What does the U.S. military's simultaneous award of contracts to four quantum companies signal
A year ago, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) issued an official solicitation (DARPA-PS-22-04) for the Under-explored Utility Scale Quantum Computing (US2QC) project. DARPA has now selected three companies to participate in the US2QC project [1], including Microsoft, Atom Computing, and PsiQuantum. US2QC seeks to determine whether an under-explored approach to quantum computing is capable of operating at practical scale (where its computational value exceeds its cost).
The companies are involved in three approaches to building quantum computers.
Atom Computing in Berkeley, California, builds highly scalable quantum computers based on large arrays of optically trapped atoms.
Microsoft is building an industrial-scale quantum system based on a topological quantum bit architecture that the company believes will allow their machine to be small enough (to fit in a closet) and fast enough (to solve problems in real time) and to control more than a million quantum bits.
PsiQuantum of Palo Alto, California, is using silicon photonics to build an error-correcting quantum computer based on a lattice structure of photonic quantum bits.
US2QC has a five-year duration and consists of four phases. In the initial phase of US2QC, the companies will each demonstrate a design concept describing a plan to create a practical-scale quantum computer. This design concept will guide the more rigorous system design, focusing on all components and subsystems that, once built and tested, will demonstrate that a practical-scale quantum computer can be designed and operate as intended. the concepts will be evaluated by a DARPA-led test and validation team comprised of experts from government laboratories and federally funded R&D centers.
We believe a machine needs at least a million quantum bits to solve a large class of classically intractable problems," said Julie Love, general manager of Microsoft's quantum program. The quantum computing industry is at an important turning point - Microsoft is beginning to separate the hype from the reality. We applaud DARPA's diligence and focus in this important area."
Rob Hays, CEO of Atom Computing, said, "There are many engineering challenges that need to be overcome in order to realize the scaling benefits of quantum computing technology. With DARPA's support, we will be able to accelerate our development timeline. We are honored to have been selected to participate in such an important program to advance Atom Computing and the U.S. toward practical-scale quantum computing."
Jeremy O'Brien, CEO and co-founder of PsiQuantum, said, "The use of single photons as quantum bits has tremendous advantages, yet this approach to quantum computing has been little explored, especially in the United States. The advantages of the photonic approach, including its potential to leverage existing semiconductor fabrication technologies, are most evident at scale, which we believe was a major factor in securing the DARPA contract. psiQuantum invests exclusively in solving the difficult and complex problems associated with building large quantum computers, and we believe that our track record of predictable progress, as well as the depth and feasibility of our future plans all contribute to our selection as a partner."
In addition to DARPA, the U.S. Air Force has awarded a contract to another quantum company, SandboxAQ [2], which was formed in 2022 after being spun off from Google's parent company, Alphabet. Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding awarded by the U.S. Air Force will support the development of its quantum navigation system. The U.S. Air Force and the company will coordinate to optimize prototypes of the system for testing on military aircraft and other innovative opportunities. More than two months ago, SandboxAQ was awarded Air Force Phase I SBIR funding to conduct quantum cryptography evaluation work.
Navigation technology developed using artificial intelligence and quantum applications has dual-use potential for government, military and commercial operations, said Jen Sovada, president of SandboxAQ's public sector business.
Reference links：
[1]https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2023-01-31a
