PsiQuantum today announced it will build the world’s first utility-scale quantum computer at a strategically located site near Brisbane Airport in Brisbane, Australia. The Australian Commonwealth and Queensland Governments will invest $940 M AUD ($620 M USD) into PsiQuantum through a financial package, comprised of equity, grants, and loans. PsiQuantum is on an aggressive plan to have the site operational by the end of 2027. A fault-tolerant quantum computer will be able to solve commercially useful problems across industries built upon chemistry, math, and physics; thereby transforming critical industries – including renewable energy, minerals and metals, healthcare and transportation – that will propel the global economy for decades to come.
The quantum computing industry has long faced complicated scaling challenges in building a quantum computer with enough physical qubits to enable error-correction, making it capable of delivering on quantum computing’s promise. PsiQuantum has scaled its fusion-based architecture using a photonics- approach, encoding qubits into particles of light, and leveraging advanced infrastructure in the semiconductor manufacturing industry to fabricate and test millions of photonic devices. PsiQuantum’s first utility-scale system will be in the regime of 1 million physical qubits and hyperscale in footprint with a modular architecture that’s able to leverage existing cryogenic cooling technologies.
“A utility-scale quantum computer represents an opportunity to construct a new, practical foundation of computational infrastructure and in so doing ignite the next industrial revolution,” said Prof. Jeremy O’Brien, PsiQuantum CEO. “This platform will help solve today’s impossible problems and will serve as tool to design the solutions we so desperately need to safeguard our future. We’re thrilled to partner with the Australian and Queensland governments as our team at PsiQuantum takes a massive step forward in our mission to help deliver on the promise of quantum computing.”
PsiQuantum works with industry leaders from around the globe whose products and technologies are rooted in fundamental chemistry and science, such as the development of new drugs, more efficient renewable energy technologies including batteries and solar cells, and step-change improvements in processes to produce renewable energy sources such as green ammonia and green hydrogen.
“Today’s endorsement from the Australian government establishes another critical milestone in PsiQuantum’s mission to deliver the world’s first useful quantum computers,” said PsiQuantum Chief Business Officer Stratton Sclavos. “With a utility scale quantum computer in sight, our applications teams have been working with leading companies in pharmaceuticals, semiconductor manufacturing, aerospace, chemicals, and financial services to ensure that fault tolerant quantum applications are ready to deploy when the system is operational.”