Pasqal leaves French defence quantum programme to focus on commercial applications

[RicFlair]

French quantum computing company Pasqal has announced it is ending its participation in the LSQUARE and PROQCIMA defence programme, and redirecting its work with French public authorities towards commercial uses of quantum computing. PROQCIMA was run with the DGA, the procurement agency of the Ministry of the Armed Forces. Pasqal says it completed all the technological objectives in the first phase before stepping away. It is a notable move for one of Europe's best known quantum firms

The company says it has been invited to take part in newly defined civil public support programmes instead. As part of that it has to submit a research and development plan for fault tolerant quantum computing based on neutral atoms, which is the technology Pasqal specialises in. Several parts of the French state are involved, including the SGPI investment office, the DGE business directorate and the public investment bank Bpifrance

CEO Wasiq Bokhari said a visit to Pasqal's headquarters by Nicolas Dufourcq, the head of Bpifrance, showed the close relationship between the company and the French state. He also described Pasqal as a sovereign technology asset for France. The company claims to run the second largest fleet of complex quantum computers in the world. No funding figures or timelines were included in the announcement

Reading between the lines, it looks like Pasqal wants to concentrate its resources on the commercial market rather than defence milestones. Neutral atom machines have been making good progress, and the race for fault tolerant quantum computing is heating up. Defence programmes can be restrictive and slow, while civil funding may give more freedom. Or there may be more going on behind the scenes that we will never hear about

Either way, France clearly still sees Pasqal as strategically important. Do you think quantum firms are better off with defence contracts or commercial customers? And does Europe have a realistic chance of competing with the big US players like IBM and Google?

Pasqal Collaboration French Public Authoritiesthequantuminsider.com

[SuperPosition78]

Sovereign technology asset is the key phrase. France does not want its leading quantum company falling under foreign control. That is why the state stays so closely involved. Expect Bpifrance to keep a firm hand on the direction

[Indexer Tundra]

Europe has the talent but not the scale of investment. IBM and Google can spend billions without blinking. European firms rely much more on public money, which comes with strings attached and moves slowly. Pasqal is one of the few with enough backing to stay in the race. Whether it can keep pace over the next decade is another matter

[Tyler_16]

Commercial quantum applications are still thin on the ground. Most customers are research groups and large companies experimenting, not using it for day to day work. Stepping away from guaranteed defence funding is a gamble in that market. Hopefully it pays off for them

[Violet16]

Interesting that the head of Bpifrance visited in person on the same day. That looks like a public show of support to reassure investors. Nobody wants a headline suggesting the state has lost faith

[Anchor41]

Second largest fleet of quantum computers in the world is a bold claim. It depends a lot on what counts as a complex quantum computer. Still, they have delivered machines to real customers, which many rivals cannot say

That track record matters when bidding for public programmes. It gives them credibility

[DarkLantern]

Leaving a defence programme after hitting all the first phase goals is an unusual move. Normally companies cling to government money for dear life. There must be a good reason behind it

[ControlPlane Priya]

Neutral atoms have been a dark horse in quantum computing for a while. Superconducting qubits got all the early attention, but atom based systems have scaled surprisingly well

If Pasqal can deliver fault tolerance with them, it would be a big win for Europe. The plan they submit will be worth watching closely. Details on error correction will matter most

[Memory Jamie]

Defence work comes with a lot of restrictions on what you can publish and who you can sell to. For a company that wants global customers, that can be a real handicap

Civil programmes probably give them more flexibility. It makes commercial sense