D-Wave’s $120M Quantum Computing Project Set to Create 200 Jobs

(BIV.com) D-Wave Systems Inc. is hoping to leapfrog over its competitors with a $120-million project aimed at advancing the Burnaby company’s quantum computing systems.
The latest endeavour from the quantum computing firm is focused on further developing its software and hardware systems, and the company will be creating and maintaining 200 jobs as it builds a new and more powerful processor.
“It’s crucial that in addition to providing innovative hardware software and services, we also build a commercial base that advances the development of open source tools to expand the widespread use and knowledge of quantum computing,” CEO and president Alan Baratz said during a virtual announcement on Thursday in which the federal government committed $40 million to the project.
D-Wave is also committing to spending $480 million on research and development as well as hiring up to 10 co-op students.
Baratz said the company has shifted its business model and is no longer selling the physical systems. “Our entire business model now is cloud-based,” he said.
“We sold a few systems early on in the life of the company. But we realized that it’s important to put a business model in place that would allow us to access as many customers as possible and allow those customers to grow with us.”
Baratz declined to share how much revenue was being generated through D-Wave’s cloud computing offerings but he confirmed the company has 50 paying customers.
D-Wave’s quantum computers differ from regular computers that use two bits – ones and zeroes – to make calculations.