PsiQuantum

Those, they're using the spins of electrons in, in semiconductors.

There are folks who are working on trying to use ind- you know, particles of light as, as the qubits, like PsiQuantum and Xanadu.

Um, and then, you know, there's us, which we're a little bit different, but I think we combine some of the, the, the benefits of these others.

So we are an electron spin-based quantum computing company.

So we, we also removed that, having that atom removes the constraint of having indistinguishable photons, which is a very, very, very, very big thing in photonic quantum computation.

So you need a whole bunch of different, I guess, hardware components because, uh, when, when you think of photonic quantum computing, of course, everyone thinks of PsiQuantum, right? We, we had them on pretty much just a few months after the show started.

It was years ago, and their, their machine isn't out yet, but everyone's kind of waiting to see.

So, so that's like linear optics and optical switching networks and, and all of that.

[chuckles]

So yeah.

So what PsiQuantum is doing is very, very admirable, and actually it inspired me back in 2018.

I was actually-- So I know, uh, Ted Rudolph and Jeremy O'Brien-

...

US2QC program, and they have two finalists, Microsoft and PsiQuantum, for utility scale, right? Proving utility scale, and this is after a year of due diligence from the top national laboratories.

And so DARPA, uh, you know, created the, uh, QBI program, and some companies have now passed from Stage A to Stage B, like Quantinuum, um, IBM, uh, two out of Canada.

I'm Canadian, so Xanadu.

So yeah, it was DARPA, IBM, IonQ, and Atom Computing that moved forward on Thursday.

And earlier there was a-- Microsoft and PsiQuantum also progressed as part of another program, so they kind of got a fast track in.

This was the first, as I'm aware, sort of real batch through the QBI program.

It's incredible.

That was the area that Donald Trump spoke at two days ago at that shipyard, and Anduril was a recipient of an investment by Don Jr.'s 1789 Capital, uh, Holdings group over there.

Other Trump-linked companies receiving Pentagon contracts include Poweris, Vulcan Elements, FireHawk Aerospace, PsiQuantum, Hydrian, and Foundation Future Industries.

But yes, Hunter Biden sold a painting or two for two hundred and fifty K.

There you have it, everybody.

Situated on a four-hundred and forty-acre Lake Michigan site that used to be a U.S. Steel factory, the so-called Quantum Shore will be one of the largest quantum computing campuses in the country when it opens at the end of twenty twenty-seven.

Tenants include IBM and Palo Alto, California-based PsiQuantum, which plans to build a million-qubit quantum computer here.

A qubit is short for a quantum bit.

Such a machine would be unimaginably powerful, able to crack the usual types of encryption that keep most of the world's computers and bank accounts secure.

It will cost some twelve billion dollars, five hundred million dollars of which is being ponied up by the state of Illinois.

Because qubits are extremely sensitive to environmental conditions, the structure will feature a cryogenic plant that will feed super-cooled liquid helium and nitrogen to the computers.

Marveling at the complexity of the project, he recalls when PsiQuantum's CEO told him he was going to design a building that would, quote, "change everything".

It's fitting that Clark, who is sixty-seven years old, is leading work on this next-gen project.

Yeah, at a speed and scale we couldn't imagine even a year ago, for sure.

So just to change gears a little bit, uh, can you tell me a little bit about your work at PsiQuantum and quantum technology, et cetera?

Great company.

Uh, big shout out to PsiQuantum.

Um, I was brought in early on when they were still in stealth mode and they were planning to come out of stealth mode, and they realized, uh, correctly that we will become a target, um, very quickly.

So I did come in and help set up that security program, and one of the things that needed to be done was CMMC.

There are lots of deals that are happening.

I mean, Psi Quantum just raised like 800 million bucks and I think Nvidia took like half the round.

So I'm a VC.

I invest in this stuff and I see deals all the time.

They're getting done all the time.

The money is not the problem, I don't think.

Now, very specifically, and I go back to PsyQuantum, Just Google Psi Quantum Illinois, okay? The facility they're building is enormous.

They've been getting shilled by Governor Pritzker and the Chicago mayor and all these other politicians.