BusinessCTech · Oct 27
Intel is acquiring Classiq, an Israeli developer of operating-system-style software for quantum computers, for $2.3 billion in cash and stock, according to CTech. The deal would be the largest quantum company acquisition to date, ahead of IonQ's $1 billion purchase of Oxford Ionics last year. Classiq, founded six years ago, has about 150 employees and has raised roughly $200 million; its 2025 round of $110 million valued it at an estimated $600 million to $700 million. Intel has set aside more than $100 million in retention grants, and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, a personal investor in Classiq, reportedly recused himself from the deal discussions.
PolicyQuantum Zeitgeist · Oct 26
IDEMIA Secure Transactions is working with KT to implement both NIST-standardized and Korean (KpqC) post-quantum algorithms on Quantum-Resistant SIM cards. The work is part of South Korea's 2026 Post-Quantum Cryptography Pilot Conversion Project, organized by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Internet & Security Agency. The implementation is designed to be the first deployment of KpqC algorithms on a smart-card platform in Korea. The pilot also covers smart-unit platforms, PCs, CCTV and video storage, drones, ground control systems and 5G networks, with the Ministry of National Defense and the Army Information and Communication School involved in verification.
HardwareAiThority · Oct 26
Quantum X Labs Inc. announced the launch of an end-to-end quantum error correction (QEC) program on the Arbel superconducting quantum processor at the Israeli Quantum Computing Center (IQCC), which is operated by Quantum Machines. The company has begun its first hardware experiments, aiming to link device characterization, circuit execution and error decoding in one workflow. The next phase is to build the company's noise-aware decoder, which is still in development, into that workflow. The company says it plans to work with control-system and accelerated-computing partners, and its roadmap targets a closed-loop architecture with minimal latency.
HardwareQuantum Zeitgeist · Oct 26
Researchers at Phasecraft and the University of Leeds describe Fast Reverse Iterative Optimisation (FRIO), a quantum algorithm for finding ground states of spin glass models such as the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model. It uses continuous reverse quantum annealing across a transition into a many-body localised phase, then digitises the process into circuits with parameters set through thermalizing dynamics, aimed at near-term devices. In numerical tests, FRIO almost always outperformed the Quantum Approximate Optimisation Algorithm (QAOA) while requiring fewer steps, but only on small instances of up to 12 (the article does not say whether these are spins or qubits). The work is posted on arXiv under the title 'Non-adiabatic Optimisation via Localisation-Delocalisation Transitions' by Ryan Smith, Sabrina Yue Wang, Filippo Maria Gambetta and Raul A. Santos of Phasecraft; the article does not say it has been peer reviewed, so it should be treated as a preprint that is not yet peer reviewed.
HardwareQuantum Zeitgeist · Oct 26
Google Quantum AI researchers, led by Oscar Higgott, describe modular hyperbolic surface and color codes built by wiring planar modules together with sparse boundary connections. The work is an arXiv preprint (2610.03682) and has not yet been peer reviewed. Circuit-level simulations assumed a 0.1% physical gate error rate (SI1000 noise model) and inter-module gates ten times noisier at 1%, and they show a 10-fold reduction in physical qubit overhead relative to the surface code. Extrapolating to larger systems, the authors project the reduction rising to 15-fold, and they report modular codes with encoding rate k/n = 1/16 and distance d ≥ 22, which they say exceeds the [[288, 12, 18]] two-gross bivariate bicycle code. The design uses a syndrome extraction system about 4.5 times smaller than the code itself, measures high-weight inter-module stabilizers once every three error correction rounds, and implements logic through fault-tolerant walking circuits using code automorphisms.
BusinessStartup Fortune · Oct 26
Rigetti Computing stock climbed roughly 49% in a week, per Startup Fortune, helped by a five-year, $5.8 million Air Force Research Laboratory contract disclosed October 21 for quantum foundry services, quantum integrated circuits and cryogenic microwave components. The company says its 36-qubit (physical) modular system, built from four 9-qubit chiplets, reached a median two-qubit gate fidelity of 99.5%, which it says roughly halves the error rate of its 84-qubit (physical) Ankaa-3 chip; the article notes the figure comes from Rigetti's own benchmarking and has no outside audit. Rigetti reports about $575 million in cash, cash equivalents and available-for-sale investments with no debt, after closing a $350 million at-the-market equity raise. The article attributes much of the move to IonQ's results, which showed full-year 2025 revenue up 202% to $130 million and 2026 guidance of $280 million to $290 million, lifting D-Wave Quantum and Quantum Computing Inc. as well.
PolicyQuantum Zeitgeist · Oct 26
Quantum Zeitgeist's tally of priced defence awards for quantum computing puts the disclosed total at $80 million in 2023, $38 million in 2024 and $67 million in 2025, against $157 million or $188 million in 2026 to 11 October. Almost all of the 2026 figure comes from two DARPA agreements: PsiQuantum's $125 million, which may or may not include its earlier $32 million, and Diraq's announced first tranche of $51 million. Obligated money on the federal register fell from $35 million in 2025 to $12 million so far in 2026. Six firms are in the final stage of DARPA's Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, each able to win up to $300 million, but those figures are ceilings and were excluded from the sums.
PolicyQuantum Zeitgeist · Oct 26
The Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) is partnering with Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom to speed its entry into quantum technology. The agreed roadmap has four components: sharing experience in developing national strategies; training and human resource development; sharing and connecting research infrastructure; and gradually gaining access to and developing an integrated quantum computing infrastructure covering software and hardware. VAST's Prof. Dr. Tran Hong Thai said the aim is to "shorten the process of building up its workforce" by learning from Russia's experience. VAST delegates also visited NUST MISIS, a Russian university, to see research activities and equipment.
PolicyQuantum Computing Report · Oct 26
Governor Kathy Hochul and Empire State Development's NYSTAR outlined priorities for a $360 million quantum capital allocation enacted in the FY 2027 state budget. Of that, $300 million goes to a Quantum Research and Innovation Hub at SUNY Stony Brook, with a planned 150,000-square-foot facility and a university-hosted hybrid quantum data center targeted for 2029, and $60 million will fund up to four Regional Quantum Technology Commercialization Hubs. The article says the state package aligns with federal CHIPS and Science Act awards finalized in September 2026, including $1 billion for Anderon (matched by $1 billion from IBM) for an open 300mm superconducting quantum foundry at NY Creates' Albany NanoTech Complex, and $375 million for GlobalFoundries' Quantum Technology Solutions in Malta. NYSTAR will run selection of the regional hubs, which will focus on open-access test facilities, startup incubation and shared technical resources.
PolicyQuantum Computing Report · Oct 25
Project Eleven, a post-quantum cybersecurity company, has entered a development partnership with Bermuda-domiciled specialty carrier Relm Insurance. The two will examine how an institution's post-quantum cryptographic controls can be built into digital asset insurance underwriting and policy pricing. The work centers on Project Eleven's institutional custody platform, Strongpoint, which combines classical and post-quantum digital signature schemes and separates governance workflows (multi-party approvals, audit logs) from the signing layer so algorithms can be rotated without overhauling compliance controls. Relm will contribute underwriting specifications to Strongpoint's technical roadmap, including the security logs and cryptographic audits custodians would need to show quantum resilience to carriers.