Executive Summary
France’s quantum ecosystem seemed energized in October 2025 and that energy surged across entire community from policy to business to education. A few examples of this surge included ETSI, which established a new Technical Committee on Quantum Technologies to standardize secure quantum communications and networks across Europe. Quandela delivered Lucy, a 12-qubit photonic quantum computer, to CEA’s TGCC under the EuroHPC program, while Alice & Bob, supported by the French defense innovation agency AID, unveiled new fabrication equipment for scalable quantum chips and joined NVIDIA’s NVQLink initiative to advance fault-tolerant hybrid computing. Pasqal announced plans to open its U.S. headquarters at the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park and integrate its processors with NVQLink, and Isentroniq raised €7.5 million to tackle cryogenic wiring challenges. In research, Nobel laureate Michel Devoret was recognized for foundational work in superconducting qubits, while École Polytechnique demonstrated the first carbon-nanotube-based superconducting qubit—marking another productive month for French quantum innovation. We’ve included a non-exhaustive list of some of these stories below.
Policy
ETSI creates New Committee on Quantum Technologies
The ETSI Board has recently approved the creation of a new Technical Committee on Quantum Technologies (TC QT) marking a significant milestone in ETSI’s commitment to advancing the underlying framework of standards for quantum technologies across numerous quantum-related domains. The primary objective of the technical committee is to develop specifications that address quantum communications and quantum networks across multiple sectors, deploying quantum-based solutions to lay the foundations for secure global communications networks.
Business
Quandela Delivers Photonic Quantum Computer to EuroHPC and GENCI at CEA’s TGCC
Quandela, GENCI and CEA today announced the delivery of Lucy, a 12-qubit universal digital photonic quantum computer, to the Très Grand Centre de calcul (TGCC) of CEA. The system, delivered by the French-German consortium Quandela-attocube systems AG, was procured by the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking in the context of the consortium EuroQCS-France.
French Government Backs New Technology for Industrial Quantum Chip Production
Alice & Bob, a global leader in the race for fault-tolerant quantum computing, together with PLASSYS-BESTEK a specialist in thin film deposition technology, supported by the AID (the French Government’s defense innovation agency), today announced the delivery of a state-of-the-art quantum chip fabrication equipment SQUID-6 UHV as part of the ULTRACAT project .
Meet-Q Project to Advance Quantum Networking
Quantum technology leaders QphoX and Welinq, together with Sorbonne University, have announced a new joint initiative – Meet-Q – focused on realizing optical quantum interconnects to enable hybrid scalable quantum networking. The collaboration, which is supported by Quantum Delta NL and BPI France, brings together complementary technologies: quantum frequency converters and quantum memories. Together these will form the foundation for optical links between quantum processors and a quantum memory, which will allow to overcome critical bottlenecks in quantum networks and quantum computing.
Pasqal to Build U.S. Headquarters at Illinois Quantum And Microelectronics Park
A French quantum computing company is bringing a major investment to Chicago’s South Side, betting on the city’s growing quantum ecosystem. Pasqal announced it will establish its U.S. headquarters at the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, located on the former U.S. Steel South Works site that is being redeveloped into a high-tech campus that already includes some of quantum’s biggest players, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Alice & Bob Accelerates Quantum Computing with NVIDIA NVQLink
Alice & Bob, a global leader in the race for fault-tolerant quantum computing, today announced its collaboration on NVIDIA NVQLink, launched at GTC Washington, D.C. NVQLink is NVIDIA’s new open architecture that integrates quantum processing units (QPUs) with classical GPUs, delivering real-time orchestration for fault-tolerant quantum computing (FTQC) applications.
Pasqal Advances Hybrid Quantum–AI Computing with NVIDIA NVQLink
Pasqal, a global leader in neutral-atom quantum computing, today announced it is supporting the integration of its quantum processing units (QPUs) with the new NVIDIA NVQLink platform. The platform tightly couples Pasqal’s neutral-atom quantum processors with NVIDIA’s accelerated computing ecosystem, paving the way for scalable logical qubits, practical hybrid quantum-classical applications, and building utility-scale hybrid quantum supercomputers.
Isentroniq Raises €7.5M to Fix Quantum Computing’s ScalabilityProblem
Isentroniq raised €7.5 million to tackle one of quantum computing’s most stubborn hardware bottlenecks: cryogenic wiring that adds heat and consumes space as systems scale.The company annouced on LinkedIn that the pre-seed round was led by Heartcore Capital, with participation from OVNI Capital, Kima Ventures, IXCORE Group, Better Angle, and EPSL VC, alongside support from Bpifrance and France 2030 programs.
Research
Nobel Physics Prize: Frenchman in trio hailed for work on quantum mechanics
Frenchman Michel H Devoret as well as his longtime American collaborator John M Martinis and the Briton John Clarke were on Tuesday awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics for their work on quantum physics in action. The trio, who all carry out their research at American universities, were honoured “for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit,” the Nobel jury said.
Scientists Create Carbon Nanotube-based Superconducting Quantum Bit
Researchers at École Polytechnique have demonstrated the first superconducting quantum circuit architecture that integrates a carbon nanotube as a qubit, published in Nature Communications. The nanotube-based Josephson junction enables control of qubit properties using a simple electrical voltage while maintaining superconducting performance at very low temperatures.
Education and Events
Collaboration without borders: Rice-PSL fund opens doors for faculty across campus
When Junichiro Kono spent a month at the École Normale Supérieure (ENS) in Paris, he didn’t just advance his research in quantum science — he helped expand Rice’s role in a growing network of collaboration between Houston and Paris. “The Université Paris Sciences & Lettres (PSL) Global Seed Fund was truly valuable for fostering connections between Rice and PSL,” said Kono, the Karl F. Hasselmann Chair in Engineering and director of the Smalley-Curl Institute. “Using the funds, I spent a month at ENS, where I met many exciting researchers and began several ongoing collaborations. After returning to Rice, I was also able to connect some of those PSL researchers with colleagues here, strengthening the Rice-PSL partnership.”
Kono’s project linked Rice’s Quantum Initiative with PSL’s research network in quantum science and engineering — one of four shared priority areas outlined in the memorandum of understanding the two institutions signed in 2024. The others — urban futures, global health and energy transition — reflect the full spectrum of Rice expertise that the fund is designed to support.
