The Quantum Race

Constructor

Technology

DARPA QBI

Stock

QTUM %

Key Achievement

Quantinuum 🇬🇧

Trapped Ion

Stage B

HON

NASDAQ

1.5% QTUM

96 Qubits (Helios)

Produced 96 fully error-corrected Logical Qubits at an extremely efficient 2:1 encoding rate

Google Quantum AI 🇺🇸

Superconducting

Stage A

GOOGL

NASDAQ

1.8% QTUM

105 Qubits (Willow)

Exponential Error Suppression

IBM Quantum 🇺🇸

Superconducting

Stage B

IBM

NYSE

2.1% QTUM

120 Qubits (Nighthawk)

High-coherence processor for early error mitigation

IonQ 🇺🇸

Trapped Ion

Stage B

IONQ

NYSE

7.2% QTUM

36 Algorithmic Qubits (Forte)

High-Fidelity Trapped-Ion Systems

Microsoft Quantum 🇺🇸

Topological

Stage C

MSFT

NASDAQ

1.9% QTUM

Topological Qubits (In Dev)

Developing fault-tolerant topological qubits

Xanadu 🇨🇦

Photonic

Stage B

Private

Borealis QPU

Achieved quantum computational advantage

PsiQuantum 🇺🇸

Photonic

Stage C

Private

Target: 1M Qubits

Fault-Tolerant Photonic Architecture

Atom Computing 🇺🇸

Neutral Atom

Stage B

Private

1225 Qubits (Phoenix)

Leading neutral-atom quantum systems

Rigetti Computing 🇺🇸

Superconducting

Stage A

RGTI

NASDAQ

6.5% QTUM

84 Qubits (Ankaa-2)

Hybrid Quantum/Classical Approach

D-Wave Systems 🇨🇦

Quantum Annealing

QBTS

NYSE

5.8% QTUM

5000+ Qubits

Commercial Quantum Annealing Systems

Diraq 🇦🇺

Silicon Spin Qubits

Stage B

Private

CMOS-based Qubits

High-fidelity spin qubits in silicon

Origin Quantum 🇨🇳

Superconducting

Private

Wukong Processor

China's first practical quantum computer

Technology Groups

Solid-State Qubits

Superconducting

Uses circuits of superconducting materials cooled to near-absolute zero to create qubits. This is a leading approach known for fast gate operations but is sensitive to environmental noise.

Topological

A theoretical approach that encodes quantum information in the properties of quasiparticles. It promises to be inherently robust against errors but is extremely challenging to realize experimentally.

Silicon Spin Qubits

Encodes quantum information in the spin of an electron confined in a silicon-based structure, similar to a traditional transistor. This approach leverages the mature semiconductor manufacturing industry for scalability.

Atomic & Ion Systems

Trapped Ion

Relies on individual charged atoms (ions) held in place by electromagnetic fields. These qubits are very stable and have high fidelity, but gate operations are typically slower than superconducting qubits.

Neutral Atom

Utilizes individual, uncharged atoms held by lasers as qubits. This approach allows for large numbers of qubits and strong interactions, making it a highly scalable and promising platform.

Light-Based

Photonic

Uses individual particles of light (photons) as qubits. These qubits can operate at room temperature and are ideal for networking, but creating reliable two-qubit gates is difficult.

Specialized Computing Model

Quantum Annealing

A specialized type of quantum computing designed specifically for optimization problems. Instead of using logic gates, it finds the lowest energy state of a system, which corresponds to the optimal solution.

About DARPA QBI Stages

The DARPA Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI) provides a framework for evaluating the performance of quantum computers on real-world problems.

Stage A

Concept

Define a plausible technical concept for a utility-scale quantum computer.

Stage B

R&D Plan

Develop a detailed research and development roadmap.

Stage C

Verification

Independent government verification and validation of the constructed hardware.

Key Achievement Highlights

#1 Quantinuum

High-Fidelity Logical Qubits (Helios)

Successfully demonstrated 48 fully error-corrected logical qubits at a highly efficient 2:1 encoding rate, leading the industry in qubit quality and reliability.

#2 Google Quantum AI

Exponential Error Suppression (Willow)

Provided the first experimental proof that increasing the size of a surface code qubit exponentially reduces the error rate as predicted by theory.

#3 IBM Quantum

Hardware Scaling and QEC Architecture

Launching advanced processors like Nighthawk (high utility) and Loon (fault-tolerant blueprint), alongside the demonstration of ultra-low latency real-time error decoding.