D-Wave completed a planned merger on Monday with DPCM Capital (the latter of which was already listed on the New York Stock Exchange), making the Canada-basedfirm the third quantum player to go public via a SPACthat is, a special purpose acquisition companywithin the last year. (The other companies? Rigetti and IonQ.)
Its an interesting trend, but perhaps not a surprising one: According to D-Wave CEO Alan Baratz, the until-recently-obscure financial quirk offers his companyone thats in a still-budding sectorfaster access to capital.
In some sense SPACs are ideal for a company that has huge potential but is going to take some time to mature,he tells Fast Company. With a SPAC, youre able to tap into the funding sources in the public markets to accelerate your growth and do it based on the future potential.
A traditional IPO, on the other hand, is all about today, he adds.
SPACs can also save companies money (though this point is subject to some debate). I dont think all SPACs should be discounted, says Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy, a consulting firm. Its a much less expensive way to go public and takes less time and effort.
So far, D-Waves post-SPAC stock is holding its own. It opened at $9.98 Monday and closed at $11.86 on Thursday. But Rigetti and IonQ havent fared as well. Rigetti has seen its shares drop in value by roughly half since its listing on the NASDAQ in March. IonQs shares have lost about 40% of their value since its listing in October 2021.
In the young field of quantum computing, D-Wave has emerged as a major character. Back in 2011, the company became the first to actually sell a quantum computer; it now counts NASA, Google, and Lockheed Martin as customers.
Building and operating a quantum computer is an extraordinary feat of science and engineering. Instead of the bits used in traditional computers (which can be set to zero or one), quantum computers use subatomic particles called qubits, which can represent many values between zero and one, as well as zero and one at the same time (a superposition). Qubits can also entangle to represent values in extremely complex problems. In order to take advantage of these properties, the computer has to control the state of the qubits, whose erratic behavior is governed by quantum physics, not regular physics. This is very hard, and usually involves supercooling the qubits to slow their constant spin, then using lasers or electricity to control their state.
D-Wave was able to get to market with a quantum computer because it adopted a unique approach to working with the qubitsone that asks far less of them. What its looking for is the minimum energy level within a qubit, and by finding the minimum energy level, then theyre able to find the most optimized solution to a problem, says Heather West, research manager at research firm IDC. And thats why D-Wave is able to say they have 5,000 to 7,000 qubits in their system versus an IBM, which is still down around 127.
Even though that approach, called quantum annealing, doesnt try to exert a lot of control over the states of the qubits, its still very useful for solving optimization problemsthat is, problems where the goal is to find the best solution among a huge number of possibles. An optimization problem might be finding the optimal routes and cargos for a large fleet of delivery trucks, or finding the optimal number of employees to schedule on a given day. Its a common type of business puzzle, and annealers are especially good at solving them.
Some of these industries really gravitated toward D-Wave because of those optimization problems, and being able to pull in all sorts of data to find these optimized solutions and solving problems faster was really appealing, West says.
That application is a good example of the way companies are using quantum services like D-Wave today. Theyre looking for problem types where classical computers struggle and quantum computers excel.
They [D-Wave] are really more of an accelerator, says Ashish Nadkarni, group VP and general manager at IDC. We are not at the point where you can completely run all kinds of jobs on a quantum computer.
But D-Waves annealer may eventually be seen as a forerunner to a more robust kind of quantum computing, called gate model, in which the quantum computer takes full advantage of the quantum properties of the qubitstheir many possible states, their capacity for superposition, and the compute power enabled by multiple qubits entangling with each other.
Controlling and leveraging these properties opens the possibility of solving problems that are far beyond the reach of classical supercomputers (and annealers). These are large probabilistic problems where the qubits are asked to model huge and complex data sets. It could be modeling all the receptors in the brain to explore how theyll react to a drug, or a huge array of stock market conditions to predict their effect on the price of a certain commodity.
Realizing that much of the upside and excitement around quantum computing is coming from the possibility to solve such problems, D-Wave announced last year that it had begun building gate-model quantum computers more like the ones built by Google, IBM, and IonQ. D-Wave will need years to develop its gate-model quantum, but Baratz believes offering both annealers and gate-model quantum computing will eventually put his company at an advantage.
By doing both and being the only company thats doing both, were the only company in the world that will be able to address the full market for quantum, and the full set of use cases, he says. D-Waves customers typically tap into these computing services via a dedicated cloud service.
Because quantum is considered a nascent technology, many potential customers (such as companies in the financial services and pharmaceutical industries) are experimenting with running certain types of algorithms on quantum systems to look for some advantage over classical computing. But theyre not necessarily paying customers.
Baratz says that its the gate-model quantum services that are nascent technology, not D-Waves annealers, which he says are ready to deliver real value today. He believes the gate-model quantum computers are still as many as seven years away from being able to run general business applications in a way that beats classical computers.
Baratz believes that D-Wave is now challenged to make sure customers differentiate between gate-model computingwhich he says could be as many as seven years away from running real business applicationsand D-Waves quantum annealing service, which is mature and ready to deliver value today. While his gate-model competitors are out telling customers its okay to dip their toes into the water and experiment, D-Wave must counter that narrative in the marketplace with the message that customers can be doing real optimization work using quantum annealing now.
We truly are commercial, so when our competitors talk about revenue, they talk about government research grants as revenue, and they talk about national labs and academic institutions as customers, Baratz says. When we talk about our customers, we talk about our recently announced deal with MasterCard, or Deloitte or Johnson & Johnson or Volkswagen.
Baratz says over 65% of D-Waves quantum cloud revenue last year came from more than 50 commercial customers, which include over two dozen members of the Forbes Global 2000.
Baratz says D-Wave is now entering a phase in which it can leverage its annealers to start customer relationships.
We do have a significant head start, but we think now is the time to really make the investment to grow that loyal customer base and get the market share, Baratz says.And then, as we bring new generations of annealing to market, its just an upsell to more complex applications as we bring gate [model] to market.
Read more:
D-Wave is the third quantum startup to SPAC in less than a year - Fast Company
- Netflixs 3 Body Problem: The science explained by an astrophysicist - Vox.com - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Entanglement entropies of nuclear systems gro - EurekAlert - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- The Quest for a Theory of Everything Scientists Put Einstein to the Test - SciTechDaily - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Vibrating atoms are seen 'tuning' the energy of a single electron - Earth.com - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Innovator Spotlight: Joseph Maciejko | The Quad - University of Alberta - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- A Breakthrough in the Control of Quantum Phenomena at Room Temperature Has Been Achieved, Researchers Say - The Debrief - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- The End of the Quantum Ice Age: Room Temperature Breakthrough - SciTechDaily - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Quantum computer outperformed by new traditional computing - Earth.com - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- URI program to help STEM professionals pivot into quantum information science careers - The University of Rhode Island - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Quantum realm controlled at room temperature for the first time - Earth.com - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Quantum Breakthrough: New Method Preserves Information Against All Odds - SciTechDaily - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Quantum computers get new design that makes them more "useful" - Earth.com - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Beyond Classical Physics: Scientists Discover New State of Matter With Chiral Properties - SciTechDaily - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Quantum research sheds light on the mystery of high-temperature superconductivity - Tech Explorist - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Unlocking the Mysteries of Quantum Many-Body Systems: A Look at Quantum Simulators and Universal Scaling ... - Medriva - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Functioning quantum internet makes giant stride closer to reality - Earth.com - February 13th, 2024 [February 13th, 2024]
- Exploring New Futures in Space: A Revolutionary Integration of Neuroscience, Quantum Physics, and Space Exploration - SETI Institute - February 13th, 2024 [February 13th, 2024]
- Uncovering the Quantum Plateau: Significance and Implications | Nature Physics - Medriva - February 13th, 2024 [February 13th, 2024]
- The State of the Art in Quantum Computing - Medium - February 13th, 2024 [February 13th, 2024]
- Beyond the Visible Universe: New Research Reveals How Gravity Influences the Quantum Realm - SciTechDaily - February 13th, 2024 [February 13th, 2024]
- Leader of IBM's Quantum Safe Team to speak at URI - University of Rhode Island - September 23rd, 2023 [September 23rd, 2023]
- University Assistant Predoctoral, Physics job with UNIVERSITY OF ... - Times Higher Education - September 23rd, 2023 [September 23rd, 2023]
- Zentropy A New Theory That Could Transform Material Science - SciTechDaily - September 23rd, 2023 [September 23rd, 2023]
- Researchers Studying the Quantum Realm Observe Alice in ... - The Debrief - September 23rd, 2023 [September 23rd, 2023]
- Augusta University graduate starts business in the artificial ... - Jagwire Augusta - September 23rd, 2023 [September 23rd, 2023]
- Quantum Echoes: A Revolutionary Method to Store Information as Sound Waves - SciTechDaily - August 14th, 2023 [August 14th, 2023]
- 'Quantum superchemistry' observed for the 1st time ever - Space.com - August 14th, 2023 [August 14th, 2023]
- Quantum Avalanche A Phenomenon That May Revolutionize Microelectronics and Supercomputing - SciTechDaily - August 14th, 2023 [August 14th, 2023]
- Applications of quantum mechanics at the beach - Symmetry magazine - August 14th, 2023 [August 14th, 2023]
- Book Review: On the Origin of Time Stephen Hawking's Final Theory - Moose Jaw Today - August 14th, 2023 [August 14th, 2023]
- Harnessing Quantum Technologies: The Next Big Leap in Global ... - Fagen wasanni - August 14th, 2023 [August 14th, 2023]
- The quantum avalanche - At the Vienna University of Technology, it ... - Chemie.de - August 14th, 2023 [August 14th, 2023]
- Semiconductors: The Linchpin of AI in Quantum Computing - Fagen wasanni - August 14th, 2023 [August 14th, 2023]
- The Promising Collaboration Between AI and Quantum Computing - Fagen wasanni - August 14th, 2023 [August 14th, 2023]
- String theory physicist changed quantum field theory - USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences - August 14th, 2023 [August 14th, 2023]
- QUANTUM SUPERCOMPUTERS. The words Quantum and ... - Medium - August 14th, 2023 [August 14th, 2023]
- Fourteen MIT School of Science professors receive tenure for 2022 ... - MIT News - August 14th, 2023 [August 14th, 2023]
- The Fascinating World of Quantum Integrated Circuits: The Next Big ... - Fagen wasanni - August 14th, 2023 [August 14th, 2023]
- Conclusive Evidence for Modified Gravity: Collapse of Newton's and ... - SciTechDaily - August 14th, 2023 [August 14th, 2023]
- Physicists Open New Path to an Exotic Form of Superconductivity - SciTechDaily - August 14th, 2023 [August 14th, 2023]
- The Principle of Least Action Now Exists in the Quantum Realm - Popular Mechanics - June 10th, 2023 [June 10th, 2023]
- Quantum materials: Electron spin measured for the first time - EurekAlert - June 10th, 2023 [June 10th, 2023]
- Life in a hologram | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT News - June 10th, 2023 [June 10th, 2023]
- If Black Holes Evaporate, Everything Evaporates - Universe Today - June 10th, 2023 [June 10th, 2023]
- Clever Ant-Man Easter Egg Links The Movie to the Real World's ... - Startefacts - June 10th, 2023 [June 10th, 2023]
- Quantum Cryptography: The Cutting Edge of Secure Communication - CityLife - June 10th, 2023 [June 10th, 2023]
- This 17-year-old works to make quantum mainstream - Indiatimes.com - June 10th, 2023 [June 10th, 2023]
- The multiverse is doomed and even Spider-Man and The Flash can't save it - Yahoo Entertainment - June 10th, 2023 [June 10th, 2023]
- Physics of Time Travel: A Scientific Perspective - Mirage News - June 10th, 2023 [June 10th, 2023]
- Quantum Spin Liquids: The Future of Superconductors - EnergyPortal.eu - June 10th, 2023 [June 10th, 2023]
- Interview: Three Books That Make Tess Gunty Angry - The New York Times - June 10th, 2023 [June 10th, 2023]
- Events Calendar School of Mathematics and Statistics Colloquium ... - Carleton University - June 10th, 2023 [June 10th, 2023]
- Graphene and Quantum Computing: A Match Made in Heaven - CityLife - June 10th, 2023 [June 10th, 2023]
- A Quantum Computer Simulation Has Reversed Time And Physics May Never Be The Same - Twisted Sifter - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- Realizing the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Paradox for Atomic Clouds - Physics - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- The US and UK team up to advance quantum information science - Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- How plants can perform feats of quantum mechanics - Big Think - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- Physicists Make Matter out of Light to Find Quantum Singularities - Scientific American - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- Eventually everything will evaporate, not only black holes - Science Daily - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- Julius-Maximillians-Universitt Wrzburg Researchers Use ... - HPCwire - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- TNTs The Lazarus Project Uses Suspense Trapping to Ask Smart ... - Roger Ebert - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- Quantum Exponential: building a cutting edge quantum technology ... - The Armchair Trader - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- IMDEA Software and IMDEA Networks work to deploy in the ... - EurekAlert - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- Ian Hacking, Eminent Philosopher of Science and Much Else, Dies ... - The New York Times - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- Does mass increase when nearing the speed of light? - Big Think - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- Answering Questions about Boring Numbers, Disasters, Fusion, and ... - Scientific American - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- Spiderman: Across the Spider-verse | Reel World | timesnewspapers ... - Webster-Kirkwood Times, Inc. - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- There's a Secret Way to Get to Absolute Zero. Scientists Just Found It. - Popular Mechanics - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Photon Precision: How Quantum Physicists Shattered the Bounds of Sensitivity - SciTechDaily - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Do we live in a hologram? Why physics is still mesmerised by this idea - New Scientist - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Is Ultimate Truth an Equation? Nah. The Stute - The Stute - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- UChicago Lab Creates 'Quantum Casino,' a Win-Win to Educate and ... - Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Physics - Tweezers in Three Dimensions - Physics - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Brave new world: On the edge of a second quantum revolution - University of Cape Town News - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Researchers pull back the quantum curtain on 'Weyl fermions' - Phys.org - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Scale separation: Breaking down unsolvable problems into solvable ones - Phys.org - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Postdoctoral Research Associate in Quantum Optics job with ... - Times Higher Education - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Australia's first quantum strategy predicts $6 billion in revenue and ... - SmartCompany - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Nature's Quantum Secret: Link Discovered Between Photosynthesis ... - SciTechDaily - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Two ERC proof of concept grants for the University of Bonn - EurekAlert - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]