Quantum News Briefs August 26: Quantum Machines qubit chip holders now available through Bluefors • Quantum-powered AI knocking on enterprise business door • Spin squeezing may supercharge quantum sensors • India’s first quantum computer set for launch under National Quantum Mission • Duke receives $30 million award toward ‘historic’ AI and computing initiative
Quantum Machines qubit chip holders now available through Bluefors
Quantum Machines, the leading provider of processor-based quantum controllers, and Bluefors, the global leader in cryogenic measurement systems, announced today an extended OEM agreement. With the agreement, Quantum Machines’ QCage is available through Bluefors. The collaboration allows 
customers to order Bluefors systems with pre-integrated high-performing qubit chip holders from Quantum Machines as part of a turnkey solution. As a result, quantum computing researchers will be able to save months of development time typically associated with the installation, verification, and calibration of home-grown devices.
QCage is a sample holder system for microwave resonator-based quantum devices, enabling qubits to be operated with minimal losses and decoherence. Highly efficient QCage Magnetic Shielding can be used to protect devices from external interference and ensure proper thermalization. The product is available for Bluefors’ LD and XLDsl systems, arriving tested, verified, and pre-installed in systems.
With a comprehensive understanding of all technologies enabling quantum computing research, the partnership between Bluefors and Quantum Machines ensures that researchers can seamlessly move between setups. Customers will benefit from the shared expertise of both companies, enabling them to generate results with greatly increased speed.
Quantum-powered AI knocking on enterprise business door
Technical innovations are often overinterpreted in the short term and underestimated in the long term. Artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing represent two such innovations, particularly for businesses according to recent interview by PYMNTS and published online for listening August 26.
It is the “fusion” of quantum computing and generative AI that ultimately presents a revolutionary approach to solving complex problems across various industries, Christopher Savoie, CEO at Zapata AI, told PYMNTS in the recorded interview.
The power of quantum computing lies in its ability to handle statistical models with unprecedented accuracy and efficiency. Generative AI, which relies heavily on statistical models, benefits immensely from quantum algorithms.
“The statistics we use in quantum land are better at generalizing and expressing over those statistical models,” Savoie explained about quantum-enhanced AI. “The ability to accurately simulate these complex scenarios is important.” He clarified that while quantum technology holds tremendous promise, the current state of quantum hardware is not yet at a stage where it can outperform classical computers for most tasks. “Eventually, we’ll have hardware that does this natively,” according to Savoie.
Harvard Gazette reports: “Spin squeezing may supercharge quantum sensors”
A quantum mechanical trick called “spin squeezing” is widely recognized to hold promise for supercharging the capabilities of the world’s most precise quantum sensors, but it’s been notoriously difficult to achieve. In new research reported bu Harvard Gazette on August 23, Harvard physicists describe how they’ve put spin squeezing within better reach.
A type of quantum entanglement, spin squeezing constrains the way an ensemble of particles can fluctuate. This enables more precise measurements of certain observable signals, at the expense of measuring other, complementary signals as accurately.
The Harvard team’s work built upon a landmark 1993 paper that first described the possibility of a spin-squeezed, entangled state brought about by “all-to-all” interactions between atoms.
In their paper, the researchers outline a new strategy for generating spin-squeezed entanglement. They intuited, and together with collaborators in France quickly confirmed via experiment that the ingredients for spin squeezing are present in a ubiquitous type of magnetism found often in nature — ferromagnetism,
The researchers are optimistic that by thus lowering the barrier to spin squeezing, their work will inspire new ways for quantum scientists and engineers to create more portable sensors, useful in biomedical imaging, atomic clocks, and more.
Business Line Reports: “India’s first quantum computer set for launch under National Quantum Mission”
India’s National Quantum Mission is set to take off after four years with multiple initiatives including setting up a grant for start-ups that need funding ranging ₹10-50 crore, launching India’s first quantum computer achieving computation of 6 qubits over the next few months, and setting up four companies under section 8 to undertake various activities under the mission according to August 24 BusinessLine. These companies will be run under the aegis of premier institutes like Indian Institute of Technology or the Indian Institute of Sciences.
Ajai Chowdhry, Co-founder of HCL, & Chairman of the Mission Governing Board for the National Quantum, outlined a concrete blueprint to spend the nearly ₹6,000 crore corpus. The mission is soon to announce the four thematic hubs of the mission in the coming months. “These hubs will run independently as Section 8 companies and will appoint their own CEOs. The job of these hubs is to advance quantum technologies in their respective verticals even further,” Chowdhry said.
According to Chowdhry, two verticals in particular namely quantum computing and quantum communication are emerging to be the most promising especially as India has made advancements in these verticals independent of the mission.
The Duke Chronicle reports: “Duke receives $30 million award toward ‘historic’ AI and computing initiative”
The Duke Endowment recently awarded the University $30 million to hire new faculty in support of computing, artificial intelligence and machine learning research according to August 25 TheChronicle article by Managing Editor Michael Austin.
The gift will support the creation of the new Elevating Duke Computing program, according to an Aug. 20 Giving to Duke announcement. The “historic” program, to be led by Provost Alec Gallimore, will fund the “hiring and start-up costs” for a senior “luminary” faculty member and four to seven mid-career faculty over the next five years.
The Elevating Duke Computing program will be considered part of the broader Duke Science and Technology initiative, which the University launched in 2019 with a $100 million donation from the Duke Endowment. Per the initiative’s website, Duke is “home to the world’s top lab in interpretable AI.”
