Atom Computing raises $300M to build world’s first fault-tolerant, commercially viable quantum computer

The race to build a functional, fault-tolerant quantum computer gained even more momentum today with Atom Computing Inc. raising a hefty $300 million in funding to accelerate its roadmap toward commercial availability.

The round includes a $100 million Series C investment led by Third Point Ventures, with participation from DCVC, Cisco Investments and others. Another $100 million will come from the U.S. Department of Commerce, guaranteed through a signed letter of intent.

Atom Computing is one of the companies at the forefront of an approach to quantum computing known as “neutral atoms.” The company believes that it’s the most pragmatic way of building fault-tolerant quantum machines. The technique involves using nuclear-spin qubits created with neutral atoms, which possess an equal number of electrons and protons.

The power of quantum computers comes from their reliance on qubits. Whereas traditional computers use “bits” that have a value of a zero or a one, qubits can be a zero, one or both at the same time, opening the door for multiple calculations to be performed simultaneously.

Quantum computers are believed to have enormous potential, as they could eventually become exponentially more powerful than the most advanced classical supercomputers in use today. But to do that, companies like Atom must find a way to stabilize large numbers of ultra-sensitive qubits so they can function together and perform calculations without errors creeping in.

The ultra sensitivity of qubits is what makes them so difficult to work with. Something such as the vibration of a needle falling onto the floor, or the fluctuations of the Earth’s magnetic field, is enough to throw them off, resulting in errors in a quantum computer’s calculations. Solving this challenge is critical to building working quantum machines.

While Google LLC and IBM Corp. are pursuing an approach known as superconducting qubits, which are stored at temperatures close to absolute zero, Atom’s unique approach is to create its qubits using neutral atoms that can be manipulated with powerful light beams.

Atom reckons it’s making steady progress. It recently demonstrated its ability to conduct quantum error correction, becoming only the second company in the industry to do this in a public setting. That milestone came after it became the first in the world to surpass the 1,000-qubit threshold for a universal gate-based quantum system.

As of now, it has advanced to Stage B of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, which is a project exploring ways to develop utility-scale quantum systems. Other key partners include Microsoft Corp., which uses Atom’s neutral atom qubits and related technologies for its own quantum systems, plus Nvidia Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc.

Third Point Ventures’ Curtis McKee said his firm has already backed Atom once before, and has become utterly convinced of the potential of its technology. “Neutral atom quantum computing is one of the most credible paths to fault-tolerant systems at scale and we believe commercial breakthroughs are closer than the market appreciates,” he said. “Atom Computing will be at the center of that moment.”

The startup has laid out a plan to get there, and that’s where the fresh funding will come in very handy. Among other things, it’s planning to scale up its quantum machines with higher qubit counts and enhanced fidelity, which are key to making them commercially useful. It will also invest in the software side, such as the control systems and error correction tools needed to advance logical qubit operations, and expand the global deployments of its existing and future systems at government, enterprise and research customers. In order to do all of this, it will need to grow its engineering, research and go-to-market teams, it said.

Aleem Rizvon of Cisco Investments said quantum computers are on the verge of having a real-world impact, and he believes it presents a big opportunity for Cisco itself. “Quantum computing is rapidly evolving from a research pursuit into a technology platform with real-world applications,” he said. “As it matures, it will require scalable infrastructure, secure networking and strong ecosystem collaboration to support real-world deployment.”

Atom is targeting practical quantum applications in a broad range of areas, including materials science, pharmaceutical development, energy and logistics. However, it’s not the only startup pursuing the neutral atom-qubit approach. It looks to have a tight race on its hands with the emergence of QuEra Computing Inc., which is working closely with Amazon Web Services Inc. to bring its first commercially available fault-tolerant quantum computer to market by 2028.

Photo: Atom Computing