French National Quantum Update — August 2024

Executive Summary

French companies, policymakers and researchers are earning global respect for their leadership in quantum. Pasqal was mentioned in a list of startups to watch in France alongside some of nation’s leading entrepreneurial companies, including Mistral AI and Moon Surgical. Qubit Pharmaceuticals was nominated for “Best Start-up” Award at Prix Galien, which is considered the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in biopharmaceutical research. France’s government officials also are establishing the nation and its quantum community on the global stage, playing key roles in guiding policy through this transformative – and potentially risky – quantum era. Research continues its productive trend, with a steady stream of advances released during the month. The French quantum ecosystem heads into the final few months of 2024 in strong shape.

Policy

White House Acknowledges France as Leader in Post-Quantum Cryptography

In remarks presented after the announcement of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s post-quantum cryptographic standards finalization, the US’s National Cyber Director Harry Coker said that a quantum computer of significant and sufficient size and sophistication can pose cryptographic threats. He added breaking encryption threatens the three essential pillars of cybersecurity: confidentiality, integrity and availability. Coker specifically mentioned France’s PQC leadership in the remarks, adding, “We are particularly grateful to the governments of the United Kingdom, France, and Singapore for their respective leadership in advancing PQC globally.”

Franco-German Quantum Dialogue Scheduled For November

The Franco-German Quantum Dialogue will gather the French and the German quantum ecosystems at the French Embassy in Germany in order to collect their views on how to strengthen in a meaningful way their cooperation and relevantly steer French-German synergies for Europe’s technological sovereignty on quantum.

Business

Pasqal in List of Top French Startups to Watch

Pasqal, a French startup founded in 2019 by physicists from the Institut d’Optique in Palaiseau, is at the forefront of quantum computing innovation. The company specializes in the development of quantum processors based on neutral atoms, an approach that sets it apart in the industry.

Qubit Pharmaceuticals Nominated for “Best Start-up” Award at Prix Galien USA 2024

Qubit Pharmaceuticals, a deeptech company specializing in the discovery of new drug candidates through simulation and molecular modeling accelerated by hybrid HPC and quantum computing, announces that it has been nominated for the Prix Galien USA “Best Startup Award”. This nomination is in line with Qubit Pharmaceuticals’ strategic commitment to establishing and expanding its activities in North America, a key market for biomedical and pharmaceutical research.

Quantum, a critical technology for cybersecurity

Quantum technology is advancing: IBM, Google, D-Wave, Quandela, IQM, Pasqal, and numerous research laboratories are all working on computers equipped with the highest number of qubits and are also seeking to master the stability (error tolerance) of these same qubits over the long term.

Europe Leads the Way in Quantum Telecoms

According to a report by Infinity, an ecosystem support branch of Quantum Delta NL, Europe is a significant player in the quantum sector. Out of the 100 quantum startups, scaleups, and SMEs catering to the telecom industry, a notable 32% are based in continental Europe. Germany, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, and Spain are key hubs, while the United Kingdom and Ireland contribute an additional 14%. This European presence underscores the region’s commitment to integrating quantum technology into commercial applications.

Research

Artificial Intelligence in the Service of Quantum Optics, and Vice Versa

Due to their powerful information processing capabilities, artificial intelligence (AI) and, more broadly, neural network-based computing are generating increasing interest for their applications in the quantum domain. In two of our recent studies, we demonstrate how quantum optics and these new computational approaches can complement each other.

A Quantum Leap in Power Generation

In collaboration with quantum physicist Benjamin Huard’s experimental group at École Normale Supérieure de Lyon in France, Auffèves has built a quantum version of Maxwell’s demonic engine.

Education and Events

Fulbright Award Sends Physics Grad Student to France for Quantum Research

Persistence has paid off for UC Merced doctoral candidate Arabi Seshappan. The graduate student from Fremont, about to start her sixth year, was selected for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program’s Fulbright-Université Paris-Saclay Doctoral Research Award, which is only granted to three U.S. students each year.

CNRS medal of innovation 2024: an alumna is laureate

The CNRS (French national centre for scientific research) has just published the names of three winners who received the Medal of Innovation this year. And among them is an alumna: Eleni Diamanti, a Franco-Greek physicist, quantum physics specialist, research director at CNRS, who was a postdoc researcher at the Institut d’Optique at Palaiseau (University of Paris-Saclay).