Insider Brief
- Conductor Quantum, a Y Combinator–backed startup from San Francisco, has partnered with Finland’s SemiQon to accelerate the development of scalable silicon-based quantum computers.
- The collaboration combines SemiQon’s silicon quantum chips with Conductor’s AI-driven control software designed to automate and optimize quantum device operation.
- The partnership underscores growing transatlantic alliances in quantum technology, linking Europe’s semiconductor expertise with U.S. advances in AI and quantum software.
PRESS RELEASE — Conductor Quantum, a Y Combinator–backed startup out of San Francisco, is teaming up with Finland’s SemiQon, a spin-out of VTT Technical Research Centre, to accelerate one of the most promising bets in quantum computing: spin qubits in silicon.
The idea is simple. SemiQon makes the chips. Conductor builds the AI software that runs them. Together, they’re betting that silicon quantum computers can scale far faster than rival approaches.
“SemiQon is one of the few companies in the world solely focused on delivering silicon quantum chips,” says Conductor Quantum CEO Brandon Severin, who co-founded the company with Joel Pendleton after the two met at the University of Oxford during their PhDs. “We build the AI control stack to bring those chips to life. We both understand the promise of silicon — and together we can accelerate the path to a useful silicon-based quantum computer.”
Spin qubits in silicon are recently being regarded as one of the most promising routes to practical quantum computing. Unlike superconducting qubits, they can leverage the trillion-dollar semiconductor industry to produce chips with the potential to house billions of qubits on a chip the size of the one in your phone — while still meeting the demanding requirements for high-quality qubits.
That’s where Conductor Quantum’s software comes in. Getting a quantum device operational today takes teams of PhDs working by hand, painstakingly tuning voltages and monitoring signals.
“Right now, controlling quantum devices means armies of PhDs sitting in front of computers turning voltage dials,” Pendleton says. “We’re building AI tools to take that work off their plate. The AI doesn’t get tired, it can work on multiple devices at the same time, and it frees quantum engineers to do what they do best — engineer, not babysit hardware.”
Conductor’s software is the first layer above the hardware — a kind of bootloader, the precursor to a quantum operating system. “It’s software that has to sit close to the device, and it has to run fast. Without this layer, you don’t get from a promising chip to a working computer,” he says.
For SemiQon, the partnership is a chance to show what its silicon-first approach can deliver when paired with cutting-edge automation.
“At SemiQon we’ve been laser-focused on making quantum chips manufacturable in standard semiconductor fabs. That’s the only way to scale,” says CEO Himadri Majumdar. “By pairing our silicon hardware with Conductor Quantum’s AI-driven control software, we’re aligning the two missing pieces needed to make large-scale quantum computing a reality.”
Today, SemiQon isn’t just talking — it’s shipping. The company recently manufactured and pre-tested multiplexed and multi-qubit silicon quantum device arrays, now shipping globally to strategic partners for R&D.
The deal also highlights the rise of transatlantic quantum alliances — with hardware leaders in Europe joining forces with AI-first software startups in the US. For Conductor, which moved to San Francisco after graduating from Y Combinator last year, and for SemiQon, which builds on VTT’s decades of silicon expertise, it’s a natural fit.
Or as Severin puts it: “They move fast, we move fast — speed is what quantum needs.”
About SemiQon
SemiQon’s mission is to realize the promise of quantum computing by delivering scalability through powerful, resilient, and cost-effective quantum processors. Its technology builds upon decades of development and know-how from the semiconductor industry, making its quantum integrated circuits and other components commercially competitive and well-suited for mass-manufacturing. SemiQon’s first-in-the-world cryo-optimized CMOS forms the basis for its quantum chips and has wide-ranging applications in quantum, space, and beyond.
About Conductor Quantum
Conductor Quantum is an American company headquartered in San Francisco, California. We are assembling a leveraged team of hungry animals and cracked engineers whose sole focus is to develop software to enable fault-tolerant quantum computation. If you would like to expand the quantum frontier and solve one of the hardest technological challenges of our time, this is your chance.
