Quantum computers are intended to solve the problems for which even the most powerful classical supercomputers are still too slow. Scientists have been researching this for a long time now, at universities and in IT companies such as Google and IBM. But the breakthrough of quantum technology has so far failed to materialize. This is also due to a problem for which the German-Swiss start-up Terra Quantum says it has found a temporary solution.
The problem: The so-called qubits that quantum computers work with are prone to errors. Bits in conventional computers can only assume the two states 0 and 1. A qubit, on the other hand, can have several states at the same time. This allows a quantum computer to calculate certain tasks much faster than classical computer systems.
However, this works even better in theory than in practice. In order to remain stable, the temperature around the qubits must be brought to absolute zero, which is minus 273 degrees Celsius. In addition, quantum computers should be housed in special housings, because the slightest vibration causes the qubits to move. Development and operation of the machines cost millions of euros.
This is where Terra Quantum comes into play. The company writes software for simulated quantum computers, which will later also run on real quantum computers. This is called hybrid quantum algorithms. “We do Quantum as a Service,” says founder and boss Markus Pflitsch. The hardware isn’t ready yet, “but quantum computing is the biggest disruption we will experience in the next ten years,” he said on Tuesday at the SZ economic summit in Berlin.
Terra Quantum wants to make the advantages of quantum computers more quickly usable. Companies could save hundreds of millions of euros this way, says Pflitsch. “Companies that have complex big data analyzes that simply have a lot of data that they have to process benefit from quantum computers. Almost all companies, in all industries, face these challenges,” says Pflitsch. “An Excel sheet with a few entries is still easy to manage.” But when it comes to investment banks’ balance sheet structures with billions in sales, the quantum process is ten times faster than traditional algorithms.
Customers include banks and the automotive industry
Terra Quantum has recently also been working with the US chip manufacturer Nvidia. Together, the companies plan to develop graphics processors for hybrid quantum computing. The start-up already has several large companies as customers for its virtual quantum computers. These include banks like HSBC, but also Volkswagen, the chemical company Evonik, the energy group Uniper and automotive suppliers like Scheffler. There, for example, the product development process should be improved with the help of quantum computers.
The start-up, founded in 2019, has 300 employees, 200 of whom are quantum physicists. Terra Quantum has locations in St. Gallen, Zurich, Munich, Vienna, Helsinki, London and San Francisco. There are reasons for this choice. “We have to be where the specialists we are looking for are,” says Pflitsch. Quantum physicists are nerds who “are intrinsically motivated and want to do the greatest thing there is technologically.” And he wants to offer that to them where they really want to live.
Terra Quantum founder Markus Pflitsch says about his own motivation: “Quantum physics is the passion of my life. I founded the company to commercialize applications of quantum technology.” He was interested in quantum physics as a teenager. After graduating from high school in Aachen, he studied physics and mathematics and worked at the CERN nuclear research center in Geneva. He then went to the Boston Consulting Group as a consultant and later into the financial industry.
Pflitsch is convinced that quantum computers will be superior to classical supercomputers in just two to four years. Then the so-called quantum superiority will actually be achieved. Google had already proven it in 2019. According to the company, a processor developed by Google carried out a special calculation faster than a classic supercomputer for the first time. However, scientists subsequently doubted whether there were any fields of application for the findings from the experiment at the time.
Pflitsch sees itself well prepared for quantum algorithms with its software, which is already being used by some customers, as well as patents and licenses. Because at some point it will come, quantum supremacy. “We are the world market leader in hybrid quantum algorithms,” says Pflitsch. And, if he has his way, in the future possibly also with real quantum algorithms that do not require any simulations.