Beyond the Qubit

Frank Dekker

The nr1 Quantum Technology podcast for investors.

  1. 6天前

    Python is not the problem. The compile gap is.

    Most people talk about quantum as if the hard part is the qubits. In my interview withJonathon Riddell, CEO of Kothar Computing, the bottleneck looked different: theclassical layer that has to run the science. Because real quantumworkflows are hybrid. Quantum plus classical. And hybrid workflowslive or die on orchestration, reproducibility, performance, and deployment. Here is theuncomfortable truth. Python is perfectfor exploration. It is the front door. Python has great compiler-adjacenttools, but the workflow is still fragmented and hard to make robust end-to-end. The pain starts whenyou move from notebooks to real workloads and you need predictable execution,repeatable builds, and optimized, validated runs across heterogeneous hardware. That is the compilegap. The jump fromPython-first workflows to a reliable compilation and transpilation pipelinethat targets CPUs, GPUs, and QPUs. And it shows up everywhere you care about inphysics and quantum: dynamiclanguages make certain classes of errors harder to catch early, and largescientific stacks accumulate risk through runtime shape/type/unit mismatches.Assystems grow, you want more errors caught before runtime, and failures that areloud and actionable.     This is why I findAleph so interesting. Aleph is Kothar’sattempt to raise the ceiling for scientific and quantum computing: a languagedesigned to feel natural for researchers, while still being built forcompilation and performance. The idea is simplebut powerful. Keep the ergonomicsscientists love. Add the compilerbackbone production systems require. Make hybridworkflows feel normal, not fragile. If you are buildingor investing in quantum, I think this framing matters. The winners will notjust have better qubits. They will havebetter tooling that turns quantum into a usable accelerator inside a largerscientific workflow. Part 1 of the deepdive is out now. Link:https://youtu.be/T_idIcdYSgc       Also curious: wheredo you feel the pain most today, compilation, debugging, or reproducibility? #QuantumComputing#QuantumSoftware #HybridComputing #ScientificComputing #HPC #DeveloperTools#ProgrammingLanguages #Compilers #Compilation #Reproducibility #PerformanceEngineering#SoftwareEngineering #ComputeAcceleration #DeepTech #KotharComputing#physics #deeptech #BeyondTheQubit #FutureOfCompute @Kotharcomputing@JonathonRiddell     📌 Disclaimer: This post is shared on a personal basis and I do notrepresent any company

    50 分钟
  2. 2月13日

    If we hit 100 logical qubits, the conversation around quantum changes fast.

    Because it moves the field from impressive lab demos toworkloads you can actually run. After a year of hosting Beyond the Qubit, I have learnedthis.The real challenge is not the physics.It is knowing what is real progress, while the answer is still uncertain. Here is what I have learned so far. First.Quantum is no longer one story.There are multiple credible technology paths, and it is genuinely difficulttoday to say which one will win. Second.Scaling is still underestimated.Not just more qubits on a chip/unit, but also clustering chips together, andimproving error correction so you need fewer physical qubits for each logicalqubit. Third.A simple truth I keep repeating to myself.A logical qubit is an error corrected qubit you can compute with reliably.And today, the world still has no or only a very small number of them. That is why the next milestone matters. My working heuristic is this.Around 100 logical qubits is where the first meaningful applications may startto appear.And somewhere around 1,000 to 2,000 logical qubits is where many of the bigapplications start to open up, like molecular modelling and large scaleoptimization. The exact number will depend on the application and theerror rates.But the order of magnitude matters. So if the industry reaches 100 logical qubits, it is notjust a benchmark.It is a strong signal that scaling is working.And it makes the path toward 1,000 plus feel less like science fiction and morelike an engineering roadmap. That shift changes things.Capital.Talent.Time horizons.And the way society talks about quantum. Now a second lesson for investors and builders. This market could consolidate around a few winners.That is exciting, but it also means technology risk remains high. So where do you look if you want exposure without betting ona single horse? Suppliers.The enablers. Because scaling does not just mean better chips.It depends on the technology, for super conducting qubits it means morechannels, more calibration, more test, more wiring, more cooling, and bettererror correction tooling. This is why I like studying the enabling layer.Chip testing, control systems, interconnects, cryogenics, and error correctionsoftware.These companies often aim to support more than one quantum technology path,which can mean earlier revenue and lower single technology risk. Two examples I personally find interesting are OrangeQuantum Systems and QC Design.Not investment advice, just examples of the enabling layer. One more observation. The world is spending enormous amounts on compute for AI.Quantum is not the same as AI compute, and AI spend is not a direct driver ofquantum.But it can accelerate adjacent tooling, packaging, photonics, and engineeringtalent that the quantum ecosystem also depends on. Add geopolitics and digital sovereignty, and quantum becomeseven more strategic. So yes.Quantum still has uncertainty. But the direction of travel is clear. The next years are about proving that logical qubits canscale.Through scale up, scale out, and better error correction. That is what I will keep tracking on Beyond the Qubit. Now I am curious about your view. Which unlock do you think comes first on the road to 100logical qubits.Scale up, scale out, or error correction. If you want to receive the presentation, post presentationbelow in the comments. Here are the links for: Youtube:     Spotify:     📌 Disclaimer: Thispost is shared on a personal basis and I do not represent any company #QuantumComputing #QuantumTechnology#FaultTolerantQuantumComputing #LogicalQubits #QuantumErrorCorrection#QuantumHardware #DeepTechInvesting #Semiconductors

    11 分钟
  3. 1月30日

    Error correction isn’t primarily blocked by physics anymore

    It’s blocked by design choices.” That was one of thestrongest realizations from Part 2 of my deepdive with Ish Dhand, co-founder of QCDesign, on Beyond the Qubit. Most people talkabout fault-tolerant quantum computing as if it’s a single problem. In reality, it’s a design-space explosion. That reframed how Ithink about progress in quantum. What stood out to mein this part of the conversation: • Hardware teamsdon’t struggle with one error, they struggle with many interacting imperfections at the same time • Open-sourcesimulators can scale to thousands of qubits, but usually only by assuming very simplified error models • Real hardware hasto deal with leakage, coherent errors, pulse timing, idling, cross-talk,  all at once • Many of theseeffects only become visible at the scale of thousandsof physical qubits per logical qubit This is where QCDesign plays a unique role. Rather than bettingon a single error-correction code or architecture, they help hardware teams simulate realistic fault-tolerant systems beforebuilding them,  across platforms,codes, decoders, and noise models. What really changedmy perspective: Error correctionisn’t just about finding a better code. It’s aboutunderstanding where engineering effort actuallypays off. If leakage hurtsyour logical qubits more than erasures, why spend yearsoptimizing the wrong thing? If longer pulsesimprove gate fidelity but quietly destroy system performance through idlingerrors, where’s the realoptimum? These aren’tacademic questions. They determine cost, timelines, and whether scaling is even feasible. One line from Ishreally stuck with me: Today, the cost of a truly useful fault-tolerantquantum computer is effectively infinite. The real progress is making that number finite, andthen bringing it down. That single sentencereframes the entire industry. In this episode, wego deep into: • why decoding speedmatters as much as code efficiency • why “software willfix it later” is usually the wrong mindset • why logicalfidelity matters more than raw qubit counts • and why faulttolerance is becoming a full-stack engineeringproblem If you care about how quantum computers will actually be built,  not just announced,  this conversation is worth your time. 🎙️Beyond the Qubit — Part 2 with Ish Dhand 🔗https://youtu.be/ugo3g1Mws2M #FaultTolerantQuantum#QuantumArchitecture #ErrorCorrection#QuantumSoftware #BeyondTheQubit   ⁨@IshDhand⁩ ⁨@QC_Design⁩   📌 Disclaimer: This post is shared on a personal basis and I do notrepresent any company

    49 分钟
  4. 1月23日

    “What does the ultimate computer look like under the laws of physics?”

    That’s the question Ish Dhand has been obsessed with for years. It’s also what ledhim from academia, to Xanadu, and now toco-founding QC Design. I’m excited to sharethat Ish is joining me on Beyond the Qubit. What struck me mostin our conversation wasn’t hype or timelines, it was how hard the problem really is. A few takeaways thatstayed with me: • Fault-tolerantquantum computers aren’t blocked by a single breakthrough, but by thousands of interacting design decisions • Error correctionisn’t just a physics problem, it’s an architecture,control, and decoding problem all at once • Many hardwareteams underestimate how early they needto think about fault tolerance • Software canunlock orders-of-magnitude improvements,but only if it’s grounded in realistic noise models and hardware constraints At one point, Ishdescribed QC Design as the Cadence / Synopsysof quantum computing. Not building thehardware itself, but helping hardware teams understand what they’re actually building before they build it. What I appreciatedmost was his bias for action: ship early, getfeedback from real hardware teams, iterate fast, even when the problem space ismessy and incomplete. In this episode, wego deep into: • how logical qubitsreally emerge from physical ones • why differentqubit platforms face fundamentally different error profiles • why “software willfix it later” is often the wrong mental model • and what actuallyneeds to go right for fault-tolerant quantum computing to arrive If you care about how quantum systems are designed,  not just announced,  this is a conversation worth your time. 🎙️Beyond the Qubit,  episodewith Ish Dhand 🔗 (link) https://youtu.be/GOuYABNmfjM   #QuantumComputing#FaultTolerantQuantum #QuantumArchitecture #ErrorCorrection#QuantumSoftware #BeyondTheQubit   ⁨@IshDhand⁩ ⁨@QC_Design⁩   📌 Disclaimer: This post is shared on a personal basis and I do notrepresent any company

    53 分钟
  5. 2025/12/19

    QuEra Deep Dive interview Part 2 CCO Yuval Boger

    Quantum’s “impossible problem” is finally shiftingfrom science → engineering.   In Part 2 of myconversation with Yuval Boger (CCO, QuEra)on Beyond the Qubit, we went deep into Error correction, Scaling and the physics that will determine which platforms survive. Hereare the insights 👇   https://youtu.be/Ndr7cbcDHRc     1. Every qubit technology has a fundamental weakness…until you correct it. Yuval put itbluntly: “Qubitsare fragile. Everything in the universe wants to disturb them.” Cosmic rays,vibrations, electromagnetic noise, even a gate failing 1 in 10,000 times becomes catastrophic when your algorithmrequires millions of operations. This is why error correction is the real battleground. Not qubit count. Not coherence time. Not marketingslides. This clicked for me:you don’t win by adding more qubits, you win byadding the right ones.   2. Mobility changes everything about logical qubits. Most qubit platformsare fixed in place. Neutral atoms move, and that changes the math. Yuval gave a visualI can’t unsee: Two logical qubits,each made of five physical qubits. Static hardware? You must connectthem pair by pair, accumulating errorswith every handshake. Neutral atoms? ➡️ Move the qubits physically ➡️ Apply one pulse of light ➡️ Create all interactionsin parallel Parallelism → feweroperations Fewer operations →fewer errors Fewer errors → farfewer physical qubits needed per logical qubit Neutral atoms aren’tjust another modality, they’re a differentscaling strategy.   3. The telecom analogy that reframes the entirearchitecture I comparedsuperconducting qubits to fixed fiber and neutral atoms to wireless networks. Yuval extended itbeautifully: If the central nodefails, fixed-line users are stuck. Wireless? You movethe tower closer and reconnect. Neutral atomsprovide that same architectural freedom:   4. Neutral-atom scaling isn’t PowerPoint. It’sphysics. Many companies claimthey’ll scale. Yuval asked thequestion that matters: “Areyou relying on miracles, or engineering?” Neutral atoms scalethrough: Scale-out acrossmachines? Possible. But what struck meis that scaling within a single system has aclear physics-based roadmap, unlike many competing architectures.   5. Error correction is no longer theoretical, QuEra isdemonstrating it. Yuvalwalked through the early steps:   He didn’t revealtheir full roadmap, but the direction is unmistakable.   6. Quantum is becoming practical and customers arevoting with usage, not words. Yuval shared severalsignals that quantum is crossing from research into industry: These aren’texperiments, they’re real workloads on real systems. Talk is cheap; usageis not.   This isn’t hype. This is earlyindustrialization.   🤔 Which modality do you believe reaches fault-tolerant scale first? Neutral atoms?Superconducting? Trapped ions? Photonics? Or somethingcompletely different? I’d love to hearyour perspective.   #QuantumComputing,#QuantumTechnology #DeepTech, #BeyondTheQubit, #QuEra, #NeutralAtoms #QuantumHardware,#FutureOfComputing, #QuantumAdvantage, #RydbergAtoms, #TechInnovation #ScienceAndTechnology,#FrontierTech, #MIT, #Harvard, #Podcast   @Yuval Boger@QuEra     📌 Disclaimer: This post is shared on a personal basis and I do notrepresent any company

    58 分钟
  6. 2025/12/11

    Deep dive interview QuEra CCO Yuval Boger

    “Quantum computers today still can’t outperformclassical systems, and that’s exactly why this moment matters.” That was one of thefirst things Yuval Boger (CCO, QuEra)told me during our deep dive on Beyond theQubit. And it genuinelyreframed how I look at the entire quantum industry. Here’swhat most people miss 👇 1. Quantum today isn’tabout solving problems. It’s about preparing for the moment it can. Yuval explained thatwith fewer than ~50 perfect qubits, a supercomputer can simulate everythinganyway. So the currentsystems, noisy, small, early,  are notthe point. What matters is trajectory. QuEra’s mission? ➡️ Build quantum computers with hundreds, thousands, andeventually tens of thousands ofhigh-fidelity neutral-atom qubits. Because that’s where classical methodsbreak,  and quantum starts to matter.   2. Neutral atoms don’t just improve quantum computing.They change the rules. Most qubittechnologies are manufactured. Neutral atoms are natural, identical, and stable at room temperature. A few thingssurprised me: This isn’ttheoretical. It’s running today on AWS Braket.   3. One advantage people underrate: MIT +Harvard → QuEra Four founders camefrom MIT and Harvard. Two still contributeweekly. Neutral-atom systemsevolve fast in academia,  beingphysically close lets QuEra commercialize breakthroughs months or even yearsahead of competitors   That proximityenables: It’s an unfair advantage, in the best possible way.   4. Yuval’s biggest lesson (and the most transferableone): customer curiosity Not physics. Not algorithms. Not hardware. ➡️Customer curiosity. He listens not forwhat customers say today, but for what they’ll need 18 months from now. It’s a mindset thatcontributed to QuEra’s roadmap.   #QuantumComputing,#QuantumTechnology #DeepTech, #BeyondTheQubit, #QuEra, #NeutralAtoms #QuantumHardware,#FutureOfComputing, #QuantumAdvantage, #RydbergAtoms, #TechInnovation #ScienceAndTechnology,#FrontierTech, #MIT, #Harvard, #Podcast   @Yuval Boger@QuEra   https://youtu.be/XEh6PiLnXjc https://open.spotify.com/episode/1SyBtguc5fqEQe1PivVdrs?si=z0aHKAUrRFSnQddfSal2zQ     📌 Disclaimer: This post is shared on a personal basis and I do notrepresent any company

    50 分钟
  7. 2025/12/08

    QuEra, CCO Yuval BogerNeutral atoms just went from dark horse → workhorse.

    This week on Beyond the Qubit, I sat down with Yuval Boger, CCO of QuEra, and he said something that hit me hard: “Quantum computers today are almost useless… butthat’s exactly why now is the most exciting time.”   Here’swhat I learned 👇 1. Neutral atoms might be the first scalable path to real quantum advantage Most qubits aremanufactured. Neutral atoms are perfect by nature. No fabricationdefects. No calibrationbattles. No cryogenic fridgesthe size of a room. A laser tweezertraps each atom. A laser moves itwherever you want. A single laser pulsecan operate on multiple qubits in parallel.   This means: It’s wild. 2. Customer-first thinking is QuEra’s secret weapon Before we eventouched physics, Yuval talked about… listening. Not to qubits. To customers.   It’s rare indeep-tech. And it’s exactly whyQuEra builds things people actually use: This is no longeracademic curiosity. 3. Why QuEra’s proximity to MIT & Harvard matters Four founders camefrom Harvard and MIT. Two are still deeply involved. And the labs areliterally a bike ride away.   This creates aflywheel: That speed ofiteration is something other modalities can’t replicate. 4. The big picture: error correction & scale Yuval gave a simpleanalogy: If you’re shoutingyour credit card number in the wind, you repeat eachdigit multiple times so it arrives correctly. Logical qubits workthe same way. And neutral atomsallow parallel operations between allphysical qubits in a logical block, something static qubits cannot do.   This dramaticallyaccelerates progress toward error-corrected systems. 5. The most important signal? “We’ve moved fromscientific challenges → engineering challenges.” That’s how you knowa technology is about to break out. Transcript summaryQuEra   My takeaway Neutral atoms are nolonger the “dark horse.” They’re becoming theworkhorse of quantum computing. And QuEra is notbuilding a B-2 bomber (beautiful but rare). They’re building theAirbus A350 of quantum: usable, scalable,and built for the real world.   If you want tounderstand how quantum will scale fromhundreds to tens of thousands of qubits, this episode is a must-listen. 🎙️Episode link: Neutral atoms just went from dark horse →workhorse. And it changes everything.           #QuantumComputing,#QuantumTechnology #DeepTech, #BeyondTheQubit, #QuEra, #NeutralAtoms #QuantumHardware,#FutureOfComputing, #QuantumAdvantage, #RydbergAtoms, #TechInnovation #ScienceAndTechnology,#FrontierTech, #MIT, #Harvard, #Podcast   @Yuval Boger@QuEra     📌 Disclaimer: This post is shared on a personal basis and I do notrepresent any company

    44 分钟

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The nr1 Quantum Technology podcast for investors.