A
few weeks after the UK pledged GBP150m
to help develop commercial quantum computing (QC) applications, a group of Britain’s best-known QC
scientists moved to Silicon Valley to found PsiQ.
The
50 employee strong startup is aiming
to produce a commercial quantum computer within the next five years, and was co-founded by Jeremy O’Brien, a physicist
at the University of Bristol and Terry Rudolph, a professor at Imperial College
London.
According
to Philipp Gerbert, senior partner at BCG and a former physicist “this would be
a major breakthrough if and when it becomes available.”
Analysis and Comments
Retaining expertise in quantum computing is crucial for a number of reasons beyond the market for designing and building quantum computers.
The prospect of a quantum processor with several million qubits being available on a 10- to 15-year timeframe makes the quantum cyber security threat increasingly real today.
“Sensitive” organisations whose value or function depends on protecting valuable long-lived data (i.e. governments and their agencies, defence, critical infrastructure, autos and aerospace OEMs), will be exposed to quantum computing’s forward threat of “harvest now, quantum decrypt later”.
Such organisations will soon need to migrate to quantum-safe cyber security, and that will create a cycle of spending for well-placed cyber/IT names, hence we think this is the best way to play the quantum computing theme in the near/mid-term.
