Quantum Leap: Amazon unveils Ocelot quantum chip

Welcome to the latest edition of “Quantum Leap” where The Fly decodes news and activity in the quantum computing space.

LOGIC GATES: IonQ (IONQ) announced a milestone in the development of mixed-species quantum logic gates for trapped-ion quantum computing and networking. The company said the findings further the company’s momentum in driving scalable, high-fidelity quantum networking and distributed quantum computing. Detailed in a new paper written by IonQ scientists and co-authored with Australian National University, the research shows a novel approach to achieving an orders-of-magnitude increase in physical gate speed of two-qubit gates between different atomic species.

INTERNATIONAL FOOTPRINT: Sealsq (LAES) issued a CEO letter to shareholders, which read in part, “We are pleased to share an update on SEALSQ’s financial and strategic progress, highlighting significant advancements that strengthened its balance sheet and positioned the Company for sustained growth. SEALSQ will release its audited 2024 financial results on or before March 21, 2025. This will provide shareholders with a comprehensive overview of our financial performance, operational achievements, and strategic outlook for the year ahead. The robust performance of SEALSQ Ordinary Shares in December 2024 and January 2025 has enabled us to fully eliminate all convertible debt balances and all warrants previously issued in conjunction with the convertible debt. As a result, SEALSQ now has no outstanding warrants containing anti-dilution clauses which can strengthen our ability to attract new investment. By successfully cleaning our balance sheet, we have removed any obligation to secure additional convertible loans, further enhancing our financial flexibility and positioning SEALSQ for a future centered on innovation, strategic growth, and operational excellence. SEALSQ continues to make strides in semiconductor development, PKI, and post-quantum security, reinforcing our leadership in these vital sectors. As we transition toward next-generation quantum-resistant semiconductor technologies, we are strategically positioned to capitalize on industry-wide transformation. Our robust sales opportunities pipeline of $93 million, on top of clients and projects that we have already won, over the next four years through to the end of 2028 reflects our confidence in the growing demand for SEALSQ solutions. Of these opportunities, over 40 of them relate to our TPM quantum-resistant technology. The increasing adoption of quantum-resistant security technologies will be a key driver of our long-term growth strategy…Looking ahead, SEALSQ is well-positioned to: Expand its international footprint; Secure additional key partnerships; Scale production capacity; Develop post-quantum ASICs; Strengthen cybersecurity ecosystem.”

NETWORKING SYSTEM: IonQ reported that it has delivered and commissioned a quantum networking system optimized for research and development to the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome, New York. The newly implemented on-premises technology introduces a dedicated quantum system based on trapped ions, aimed at supporting the research objectives of AFRL.

SPACE SECURITY: Sealsq announced that, in collaboration with WISeSat, it is advancing the future of ultra-secure, real-time connectivity for IoT devices across industries worldwide-directly from space. The next confirmed launch is set for June with SpaceX, deploying next-generation WISeSat.space satellites equipped with post-quantum-ready security to safeguard against emerging cyber threats. Additional launches are scheduled for October and December.

STRUGGLES: Despite breakthroughs from Amazon (AMZN) and Microsoft (MSFT), quantum computing is struggling to reach its silicon moment, with no consensus on the best way to build qubits, The Financial Times’ Richard Waters reported.

COLLABORATION: Rigetti Computing (RGTI) announced that it has entered into a strategic collaboration agreement with Quanta Computer to accelerate the development and commercialization of superconducting quantum computing. The companies have committed to investing more than $100M each over the next five years, with both sides focusing on their complementary strengths to develop superconducting quantum computing technologies. In addition, Quanta will invest $35M and purchase shares of Rigetti, subject to regulatory clearance.

ACQUISITION: Sealsq has entered into exclusive negotiations with the shareholders of IC’ALPS, an ASIC design and supply specialist based in Grenoble, France, to acquire 100% of the share capital and voting rights of IC’ALPS. These exclusive negotiations result from the execution of a letter of intent with IC’ALPS and its shareholders. The acquisition is subject to, amongst other items, the completion of the appropriate due diligence, execution of definitive agreements, and authorization by French regulatory authorities. This proposed strategic acquisition will reinforce Sealsq’s commitment to advancing its Application-Specific Integrated Circuit development to meet the growing demand in the sector and add approximately 100 staff based out of IC’ALPS’ current centers in Grenoble and Toulouse.

NEW LEADERSHIP: IonQ reported that the company’s board of directors has appointed Niccolo de Masi as president and CEO. Niccolo will begin this new role effective immediately, and Peter Chapman will continue in the leadership role of IonQ’s executive chair. Niccolo, who has served on IonQ’s board of directors since 2021, is a public company chief executive officer. He has held c-suite positions at publicly traded companies such as Monstermob Group, Resideo Technologies, Glu Mobile, and most recently served as Director and CEO at dMY Squared Technology Group. He was also the Chief Executive Officer of dMY Technology Group III, the special purpose acquisition company that took IonQ public via SPAC merger in 2021.

TAKING STAKE: IonQ announced that it has reached a definitive agreement with each of SK Telecom and ID Quantique to acquire a controlling stake in IDQ. Alongside the transaction, IonQ expects to enter into a strategic partnership focused on quantum with SK Telecom, the largest wireless telecommunications operator in South Korea. The transaction consideration will be paid in IonQ common stock. As part of the transaction, once closed, IonQ will bring IDQ’s team, pioneering products, and growing book of quantum networking business into its global quantum ecosystem. In addition, IDQ’s patent portfolio of nearly 300 patents and patent applications will bring the total count of granted and pending patents that IonQ owns or controls to nearly 900.

OCELOT: Amazon announced Ocelot, its first-generation quantum chip. “Ocelot represents Amazon Web Services’ pioneering effort to develop, from the ground up, a hardware implementation of quantum error correction that is both resource efficient and scalable,” the company said. “Today in Nature, we published the results of our measurements on Ocelot, and its quantum error correction performance. Ocelot represents an important step on the road to practical quantum computers, leveraging chip-scale integration of cat qubits to form a scalable, hardware-efficient architecture for quantum error correction. In this approach, bit-flip errors are exponentially suppressed at the physical-qubit level; phase-flip errors are corrected using a repetition code, the simplest classical error-correcting code; and highly noise-biased controlled-NOT gates, between each cat qubit and ancillary transmon qubits, enable phase-flip-error detection while preserving the cat’s bit-flip protection.” Ocelot represents the company’s first chip with the cat qubit architecture, and an initial test of its suitability as a fundamental building block for implementing quantum error correction.