Steel company POSCO Holdings taps Pasqal, Qunova for quantum help
South Korean steel company POSCO Holdings is the latest industrial giant to pursue development of quantum computing technologies, as the company last week was ervealed to be working with France-based Pasqal and South Korea’s Qunova Computing.
Pasqal has landed numerous partners and customers in several major industries, with some of the big names including Airbus, BMW, Thales, Siemens, and more. The announcement comes not long after Pasqal announced it would build a new factory in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, to serve the North American market for quantum computing hardware.
That announcement was made the same week that Raphael de Thoury, CEO Canada for Pasqal, spoke at IQT’s most recent event in Montreal. When IQT News had an opportunity to interview him at the end of that week, he talked a bit about Pasqal’s pattern of keying in on large industrial clients. “We focus on very specific projects and problems for big companies,” he said. “When we target big companies, we really want to focus on their use cases and how we can bring value.”
The POSCO Holdings New Experience of Technology Hub plans to conduct research and development of quantum AI algorithms jointly with Pasqal, according to a statement. The two companies plan to focus their capabilities on developing innovative technologies, such as optimizing the eco-friendly steelmaking process and developing secondary battery materials by combining POSCO Group’s AI technology and Pasqal’s quantum computer technology.
Kim Ji-yong, head of POSCO Holdings New Experience of Technology Hub, stated, “We expect to secure quantum computing technology through cooperation with Pasqal and utilize quantum computing technology for the group’s main business, steelmaking, and eco-friendly future material technology development.”
Qunova Computing, meanwhile, is the first quantum computer venture company in Korea, created by the KAIST teacher start-up program, and has strengths in developing quantum computing software for the development of new materials.
Dan O’Shea has covered telecommunications and related topics including semiconductors, sensors, retail systems, digital payments and quantum computing/technology for over 25 years.
