Amazon just took a bold step into quantum computing, investing $36.7 million in IonQ (IONQ), according to its latest Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing. The move immediately places the e-commerce giant among the largest technology investors in publicly traded quantum hardware companies.
IonQ's ion trap quantum computer already powers AWS's Braket service, so the deal looks like more than just a passive investment. After the news was announced, IonQ's stock price rose by about 7%.
In France, quantum startup Alice & Bob and the French National Institute of Information and Automation (Inria) jointly launched a new "Heart Code" method that uses only 53 qubits to prepare "magic states", which is 8.7% less than the leading method and shortens the processing time by five times. The approach runs on its current "cat qubit" hardware, improving scalability without requiring massive reconfiguration.
Meanwhile, Japan launched its first fully indigenous superconducting quantum computer at Osaka University in its pursuit of technological independence, while Quantinuum, a company funded by Honeywell (HON), partnered with the UAE's Institute of Technology Innovation to promote quantum research in the Gulf region.
All this shows that big tech companies, startups and governments are pushing to commercialize quantum theory, aiming to do it now or sooner, at lower cost and on a larger scale.
