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Opinion | Spurned by Twitter, Trump will attempt to build his own version. – The New York Times

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Meanwhile, its terms of service are a riot, so to speak. They include a ban on any content that would disparage, tarnish, or otherwise harm, in our opinion, us and/or the Site and excessive use of capital letters.

It appears as if tech disparager Trump is a closet Silicon Valley tech bro. His company is hiding behind the same skirt that they all do; its using Section 230, the law that gives tech platforms broad immunity, as a shield. Of course, Trump used to be a critic of the rule, and issued an ill-conceived executive order when he was president to try to overturn it. And yet Truth Social notes that it is not responsible for any Third-Party Content posted on, available through, or installed from the Site, including [its] content, accuracy, offensiveness, opinions [or] reliability.

This all might be rather fun to watch, given Trumps long record of start-up failures, bankruptcies and problematic business dealings, especially with such a colossal stated ambition. The 22-page pitch deck for the media company that will house Truth Social grandly noted that there is a market opportunity to disrupt big tech.

According to the outline of its vision, In the year 2021, the media pendulum has swung dangerously far to the left. TMTG intends to even the playing field. It also says, To counter this liberal bias and dangerous exercise of tech monopoly censorship, Donald J. Trump and TMTG intend to create a media and technology company rooted in social media, digital streaming, information technology infrastructure, and more.

While I applaud all efforts to be innovative, the company is claiming it can disrupt in three huge spaces: social (disrupting Facebook and Twitter), media (disrupting Disney, Netflix, CNN and iHeartRadio) and, completely implausibly, cloud and payments (disrupting Stripe, Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure).

Shockeroo, the companys pitch is heavy with grievance and light on specifics and tech chops. It also comes at a time when there are many other efforts in the same right-leaning space already. All of them, of course, would have loved to get Trump on board, as Jason Miller, his former senior adviser and the C.E.O. of Gettr, noted to me in a Sway podcast earlier this year. In a statement posted on Twitter (natch!), noting the pair could not come to a deal, Miller offered Trump congratulations for re-entering the social media fray, even though Trump shivved him in the back with Truth Social.

President Trump has always been a great deal-maker, but we just couldnt come to terms on a deal, Miller wrote. Quite cordial, given how reduced his prospects are without Trump on board.

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Opinion | Spurned by Twitter, Trump will attempt to build his own version. - The New York Times

Teachers and civil rights groups sue over Oklahoma’s ban on critical race theory – NPR

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A group of educators and civil rights groups is challenging Oklahoma's new law limiting public school teachings on race and gender issues in court.

The lawsuit, backed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Oklahoma, was filed Tuesday. The organizations argue that HB 1775, which took effect in May, interferes with students' and educators' First Amendment rights to learn and talk about gender and race issues in school.

This policy also prevents students from discussing in-depth American history that reflects the experiences and viewpoints of "all historically marginalized communities in this country," the ACLU argues.

The groups suing asked the court to declare the law unconstitutional under the First and 14th Amendments. They also requested that a judge issue a preliminary injunction that would put an immediate stop to the policy in Oklahoma.

"All young people deserve to learn an inclusive and accurate history in schools, free from censorship or discrimination," said Emerson Sykes, staff attorney with the ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project.

The organization said this lawsuit is the first of its kind that challenges a state's effort at limiting instruction on critical race theory, which examines how racism as a social construct intersects with history, policy, the law and other areas. It's an advanced teaching usually reserved for law schools and undergraduate sociology courses.

This concept was pushed into the public consciousness by former President Donald Trump last year. Right-wing activists have since made it a cause clbre and several Republican-led states, including Oklahoma and Idaho, have passed laws attempting to limit its reach in public schools.

But Oklahoma's law doesn't explicitly mention critical race theory in the legislation's text.

HB 1775 states broadly: No public school student in Oklahoma can be required to participate in any form of "mandatory gender or sexual diversity training or counseling." It goes on to say, "Any orientation or requirement that presents any form of race or sex stereotyping or a bias on the basis of race or sex shall be prohibited."

Similarly, lessons showing one race or gender is superior to another or that a person, because of their "race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive" are banned.

If teachers are found to be teaching these lessons, they could lose their licenses and schools can lose their accreditation.

"HB 1775 is so poorly drafted in places it is literally indecipherable that districts and teachers have no way of knowing what concepts and ideas are prohibited," ACLU attorney Sykes said. "The bill was intended to inflame a political reaction, not further a legitimate educational interest. These infirmities in the law are all the more troubling because the bill applies to public colleges and universities, where the First Amendment is especially protective of academic freedom."

The ACLU says as a result of the law's approval, school districts in Oklahoma have told teachers not use terms like "diversity" and "white privilege" in the classroom. Books and other literary works dealing with race such as To Kill a Mockingbird and Raisin in the Sun have been removed from reading lists

Some schools have also limited or altogether eliminated diversity, equity and inclusion training for their educators, according to the group.

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Teachers and civil rights groups sue over Oklahoma's ban on critical race theory - NPR

Cleveland Police Use of Force: About the Data – Cleveland Scene

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Officers do not have to file a report when they use de minimis force, which is defined by the department as, Physical interactions meant to guide and/or control a subject that do not constitute reportable force. As examples, Clevelands policy lists stopping, pushing back, separating or guiding someone in a way that shouldnt cause any pain.

In addition to a detailed narrative of the events and why the officer used force, officers are required to report the steps they took to de-escalate the situation, the exact type of force they used, whether there were any injuries to the subject or the officer, and a litany of demographic information.

The police department releases annual reports summarizing the use of force data, but not the reports themselves. Police officials have routinely pointed out that the number of use of force incidents in 2020 were below 2018 and 2019. These summaries dont any information about individual officers or incidents.

With the help of Case Western Reserve University School of Laws First Amendment Clinic, Cleveland Scene was able to obtain detailed reports from all use of force incidents that were not under continuing investigation from 2019, 2020, and early 2021.

Scene initially requested the data in September 2020. The city first provided unrelated materials, and then rejected the request, saying it was overbroad. The city turned over most of the data in May 2021, but withheld incident narratives for cases under investigation. The Ohio 8th District Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the city on those narratives, but Scene is appealing the decision.

The database included information on 351 unique use of force case numbers. Where multiple officers were involved in a single incident, the officers various reports were filed under a single number. Altogether, Scene reviewed data from 524 individual reports.

Scene cross-referenced this data with police disciplinary notices, Civilian Police Review Board minutes and agendas, and citizen complaints made to the Office of Professional Standards. For some incidents, Scene also obtained body camera footage. As many of the subjects in use of force incidents were never charged with or convicted of a crime, Scene is not releasing this footage out of respect for their privacy. In other cases where Scene did not obtain footage, this story relies on descriptions by CPRB members and investigators.

The most recent deep-dive into use of force reports was a decade ago, when The Plain Dealer ran a series analyzing use of force reports filed between 2006 and 2011. Among the papers findings were that uses of force were rarely found inappropriate; some officers failed to file use of force reports in high-profile cases; and officers who used force abnormally frequently were allowed to continue on the force.

Since then, Cleveland has grappled with the 2014 police killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice. A Justice Department investigation of Cleveland cops use of force led to a 2015 consent decree in 2014, which requires the department to change some of its policies and practices. Last year, America watched in horror as George Floyd suffocated under a Minneapolis officers knee; and Cleveland protests against police violence ended in violent confrontations. This year, residents petitioned to put an initiative on the ballot creating stronger civilian oversight of the department, which both the outgoing mayor and one mayoral candidate have derided.

Yet Scenes analysis found many of the same problems reported by the Plain Dealer ten years ago.

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Cleveland Police Use of Force: About the Data - Cleveland Scene

Charlottesville Unite the Right trial starts Monday – 8News

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WRIC) The Charlottesville Unite the Right Trial is set to start on Monday, four years after that infamous protest that killed Heather Heyer.

Jury selection is set to begin on Oct. 25, in the federal trial against the organizers of the 2017 rally. The trial is being heard in Charlottesville and is expected to take four weeks.

It is hard to forget the images of white supremacists marching with tiki torches, rallying through town and a car plowing through a crowd, killing counter-protester Heather Heyer and injuring others.

This case was brought by nine Charlottesville community members who were injured in the violence 4 years ago, saidAmy Spitalnick, Executive Director of Integrity First for America.

The non-partisan, non-profit organization is supporting the plaintiffs in what is the first major civil suit to be tried under the so-called Ku Klux Klan Act. The organizers of the Unite the Right rally are accused of a conspiracy to commit violence.

These defendants planned violence on social media and on other communication forums and even in-person conversations, Spitalnick said. They went to Charlottesville, committed that violence and then celebrated that violence.

Some of the two dozen defendants in the case have alleged this is about their first amendment right to free speech, and others have claimed they were just joking. Spitalnick says the event in Charlottesville 4 years ago was no joke nor an accident.

But rather meticulously planned, online, in social media chats and other communications that will be coming out over the course of trial, she said. We have 5.3 terabytes of digital evidence that our team will be presenting.

All that evidence is some of why the trial is expected the take four weeks. The other part is just the number of parties involved in the case. All nine plaintiffs are expected to take the stand and there are 24 defendants in the federal case.

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Charlottesville Unite the Right trial starts Monday - 8News

WikiLeaks – Vault 8

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Today, 9 November 2017, WikiLeaks publishes the source code and development logs to Hive, a major component of the CIA infrastructure to control its malware.

Hive solves a critical problem for the malware operators at the CIA. Even the most sophisticated malware implant on a target computer is useless if there is no way for it to communicate with its operators in a secure manner that does not draw attention. Using Hive even if an implant is discovered on a target computer, attributing it to the CIA is difficult by just looking at the communication of the malware with other servers on the internet. Hive provides a covert communications platform for a whole range of CIA malware to send exfiltrated information to CIA servers and to receive new instructions from operators at the CIA.

Hive can serve multiple operations using multiple implants on target computers. Each operation anonymously registers at least one cover domain (e.g. "perfectly-boring-looking-domain.com") for its own use. The server running the domain website is rented from commercial hosting providers as a VPS (virtual private server) and its software is customized according to CIA specifications. These servers are the public-facing side of the CIA back-end infrastructure and act as a relay for HTTP(S) traffic over a VPN connection to a "hidden" CIA server called 'Blot'.

The cover domain delivers 'innocent' content if somebody browses it by chance. A visitor will not suspect that it is anything else but a normal website. The only peculiarity is not visible to non-technical users - a HTTPS server option that is not widely used: Optional Client Authentication. But Hive uses the uncommon Optional Client Authentication so that the user browsing the website is not required to authenticate - it is optional. But implants talking to Hive do authenticate themselves and can therefore be detected by the Blot server. Traffic from implants is sent to an implant operator management gateway called Honeycomb (see graphic above) while all other traffic go to a cover server that delivers the insuspicious content for all other users.

Digital certificates for the authentication of implants are generated by the CIA impersonating existing entities. The three examples included in the source code build a fake certificate for the anti-virus company Kaspersky Laboratory, Moscow pretending to be signed by Thawte Premium Server CA, Cape Town. In this way, if the target organization looks at the network traffic coming out of its network, it is likely to misattribute the CIA exfiltration of data to uninvolved entities whose identities have been impersonated.

The documentation for Hive is available from the WikiLeaks Vault7 series.

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WikiLeaks - Vault 8

News diary 25-31 October: Autumn Budget announced and US appeals Julian Assange extradition block – Press Gazette

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Foresight News rounds up the key events that need to be in your news diary this week

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen gives evidence in Parliament on the governments proposed legislation to protect people from online abuse. Haugens appearance before the Draft Online Safety Bill Joint Committee comes after she told a US Senate committee hearing earlier this month that the social media platform was divisive and harmful to childrens mental health. Committee members are likely to be particularly interested in Haugens allegations that Facebook willingly spread hate speech in the wake of calls to toughen up the Bill following the murder of Sir David Amess. Rappler CEO and Nobel Peace Prize-winner Maria Ressa gives evidence to the same committee on Wednesday.

The UNFCCC releases an update to last months Nationally Determined Contributions Synthesis report, which analysed individual nations climate action plans in the lead up to COP26 and concluded that greater ambition was required to meet the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees. The updated report covers NDCs submitted between July and October, which include those from Japan, Turkey and Israel, though a contribution from India remains notable for its absence. The update comes ahead of Tuesdays Emissions Gap Report from the UN Environment Programme, which looks at progress towards achieving national pledges and Paris Agreement goals, and the resulting gap in emissions still due to be cut.

Londons 24-hour Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) is expanded to cover up to the North and South circular roads, in addition to central London. Londons Transport Commissioner Andy Byford says that the widening of the zone to Londons suburbs on Monday would be a massive tool in our battle against air pollution. Despite the new charges costing ULEZ non-compliant drivers 12.50 per day and larger cars, vans and HGVs 100 per day, London Mayor Sadiq Khan has not ruled out further measures. Khan says he will micro-target hotspots in the outer suburbs beyond the North and South Circular roads and that nothing is off the table in terms of future restrictions on vehicle use.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and the outgoing Chief of the Defence Staff Sir Nick Carter appear before the Defence Committee on Tuesday, in what promises to be a charged session on the UKs withdrawal from Afghanistan. Wallace has blasted his own department in the run up to the session over data leaks for relocated Afghan families, while General Carter has given his own withering assessment of the withdrawal. Former Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is likely to come in for heavy criticism after finding himself in a war of words with Wallace at the peak of the crisis.

Following the publication last week of the bombshell report from the special Brazilian Senate panel investigating the governments handling of the pandemic, senators on the panel are scheduled to vote on whether to adopt its findings. The most serious charges against President Jair Bolsonaro, those of homicide and genocide, were removed at the last minute, making the reports adoption today more likely. Most observers think that a criminal case against Bolsonaro is unlikely under current circumstances, though the inquiry is likely to sway at least some voters when it comes to next years presidential election.

Its a huge day in Japan, as Princess Mako finally ties the knot with her commoner fianc Kei Komuro in what is expected to be a low-key ceremony, followed by a press conference. The couple, who are due to live in New York where Komuro works as a lawyer, will be hoping the marriage puts an end to the years-long saga that is said to have caused the princess to suffer post-traumatic stress disorder. Komuro, who was vilified for sporting a ponytail as he arrived back in Japan, has since removed the offending hairstyle.

Rishi Sunak (pictured) told the Conservative conference that the UKs finances needed to be fixed after the economic woes inflicted by the pandemic, and today hell set out how he intends to make the necessary repairs in the autumn Budget. The Chancellor is under pressure to show his party he remains committed to tax cuts, with a reduction to the bank profit levy reportedly in the works. Elsewhere, look out for further business incentives, a minimum wage increase, and COP26-friendly measures to help households with the cost of going green.

Sunak also sets out departmental budgets for the coming year in the Spending Review, which is the third single-year review in a row after the fiscal uncertainties of Brexit and Covid. With spending on the NHS, schools, and defence already allocated, some departments are facing the prospect of operating on even tighter budgets than in 2020/21. The Institute for Government has projected that day-to-day spending will fall in crucial areas such as policing, while local leaders last week issued a plea for long-term funding certainty for councils after dire warnings of the potential impact of rising cost pressures on public services.

The High Court holds a full hearing as the United States appeals against a ruling earlier this year that Julian Assange should not be extradited to face criminal charges. A judge ruled in January that mental health concerns meant the WikiLeaks founder should not be sent to America to face trial after allegedly hacking computers and publishing thousands of classified documents between 2010 and 2011. Numerous supporters of Assange have called on the Biden administration to stop pursing the case, claiming it is politically motivated.

Mark Zuckerberg speaks at the Facebook Connect conference on the future of augmented and virtual reality, where he is expected to formally announce plans to rebrand the company. The address follows a challenging few weeks for Facebook, including damning whistleblower testimony, a $70m (50m) fine from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), and Zuckerberg himself being named in a consumer protection lawsuit in the US. Zuckerberg is expected to use the conference as an opportunity to divert attention to the future of the company and development of the metaverse.

In another COP26 warm-up event, Sadiq Khan delivers an address to the London Climate Summit which is jointly hosted by his office and London Councils. The environment has been at the forefront of the mayors policymaking in his time in City Hall; he declared a climate emergency in the capital in 2018 and has committed to making the city carbon-neutral by 2030. Todays speech is an opportunity to set out what Khan sees as Londons role in the COP, where he is due to assume the chairmanship of the C40 cities network.

The World Wildlife Foundation holds its State of the Planet Address, an immersive evening dedicated to the future of the planet held at the Tate Modern in London. This years keynote speech is delivered by former UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres, renowned for leading the global diplomatic effort that culminated in the 2015 Paris Agreement. Figueres has praised the Scottish governments efforts on climate change ahead of COP26, saying it has been for many, many years, a leading country on climate change and decarbonisation.

US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden meet Pope Francis at the Vatican. Taking place just days ahead of the G20 and COP26, the leaders will discuss climate change, the pandemic, and caring for the global poor. The meeting also comes amid a debate between bishops in the US over whether Biden, a practising Catholic, should be prohibited from receiving communion because of his support for abortion rights. The issue has come to the fore since the passage of Texas heartbeat abortion ban, which is being challenged in court by Bidens Department of Justice. The bishops are set to vote on the issue in November, despite Pope Francis calling on them to act as pastors and not go condemning.

A 30-day notice period to French fishermen operating in Jerseys waters, announced by Jerseys government on September 29, expires. It officially ends the post-Brexit transitional arrangement, after which all French vessels are required to have new licenses. French fishermen have been highly critical of the number of licenses issued so far, and Frances Maritime Minister Annick Girardin has implied France, and even the European Commission, may respond with counter-measures.

Italy hosts this years G20 summit in Rome, though at least four key players Russias Vladimir Putin, Chinas Xi Jinping, Japans Fumio Kishida, and Mexicos Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador arent expected to attend the two-day gathering in person. Theres plenty for leaders to discuss, including economic themes such as inflation fears, energy prices, and supply-chain issues, climate change ahead of COP26, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Somewhat awkwardly, Italys technocratic premier Mario Draghi recently cited the UKs response as a great example of how not to deal with the crisis.

Far from the Grecian gardens of Stowe or Winston Churchills idyllic home at Chartwell, the National Trust holds its Annual General Meeting amid a bitter public power struggle. The AGM gives members the opportunity to vote for candidates to fill six vacancies for the Trusts governing council, positions which are being challenged by a grassroots group, Restore Trust. RT is backed by several high-profile conservative stakeholders and MPs and has vowed to work against perceived wokeness in the Trusts recent policymaking. The Trust has warned of the damage it faces from what it calls an ideological campaign by those who hold extreme positions and are engaged in waging a culture war on a number of fronts.

For the first time in almost two years, a capacity crowd will fill Cardiffs Principality Stadium to see Wales open their autumn series campaign against the All Blacks. Scrums outside the venue could prove to be a thing of the past however, with all 74,000 fans now required to produce a Covid pass before entry. Those with tickets to the game will either need to prove their full vaccination status or produce a negative lateral flow test. Once inside the ground the hard work truly begins cheering Wales to their first victory over New Zealand since 1953.

The COP26 summit opens in Glasgow, a year later than scheduled and at the end of two weeks of climate policy announcements and analysis. This years session marks the first review of progress under the 2015 Paris Agreement and will see countries try to agree new targets for 2030 amid stark warnings that serious action is needed to contain global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees. The UK governments hopes for a successful summit have been dented by the actions of some of the bigger global emitters, with some world leaders declining to attend and leaked documents showing intense lobbying to water down recommendations on phasing out fossil fuels.

The news diary is provided in association withForesight News.

Top picture: PA Wire/PA Images

Press Gazette's must-read weekly newsletter featuring interviews, data, insight and investigations.

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News diary 25-31 October: Autumn Budget announced and US appeals Julian Assange extradition block - Press Gazette

Quantum Computing Startup Multiverse Computing Secures 10M to Focus on Finance Solutions – Crowdfund Insider

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Multiverse Computing, the quantum computing startup thats focused on finance, has finalized a 10 million (appr. $11.55 million) seed round.

Multiverse Computing created its main product Singularity for firms operating in the financial industry and looking for a competitive advantage by leveraging quantum computing solutions. The product has been designed to support financial professionals to run super-efficient quantum algorithms on quantum computers from a simple spreadsheet to handle complex problems, like portfolio optimization and fraud detection, without having in-depth knowledge of how quantum computers work.

The investment round has been led by JME Ventures and included contributions from Quantonation, EASO Ventures, Inveready, CLAVE Capital (Mondragn Fondo de Promocin), Ikerlan, LKS, Penja Strategy, Seed Gipuzkoa and Ezten Venture Capital Fund.

The proceeds will be directed towards consolidating and supporting the firms growth and globalization strategy. The capital will also be used to help the company with advancing its technology and marketing. This, according to Enrique Lizaso, Co-founder and CEO at Multiverse Computing.

Lizaso stated:

We are a unique company in the quantum computing field. While other firms are focused on improving the fundamental hardware and software components of quantum computers, we are keenly focused on leveraging the most advanced quantum devices available now to deliver near-term value for the financial sector.

Lizaso added:

We believe Multiverse Computing will be a global leader in the quantum computing industry. We expect to have annual revenue close to 100 million by 2027 with a staff of 100 people.

Multiverse Computing was established back in March 2019 with the assistance of the Basque Government-Spri and the Provincial Council of Guipuzkoa through the Txekintek / Ekintzaile program.

The company has received local support from startup accelerators and various technology centers like the Donostia International Physics Centre (DIPC). Multiverse Computing has also been supported by global institutions since its launch, including Torontos Creative Destruction Lab (CDL).

Multiverse Computing works with established tech partners in quantum computing like IBM, Microsoft, Xanadu, D-Wave, IonQ, Rigetti, Pasqal, Alpine, Quantum Technologies, Strangeworks, Orca, Amazon AWS, Fujitsu, among others. Additionally, the firm is working cooperatively with major financial institutions in order to explore the vast potential of quantum computing.

In addition to its focus on the financial services sector, the proceeds from the round will be channeled towards supporting the firms entry into new markets including energy, mobility, and smart manufacturing where Multiverse Computing is currently working with reference customers.

The firm also plans to increase support for its international expansion efforts which reportedly includes an operational office based in Toronto and other business locations in Paris and Munich.

Romn Ors, Co-founder of the company and Chief Scientific Officer, noted that one of the primary factors in the success of a knowledge-based firm such as Multiverse is its ability to recruit qualified professionals from across the globe.

Ors remarked:

At the moment, we have a team of 30 people of 10 different nationalities, many with Ph.D. degrees. The companys staff speaks 15 different languages.

By the end of 2021, the firm is expecting to have around 24 quantum algorithm international patents. Multiverse Computing is also expecting its patent portfolio to grow to more than 150 in the the next few years.

Sam Mugel, Co-founder and technical director at Multiverse, said:

Thanks to our revolutionary product Singularity, users can open a simple spreadsheet and directly use the quantum algorithms that are needed. The algorithms are executed on a quantum computer to solve problems that were out of reach until now, all without requiring programming or quantum computing experience.

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Quantum Computing Startup Multiverse Computing Secures 10M to Focus on Finance Solutions - Crowdfund Insider

IonQ Is the First Publicly-Traded Quantum Computing Firm – InvestorPlace

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IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) is arguably the first major player in the quantum computing space. IONQ stock debuted a few weeks ago following its merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). The shares of IONQ stock have been relatively quiet so far, moving just a hair above its initial $10 offering price.

Source: Shutterstock

Quantum computing is one of the most exciting new industries to emerge in recent years. It promises to transform our very notion of computing, unlocking computational power that are thousands of times beyond what is available now. Quantum computing isnt just an improvement on existing technology, but an entirely new way to think about artificial intelligence (AI).

If quantum computing makes the sorts of leaps that its backers envision, it should open up whole new fields in machine learning, computational chemistry, weather forecasting, pharmaceutical research, and many other sectors. The companies that lead this transition should be able to make a fortune, so IONQ stock could eventually soar way above its current value.

IonQ offers its customers access to its quantum computing capabilities. Those capabilities are measured in quantum bits, or qubits. At the time of its SPAC deal, IonQ offered an 11-qubit system. Over time, it should develop machines with much higher qubits, in order to stay ahead of rivals such as Rigetti Computing. Rigetti is currently trading through the shares of a SPAC named Supernova Partners Acquisition Company II(NYSE:SNII).

IonQs website identifies various, eventual uses for its next-generation computing. Its systems could eventually enable the capture of carbon from the air efficiently, potentially disarming the climate-change time bomb.

A more powerful processor might also unlock the secrets of chemistry that have so far prevented us from making truly cheap, reliable electric vehicle (EV) batteries. These sorts of innovations could change the global economy.

In its recent prospectus, IonQ issued a blunt warning to potential investors, saying: IonQ has not produced a scalable quantum computer and faces significant barriers in its attempts to produce quantum computers. If IonQ cannot successfully overcome those barriers, its business will be negatively impacted and could fail.

Its normal for companies to disclose potentially worrisome issues in the risk factor sections of their regulatory filings. Whats less common, however, is for a firms core business model to be so uncertain. Will IonQ be able to produce quantum computers cheaply enough to sell them for a commercially viable price? Well have to wait and see.

IonQ also revealed that it had found a material weakness in its accounting process. That isnt necessarily a big deal for newly-public companies. Sometimes young firms adjusting to life on the public markets need time to learn the accounting rules Still, it would be preferable for the company not to have issued such a warning.

IonQ is much closer to a start-up that a venture capital firm would back than a traditional, publicly traded company. Thats because its technology is in the earliest of stages, and its far from clear what sort of demand exists for the product right now. IonQ is still trying to develop both its technical capabilities and an attractive roster of customers.

The company doesnt expect to achieve profitability and large-scale revenue until around 2024 or 2025. And it will only be able to meet that goal if it achieves several milestones along the way.

A potential investor in IONQ stock needs to put the shares in a different category than other holdings. It isnt a blue chip name or an equity that should be held for a 20% or 30% gain. The shares could potentially skyrocket or lose most of their value, depending on how the science and industry evolves. Investors should keep that in mind when they decide how many shares of IONQ stock to buy.

IonQ or one of its rivals, such as Rigetti, could end up being a world-changing company. Quantum computing, if it delivers on its potential, would be a leap forward for science.

Even assuming that happens, however, it could easily be five years, ten years, or more until quantum computing generates high operating profits. This is not going to be an overnight process.

As a result, dont be surprised if short sellers gravitate to quantum computing stocks . Companies pursuing scientific initiatives that will take a long time to complete tend to attract critics.

Look at the recent excitement around Gingko Bioworks (NYSE:DNA) and the short seller report suggesting that its cell programming is more a pipe dream than plausible technology for now. Bears could make a similar sort of argument about quantum computing and cause the sectors stock prices to be volatile.

As IonQs own prospectus warned, its hardware is not yet advanced enough to enable it to have a business model that will allow it to grow.

The owners of IONQ stock are now funding the companys ongoing research efforts. That research could prove to be very profitable or it could come up empty.

Buying a small amount of this speculative stock might make sense at this point, but it seems prudent to wait and see how the industry develops before betting too heavily on the shares.

On the date of publication, Ian Bezek did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.

Ian Bezek has written more than 1,000 articles for InvestorPlace.com and Seeking Alpha. He also worked as a Junior Analyst for Kerrisdale Capital, a $300 million New York City-based hedge fund. You can reach him on Twitter at @irbezek.

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IonQ Is the First Publicly-Traded Quantum Computing Firm - InvestorPlace

GAO on Quantum Tech Development: 10 Years, Billions to Go – MeriTalk

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A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on development of quantum information technologies covers the general waterfront on the current status of the technologies, but notes that development of game-changing systems are probably still ten years and billions of dollars of further investments away.

GAO prepared its report to assess the potential of quantum information technologies, and dig into benefits and risks, as well as policy options for the government to help guide and prepare for further development.

Quantum information technologies aim to use the properties of nature at atomic scales to accomplish tasks that are not achievable with existing technologies, GAO wrote in the report. These technologies rely on qubits, the quantum equivalent of classical computer bits.

According to GAO, quantum information cant be copied, is fragile, and can be irreversibly lost, resulting in errors that are challenging to correct.

On the plus side, the report says that quantum computing and communications technology could be developed in tandem, because the two share physics principles, laboratory techniques, and common hardware.

Quantum communications technologies may have uses for secure communications, quantum networking, and a future quantum internet, wrote GAO. Potential drawbacks of quantum technology include cost, complexity, energy consumption, and the possibility of malicious use.

GAO identified four big factors that will impact quantum development and use, including:

And the government watchdog agency provided policy options around those four factors for policymakers to consider.

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GAO on Quantum Tech Development: 10 Years, Billions to Go - MeriTalk

Study Reveals Photons Properties Inherent to Protecting Quantum Computing in the Future – AZoQuantum

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Consumers need to be confident that transactions they make online are safe and secure. A main method to protect customer transactions and other information is through encryption, where vital information is encoded with a key using complex mathematical problems that are difficult even for computers tosolve.

But even that may have a weakness: Encrypted information could be decoded by future quantum computers that would try many keys simultaneously and rapidly find the rightone.

To prepare for this future possibility, researchers are working to develop codes that cannot be broken by quantum computers. These codes rely on distributing single photonssingle particles of lightthat share a quantum character solely among the parties that wish to communicate. The new quantum codes require these photons to have the same color, so they are impossible to distinguish from each other, and the resulting devices, networks, and systems form the backbone of a future quantuminternet.

Researchers at the University of Iowa have been studying the properties of photons emitted from solids and are now able to predict how sharp the color of each emitted photon can be. In a new study, the researchers describe theoretically how many of these indistinguishable photons can be sent simultaneously down a fiber-optical cable to establish secure communications, and how rapidly these quantum codes can sendinformation.

"Up to now, there has not been a well-founded quantitative description of the noise in the color of light emitted by these qubits, and the noise leading to loss of quantum coherence in the qubits themselves that's essential for calculations," says Michael Flatt, professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the study's corresponding author. "This work providesthat."

The study, "Suppression of the Optical Linewidth and Spin Decoherence of a Quantum Spin Center in a p-n Diode," was published online Oct. 15 in the journalPRX Quantum.

Denis Candido, a postdoctoral research scholar in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, is the study's firstauthor.

The U.S. Department of Energy's Quantum Information Science program funded theresearch.

Source:https://uiowa.edu/

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Study Reveals Photons Properties Inherent to Protecting Quantum Computing in the Future - AZoQuantum


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