Optimism meets skepticism at Quantum Summit in Chicago

Pioneers of quantum computing have shared their dreams and skepticism about the fledgling industry, while Gov. JB Pritzker said he thinks it’s already attracting companies to Illinois.

Industry leaders foresee momentous changes growing out of quantum computing, tempered with the realization it’s a challenge to make money in the industry that’s still working on prototypes, and where major advancements may be years off.

Just as the Stone Age and digital age were defined by the materials humans could control, SynthBits CEO and founder Berk Diler Kovos said, “People will be naming this era the quantum age.”

The seventh annual Chicago Quantum Summit at the University of Chicago gathered academic, government and business leaders to discuss research, funding and the future.

Quantum computing is aimed at using the subatomic forces of quantum mechanics to solve complex problems. This summer, Chicago officials announced that tech company PsiQuantum plans to build the world’s first commercially viable quantum computer in a new quantum and microelectronics park on the former US Steel South Works site.

Pritzker had previously pledged the state of Illinois to fund half a billion dollars for the campus and quantum research, in a partnership with the federal government.

Despite its promise, the most important quality to bring to the industry is skepticism, said Joe Altepeter, program manager leading the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, which is evaluating proposals for industrial quantum applications.

It has been credibly hypothesized that quantum computers will revolutionize scientific and technical fields within the next few decades, according to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Examples include machine learning, new materials, protein structures, and new medicinal drugs.

By harnessing the complex nature of quantum particles, the hope is to exponentially increase computing power far beyond conventional means.

But developers are still struggling to build dependable and scalable basic infrastructure, such as quantum bits, or qubits.

There were plenty of “dumb” proposals to DARPA to weed out while “separating hype from reality,” Altepeter said. The problem, he said, is a “chasm of engineering difficulty.”

But for those who can show they can “do this for real” and make the world a better place, Altepeter said, he will advocate for potentially up to $300 million in federal funding.

Others who have money riding on the outcome highlighted their optimism.

The co-founder of PsiQuantum, Peter Shadbolt, said the company has raised just under $700 million in private venture capital.

The Palo Alto-based company is making steady progress toward the first useful quantum computing, and is preparing to break ground on the Chicago site.

From the state’s perspective, Priztker said, he welcomed the University of Illinois Discovery Partners Institute to the quantum park. The agency recently announced it will move its planned new research training facility from The 78, a vacant site on the Chicago River, to the quantum park.

The concentration of facilities at South Works will help generate critical mass for the project, he said, adding, “This is the right way to go for the university.”

A quantum collaboration between the University of Chicago, University of Tokyo and IBM is attracting companies that Pritzker believes will be located in Chicago.

“We may have successfully convinced a few of them that this is the place they should come,” he said.

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