Atoms

Intel and Foxconn team up to challenge Nvidia's AI infrastructure grip

Intel and Foxconn announced a partnership to manufacture next-gen AI data center systems, leveraging Foxconn's global scale to distribute Intel's non-GPU compute stack and edge AI platforms.

Orbital Industries raises $50M to ship AI-designed cooling fluid in 2027

London startup Orbital Industries closed a $50M Series B to commercialize AI-designed dielectric cooling for next-gen GPUs, with NVIDIA's venture arm backing the bet that simulation-driven materials discovery reaches production faster than traditional chemistry.

Quantum Startup Secures $115M in Six Months, Eyes Hardware Bottleneck

Monarch Quantum, a San Diego photonics company, closed a $55M growth round in March 2026 after launching in January with $60M in customer contracts, positioning itself as the infrastructure layer quantum computing cannot yet build at scale.

IBM, Cleveland Clinic model 12,635-atom protein on quantum hardware

IBM and Cleveland Clinic simulated the largest biological molecule ever modeled with quantum computers, achieving 40x larger systems in six months and signaling that quantum computing is moving from theory into practical drug discovery.

Monarch and Oratomic claim 10,000 qubits suffice for cryptographic quantum computing

Monarch Quantum and Oratomic announced a partnership to build fault-tolerant quantum computers with thousands of logical qubits using only ~10,000 physical qubits by 2030, fundamentally challenging the industry's million-qubit assumption and accelerating post-quantum cryptography timelines.

Chad Rigetti's Sygaldry raises $139M to shrink AI's power appetite

Chad Rigetti, the physicist behind Rigetti Computing, has launched Sygaldry Technologies with $139M in funding to build quantum-accelerated servers that reduce AI's energy consumption inside data centers rather than replace classical chips.

IonQ Links Two Quantum Computers via Light, Wins DARPA Contract

IonQ demonstrated the first photonic interconnection of two commercial quantum computers and secured a DARPA HARQ contract, triggering a 20% stock surge and signaling that quantum networking—not just qubit count—is now the competitive frontier.

Q-Factor's $24M Bet: Neutral Atoms, Million Qubits, Real Architecture

Q-Factor emerged from stealth with $24M in seed funding and a claim that matters: an architectural path to scale neutral atom systems to 1 million qubits. Intel Capital is betting the hard problem is solved.

CavilinQ Raises $8.8M to Build the Missing Layer in Quantum Scaling

CavilinQ closed an $8.8M seed round on April 2, 2026, to develop photonic interconnects linking quantum processors into modular clusters—solving the bottleneck that has prevented quantum computing from scaling beyond isolated machines.

IBM Quantum Clears Protein and Materials Simulation in Dual First

IBM's quantum-centric supercomputing platform delivered two experimentally validated simulation firsts on March 26, 2026 — modeling a 303-atom protein and reproducing national laboratory neutron scattering data for a real magnetic material.