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Moore's Law may not be sufficient when it comes to processing power. Some believe that computers are not getting faster fast enough for the emerging tasks that are expected of them, whether it's crunching vast data sets or looking for probabilistic connections within much smaller ones.

In areas such as drug discovery, particle physics, genomics, and materials research, quantum computing is increasingly proposed as a better model for the IT industry, alongside related quantum technologies such as timing, imaging, sensing, communications, and security. Yet all these are hard tech, which demands patient capital: long-term, speculative investment coupled with an appetite for risk and uncertain reward.

There are three key challenges facing all quantum innovators:

Canada isn't the first country that springs to mind as a potential leader in this space alongside the likes of the US, China, and the UK, but Toronto-based 2016 startup Xanadu aims to change that. It has launched what it claims is the world's first photonics-based quantum computing platform available commercially in the cloud.

According to an announcement from the company, the Xanadu Quantum Cloud currently gives developers access to eight- and 12-qubit processors, and soon a 24-qubit machine. As a photon- (light) based system for quantum calculations - as opposed to superconductor or ion-trap systems - these processors can operate at room temperature and could potentially integrate more easily with fibre-optic based telecommunications.

To date, Xanadu has raised $45 million from investors, alongside grants from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Developers can already access its open-source tools Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane on GitHub, revealing a Beatles fan in its leader. That may suggest global ambitions.

So does the company plan to become a huge private fiefdom, like the Xanadu in Citizen Kane? Has a new computing Kublai Khan emerged to found a quantum dynasty? I spoke to founder and CEO Christian Weedbrook to find out.

First, is Xanadu a true quantum system, or merely using quantum elements to speed up processing within classical systems? He says:

It's the world's first photonics-based quantum computing cloud platform and we are truly excited about it. Every other cloud platform essentially uses electronics. Instead of photonics they use electrons - matter - and they have a very different approach to scaling up to a fully functioning, fault-tolerant quantum computer.

We decided to take a unique, alternative approach using light. One of the biggest advantages is the extremely low amounts of power that are needed to run these devices. We're leveraging the weird properties of quantum physics to do things that traditional computers, classical computers, would never be able to do. Or they could do it but it would take them hundreds of years.

A familiar message in terms of the time-saving element. But when it comes to commercialising it, is quantum computing a solution in search of a problem, or has Xanadu identified specific opportunities? Weedbrook says:

The world can always use more computing power. One way to think about the quantum computing landscape at the moment is you can break it up into two lines. The first is what we can do in the next three to five years with qubits that are noisy and don't have that fault tolerance or error correction. And the second is what can we do after that with a fully functioning, fault-tolerant quantum computer. But that's a very difficult machine to build.

In the near term, what differentiates Xanadu using a photonics-based approach is the things that we can do now, which have business applications - network planning, logistics, things of that nature.

Our plan is to get early adopters that we can build an ecosystem around: government labs in the US and here in Canada, financial institutions, large corporations - pharma and materials design are classic examples - and logistics. All these industries have problems that get more and more difficult, that don't scale well, so you need a quantum computer to help solve them. We have paying customers already on the platform.

What's remarkable in the last couple of years is that large corporations and banks such as Goldman Sachs have been forming small quantum computing teams, because they don't want to get left behind. But it's a unique skill set that only a few people in the world currently understand.

Indeed, some have suggested that is a concern. When technology becomes too abstract for most people to comprehend, then transparency and auditing are difficult. Who could explain or justify decisions made by quantum neural nets, for example?

That's a valid criticism. We have to be careful, particularly with a technology that may be the missing link to a singularity event. I don't think ethics and quantum computing should just be presented to you. It's something that the whole community should be converging on thinking about. But building a quantum computer that's fault tolerant - the end game - is extremely hard. It's not going to be built tomorrow, which gives us some time.

Does he see quantum computing as a distinct alternative to the classical world, an evolution of it, or simply a component for solving specific problems?

First, it's a safe bet that it will complement traditional computing whatever happens, in the same way that GPUs complement CPUs, or special-purpose chips complement other types. A computer will naturally access the CPU or the quantum processor when each is needed.

This is a personal view, but more and more I'm leaning towards quantum computing replacing old' computing. One reason is that, if you look at our photon-based approach, roughly speaking you can press a button and make this computer classical by making qubits act like normal bits of information. If quantum computing can infiltrate all computers, then you can just simulate a traditional computer, which means there is an opportunity to really take over all of the computing industry - up to a point.

The company's global ambitions seem evident. But until then, physics and history combine to pose some tricky problems. For example, putting a quantum computer in the cloud could put a brake on its power, given the slow speeds, latency, and poor reliability of some broadband infrastructures.

Yes, with quantum cloud quantum providers you do see that slowdown in retrieving the asset. I would say that there are some solutions to that, such as a hybrid system where you actually have a quantum chip on premise alongside AWS or Azure, for example.

But the ultimate goal is to have a quantum computer that can solve problems that a classical computer could never do, or would take thousands of years to solve. So slowing something down by an hour versus a thousand years is irrelevant. As you're scaling up and getting more powerful quantum computers through fault tolerance and error correction, any slowdown is going to be negligible compared to the size of the problem solving.

Are real applications emerging yet for such systems?

A lot of applications have been inspired by what's been done classically, and the thinking has been how do we make them quantum. But I think the true revolution will be in thinking about it from the quantum side of things. There's an analogy here with the PC revolution: people didn't really know what applications would be useful, there was no idea about the internet. I think there'll be something similar for quantum: we really don't know the full extent of what a quantum computer can do.

With a team that now numbers 58 - many of whom have PhDs - what drives Weedbrook and his colleagues: the academic research glory of pushing back the boundaries of human knowledge? Or something more commercially focused - given those Beatles allusions and the name itself, Xanadu? Both speak of lofty ambition...

I think often you see with startups, it's a clich to really want to solve huge, world-changing problems. Our mission statement has a hint of that, but to be honest it's too much of a clich now to really believe it. So, our mission statement is to make quantum computers, make them useful, and available to people everywhere.

It's how do you start in helping customers solve problems - like in drug discovery. How do you find the best candidates significantly faster in order to synthesise them? That problem's not going to change. So how best to solve it?

This may be correlated with the fact that we're working on subatomic particles, but it's in very small systems that you make real change in the world. The common examples are helping with global warming, curing cancer by identifying drugs, these are really important problems for humanity.

But taking a different approach, how do you stay excited on an individual, personal level each day? That gives you the best chance of solving truly important problems.

According to the 80s song, Xanadu is the place where "a million lights are dancing". That's photons for you. And it turns out it's not in China, but Toronto.

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Quantum computing in the cloud - Xanadu discovered in Toronto - Diginomica

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Eagle Global AdvisorsEagle Global Advisors was founded in 1996 by Edward Allen, Thomas Hunt, Steven Russo and John Gualy. The firm has been 100% employee owned since inception. The firm has a long history of managing infrastructure, international and domestic equity strategies. Today, the firm manages $1.8 billion for institutional and high net worth individuals and employs 32 professionals. To learn more about Eagle Global Advisors, please visit http://www.eagleglobal.com.

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SOURCE Eagle Global Advisors

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The EUs push for technological sovereignty will see it limit some international research partnerships, but officials argue that it wont be Europe First.

While Europe cannot afford to be nave in the global technology race, it will continue to seek collaborations with like-minded partners, EU research commissioner Mariya Gabriel told a Science|Business conference on Tuesday.

Similarly, Jean-Eric Paquet, EU director general for research and innovation, who works directly under Gabriel, didnt rule out forming research partnerships with any specific country, but did say Brussels would be more selective in the areas it seeks cooperation.

In the last decade, we have not necessarily been analysing deeply enough where cooperation may not be in our interests, Paquet told the conference. EU officials would calibrate the research areas in which we will engage, in line with a broader political push to reduce Europes dependence on US or Chinese-origin technologies.

In practice, that means some funding calls under Horizon Europe, the EUs next research programme, will not allow the participation of certain countries for reasons linked to security.

This does not necessarily refer to China, Paquet noted, though he conceded that working and sharing research results with the superpower might not always be in our obvious interest. China is gaining ground in a range of technology fields that experts say could give the country an economic and military edge, including AI, microchips and quantum computing.

Brussels will consider limiting international research in strategic areas including cybersecurity, sixth generation wireless and quantum technologies, the director general said. We need to have a careful and deep look to see what well leave fully open.

Industry concerns

Global companies are voicing concern over EU rhetoric around sovereignty.

Ilham Kadri, CEO of Belgian chemical giant Solvay, warned against a protectionist vision, which she says could endanger European competitiveness.

Its unrealistic to design and produce all components of a product, or use only European technology, Kadri told Science|Business. The EU needs to respond to foreign protectionism without becoming protectionist itself and serving protectionist interests.

Kadri urged EU officials to instead prioritise policies to boost competitiveness. The COVID-19 crisis has exposed Europes heavy reliance on foreign supply chains and demonstrated the continent cannot rely solely on its own technology, she said.

Any re-industrialisation of supply chains related to a protectionist interpretation of technological sovereignty could reinforce the trend towards economic nationalism and deprive European companies of their international business space, Kadri said.

Choosier on research partners

Following the shift in EU thinking around technology independence, Paquet said there is a legitimate conversation to be had on whether non-EU countries should be admitted to particular innovation programmes under Horizon Europe.

Theres very good arguments to say innovation is nurtured in Europe with help from other big countries. On the other hand, this area is rather tightly correlated to our future productivity and competitiveness, Paquet said.

Australia, Canada, Japan, Singapore and New Zealand are some of the rich non-EU countries with which the commission has raised the possibility of a deeper research partnership from 2021.

Paquet said the first step is to check back in with these countries to assess their interest in joining the EUs research programme as associate members.

Then well see how our members see it, he said. Some member states have proposed keeping the European Innovation Council (EIC), a new instrument for backing market-ready ideas, open for EU states only.

Paquet suggested there wont be a blanket ban on non-EU countries accessing funding from EIC, or similar programmes. What would not be smart is to say, this is how it is for everyone. No, we will have flexibility, he said.

Commissioner Gabriel said researchers and entrepreneurs participating in Horizon Europe would still gain access to the best knowledge and networks in the world. There is no sovereignty versus cooperation [debate]. There is sovereignty plus cooperation, she said.

Not Europe First

Germany has made technology sovereignty one of the top priorities during its six-month presidency of the council of the EU, and is pushing forward a series of new initiatives to boost EU competitiveness in artificial intelligence, cloud computing, electronics manufacturing and vaccine production.

Initiatives already underway in Europe include a huge effort to stimulate battery production and a similar project to boost hydrogen technology.

Europe also needs to develop independent and secure communication infrastructure, which means exploiting new opportunities in quantum technology, while ensuring reliable internet connectivity and a supply of trustworthy microelectronics, according to Thomas Rachel, parliamentary state secretary in Germanys Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

We need fall back capabilities. Its not a simple Europe first [approach], he said. We do not want to be dependent on other continents in the world. But Europe has to also be the most open economy in the world. German companies will be the first to suffer if we were banned from other countries, Rachel said.

Some efforts dont work

German MEP Christian Ehler cautioned that unilateral or bilateral stabs at tech sovereignty are doomed to failure, citing France and Germanys joint GAIA-X project, which aims to build a federated computing network with specific European security standards.

The underlying concern is the lack of control and fear of being locked out of US-based cloud computing systems, as the US takes its own turn toward nationalism under president Donald Trump.

GAIA-X looks good on paper but it doesnt work, said Ehler. Technology sovereignty may be achievable at the level of the EU, but not for individual member states. We should understand that there is no longer national sovereignty, Ehler said.

Ehler also warned against overburdening researchers with more political imperatives. Horizon Europe is in danger of becoming a multi-purpose weapon, he said.

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EU will be more selective in choosing 'like-minded' global research partners, but officials say it's not 'Europe First' - Science Business