Jack Torrance
2 hours ago
So, according to IonQ, each additional qubit doubles the computational power of their machines. Sounds awesome, right? Well, I just did the math on what that means for the jump from AQ36 (Forte) to AQ64 (Tempo), and it's astounding.
This represents 28 individual qubit increases, doubling the power from each one previous. 37 is double 36, 38 is double 37, 39 is double 38, etc.... The rise is of course exponential, not linear.
If my math is correct, that means that Tempo will be 268,435,456 times more powerful than Forte.
Yes, you read that right
268.4 MILLION TIMES MORE POWERFUL.
Forte, from what I'm reading, is already right at the precipice of surpassing classical computers at most computational types, and even surpassing them in some. IonQ's Forte system is already reducing compute time considerably for some problems.
NOW IMAGINE A COMPUTER 268.4 MILLION TIMES MORE POWERFUL.
Holy. Effing. Shit.
Monksdream
15 hours ago
TECHNOLOGY
The Costs and Benefits of Quantum Computing
Photo illustration of IBM's quantum computer
Photo illustration by Connor Lin / The Daily Upside, Photos by Lars Plougmann via CC BY-SA 2.0 and IBM España
AI may be the current darling of the tech industry, but many firms may already have their sights on what could be the next big thing: Quantum computing.
While this revolutionary approach to computation based on the principles of quantum physics is often dismissed as theoretical and far off, scientists are actually getting closer to making quantum computers that blow away traditional ones. Though adoption faces significant roadblocks, as these devices must be kept in a delicate state to work properly, the payoff could be huge for a variety of industries, experts told The Daily Upside.
“Once we deploy it, in terms of the benefits it's going to provide, I have no qualms about the ROI,” said Karthee Madasamy, founder and managing partner at deep tech venture fund MFV Partners. “It's not just a pure science project, let's put it that way. We’re beyond that.”
The Brass Tacks
If you’re confused about what exactly quantum computing is, these are devices that are potentially capable of performing incredibly complex calculations at a rate far faster than that of an everyday, classical computer. Rather than the typical ones and zeros that make a normal computer run, a quantum computer uses qubits capable of existing as both one and zero at once, a phenomenon known as superposition. Those qubits become entangled, meaning they can influence one another, enabling faster problem-solving.
“Think of a road that has cars that can go one direction or the other, and all of a sudden, you can have cars go in any direction at the same time, instantaneously,” said Karl Holmqvist, Founder and CEO of cybersecurity firm Lastwall. This creates “massive parallelization potential, and it allows you to solve problems that currently are extremely difficult in almost negligible amounts of time.”
Superposition is a state of being that, while extremely delicate to maintain, has the potential to completely transform a number of industries – and has already proven itself useful in research: A quantum computer built by Google, a leader in the nascent market, was able to instantly execute a task in July that would have taken a supercomputer 47 years to process.
Besides Google, other Big Tech companies and startups are also making leaps in quantum computing. Microsoft announced in November plans to launch a commercial quantum computer in 2025 in partnership with Atom Computing. IBM launched its most advanced quantum computer yet last month, performing at “record levels of scale, speed, and accuracy.” Amazon AWS announced Quantum Embark, a program aimed at helping customers figure out how to prepare for and utilize quantum technology.
In the startup world, PsiQuantum announced plans in July to build a campus in Chicago to create and operate the first “US-based, utility-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer,” bringing $1 billion in investments to the city. Honeywell is reportedly considering a 2025 IPO for its own quantum unit, Quantinuum, at a valuation of $10 billion.
Quantum computing’s most powerful asset is its ability to optimize, said Ashley Manraj, chief technology officer at Pvotal Technologies. This means it can be applied to practically anything, including industries like finance, logistics, and medicine, as well as applications on the “civil side, the military side, and the governmental side,” he said.
That broad scope means that this tech has some “very high dollar-value applications,” said Holmqvist, including industries like drug discovery, disease research, climate and agricultural modelling, portfolio management, and risk modeling.
One of the best immediate use cases is going to be “basic science,” said Sebastian Hassinger, host of The New Quantum Era podcast and business development specialist for quantum technology at AWS. For example, material science, small-molecule chemistry, and chemicals research can benefit from these devices’ capability to quickly calculate and simulate outcomes.
“We're sure it’s going to be very, very powerful in terms of science … investing in and accelerating science is definitely worth it,” said Hassinger.
The Barriers
Quantum computers are still quite finicky, which complicates their adoption in the marketplace. These devices are deeply impacted by their surrounding environments and can easily get knocked out of superposition, rendering their computations invalid. They need to be kept entirely isolated and only work at temperatures close to absolute zero, or nearly -460 degrees Fahrenheit. They’re also extremely sensitive to noise, such as vibrations or electrical interference.
Because of this delicate nature, quantum error correction is essential. This is done using a large number of physical qubits to make a “logical” one, or one that’s reliable and resistant to error, said Manraj. It’s estimated that a quantum device needs roughly 1,000 physical qubits per logical qubit.
“There are currently very hard limits that we know of to the stabilization of a qubit,” said Manraj. And to solve major computation problems, these devices will need “another two to three to 10 to 100 times more qubits.”
But several different paths are being researched to solve these problems, Holmqvist noted. For example, startups like IonQ are working on the “trapped ion” approach, which uses charged atoms caught in electromagnetic traps as qubits. Others, like Psiquantum, are working on what’s called the “photonic” approach, which uses particles of lights as qubits, making them more resilient to noise. Some, like Quantum Brilliance, are using diamonds as a means of stabilizing qubits, allowing them to exist at room temperature.
The research doesn’t come cheap: According to Forbes, governments globally have invested more than $55 billion in this technology. Quantum computing startups have raised $1.5 billion in VC funding so far in 2024, Crunchbase reported, more than double investments made in 2023.
“We're in this noisy, intermediate phase of quantum computing, because we haven't hit fault tolerance yet, but we're making breakthroughs in stability,” he said.
Questions Unanswered
The question on the industry’s mind isn’t whether quantum will bring value, but when that value will manifest, Holmqvist said. Quantum development has been happening for years, he said. As a result, breakthroughs in scaling these devices have been “10 years away for the last 30 years,” he added.
While the industry is confident that quantum computers will show returns in some capacity, it’s impossible to tell what, exactly, that value may turn out to be without having a quantum computer powerful enough to do something that classical computers can't, Hassinger said. “It's very chicken and egg.”
But with the sheer amount of computing power being gobbled up by tech developments like AI, the tech industry may have no choice but to forge ahead with quantum as we’re “getting to the end of Moore’s Law with the classical [computing],” said Madasamy. “We don't have the fundamental technologies to be able to keep up with [our computation needs]. So what is the next step?”
Despite the lingering unknowns, Holmqvist said, the payoff may be an “almost incalculably large prize at the far end of making these things work.”
“We probably couldn't have anticipated how the internet would change our business world,” Holmqvist added. “In the same way, it's difficult to understand how quantum computers will change those things at scale.”
Written by Nat Rubio-Licht
Konaploinks
2 days ago
Homework. The 8 k skinny. Then we’ll take a deep dive class . My take. A merger , buyout or hostile takeover is about to happen.
Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.
Amended Severance Plan and Amendment to Performance Based Award Agreements
On December 3, 2024, the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of IonQ, Inc. (the “Company”) adopted an amendment to the Company’s Executive Severance Plan (previously named our Change in Control Severance Plan) (the “Plan”) to make certain changes to the Plan which was previously adopted by the Board on July 22, 2021. The Plan provides for certain severance payments and benefits to eligible executives, including each of the Company’s named executive officers, in the event that the Company terminates the employment of an eligible executive without Cause (as defined in the Plan) or if an eligible executive resigns with Good Reason (as defined in the Plan) in qualifying circumstances (such termination or resignation, a “Covered Termination”).
The material terms of the Plan, which is filed as Exhibit 10.36 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-4/A (File No. 333-254840) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on August 5, 2021, remain unchanged by the amendment, except that (1) any termination occurring following the Change in Control Period (as defined in the Plan) will not qualify as a Covered Termination; (2) in a Covered Termination occurring prior to a Change in Control, an eligible executive will be eligible to receive his or her target annual bonus and pro-rated target annual bonus for the year in which the Covered Termination occurs and acceleration of his or her unvested time-based vesting equity awards; (3) the mere conversion of the Company to a subsidiary, division or unit of an acquiring entity in connection with a Change in Control (as defined in the Plan), or a change in the eligible executive’s reporting relationships or title following a Change in Control, will continue to not be deemed a material diminution of the duties, authority or responsibilities of an eligible executive in and of itself for the purposes of the definition of Good Reason, except in the case of our Chief Executive Officer; (4) the relocation of an eligible executive’s primary work location will not represent Good Reason if the eligible executive is permitted to work from home; and (5) in a Covered Termination occurring upon or within 12 months following a Change in Control, an eligible executive will be eligible to receive his or her pro-rated target annual bonus for the year in which the Covered Termination occurs.
The foregoing description of the Amended Plan is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Executive Severance Plan and Summary Plan Description, a copy of which is filed as Exhibit 10.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated by reference herein.
Additionally, on December 3, 2024, the Board approved an amendment (the “Amendment”) to each of the Company’s outstanding Performance Based Award Agreements, which include agreements with each of the Company’s named executive officers (the “Award Agreements”), to provide that (1) the methodology for determining the number performance stock units (“PSUs”) that will accelerate in the case of an Involuntary Termination (as defined in the Award Agreement) upon or within 12 months following a Change in Control (as defined in the Award Agreement) will be the greater of (x) the target number of PSUs under the award or (y) based on projected performance achievement, provided that the satisfaction of the stock price hurdle will continue to apply, and (2) the definition of Good Reason for the purposes of the Award Agreement will be the same definition used in the Plan.
The foregoing description of the Amendment is qualified in its entirety by reference to the form of Award Agreement (as amended), a copy of which is filed as Exhibit 10.2 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated by reference herein.
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