CIA and Amazon Founder Greedily Eye D-Wave's Quantum Computer. Canadian startup receives funding from two key sources Situated in the verdant North American northwest, Canada's University of British Columbia proved the fertile breeding ground for the first major "quantum computing" startup.
Calling itself "D-Wave", the company launched in 1999 with an odd assortment of professors and graduate students. One of those students -- who at the time was just graduating with his Ph.D -- was Geordie Rose. Today Mr. Rose, one of the company co-founders, is the company's chief technology officer (CTO) and is fighting a battle to convince venture capitalists (VCs) that his company is dealing in reality, not peddling digital snake oil. I. Like the minicomputers of decades past, D-Wave's systems -- first unveiled in 2007 -- are hulking designs, 10 feet high.
D-Wave, The Quantum Computing Company. About « Hack the multiverse. D-Wave Quantum Computer Scaling. D-Wave Systems 128 qubit processor - "Inside the chip" Seven Wonders of the World: DANNY HILLIS. D-Wave Announces Commercially Available Quantum Computer. Q and A With Prof. Scott Aaronson on D-Wave's Quantum Computer. Q and A With D-Wave's Dr. Geordie Rose On Quantum Computing. The Inner Workings of a Quantum von Neumann Computer. Jeff Bezos And The CIA Invest In D-Wave's Quantum Computer.
Jeff Bezos, U.S. Intelligence Invest In Quantum Computing - Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and In-Q-Tel have invested in D-Wave Systems, a company marketing what it calls the first commercial quantum computer.
IW500: 15 Top Government Tech Innovators (click image for larger view and for slideshow) Amazon founder and erstwhile investor Jeff Bezos and the U.S. intelligence community are among those betting that quantum computing will lead to revolutionary new computing power. Quantum computing company D-Wave announced a $30 million round of funding on Thursday that includes investments by Bezos' Bezos Expeditions and U.S. intelligence community venture arm In-Q-Tel. D-Wave, founded in 1999, last year announced the D-Wave One, which the company has called "the first commercially available quantum computer. " [ Another recent In-Q-Tel investment: database-as-a-service for Web and mobile apps.
Unlike traditional computers, quantum computers don't require transistors or the use of bits that are represented either as zero or one, the on or off states. Quantum Computing Firm Gets $30M Boost From Bezos, CIA. Is quantum computing the technology of the future?
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos seems to think so, having just jointly invested $30 million in Vancouver-based D-Wave Systems. The CEO's Bezos Expeditions teamed up with In-Q-Tel, essentially the venture capital arm of the CIA, for D-Wave's latest investment round. "We are pleased to have such highly regarded investors in our company," D-Wave CEO Vern Brownell said in a statement. "Both understand the implications of quantum computing as a world changing force. " As described by D-Wave, quantum computing combines the laws of quantum physics - which allows bits of matter to be in two states simultaneously - with modern-day computing, which relies on the manipulation of billions of bits of information. "Quantum computing combines these two ideas, allowing us to put bits of information into their 0 and 1 states at the same time," according to D-Dave. D-Wave Defies World of Critics With 'First Quantum Cloud'
D-Wave's tenacious CTO, Geordie Rose.
Photo: D-Wave Geordie Rose has a Ph.D. in quantum physics, but he’s also a world champion in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a Canadian national champion wrestler. That may seem like an odd combination, but this dual background makes him the perfect fit for his chosen profession. Rose is the CTO and founder of D-Wave. He calls it the world’s only quantum computer company, but the world’s quantum computer experts don’t agree with him. ”I’m not okay with losing at anything,” he says, “at all.” The quantum computer is the holy grail of tech research.