Quantum computers have cold problem, this Indian team hopes to beat Google, IBM, others in solving it

Quantum computers are cool. Or rather too cool to be practical at the moment. They promise to solve problems that would take today's fastest supercomputers years, or even centuries, to crack. But they also have a “chill problem”. Many of them need an environment colder than outer space just to work. Now a Bengaluru-based startup claims that it can figure out a solution that may make quantum computing at room temperature a reality.

To keep their quantum computers chilled, companies like Google and IBM keep their superconducting quantum processors inside massive cryogenic refrigerators that have temperatures of around -273°C. This cooling is one of the reasons why Quantum computers are expensive, and hard to use at scale.

Bengaluru-based startup Quanfluence is hoping to solve this issue through a method that would reportedly use light instead of electricity to power the machine. Instead of using superconducting electrical circuits that need extreme cooling, the company is developing computing technology based on photonics. In simpler terms, it is using light instead of electricity, to power the computing process.

Quanfluence was founded by Sujoy Chakravarty, Ravi Mehta and Biman Chattopadhyay. After selling their semiconductor company, Silicon and Beyond, to Synopsys in 2018, the three spent months exploring different ways to build a quantum computer, from superconducting systems and ion-trap technology to photonics.

In the end, they decided that light offered the most practical path, especially for countries like India, where building and maintaining the massive cooling infrastructure needed for conventional quantum computers would be far more difficult.

But before tackling the big problem, Quanfluence has apparently built something that can be commercialised immediately. This is a machine the company calls Optical Ising Machine. The platform allegedly helps businesses solve extremely complex planning.

According to Quanfluence, when it comes to quantum computers the biggest advantage of using light is that it doesn't come with the same cooling requirements as superconducting circuits. Instead of keeping a quantum computer inside a giant refrigerator at nearly -273°C, the company believes a photonic system could one day work at room temperature.

It's worth noting that Quanfluence hasn't built a universal quantum computer yet. Its current Optical Ising Machine is reportedly a quantum-inspired computing platform designed for specialised tasks, not a replacement for the quantum systems being developed by Google or IBM. However, the company hopes the technology behind it will eventually lay the foundation for a room-temperature photonic quantum computer.

Quantum computers are cool. Or rather too cool to be practical at the moment. They promise to solve problems that would take today's fastest supercomputers years, or even centuries, to crack. But they also have a “chill problem”. Many of them need an environment colder than outer space just to work. Now a Bengaluru-based startup claims that it can figure out a solution that may make quantum computing at room temperature a reality.

To keep their quantum computers chilled, companies like Google and IBM keep their superconducting quantum processors inside massive cryogenic refrigerators that have temperatures of around -273°C. This cooling is one of the reasons why Quantum computers are expensive, and hard to use at scale.

Bengaluru-based startup Quanfluence is hoping to solve this issue through a method that would reportedly use light instead of electricity to power the machine. Instead of using superconducting electrical circuits that need extreme cooling, the company is developing computing technology based on photonics. In simpler terms, it is using light instead of electricity, to power the computing process.

Quanfluence was founded by Sujoy Chakravarty, Ravi Mehta and Biman Chattopadhyay. After selling their semiconductor company, Silicon and Beyond, to Synopsys in 2018, the three spent months exploring different ways to build a quantum computer, from superconducting systems and ion-trap technology to photonics.

In the end, they decided that light offered the most practical path, especially for countries like India, where building and maintaining the massive cooling infrastructure needed for conventional quantum computers would be far more difficult.

But before tackling the big problem, Quanfluence has apparently built something that can be commercialised immediately. This is a machine the company calls Optical Ising Machine. The platform allegedly helps businesses solve extremely complex planning.

According to Quanfluence, when it comes to quantum computers the biggest advantage of using light is that it doesn't come with the same cooling requirements as superconducting circuits. Instead of keeping a quantum computer inside a giant refrigerator at nearly -273°C, the company believes a photonic system could one day work at room temperature.

It's worth noting that Quanfluence hasn't built a universal quantum computer yet. Its current Optical Ising Machine is reportedly a quantum-inspired computing platform designed for specialised tasks, not a replacement for the quantum systems being developed by Google or IBM. However, the company hopes the technology behind it will eventually lay the foundation for a room-temperature photonic quantum computer.