Burnaby NOW • Wednesday, October 23, 2013 • A19
BBN 3
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D-Wave gains ‘superposition’ in quantum computing BURNABY TECH COMPANY’S INVESTORS INCLUDE AMAZON FOUNDER JEFF BEZOS, ITS CUSTOMERS INCLUDE GOOGLE AND NASA
Paul’s Corner
When dignitaries joined D-Wave executives recently in cutting the ribbon on the company’s new 42,000-square-foot lab in Burnaby, there were only two possible physical states for the ribbon to be in: uncut or cut. But in the weird quantum world that D-Wave inhabits, there is a third potential state: simultaneously cut and uncut – metaphorically speaking. Subatomic particles – which have a property called spin – have been found to have “superposition” – a statistical probability of spinning in opposite directions at the same time. Quantum computing harnesses superposition, and D-Wave makes some pretty bold claims about its position in the race to build the world’s first functioning, commercially viable quantum computer. “We’re the only ones who have produced a quantum computer,” D-Wave CEO Vern Brownell – former chief technology officer for Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) – told investors and dignitaries at a recent grand opening. The new 42,000-square foot lab on Beta Avenue will allow D-Wave to grow as it ramps up production of its latest model of quantum computers – the 512-quibit D-Wave 2. In addition to the two D-Wave computers already built for Google (Nasdaq:GOOG) and Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE:LMT), D-Wave has six functioning quantum computers in its new lab and several more in various stages of fabrication. Each D-Wave machine costs roughly $10 million. But in most cases D-Wave does not sell them. Instead, Brownell said, it strikes collaboration agreements – the most recent
PHOTO: HANDOUT
By Nelson Bennett nbennett@biv.com
No two-bit computer maker: D-Wave founder Geordie Rose in front of a quantum computer one being with Google and NASA in May. “We have managed to acquire customers that are at the top of their game,” Brownell said. The company has also attracted a number of blue-chip investors, including Amazon. com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos, In-Q-Tel (the CIA’s venture investment arm), Vancouver venture capitalist Haig Farris and Draper Fisher Jurvetson (Steve Jurvetson – a founding investor in Hotmail – sits on the boards of both D-Wave and Tesla Motors Inc. (Nasdaq:TSLA). To date, D-Wave has raised $130 million in venture capital, employs 75 scientists and engineers in Burnaby and has a lab in Palo
Getting maximum value from your membership Paul Holden, BBOT President & CEO paul@bbot.ca Here at the BBOT we’re always thrilled when a new member joins us. However, bringing in a new member is only the beginning of what we hope will be a long and mutually beneficial relationship and over the last couple of years we have really worked hard to help our members maximize the value of their hard earned membership dollars. It all starts when we invite new members to an information session with other new
Alto, California. At the heart of D-Wave’s big black boxes – six feet by six feet wide and 10 feet tall – is a tiny niobium chip the size of a fingernail. It’s here where the quantum magic happens. Because any noise or vibration can affect quantum states, these chips must be cooled to just above absolute zero – the point where molecules stop vibrating, magnetic forces are cancelled out and superconductivity occurs. It’s this extreme cooling and isolation that requires the D-Wave machine’s large housings, liquid helium cooling and expensive and exotic materials, like niobium and goldplated copper components.
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Not only is D-Wave the only company in the world claiming to have built a commercialgrade quantum computer, it also holds 100 U.S. patents to some of the key technology behind it. According to Brownell, that means any competitor that wants to build the type of quantum computer that D-Wave has built “would have to step all over the IP portfolio somehow.” “This is an extremely valuable patent portfolio,” he said.!