Quantum Computing at Alice & Bob
The future of French’s Quantum Computer with Alice & Bob an incredible startup trying to create perfect qubits
General presentation
Alice & Bob is a Parisian deep tech startup founded in 2020 that develops the first marketable quantum computer. This spin-off of ENS Paris and ENS Lyon currently gathers about forty people around the project.
Initially, Théau Peronnin, an engineer with a degree from Polytechnique and a Master’s degree in quantum physics from the ENS, and Raphaël Lescanne, a graduate in quantum physics from the ENS, co-founded the startup. Many researchers and engineers in quantum physics were later joined by ENS Paris and Lyon, Mines ParisTech, CEA, Saclay, Yale, etc…
Alice & Bob promises to accelerate the resolution of certain problems that are too complex for current computers thanks to quantum physics.
The fields of use of the quantum computer are numerous. It would allow for example to simulate chemical elements, new materials, biology, solve problems related to logistics, optimize financial portfolios, neural networks, or simulate in an exact way chemical reactions that seem to us still seem to us out of reach.
The technology
This week we are tackling something very heavy: the quantum computer. And even though we are convinced of your culture and your speed to understand the most complex concepts, we thought that a simplified explanation was still necessary. So, Alice and Bob are very nice, but what is the quantum computer? And why is the project of this French startup not only giant but incredible?
To understand how a quantum computer works, we must already understand how a computer works. Even if today the complexity of the thing has increased a lot, the intelligence of a computer is based on “some simple” elements called transistors. These transistors are electronic components that, depending on the current sent through them, can be turned on or off, this is the basis of what we call a bit, a 0 or a 1, turned on or off. The simplest way to think of these objects is as switches. We add several transistors together, “some” other electronic components, and here is a computer. So we have a processor, composed of a lot of transistors, which sends back a bunch of 0s or 1s, and we add on top of that an operating system (Windows, macOS,…) that will interpret these 0s or 1s and transform them into video, image, application. The basis of computing: the binary.
All our digital tools work on this basis of 0 and 1, the binary. But what if we were wrong? Or at least, what if there was another way of conceiving computing? This is what quantum computing proposes. The world of quantum is a bit special, where everything is not binary. To simplify the idea, imagine yourself in two situations, you are either sitting or standing, that is the binary world. In the quantum world, you can be either sitting or standing or… in an indeterminate state, between sitting and standing. Finally, the quantum world is perhaps much closer to human reasoning than is the binary world, we are not necessarily 1 or 0 but we can be both at the same time or neither.
But as explained above, a computer uses transistors that receive or are not current, 0 or 1, there is no middle ground. One cannot receive and not receive current at the same time, there is no indeterminate state. To generate this state, Paul Benioff (an American physicist) proposes 1980 the design of a quantum computer. A new type of computer allowing to consider this in-between, this quantum state, by using no more “bits” but “qubits (quantum bits). Since then, private research, led by large groups such as Google or IBM, but also public, has been working on the creation of a perfect quantum computer. So what do these new computer models bring?
Well, don’t expect to run Assassins’ creed or GTA in ultra-resolution because this is not the promise of the beast. The quantum computer allows to make calculations at an incredible speed but in very specific conditions. It is not an improvement of the current computer, but rather something completely different. This new computer allows / will allow feats in cryptology or science, but not necessarily, or at least not tomorrow, for individuals. You will not have tomorrow a quantum computer at home, and for good reason, it requires very particular maintenance.
Indeed, the components used in a quantum computer need to be kept at a very (very) cold temperature, around -270°C. A little colder than your refrigerator!
So what does Alice & Bob bring to all this?
First of all, Alice & Bob brings French know-how, indeed the computers developed until then were mostly American. And not only is this know-how French but it is of remarkable quality. Developing a quantum computer is not a simple thing, and Alice & Bob does it in the best possible way, with “real” qbit. Indeed, some computers built so far are only partially quantum, and propose arranged qubits, easier to set up. Alice & Bob seeks to create a quantum computer based on the self-correcting superconducting quantum bit, the cat qubit, which opens the way to universal and error-resistant quantum computing.
But why is this so complicated to implement? As Alice & Bob explains, “Building a quantum computer involves designing an isolated box in which we run quantum algorithms. But, to be able to execute them, the computer must be controllable. Hence the main paradox of this extraordinary quest: isolating a part of our universe while controlling it at the same time.”
Fundraising and support
In 2020, Alice & Bob raised 3 million euros, notably from PSL University, the year of its creation.
In October 2021, Alice & Bob was selected by the European Commission to receive a combination of grants and equity investments for a maximum amount of 17 million euros.
Two weeks ago, in February 2022, Alice & Bob closed a €27 million Series A round with Elaia, Supernova Invest, Bpifrance, and Brega. Other investors include the CNRS, PSL University, and the ENS de Lyon.
Alice & Bob has many academic partners including ENS Paris, ENS Lyon, INRIA, CEA, CNRS, and Mines ParisTech.
Business Model
Alice & Bob intends to generate revenues through the sale of computing time. This means that they make their machines available through cloud platforms to give end-users access to their computing capacity.
We can think that for some customers (large energy groups, military, …) the sale of computers is done exceptionally.
Market
As we have already seen, the applications of quantum computers are numerous: in health, environmental preservation, daily travel, chemistry, cryptocurrencies, etc.
But the quantum computer today represents an international competition that will revolutionize computing by offering unprecedented computing power capable of solving problems that are unsolvable today.
After the European Union has allocated a global envelope of one billion euros for research around quantum computing, as part of its Quantum Flagship program, in January 2021, Emmanuel Macron announced the Quantum Plan dedicating 1.8 billion euros (including 1 billion from the state) to finance the sector. This quantum plan increases public funding to 200 million euros per year and ranks France 3rd in the world in the field.
Despite the American giants who have launched themselves into the competition with important means (see the section on competitors), France has some of the best quantum physics laboratories in the world and about fifteen start-ups positioned on a diversity of technologies to realize qubits.
According to the Digital Economy Compass 2021 forecast, the global quantum computing market could reach $9 billion in revenue(by 2030, up from $260 million in 2020. On average, the market could grow by more than 40% per year over the next ten years, although growth is expected to be most intense from 2025 onwards. Other research from Markets and Markets estimates the market at $1.77 billion in 2026.
Competitors
Alice & Bob’s goal is ambitious as they plan to compete with the giants of the field.
IBM and Google are currently the most advanced in the industry. Google has even recently built a campus dedicated to quantum computing research: the Quantum AI Campus. As for IBM, a few months ago it announced its new quantum processor called Eagle. Microsoft, like IBM, has divisions dedicated to quantum computing and is positioning itself as a major competitor. Intel, Baidu, and Alibaba are also in the race.
But Alice & Bob is more directly competing with Amazon, which has taken over its Schrödinger qubit technology and owns two-thirds of the global cloud market, which is an important advantage for the marketing of future computing capacities.
Once again, our American comrades are well advanced in the field of quantum computing with companies that are much more financed than our European startups. For example, IonQ was listed on the stock exchange at the end of 2021 (with a valuation of 2 billion dollars) alongside Rigetti Computing which merged with Supernova. PsiQuantum also raised 450 million dollars in July 2021.
In France, we have, among others, Pasqual with cold atoms, Quandela with photons, and Quantum Silicon Grenoble with silicon.
What differentiates Alice & Bob from their competitors is their approach. “[Competitors] *seek to increase the number of qubits to correct possible errors, while we seek to create an ideal qubit, without error, before associating several”.* It would also seem that the quantum bit of Schrödinger’s cat has a stable lifetime 300 times greater than other approaches. Moreover, if Alice & Bob can afford to compete with the giants of the sector it is because the discipline is still in its infancy.
If you also want to participate in the quantum race, Alice & Bob is currently recruiting about twenty profiles:
The business part of this article was written by Emilie Nouacer, the tech part by Mathieu Van de catsije.
