Coquitlam’s Photonic has been selected to participate in Stage A of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI), the company announced this week.
The global program aims to rigorously assess whether any quantum computing technology can deliver “utility-scale” performance—meaning the computational value outweighs its cost—by 2033. Participants must present a realistic path to building a large-scale quantum computer that meets this benchmark.
“We are proud to be selected for Stage A of DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative,” said Dr. Stephanie Simmons, Photonic’s Founder and Chief Quantum Officer. “When DARPA announced QBI last year, we were pleased to see that their definition of ‘utility scale’ includes not only the computational value, but also the costs. We know that maintainability, serviceability, reliability, manufacturability – in addition to the obvious scale required to unlock the promise of quantum – are critical.”
Photonic’s approach, dubbed Entanglement First™, focuses on distributed quantum computing—a model the company believes is key to building scalable systems. Through QBI, Photonic will work closely with DARPA’s test and evaluation team to explore and validate its architecture.
The QBI program is structured in three stages. Stage A requires participants to outline a feasible concept for a utility-scale quantum computer. Stage B involves detailing a research and development roadmap, identifying potential risks, and proposing mitigation strategies. Stage C will see selected teams collaborating with the U.S. government to verify and validate that their concept can be built and function as intended.
Microsoft’s Krysta Svore, Technical Fellow of Advanced Quantum Development, welcomed the news: “We were pleased to learn that Photonic was selected for DARPA’s QBI Stage A, a rigorous recognition cementing Photonic’s unique, entanglement-first approach to distributed quantum computing.”
DARPA’s initiative is designed not only to fund innovation, but to provide participants with independent, third-party assessments of their progress—helping separate hype from real-world potential in the race to build practical quantum machines.
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