Atom Computing Inc. is a
quantum computing
A quantum computer is a computer that exploits quantum mechanical phenomena. On small scales, physical matter exhibits properties of wave-particle duality, both particles and waves, and quantum computing takes advantage of this behavior using s ...
company headquartered in
Berkeley, California
Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...
with a commercial operations facility in
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...
.
The company develops
quantum computers based on
neutral atom technology.
History
Atom Computing was founded by Ben Bloom and Jonathan King in 2018
with $5M in seed funding.
In 2021 the company secured $15M in Series A funding
and announced a 100-qubit prototype system.
By early 2022 the company secured $60M in Series B funding
and expanded its activities by opening a commercial operations facility in
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...
.
In 2023 Atom Computing announced its second-generation quantum computer with over 1,000 qubits.
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
and Atom Computing announced in late 2024 that they had been collaborating on a commercial quantum computer that has
logical qubits by combining Microsoft's work on
quantum error correction
Quantum error correction (QEC) is a set of techniques used in quantum computing to protect quantum information from errors due to decoherence and other quantum noise. Quantum error correction is theorised as essential to achieve fault tolerant ...
with Atom's over-1,000-qubit system.
Technology
Atom Computing's technology is based on
neutral atoms, specifically
alkaline earth(-like) metals such as
strontium
Strontium is a chemical element; it has symbol Sr and atomic number 38. An alkaline earth metal, it is a soft silver-white yellowish metallic element that is highly chemically reactive. The metal forms a dark oxide layer when it is exposed to ...
and
ytterbium.
By manipulating the atoms in a vacuum chamber with laser beams,
quantum information can be written into the
nuclear spin
Nuclear may refer to:
Physics
Relating to the nucleus of the atom:
* Nuclear engineering
* Nuclear physics
* Nuclear power
* Nuclear reactor
* Nuclear weapon
* Nuclear medicine
*Radiation therapy
*Nuclear warfare
Mathematics
* Nuclear space
* ...
of the atoms to perform
gate operations and execute
quantum circuit
In quantum information theory, a quantum circuit is a model for quantum computation, similar to classical circuits, in which a computation is a sequence of quantum gates, measurements, initializations of qubits to known values, and possibly o ...
s.
Along with several academic groups, Atom Computing has demonstrated how to use this technology to perform mid-circuit measurements on
ancilla qubits, create arrays of over 1,000 qubits, and perform
entangling gates.
In November 2024, Atom Computing, together with researchers from
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
, demonstrated the entanglement of 24
logical qubits and running a
Bernstein–Vazirani algorithm with 28 logical qubits on Atom Computing's hardware.
Recognition
In 2024 th
Colorado Technology Associationrecognized Atom Computing as the "Emerging Tech Company of the Year"
and
Fast Company
''Fast Company'' is an American business magazine published monthly in print and online, focusing on technology, business, and design. It releases six print issues annually.
History
''Fast Company'' was founded in November 1995 by Alan Webb ...
recognized the company as one of "The 10 most innovative computing companies in 2025".
See also
*
D-Wave Systems
*
IonQ
IonQ, Inc. is an American quantum computing hardware and software company headquartered in College Park, Maryland. The company develops general-purpose trapped ion quantum computers and accompanying software to generate, optimize, and execute ...
*
Rigetti Computing
Rigetti Computing, Inc. is a Berkeley, California-based developer of Superconducting quantum integrated circuits used for quantum computers. Rigetti also develops a cloud platform called Forest that enables programmers to write quantum algorith ...
*
Quantinuum
*
Xanadu Quantum Technologies
References
{{reflist
Computer companies of the United States
Computer hardware companies
Companies involved in quantum computing