Rigetti Wins Innovate UK's Quantum Missions Pilot Competition to Advance Quantum Error Correction Capabilities on Superconducting Quantum Computers

Core Insights - Rigetti UK Limited has been awarded £3.5 million as part of Innovate UK's Quantum Missions pilot competition to enhance quantum error correction (QEC) capabilities on superconducting quantum computers [2][3] - The project aims to address critical challenges in achieving fault-tolerant quantum computing, including high error rates and processing bottlenecks in classical control systems [3][4] - Rigetti will upgrade its existing quantum computer at the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) to facilitate ambitious QEC tests [4][5] Project Details - The consortium led by Rigetti includes Riverlane and the NQCC Superconducting Circuits Team, focusing on real-time QEC capabilities [2][4] - Riverlane will spearhead the QEC experiments, while the NQCC team will provide support and quality assurance [4] - The project aims to achieve measurable improvements in key performance metrics such as throughput, latency, and decoding accuracy [5] Future Developments - Rigetti plans to deploy a larger 36-qubit quantum processing unit (QPU), upgrading from the current 24-qubit QPU [6] - Collaboration with SEEQC aims to integrate digital chip-based technology with Rigetti's 9-qubit Novera™ QPU to identify components necessary for scalable QEC [7] - Additional collaborations with TreQ, Qruise, Q-CTRL, and Oxford Ionics will create an open-architecture quantum computing testbed [7][8] Company Background - Rigetti is recognized as a pioneer in full-stack quantum computing, operating quantum computers over the cloud since 2017 [9] - The company has developed the industry's first multi-chip quantum processor and manufactures its chips in-house at its dedicated facility [9]