Merger creates quantum computing giant
Cambridge Quantum Computing (CQ) in the UK is to merge with Honeywell Quantum Solutions to create the world’s largest quantum business with a staff of 300.
Upon completion in Q3, Honeywell will own a majority stake of the as yet unnamed company, expected to be headquartered in the US. The move is part of the positioning for a quantum computing industry projected to be worth $1 trillion.
The new company will offer a 512 qubit ion trap H1 quantum computer system and a full suite of quantum software from CQ, including the first and most advanced quantum operating system. However the software business will remain hardware agnostic and continue to be fully compatible with all global quantum hardware providers. The Cambridge Quantum software and algorithm development team in Cambridge, UK will also be expanded.
The company will also focus on the advancement of natural language processing to expand the use of quantum artificial intelligence.
Honeywell will also invest $270m to $300m in the merged company and will have a long-term agreement to help manufacture the critical ion traps needed to power the quantum hardware.
The deal is expected to be complete in the third quarter of 2021.
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Honeywell Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Darius Adamczyk will serve as chairman of the new company, which will be led by Ilyas Khan, CEO and founder of CQC. Tony Uttley, currently the president of HQS, will serve as the new company’s president. Honeywell has been an investor in and commercial partner with CQC since 2019.
Next: Quantum computing on the Honeywell H1
“Since we first announced Honeywell’s quantum business in 2018, we have heard from many investors who have been eager to invest directly in our leading technologies at the forefront of this exciting and dynamic industry – now, they will be able to do so,” said Adamczyk as the new chairman. “The new company will provide the best avenue for us to onboard new, diverse sources of capital at scale that will help drive rapid growth.”
“The new company will have the best talent in the industry, the world’s highest-performing quantum computer, the first and most advanced quantum operating system, and comprehensive, hardware-agnostic software that will drive the future of the quantum computing industry. The new company will be extremely well positioned to create value in the near-term within the quantum computing industry by offering the critical global infrastructure needed to support the sector’s explosive growth.”
Honeywell’s cross-disciplinary team of more than 160 scientists, engineers, and software developers will join the new company with a combined staff of over 300. The H1 system applies electromagnetic fields to trap each supercooled ion so it can be manipulated and encoded using laser pulses. This needs expertise across atomic physics, optics, cryogenics, lasers, magnetics, ultra-high vacuum, and precision control systems, and will continue to be built by Honeywell for the new company.
CQC was founded in 2014 and is backed by some of the world’s leading quantum computing companies with a team of approximately 150 and offices in Europe, the United Kingdom, Japan, and the United States.
www.honeywell.com; https://cambridgequantum.com/
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