Atom Computing’s record-breaking quantum computer built in Boulder

BOULDER — The first commercial quantum computer to exceed 1,000 qubits was built in Boulder.

California-headquartered Atom Computing Inc., which opened a Boulder research and development center last year, says it has developed a 1,225-site atomic array populated with 1,180 qubits in its next-generation quantum computing platform that will be released in 2024. 

The achievement “marks an industry milestone toward fault-tolerant quantum computers capable of solving large-scale problems,” Atom said in a news release Wednesday.

Quantum theory attempts to explain the behavior of matter at atomic and subatomic levels. Applications of quantum science could revolutionize the way humans discover new drug therapies, map the cosmos, protect sensitive data, combat climate change and maybe even discover new forms of life.

“This order-of-magnitude leap – from 100 to 1,000-plus qubits within a generation – shows our atomic array systems are quickly gaining ground on more mature qubit modalities,” Atom CEO Rob Hays said in the release. “Scaling to large numbers of qubits is critical for fault-tolerant quantum computing, which is why it has been our focus from the beginning. We are working closely with partners to explore near-term applications that can take advantage of these larger scale systems.”

While Atom’s next-generation platform is state of the art, the company acknowledges that it’s just a small step toward tapping into the full potential of quantum computers. “Fault-tolerant quantum computers that can overcome errors during computations and deliver accurate results will require hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of physical qubits along with other key capabilities,” the company said. 

Berkeley-based Atom, which closed on a $60 million Series B fundraising round in 2022, set up shop last in Boulder’s Flatiron Park business park.

“The reason Atom will thrive here is all the work around quantum computing that is done here,” Gov. Jared Polis said during a 2022 grand-opening ceremony at the Boulder R&D site. “Colorado is the proverbial godfather of the quantum industry … Atom’s expansion is another proof point that we are the quantum computing hub in the U.S.”

The Boulder Valley — with the world-class CU physics department, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and JILA (formerly known as the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics) — has become, over the past three decades or so, the epicenter of quantum research. 

The region, a leader in evolving quantum discoveries out of the lab and into the marketplace, is home to operations from major corporate players in the still-nascent industry such as Quantinuum, a Broomfield company spun out of Honeywell International Inc. (Nasdaq: HON) and ColdQuanta Inc., a Boulder-born firm that does business as Infleqtion that has grown into a worldwide operator with offices as far flung as Austin, Australia and the United Kingdom.

Atom staffers are members of Elevate Quantum, the group responsible for helping earn Colorado a “TechHub” designation from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs program.

Elevate Quantum is a consortium of about 70 stakeholders in the quantum space representing industry, academia, capital and laboratories. The group lobbied the federal government to include Colorado in the program, which allows the state to tap hundreds of millions of economic-development dollars — $500 million in 2023 and $10 billion over the next five years — set aside as part of the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act. 

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