In an industry where timelines are often fuzzy and subject to revision, the quantum-computing company PsiQuantum has set itself an aggressive target. The California-based startup has committed to building a fault-tolerant quantum computer with roughly a million qubits by 2027. And the company is now in the process of assembling its first fully fledged prototype in a warehouse in California. Crossing the million-qubit threshold could start to realize quantum computing’s promise to revolutionize areas like materials science and chemistry. Founded by a quartet of academics from British universities in 2016, the company has raised US $1.7bn to build an optical quantum computer based on silicon photonics. Using photons to store and manipulate quantum information raises a very different set of challenges compared with those of “matter-based” approaches like superconducting qubits, trapped ions, or neutral atoms, says chief scientific officer and cofounder Pete Shadbolt. But the company is betting that by building on top of mature networking and photonics technology, it can reach scale ahead of its competitors.

Full report : PsiQuantum Plans Quantum Supercomputer That Runs on Light.