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