Commonwealth Bank of Australia has joined Telstra, the Federal Government, the New South Wales Government and the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in an $83 million venture to found Australia’s first quantum computing company.
The company, Silicon Quantum Computing SQC), has been launched to drive the development and commercialisation of a 10-qubit quantum integrated circuit prototype in silicon by 2022 as the forerunner to a silicon-based quantum computer.
Commonwealth Bank has invested over $14 million to support the effort.
Dilan Rajasingham, head of emerging technology at Commonwealth Bank, says: “We have invested more than $14 million in quantum computing because we believe in its future promise, in its future capability, and its potential as a differentiator. Quantum computing will provide Commonwealth Bank with a means to evolve our understanding of our customers, through real-time analysis of their patterns and interactions, so we can provide more tailored products, insights and advice.”
In April 2017 Commonwealth Bank developed a quantum computer simulator that gives developers and academics a platform to create quantum computing software before the hardware has been built.
“It’s clear this revolutionary technology will transform the world as we know it. Even though the machine is still a few years away, we're making the required preparations for this major step change. We’re not waiting,” says Rajasingham.
The new funding comes on top of a previous $5 million investment by the bank in December 2014 to the UNSW's’ Centre for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology and a five-year $10 million investment in 2015.