No-frills tech news

Algorand's Biggest Upgrade Since Staking Clears Final Hurdle, Bringing <b>Quantum</b>-Safe ...

Algorand's Biggest Upgrade Since Staking Clears Final Hurdle, Bringing Quantum-Safe Accounts to Mainnet Algorand's v5.0.0 protocol upgrade has cleared the 90% node support threshold required for activation, setting the stage for the blockchain's most significant technical overhaul since staking rewards went live in January 2025. The upgrade introduces native quantum-resistant accounts, expanded smart contract functionality, and a restructured fee model that ties transaction costs to resource consumption. The Algorand team confirmed the milestone in a post on X, noting that the upgrade will activate once the mandatory cooldown period concludes. Mainnet deployment is expected within approximately one week, according to community member Alex, who posts as france.algo on X and described the rollout as one of the network's largest protocol upgrades to date. Quantum-Resistant Accounts Move Into the Protocol The centerpiece of v5.0.0 is native support for Falcon-1024 post-quantum signature accounts. Rather than relying on application-level workarounds, quantum-resistant account support is now embedded directly into the protocol itself. Users can create accounts secured by quantum-resistant signatures without deploying additional custom logic. The move builds on Algorand's earlier work in post-quantum cryptography, including the deployment of quantum-resistant state proofs in 2022 and the blockchain's first quantum-resilient transaction in 2025. According to X user Marco Salzmann, v5.0.0 shifts that effort toward broader cryptographic agility across the protocol, positioning Algorand ahead of most competitors in preparing for a future where quantum computers could threaten conventional cryptographic standards. Salzmann also outlined a broader roadmap that includes hybrid accounts, post-quantum multisig capabilities, and additional research into Falcon signatures, post-quantum verifiable random functions, and consensus mechanisms. Smart Contracts and Fee Structure Get Overhauled The upgrade introduces AVM v13, which expands smart contract sizes and adds new functionality. Among the additions is the poseidon2 opcode, while cross-application box storage support broadens how applications can manage data across

Inaugural Lecture Series: Professor Mehrnoosh Sadrzadeh | Faculty of Engineering

Inaugural Lecture Series: Professor Mehrnoosh Sadrzadeh Mehrnoosh shares her journey from logic and the origins of language to quantum computing, exploring how this path led her to new ways of understanding meaning and building AI systems. Abstract Words, numbers and quantum machines: Computing the semantics of language Beginning in the 1930s, the Polish logician Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz, followed later by Yehoshua Bar-Hillel, a pioneer of computational linguistics, showed how the structure of natural language could be described using mathematical rules. In the 1950s, the Canadian mathematician Jim Lambek built on this work to develop a calculus explaining how words combine to form phrases and sentences. In this inaugural lecture, I will trace my own journey through logic, the origins of language and the surprising role of quantum computing in semantics. I will show how linguistic structures can be translated into linear algebra, converted into quantum circuits and tested on quantum hardware. I will also present recent results from vision-and-language tasks. Together, these findings point towards a new generation of AI systems in which quantum computers may prove useful not only for learning from data, but also for learning from the structures through which meaning is created. About the speaker Mehrnoosh is Professor of Computer Science and a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair. She leads the Quantum Learning Labs. Her fascination with higher-order algebraic structures led her to study category theory and substructural logics, first at Sharif University of Technology in Iran, then at the University of Ottawa and the Université du Québec à Montréal, and later at Oxford. While in Montreal, Mehrnoosh worked with Canadian mathematician Jim Lambek, widely regarded as the father of algebraic linguistics. Her research helped to formalise the grammars of a range of human languages and ultimately provided a solution to the problem of semantics for

Superconducting Qubit Chain Drives Dephasing to Zero Without Error Correction

A seven-member physics collaboration has demonstrated theoretically that a chain of superconducting qubits — coupled in a carefully alternating pattern — can function as a single logical qubit whose phase noise collapses to exactly zero, removing dephasing from the error budget entirely and reducing relaxation to half that of any individual element in the chain, all without the physical-qubit overhead that quantum error correction demands. The result, published Friday in npj Quantum Information, a Nature Publishing Group journal, represents a distinct attack on the decoherence problem: rather than catching and correcting errors after they occur, the team's design makes a class of errors structurally impossible to commit. Quantum computers are only as powerful as the qubits they are built from, and qubits have two well-characterized failure modes. Dephasing — technically the pure dephasing or T2 process — describes the gradual loss of phase coherence between the quantum states that encode information; it is dominated in real devices by low-frequency flux and charge noise that constantly jostles the qubit's energy levels. Relaxation — the T1 process — describes the qubit shedding energy to the environment and dropping to its ground state, erasing whatever information was stored. Both channels must be suppressed simultaneously for a qubit to remain computationally useful long enough to finish a calculation. Mainstream fault-tolerant quantum computing addresses this by encoding one logical qubit in dozens to hundreds of physical qubits and running constant error-detection cycles — an overhead that some estimates place in the millions of physical qubits for practically useful algorithms. The chain design described in Friday's paper attacks the problem at a lower level, using the quantum symmetry of the coupling pattern itself as a shield. How Interaction Structure Can Silence Noise The team — Roberto Stassi, Shilan Abo, Daniele Lamberto, Ye-Hong Chen, Adam Miranowicz, Salvatore

Quantum Sundays |78 <b>Quantum Computing</b> Breakthroughs and Their Use in Modern AI

Member-only story Quantum Sundays |78⟩ Quantum Computing Breakthroughs and Their Use in Modern Artificial Intelligence A practical tour of what quantum computing can, cannot, and might someday do for AI, and what AI is already doing for quantum computing TL;DR: Despite billions in investment and relentless vendor hype, quantum computers will do essentially nothing for mainstream AI through 2030, because three walls stand in the way: the QRAM data-loading bottleneck (getting a billion classical numbers into a quantum state costs as much as just processing them), dequantization (Ewin Tang and others proved the headline “exponential” quantum ML speedups can be matched classically), and the barren-plateau dilemma (quantum neural networks expressive enough to matter become untrainable, while trainable ones tend to be classically simulable). The genuine breakthroughs of 2024–2026, including Google Willow’s below-threshold error correction and Quantinuum’s 48 error-corrected logical qubits, are historic hardware milestones that remain orders of magnitude short of the thousands of logical qubits ML workloads would demand. The strongest results at this intersection actually run in reverse: DeepMind’s AlphaQubit neural decoder and reinforcement-learning calibration are fixing quantum computing’s hardest…

A German startup sells a <b>quantum computer</b> that runs at room temperature in an ordinary ...

A German startup spun out of Leipzig University has opened orders for two diamond-based quantum computers: the 128-qubit SXQ128 and the 512-qubit SXQ512. SAXON Q says both operate at room temperature, fit inside a standard server rack, and connect to an ordinary electrical supply without cryogenic cooling or vacuum equipment. That sounds like quantum computing finally stepping out of the laboratory, but one important detail needs explanation: the headline totals describe multicore machines, while the company’s specifications list 8 fully entangled qubits per core in the SXQ128 and 16 per core in the SXQ512. A quantum computer without the deep freeze Most superconducting quantum processors depend on elaborate refrigeration, but nitrogen-vacancy systems use defects in diamond whose spin states can be controlled under ambient conditions. In practical terms, this replaces a specialized cryogenic installation with a transportable cabinet that can sit in a normal office or research facility. “Portable” does not mean laptop-sized, so think server equipment on wheels rather than something tucked into a backpack. Fraunhofer IWU has operated a four-qubit SAXON Q machine in Dresden since June 2025, and Germany’s DLR Quantum Computing Initiative says it has accepted four-qubit demonstrators based on the same room-temperature approach. How a flawed diamond becomes a qubit An NV center forms when a nitrogen atom replaces one carbon atom in the diamond lattice and sits beside an empty atomic site. Its electron spin can store quantum information, while light initializes and reads the state and microwave pulses manipulate it. This underlying physics is not new. Researchers demonstrated room-temperature entanglement between engineered defect spins in diamond more than a decade ago, while the hard part has been creating many useful centers at precise locations without losing charge stability, coherence, or reliable control. Why sulfur matters SAXON Q says its manufacturing advance comes from

Europe's $6B Tech Fund Just Made Its First Big Investment

Europe's $6B Tech Fund Just Made Its First Big Investment Europe has often been disparaged for lagging behind the U.S. in technology. It's not just a matter of cultural differences: the critics are actually right. Europe may have a leading position in terms of green policies (reusing old wind turbines as sound barriers is a good example), but the region is undoubtedly playing catch-up in terms of transformative tech like AI. Enter the new Scaleup Europe Fund that may help forward the EU's attempts to finally break free of America's tech dominance. The fund's primary focus is startups working on deep tech. This includes both AI and emerging tech like quantum computing. But what's the total size of the Scaleup Europe Fund, though? After all, preventing growing companies from moving to the U.S. or selling out to American investors can't be achieved with chump change. Well, the amount is quite hefty, believe it or not. Managed by the Swedish firm EQT AB (which has an eye for new companies that have a chance for global expansion), the fund holds around €5 billion, which is roughly $5.8 billion. What company got the first piece of this large pie? That honor belongs to Iceye, a Finnish-based space tech firm that has already raised €1 billion. A mark of future success perhaps, Scaleup Europe Fund values the startup at €10 billion and was happy to contribute €300 million to its development. What does Iceye do? The origins of Iceye can be traced as far back as 2012, when its founders had a vision of a synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) satellite weighing less than 100 kilograms (220 pounds). Experts believed this was a pipe dream, but the company proved everyone wrong when a commercial satellite that stayed true to its vision was launched in 2018.

Liquid Helium Transfer Lines Market Growth to 2035 Driven by <b>Quantum Computing</b> and ...

Chart Industries Leading manufacturer of liquid helium transfer lines and cryogenic systems. According to the latest IndexBox report on the global Liquid Helium Transfer Lines market, the market enters 2026 with broader demand fundamentals, more disciplined procurement behavior, and a more regionally diversified supply architecture. The global liquid helium transfer lines market is entering a phase of sustained expansion, underpinned by the rapid scaling of semiconductor fabrication, the commercialization of quantum computing platforms, and the steady replacement cycle of cryogenic infrastructure in medical imaging. These precision-engineered conduits, which transport liquid helium at approximately 4.2 Kelvin with minimal boil-off, are mission-critical for superconducting magnets in MRI systems, cryogenic wafer probers in advanced fabs, dilution refrigerators in quantum labs, and a broad array of scientific instrumentation. As of 2025, the market is characterized by a concentrated supply base in North America and Europe, while demand increasingly shifts toward Asia-Pacific, where semiconductor capacity additions and national quantum initiatives are accelerating. The aftermarket segment, comprising consumables, seals, filters, and replacement parts, accounts for an estimated 30-40% of global value, offering a recurring revenue stream that buffers against the cyclicality of large capital projects. Over the forecast horizon to 2035, the market is projected to grow at a high single-digit to low double-digit CAGR, supported by the need for higher thermal efficiency, flexible routing in compact tools, and integrated cryogenic systems that combine transfer lines with cryocoolers and control electronics. Supply chain dynamics, helium price volatility, and rigorous qualification protocols remain key considerations for stakeholders. This report provides a data-driven assessment of market size, demand architecture, trade flows, pricing logic, and competitive positioning, offering a consistent framework for manufacturers, integrators, and investors navigating this specialized but increasingly strategic segment The baseline scenario for the liquid helium transfer lines market through 2035 points to robust growth,

Vitalik Updates Ethereum Roadmap: <b>Quantum</b> Security, Native Privacy and Rollups Take ...

Vitalik Updates Ethereum Roadmap: Quantum Security, Native Privacy and Rollups Take Center Stage 2026/08/15 11:12:00 Ethereum’s long-term development strategy is entering a new phase as Vitalik Buterin places greater emphasis on quantum security, native privacy, native rollups, STARKs and formal verification. His 2026 comparison between Ethereum’s earlier roadmap and its newer long-term Strawmap shows that the network’s priorities are expanding beyond transaction throughput alone. Ethereum developers are increasingly considering how the protocol can remain secure against future cryptographic threats, protect user privacy, simplify Layer 2 verification and support much larger amounts of computation without making the base layer unnecessarily complex. While many of these ideas remain research-stage proposals rather than confirmed upgrades, they offer an important view of where the Ethereum roadmap may be heading over the coming years. What Changed in Vitalik Buterin’s Ethereum Roadmap in 2026? Vitalik Buterin’s Ethereum roadmap update in 2026 reflects a broader shift from scaling-focused development toward security, privacy, verifiability and protocol simplification. In his comparison between the 2023 roadmap and Ethereum’s newer long-term Strawmap, Buterin highlighted greater attention to post-quantum cryptography, native privacy, native rollups, recursive STARKs and formal verification, while some earlier ideas involving Verkle trees, state expiry and specific EVM improvements have evolved or been reconsidered. Researchers are also exploring newer state-management approaches and potentially simpler execution architectures such as RISC-V or LeanISA. Importantly, these developments should not be interpreted as a single new Ethereum hard fork or a fixed implementation schedule. Instead, they show how Ethereum’s longer-term priorities are changing as developers prepare the network for new security risks, scaling requirements and increasingly complex blockchain applications. Why Quantum Security and Native Privacy Are Becoming Ethereum Priorities Ethereum’s long-term development is increasingly focused on risks and limitations that may matter well beyond the next network upgrade. Two of the most important

A Qubit Chain Cuts Logical Qubit Decay By Half

Researchers from the University of Messina in Italy, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poland, Fuzhou University in China, and The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA have theoretically investigated a system to extend the coherence of quantum bits. The work investigates a chain of superconducting qubits arranged with alternating XX and YY ultrastrong interactions, utilizing the two lowest energy states as a single logical qubit. The authors demonstrate that increasing interaction strength or the number of qubits in the chain suppresses the logical qubit’s pure dephasing rate to zero, and reduces its relaxation rate to half that of a single physical qubit, demonstrating the feasibility of high-fidelity single and two-qubit gates. Ultrastrong Qubit Interactions Enhance Logical Qubit Coherence A logical qubit constructed from a chain of superconducting qubits can maintain coherence significantly longer than its constituent physical qubits, according to theoretical work focused on novel qubit arrangements. Researchers detailed a system where alternating XX and YY ultrastrong interactions between qubits suppress decoherence, a critical step toward building fault-tolerant quantum computers. The study, involving collaboration between institutions in Italy, Poland, China, and The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, theoretically investigates a pathway to extend both pure dephasing and relaxation times, key measures of qubit stability, beyond the limitations of individual qubits. This approach differs from previous hardware-level qubit protection strategies, which typically rely on either a small number of complex elements or a large number of simpler ones. The team’s model utilizes a chain of qubits, leveraging the specific pattern of interactions to create a more robust logical qubit. The theoretical framework centers on understanding how environmental interactions affect qubit coherence. The researchers define global susceptibilities for pure dephasing and relaxation, representing the system’s sensitivity to noise. They explain that ideally, a system would be fully protected if these

Jim Cramer Is Selling His Bitcoin, Citing the <b>Quantum</b> Threat. Here's Why He's Wrong.

Key Points - In the future, quantum computers could become powerful enough to break Bitcoin's encryption. - According to Google's quantum computing research unit, as much as one-third of all Bitcoin might be at risk. - A new consortium of tech and crypto companies is now working to prepare Bitcoin for the quantum computing era. CNBC Mad Money host Jim Cramer is selling his Bitcoin(CRYPTO: BTC), but not for the reason you might think. He's not dumping crypto for artificial intelligence stocks in search of higher returns, as many investors are now doing. Instead, Jim Cramer is selling his Bitcoin because he's worried about the "quantum threat." In short, he's concerned that super-powerful quantum computers will soon be able to crack Bitcoin's cryptography, potentially leading to hundreds of billions of dollars in losses for crypto investors. Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again.In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue » How real is the "quantum threat"? Cryptocurrencies are valuable for the cryptographic encryption they provide. If that encryption is ever put at risk, it could lead to a crisis of investor confidence. That's why the so-called "quantum threat" posed by quantum computers has been percolating around Bitcoin for nearly a decade now. The good news is that today's computers, no matter how powerful they are, have no realistic chances of breaking Bitcoin's encryption. But what about tomorrow's computers? That's what has Jim Cramer worried. Earlier this year, the quantum computing research unit at Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG)(NASDAQ: GOOGL) made headlines when it suggested that Bitcoin might be at much more risk than ever suspected. As much as one-third of all

Three-Point <b>Quantum</b> Identity Confirms Existing Performance Limits For GKP Error-Correcting Codes

Researchers have demonstrated an exact determination of the optimum for GKP lattice codes, revealing a surprising result: extending a quantum error-correction framework to incorporate three-point interactions yields no improvement over existing two-point methods. The work, led by Yinzi Xiao of Paderborn University’s Department of Computer Science, constructs a three-point continuous-variable quantum MacWilliams identity and explores its implications for code dimension and distance. This identity’s configuration space carries a symplectic invariant with no classical counterpart, encoding both the GKP quantization condition and a three-point sign phase. The team certifies a collapse of the three-point term for radial Choi forms on the first eight Laguerre levels at one mode, suggesting limitations to the complexity of this approach for certain conditions. GKP Codes and Bosonic Quantum Error Correction The configuration space of the identity carries a symplectic invariant with no classical counterpart, revealing a structural cause not found in classical packing. Researchers have constructed the three-point continuous-variable (CV) quantum MacWilliams identity, extending previous two-point frameworks, and derived its integral kernel, a complex mathematical function central to understanding code dimensions and protection distances. This identity incorporates not only the GKP quantization condition, essential for building robust codes, but also a three-point phase absent in classical systems. The study rigorously investigates whether this more complex three-point approach offers improvements over existing two-point methods, particularly for GKP lattice codes. Surprisingly, the team proved “for GKP lattice codes the three-point optimum equals the Burchards two-point linear-programming optimum identically,” meaning the added complexity yields no benefit in this specific case. This is an “exact determination of the lattice three-point optimum,” demonstrating a complete characterization rather than simply a lack of improvement. The research extends to general bosonic codes, where a completely-positive reformulation bypasses the positivity obstruction that hinders simpler constructions. While this collapse is limited to this specific

Reset Scheme Achieves Over 99% Fidelity With Transmon Qubits

Researchers at the Department of Microtechnology and Nanoscience, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden; Department of Chemistry, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA; and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, FI-02044 VTT, Finland have demonstrated a protocol for fixed-frequency transmon qubits, an architecture compatible with the surface code, that simultaneously addresses both qubit reset and leakage reduction. This combined capability is desirable for successful quantum error correction. The authors state that experiments involved a pair of qubits. This work reports a complete cycle of qubit reset, leakage reduction, and coupler reset in 83 nanoseconds, enabling fixed-frequency qubit architectures as potential building blocks for future fault-tolerant quantum computers and offering a means to reduce error correction cycle runtime. Tunable Couplers Enable Fast Qubit Reset and Leakage Reduction Over 99% fidelity in qubit reset and leakage reduction has been demonstrated using a novel protocol with fixed-frequency transmon qubits, a result that directly addresses a critical bottleneck in building practical quantum computers. This approach allows for the swift transfer of unwanted energy from qubits to a readout resonator, where it dissipates into the feedline, effectively resetting the qubit state. The architecture employed is specifically designed for compatibility with the surface code, a leading candidate for fault-tolerant quantum computing, pairing fixed-frequency transmon qubits with these tunable couplers. Unlike many existing reset schemes that require additional hardware or complex control signals, this protocol operates within the constraints of current fixed-frequency qubit technology. The team’s design utilizes the tunable couplers to implement a qubit-coupler (QC) SWAP gate, initially tuning the coupler on resonance with the ancilla qubit, Q_0, while leaving the data qubit, Q_1, unaffected. This initial step is crucial for preparing the system for subsequent energy transfer and dissipation. This speed is essential for minimizing

<b>Quantum</b> Zeitgeist Weekly Digest

Welcome to this week’s quantum technology digest. The articles below cover advances across the quantum computing stack, from hardware development and error correction to algorithmic improvements and commercial growth. Several companies reported significant progress this week, indicating continued momentum in the field. This week’s updates demonstrate a clear focus on scaling and refinement. Quantinuum features prominently with announcements regarding both hardware manufacturing partnerships and algorithmic efficiency gains. Other companies, including IonQ and Pasqal, are pushing boundaries in error correction and qubit control. Funding news from D-Wave and Infleqtion’s strong revenue growth further illustrate increasing investment and market demand. Overall, this week highlights practical steps toward building more capable and accessible quantum systems. Progress isn’t limited to a single approach; diverse modalities – superconducting, trapped ion, and neutral atom – all saw encouraging developments. The increasing availability of quantum resources on cloud platforms like Oracle also suggests a move toward wider accessibility for researchers and developers. 1. Quanta Computer & Quantinuum Partner to Scale Quantum Computing Hardware Quantinuum and Quanta Computer are collaborating to manufacture infrastructure for large-scale quantum computers. The partnership combines Quantinuum’s quantum technology with Quanta’s manufacturing expertise, shifting focus from research toward deployable systems. This co-development effort aims to improve the modularity and scalability of quantum processors, supporting Quantinuum’s roadmap for fault-tolerant quantum systems. Quanta’s experience in industrializing advanced computing will establish supply chains and manufacturing processes needed for wider quantum access. 2. IBM’s QOBLIB Library Demonstrates Quantum Advantage in Optimization IBM and its partners announced demonstrations of quantum advantage in optimization through the Quantum Optimization Benchmarking Library (QOBLIB). Published in Nature Computational Science and initially released as an open-source project on GitHub in 2025, QOBLIB provides a platform for comparing quantum and classical algorithms on challenging problem classes. The library, developed with contributions from institutions like Zuse

Will Rising Net Income From Diversified Services Change Credicorp's (BAP) Narrative?

Will Rising Net Income From Diversified Services Change Credicorp's (BAP) Narrative? | Credicorp Ltd. BAP | 0.00 | | - Credicorp Ltd. has reported past results for the second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2026, with quarterly net income of PEN 1,981.92 million versus PEN 1,822.02 million a year earlier, and half-year net income of PEN 4,045.11 million versus PEN 3,599.71 million. - The continued year-on-year rise in quarterly and half-year net income highlights how Credicorp’s diversified financial services model is translating into higher profitability. - We’ll now examine how this higher year-on-year net income shapes Credicorp’s existing investment narrative and the outlook implied by analysts. This technology could replace computers: discover 25 stocks that are working to make quantum computing a reality. Credicorp Investment Narrative Recap To own Credicorp, you need to believe in its ability to convert a diversified Peruvian-centered financial platform into consistently rising profits while managing political, regulatory and credit risks at home. The latest uptick in quarterly and half-year net income reinforces that profitability story, but it does not materially change the key near term swing factors: how quickly digital initiatives like Yape can grow without eroding asset quality, and whether Peru’s policy and tax backdrop, including the SUNAT dispute, remains manageable. Among recent developments, the updated dividend policy and the reaffirmed 2026 cash dividend stand out alongside these stronger earnings. Together, they signal that management currently sees enough capital strength and earnings visibility to support meaningful cash returns, even as it continues to invest in digital platforms and microfinance. For investors watching the earnings trajectory, this combination of higher net income and a clearly articulated payout framework helps frame how future profitability might flow through to shareholders while the main operational and regulatory risks play out. Yet against this improving profit picture,

Fast, unconditional reset and leakage reduction in fixed-frequency transmon qubits

Abstract On-demand qubit-state initialization is a prerequisite for quantum computation. We demonstrate such a protocol in a device consisting of fixed-frequency transmon qubits pair-wise coupled via tunable couplers — an architecture that is also compatible with the surface code. We use tunable couplers to transfer any undesired qubit excitation to the readout resonator of the qubit, from which this excitation decays into the feedline. In total, the combination of multi-level qubit reset, leakage reduction, and coupler reset takes only 88 ns to complete. Our reset scheme is fast, unconditional, and achieves fidelities above 99%, thus enabling fixed-frequency qubit architectures as future implementations of fault-tolerant quantum computers. Similar content being viewed by others Subjects Introduction The capability to reset a qubit to a known state on demand is an essential operation for quantum computation1. Qubit reset is becoming increasingly crucial for speeding up quantum algorithms and calibration, since lifetimes for superconducting qubits have extended to hundreds of microseconds and more2,3,4, such that resetting by simply waiting for the qubit excitation to naturally decay becomes slow5,6. Protocols for qubit reset (that do not just wait for the qubit to decay) can be either conditional or unconditional, depending on whether or not they require knowledge of the qubit state. In conditional reset, the reset operation is conditioned on a previously measured result7: if the qubit is found in the first excited state \(\left\vert \,\text{1}\,\right\rangle\), a π-pulse is applied to drive it back to its ground state \(\left\vert \,\text{0}\,\right\rangle\). The primary limitation for conditional reset is the feedback time of the control electronics, and the success rate of the feedback operation depends on the readout fidelity. In unconditional reset, the excited state of the qubit is depopulated regardless of the initial qubit state5,6,8,9,10,11,12. Existing unconditional reset schemes typically require multiple drive signals, flux-tunable qubits,

Does <b>Quantum</b>‑Enabled Cancer Drug Discovery Shift the Bull Case For Xanadu ...

Xanadu Quantum Technologies and the University of Alberta recently announced a research partnership to develop quantum algorithms that can accelerate the design of next‑generation photosensitizers for photodynamic cancer therapy, aiming to overcome classical computational limits in drug discovery. This move positions Xanadu at the intersection of quantum computing and oncology-focused pharmaceutical research, potentially broadening the real‑world applications of its quantum drug design workflows. We will now examine how this push into quantum‑enabled cancer drug discovery shapes Xanadu’s investment narrative and long‑term positioning. What Is Xanadu Quantum Technologies' Investment Narrative? For Xanadu, the core belief you need to hold is that its quantum software and photonic hardware stack can eventually turn today’s heavy R&D spending into commercially meaningful workflows across pharma, defense, and infrastructure. The new University of Alberta partnership fits that story neatly, giving concrete use cases in oncology and reinforcing Xanadu’s pitch that quantum can matter in real drug discovery, not just in proofs-of-concept. In the short term, though, the bigger catalysts are still around execution: converting its widening web of alliances into recurring revenue, managing a widening net loss of US$42.05 million in Q2, and how it ultimately uses its US$1 billion shelf registration. The Alberta tie-up may strengthen the narrative, but it does little to soften funding and dilution risk right now. However, the way Xanadu funds its ambitions is something investors should not overlook. According our valuation report, there's an indication that Xanadu Quantum Technologies' share price might be on the expensive side. Exploring Other Perspectives Fair value estimates from just 2 members of the Simply Wall St Community range from US$0.02 to above US$60, underscoring how far apart views already are. Set against Xanadu’s persistent losses and the new US$1 billion shelf, this spread highlights why it is worth weighing multiple viewpoints before deciding how

Can AI jump over railings?

The progress of computer science in recent decades has been immense. The computers that guided the lunar missions of the 1960s had only a tiny fraction of the computing power of any of the smartphones we carry in our pockets today. In the 1980s, quantum computing began to be discussed, but while we are still awaiting its practical availability, it is the everyday electronic computers that have done the job. Perhaps the most spectacular has been how graphics processors (GPUs, for their English acronym), along with the enormous amount of data available on the internet, have enabled the current revolution in artificial intelligence (AI). Generative AI models are today so powerful that they inspire not only a certain respect, but also a bit of fear. There is talk of models that "jump the rails" (in English guardrails); that is to say, the limitations that the engineers who trained them have imposed on them. For example, not explaining how to make bombs, how to commit crimes, etc. If a model jumps over the railings that have been placed on it, does it perhaps have its own objectives, ambitions, consciousness, a personality? Following this path, we will soon come to think that models could stop being our kind slaves and become competitors or even formidable enemies.But can a model really bypass guardrails? The short answer is that, unlike humans, who can decide to break behavioral rules as we please, a model cannot independently bypass the guardrails put in place by its creators or trainers. However, there is a longer answer with more nuances. Indeed, an AI model can behave unexpectedly. This can happen if it finds a way to satisfy the literal instruction it has been given without doing what the human who wrote the instruction had in mind. For example, if

Jim Cramer Is Selling His Bitcoin, Citing the <b>Quantum</b> Threat. Here's Why He's Wrong.

CNBC Mad Money host Jim Cramer is selling his Bitcoin (BTC -0.02%), but not for the reason you might think. He's not dumping crypto for artificial intelligence stocks in search of higher returns, as many investors are now doing. Instead, Jim Cramer is selling his Bitcoin because he's worried about the "quantum threat." In short, he's concerned that super-powerful quantum computers will soon be able to crack Bitcoin's cryptography, potentially leading to hundreds of billions of dollars in losses for crypto investors. How real is the "quantum threat"? Cryptocurrencies are valuable for the cryptographic encryption they provide. If that encryption is ever put at risk, it could lead to a crisis of investor confidence. That's why the so-called "quantum threat" posed by quantum computers has been percolating around Bitcoin for nearly a decade now. The good news is that today's computers, no matter how powerful they are, have no realistic chances of breaking Bitcoin's encryption. But what about tomorrow's computers? That's what has Jim Cramer worried. Earlier this year, the quantum computing research unit at Alphabet (GOOG -0.12%) (GOOGL -0.13%) made headlines when it suggested that Bitcoin might be at much more risk than ever suspected. As much as one-third of all Bitcoin in the world might be at risk. And the threat, far from being some far-off science fiction reality, might actually materialize within the span of just a few years. No wonder, then, that a number of high-profile investors have already thrown in the towel on Bitcoin. Cramer did so after IBM (IBM -1.19%) CEO Arvind Krishna appeared on Mad Money to comment on quantum computers and the quantum threat. However, plenty of investors think the quantum threat is way overblown. Some think that the threat is decades away. Even if the threat is just several years away,

A Switch For Qubits Handles 100 Picowatts Of Readout Power

Ziyi Zhao of JILA, National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Colorado, Boulder, and colleagues have designed a new superconducting switch capable of handling more than 100 pW of readout power, a crucial step toward scaling quantum processors. The switch utilizes a stable persistent current associated with tens of flux quanta, minimizing the need for constant recalibration and reducing static power consumption. This design addresses a key limitation in current quantum systems by employing direct current actuation, which reduces potential crosstalk between densely integrated qubits and facilitates more modular cryogenic measurements. The work demonstrates a switch with over 20 dB isolation, comparable to commercial ferrite isolators, and a modulation bandwidth broader than 600 MHz. Persistent Current Bias Enables Long-lived Switch States Researchers have designed a new microwave switch that minimizes energy consumption and signal interference, addressing critical limitations in current quantum systems. The design centers around a persistent current bias and direct current actuation, a departure from conventional methods that depend on continuous magnetic flux biasing and dynamic flux actuation. These traditional approaches often struggle with isolating control signals, creating crosstalk that limits the density of integrated switches and other sensitive components. The new switch circumvents this issue by trapping a current within the superconducting loop, maintaining a stable state for extended periods. Measurements reveal the persistent current remains consistent for less than 1% decay per day, a characteristic crucial for reliable operation in complex quantum circuits. This stability is achieved through a carefully engineered inductive Wheatstone bridge, incorporating 20 tunable inductors, each an antisymmetric rf-SQUID, to implement the necessary inductance. Beyond stability, the switch demonstrates performance metrics suitable for advanced quantum information processing. Transmission measurements show greater than 20 dB of isolation in the off state, a level comparable to commercially available ferrite isolators. This high

IonQ Stock Leads 3 <b>Quantum Computing</b> Stocks Backed By Government Demand

- United States - / - IT - / - NasdaqGM:QNT IonQ Stock Leads 3 Quantum Computing Stocks Backed By Government Demand Surging export prices in South Korea suggest global buyers are willing to pay up for advanced tech inputs, which keeps attention on next generation computing. Quantum computing stocks sit at the crossroads of this demand for more processing power and specialised hardware. This article looks at three stocks from the Quantum Computing Stocks screener that show how different companies are trying to turn this long term tech shift into potential shareholder value. The three quantum computing stocks covered below are just a starting sample, and the full screen surfaced 21 more companies with equally compelling narratives that are not included in this article. To go deeper into this theme, identify your own ideas, and analyze potential opportunities side by side, head straight to the Quantum Computing Stocks screener. IonQ (IONQ) Overview: IonQ is a US based quantum computing company that sells access to its trapped ion quantum computers through major cloud platforms and its own services, while also building quantum safe communications, detection systems, and specialized hardware for government and commercial clients. It complements this core business with maintenance, consulting, semiconductor manufacturing services, and research collaborations such as its agreement with the University of Chicago. Operations: IonQ currently reports all of its roughly US$246 million in revenue from Computer Services, with customers spread across the United States, Switzerland and other international markets. Market Cap: US$17.1b IonQ attracts attention because it sits at the heart of quantum computing hardware and services, but is also racing to become a vertically integrated platform after acquiring SkyWater Technology and building out its own quantum internet and sensing capabilities. The company is winning sizable government and defense contracts, including multi year DARPA and