C12 is asserting that it lately raised an €18 million funding spherical ($19.4 million at right this moment’s trade charge). Originally founded in 2020 as a spin-off from the Physics Laboratory of the École Normale Supérieure, the firm has been engaged on a novel course of to create quantum computer systems based mostly on carbon nanotubes.
While the idea of quantum computing isn’t new, it’s nonetheless very a lot a piece in progress. Many scientific groups have been approaching this subject from completely different angles. The purpose is to create a quantum pc at scale and that may execute calculations with a low quantity of errors.
But wait, why do we want quantum computer systems in the first place? Computers as they exist right this moment are completely based mostly on digital transistors. And we’ve change into actually good at making transistors smaller so we are able to pack extra transistors in a single chip. As a consequence, computing energy has progressed at an exponential tempo over the previous 60 years.
And but, the present pc structure has its limits. Even if corporations begin constructing larger information facilities, some issues merely can’t be solved with conventional computer systems. It can be unclear whether or not Moore’s regulation will stay legitimate in the years to return.
This is the place quantum computer systems might show helpful.
“If we want to create a model — an exhaustive simulation of a chemical reaction — to know how new drugs are going to interact with our cells, that’s not possible with a conventional approach,” C12 co-founder and CEO Pierre Desjardins (pictured proper) informed Ztoog.
“There are a whole host of optimization problems to be solved, whether in transport, logistics or manufacturing. They are impossible to run on a conventional computer because there will be too many variables, too many possible scenarios,” he continued.
Matthieu Desjardins, his brother, has a PhD in quantum physics and acts as the CTO of the firm. At some level in our dialog, Pierre Desjardins even referred to as his brother a “scientific genius.”
And as a result of it’s 2024, there’s even an AI angle that ought to persuade you that quantum computing analysis is necessary. “Today, training a large language model also means consuming an enormous amount of energy,” Pierre Desjardins stated. “And quantum is also a computing method that uses much less energy.”
How to construct a quantum pc
C12’s two key variations with the different groups engaged on quantum computer systems are that it makes use of a special materials — carbon nanotubes — and it has a particular manufacturing course of — a nano-assembly course of that’s now patented.
“Today, I think we are the only ones in the world to control this very special process, which involves putting a carbon nanotube on top of a silicon chip. And what’s absolutely fascinating is the scale. The diameter of a carbon nanotube is 10,000 times smaller than a human hair,” Pierre Desjardins stated.
Research groups working for large corporations like Google, IBM or Amazon are at the moment specializing in a special course of. Most of them are utilizing superconducting supplies, reminiscent of aluminum, on prime of a silicon substrate.
According to C12, whereas this technique has led to early breakthroughs. However, utilizing aluminum isn’t going to work at scale resulting from interferences as you begin including extra qubits. While quantum isn’t mature but, C12 believes it’s engaged on next-generation quantum computing in comparison with these aluminum-based processes.
The firm has arrange its first manufacturing line in a basement close to the Pantheon in Paris. In this facility, they manufacture carbon nanotubes, management these tubes after which combine them with the silicon substrate.
“It’s now up and running. Today, we produce about one chip a week, which we then test in our mini data center,” Pierre Desjardins stated. But don’t anticipate to see a quantum pc simply but. “We are still really just validating fundamental elements,” he added. The firm is specializing in chips with one or two qubits for the second.
Emulating quantum
As analysis and improvement work progresses, the C12 group can be engaged on its enterprise ecosystem. Like many quantum corporations, C12 has created an emulator referred to as Callisto. Emulators let builders write and run some quantum code on a classical pc.
They’re not going to get the outcomes they might get with a quantum pc, however no less than they are going to be able to hit the floor operating when quantum computer systems can be found.
“We are currently focusing on two verticals, the chemical industry and the energy industry. The chemical industry uses it to simulate chemical reactions and the energy industry uses it mainly for optimization problems,” Pierre Desjardins stated. In explicit, the startup has a partnership with Air Liquide.
And if we return to the funding spherical, Varsity Capital, EIC Fund and Verve Ventures are investing on this newly introduced funding spherical. Existing traders 360 Capital, Bpifrance’s Digital Venture fund and BNP Paribas Développement are taking part as soon as once more on this spherical.
There are 45 folks from 18 completely different nationalities working for C12 right this moment, together with 22 PhDs. With the lately raised capital, C12 plans to signal extra partnerships with industrial companions. But the firm additionally has a analysis purpose.
“The other goal is to carry out, for the first time, a quantum operation between two qubits that are located at a long distance from each other,” Pierre Desjardins stated. By lengthy distance, he means “tens of micrometers” from one another. It doesn’t seem to be a lot, however it is going to be key on the subject of scaling quantum computing.