Infleqtion, a leading quantum tech firm with offices in Madison, is accelerating with $550 million in new funding after going public earlier this year.
Chief Scientist and UW-Madison physics Prof. Mark Saffman addressed attendees of yesterday’s launch event for the Wisconsin Quantum Alliance in Madison, organized by the Wisconsin Technology Council. The initiative aims to accelerate tech development and commercialization of quantum in Wisconsin, as well as preparing for future workforce needs.
The Colorado-based company, which has had a presence in Madison since 2018, has deployed various forms of quantum computing-enabled technology for use around the world. That includes at government agencies in the United States, UK and Japan as well as commercial customers, even as related academic research continues in Saffman’s lab.
“The products we’re developing have and will have applications in AI, national security, energy optimization and scientific discovery, and also up in space,” Saffman said.
Infleqtion is developing “neutral atom” quantum computers, advanced sensors and related software, leveraging the technical advantage provided by quantum computing over classical computers. This approach differs from other quantum computers that use charged atoms, or ions, allowing the atoms to be held in close confinement with one another.
“You can, with one core technology, attack the whole range of quantum applications,” Saffman said.
By shining a laser through specialized glass capsules containing these atoms in various configurations, the company has created quantum computers, quantum clocks for precise time measurement, radio signal detection tools and “inertial sensors” for navigation and other purposes. .
“Interestingly, the same way that we use atoms for these [radio frequency] sensors is also really the same way we use atoms as part of the computer, so there’s a lot of synergy in these different applications based on the same core technology,” he said.
The company has also created a suite of accompanying software, ranging from systems for controlling the hardware to applications for applied use.
Infleqtion has a “multitude” of contracts with early adopters of the technology, including a potential application in the financial space with JPMorgan Chase & Co., Saffman noted. The company has provided quantum computers to the UK National Quantum Computing Centre, and is under contract to deliver an even larger one to the Illinois Quantum & Microelectronics Park that’s currently being built south of Chicago.
Meanwhile, the company also provided “core technology” for the International Space Station and is currently developing a major project with NASA focused on monitoring resources on the planet’s surface from space.
The company was first founded in 2007 under the name ColdQuanta as a spinoff from the University of Colorado. But Saffman said a key breakthrough in its development occurred in 2010 when scientists in Madison demonstrated the world’s first neutral atom-based “building block” component for quantum computing.
“It became very clear that this wasn’t just a science project, but we had a real chance to build the world’s first usable quantum computer using atoms,” he said, noting WARF was one of the early investors in the company when it opened its R&D facility in Madison about eight years ago.
While other quantum computing companies have gone public in recent years, Saffman says Infleqtion was the first “and so far the only” company working with neutral atom quantum technology to do so.
“Going public gave us the resources to really accelerate,” he said. “We put $550 million on the books … and we’re accelerating the deployment of quantum systems for computing, for sensing, aligned with administration and congressional priorities.”
