GoKawiil
Tech News
Executives from Nord Quantique and QuSecure discussed how quantum computing is moving from theoretical research toward real-world application, with heavy investment from governments and companies. They highlighted potential across drug discovery, materials science, finance and logistics, alongside the parallel risk quantum poses to current encryption standards.
Physicists at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden devised a theoretical method that performs a wide range of advanced quantum operations more than a thousand times faster than current techniques. The approach targets the core problem that qubits are extremely fragile and prone to errors from noise, radiation, and heat during lengthy operations. The findings were published in Physical Review Letters.
The US Commerce Department is distributing $300 million in CHIPS Act funding equally among D-Wave Quantum, Rigetti Computing, and Quantinuum, giving each $100 million while also acquiring minority ownership stakes in the companies. The money targets hardware manufacturing challenges like cryogenics, semiconductor fabrication, ion traps, and photonics rather than quantum software development.
Shares of leading quantum computing firms including Rigetti, D-Wave and IonQ climbed sharply even as broader markets fell. The gains follow confirmation that the US government has finalized substantial funding commitments to several of these companies, totaling hundreds of millions of dollars across three firms.
According to a Diamond Online report, NEC quietly halted development of physical quantum computing machines at the end of March 2026, decades after pioneering superconducting qubit research in 1999. Several researchers from the program, including a key leader, have reportedly since joined Fujitsu, which continues investing heavily in the technology. NEC has not confirmed a full exit, stating it still evaluates practical applications and industrialization of quantum technologies with customers.
India's government has introduced the Prime Minister Research Chair Scheme, offering 120 overseas Indian-origin researchers up to 50 million rupees (about $520,000) in grants plus stipends and allowances over five years to work at Indian institutions. The initiative targets strategic fields like AI, quantum computing, biotechnology and advanced materials, joining similar brain-drain reversal efforts by China, France, Germany and Denmark.
Anthropic has published a new framework called Model Hardware Standard that sets rules for how AI agents should interact with physical devices such as microscopes, liquid-handling systems, quantum computing hardware, manufacturing machines, and robot arms. The company plans to test it with trusted partners to refine safety measures before releasing it more broadly.
Quantinuum has introduced Helios, a 98-qubit trapped-ion quantum computer that uses a four-way junction to shuttle ions between memory and processing zones, alongside new control software called Helios runtime that schedules ion movement and laser operations. It surpasses the company's earlier machines, which had 32 qubits in 2023 and 56 qubits in 2025, making it the largest trapped-ion system built so far.
EuroHPC Joint Undertaking has launched six funding calls totaling €119 million to develop next-generation quantum computing infrastructure across Europe, including trapped-ion and superconducting platforms. The trapped-ion call, worth €20 million, targets a full-stack quantum computer with over 1,000 qubits integrated with HPC systems, while the superconducting call seeks a similarly scaled chiplet-based QPU with cloud access. Both calls opened August 13, 2026, with applications due November 17, 2026.