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C12is announcing that it latterly fire an € 18 million financial backing round ( $ 19.4 million at today ’s interchange pace ) . in the first place founded in 2020 as a spinoff from the Physics Laboratory of the École Normale Supérieure , the company has been work on a unequalled process to create quantum computers based on C nanotubes .
While the concept of quantum computation is n’t young , it is still very much a work in progress . Many scientific teams have been approaching this subject from dissimilar angles . The goal is to create a quantum computing machine at scale that can execute figuring with a low amount of errors .
But wait , why do we need quantum computers in the first stead ? Computers as they subsist today are entirely base on electronic junction transistor . And we ’ve become really good at create junction transistor smaller so we can jam more of them in a single chipping . As a result , cypher power has progressed at an exponential gait over the preceding 60 years .
And yet , the current estimator architecture has its limits . Even if companies set forth building bigger data centers , some problems simply ca n’t be solved with traditional computers . It is also indecipherable whetherMoore ’s lawwill persist valid in the year to come .
This is where quantum computers could prove useful .
“ If we desire to produce a manakin — an thorough pretending of a chemical response — to know how novel drugs are go to interact with our cells , that ’s not possible with a established approach , ” C12 cobalt - laminitis and CEO Pierre Desjardins ( fancy right ) told TechCrunch .
“ There are a whole host of optimization problems to be solved , whether in tape drive , logistics or manufacturing . They are insufferable to race on a conventional computer because there will be too many variables , too many possible scenario , ” he keep on .
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Matthieu Desjardins , his crony , has a Ph.D. in quantum cathartic and acts as the CTO of the ship’s company . At some point in our conversation , Pierre even called his brother a “ scientific ace . ”
And because it ’s 2024 , there ’s even an AI angle that should convince you that quantum calculation research is important . “ Today , training a large terminology model also means consuming an tremendous amount of energy , ” Pierre said . “ And quantum is also a computing method that uses much less energy . ”
How to build a quantum computer
C12 say the two key dispute with the other teams working on quantum computers are that it use a different material ( carbon nanotubes ) and it has a specific manufacture procedure ( a nano - assembly process that is now patented ) .
“ Today , I think we are the only ones in the cosmos to hold in this very special outgrowth , which involves putting a carbon copy carbon nanotube on top of a silicon potato chip . And what ’s dead enthralling is the scale . The diam of a C nanotube is 10,000 time smaller than a human haircloth , ” Pierre said .
Research squad work for big party like Google , IBM or Amazon are currently focalize on a different process . Most of them are using superconducting material , such as aluminum , on top of a Si substrate .
According to C12 , this method has conduce to former find . However , using aluminum is n’t going to work at plate due to interferences as you initiate adding more qubits . While quantum is n’t mature yet , C12 believes it is working on next - multiplication quantum computer science liken to these aluminum - based processes .
The company has place up its first production line in a basement near the Pantheon in Paris . In this deftness , they make up carbon nanotubes , control those tubes and then integrate them with the silicon substrate .
“ It ’s now up and running . Today , we produce about one chipping a week , which we then screen in our mini data center , ” Pierre tell . But do n’t expect to see a quantum computer just yet . “ We are still really just validating fundamental component , ” he added . The company is focus on chips with one or two qubits for the second .
Emulating quantum
As enquiry and ontogeny workplace come on , the C12 team is also work on its business ecosystem . Like many quantum companies , C12 has created an emulator called Callisto . Emulators let developers compose and run some quantum codification on a classical computer .
They ’re not give out to get the results they would get with a quantum calculator , but at least they will be quick to attain the ground running when quantum computers are useable .
“ We are currently focalise on two verticals , the chemical manufacture and the energy industry . The chemical substance industry uses it to feign chemical reactions and the energy diligence use it in the main for optimization problems , ” Pierre say . In special , the startup has a partnership with Air Liquide .
And if we go back to the financial support round , Varsity Capital , EIC Fund and Verve Ventures are invest in it ; existing investors 360 Capital , Bpifrance ’s Digital Venture fund and BNP Paribas Développement are also participate once again in this round .
There are 45 multitude from 18 unlike nationalities working for C12 today , including 22 PhDs . With the recently raised cap , C12 plan to sign more partnerships with industrial partners . But the company also has a inquiry end .
“ The other goal is to carry out , for the first time , a quantum mental process between two qubits that are located at a foresighted distance from each other , ” Pierre said . By long distance , he means “ tens of micrometers ” from each other . It does n’t seem like much , but it will be cardinal when it do to scaling quantum computing .
