achieving useful quantum computing through Alice & Bob’s cat qubit technology, which promises to deliver high-fidelity logical qubits while using significantly fewer hardware and energy resources compared to alternative approaches.

This week, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs announced that the National Growth Fund plan PhotonDelta will contribute €53.8 million to the PIXEurope pilot line that will be built in the Netherlands.

Within the framework of the European Chips Strategy, the so-called European Chips Act, the European Commission has announced the creation of PIXEurope, a new European pilot line for photonic chips that aims to offer cutting-edge technological platforms, transforming and transferring innovative and disruptive integrated photonics processes and technologies to accelerate their industrial adoption. The objective is the creation of European-owned/made technology in a sector of capital importance for technological sovereignty, and therefore for the creation and maintenance of the corresponding jobs in the Union.

Today at its inaugural IBM Quantum Developer Conference, IBM announced quantum hardware and software advancements to execute complex algorithms on IBM quantum computers with record levels of scale, speed, and accuracy.