PHOTONIC INC. SELECTED FOR DARPA'S QUANTUM BENCHMARKING INITIATIVE STAGE A

Quantum computing company Photonic Inc. has earned a spot in Stage A of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, a program designed to evaluate scalable quantum computing technologies.

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The Vancouver-based firm announced its selection during a press briefing, highlighting its role among nearly 20 companies chosen to demonstrate viable quantum systems. For researchers, industry leaders, and technology analysts, this milestone underscores Photonic’s position in advancing distributed quantum computing solutions.

Photonic’s inclusion in Stage A follows a rigorous evaluation by DARPA, focusing on its entanglement-first approach, which uses photonic qubits to connect quantum systems across distances.

The initiative aims to identify technologies capable of reaching industrial-scale quantum computing within a decade, assessing both performance and cost.

This selection places Photonic alongside firms like IBM and IonQ, all tasked with proving their concepts’ potential.

The company has secured $140 million in funding from investors, including Microsoft, to develop its silicon-based photonic quantum processors. DARPA’s program, structured in three stages, will test Photonic’s architecture through independent validation, with successful participants advancing to co-design and hardware testing phases.

PHOTONIC’S ENTANGLEMENT-FIRST APPROACH STANDS OUT

Photonic Inc. has centered its quantum computing strategy on an entanglementfirst model, utilizing photonic qubits—light particles—to link quantum systems in a distributed network. This approach differs from traditional methods like superconducting or trapped-ion qubits, offering potential advantages in scalability and connectivity.

The company’s selection for DARPA’s Stage A validates this technology as a contender for largescale quantum solutions.