“The quantum computer, there will be a ‘before’ and an ‘after’, it is therefore a challenge today to have it”, explains the president of Pasqal

Pasqal is a young French company, founded in March 2019 with physicists. She specializes in quantum computing and is working on the development of a quantum computer with neutral atoms. Its president and co-founder George-Olivier Reymond is the guest of franceinfo.

Pasqal, a promising French company, specializes in quantum computing, which makes it possible to develop the most powerful computers in the world. Created four years ago by George-Olivier Reymond with four physicists, it today supports 200 employees, with factories in France and Canada.

Quoted by Emmanuel Macron during the presentation in January 2021 of the French plan for the development of quantum, it managed to raise 100 million euros in investments in 2023. It is the first start-up to benefit from support from the Innovation Fund Defense of the Ministry of the Armed Forces. Pasqal was created four years ago by yourself, with four physicists. Today, there are 200 employees, factories in France and Canada.

franceinfo: George-Olivier Reymond, what does thequantum computing?

George-Olivier Reymond: Quantum computing, as its name suggests, is computing, therefore it is computing, and so-called high performance computing. That is to say, if you are looking to do this with your everyday computer, you will have to put several side by side to achieve the necessary level of performance.

“The quantum computer is therefore a revolution. We should not see it as an innovation, it is not continuous improvement, it is completely different.”

George-Olivier Reymond

at franceinfo

There will be a “before” and an “after”. Things that are impossible today will become possible thanks to quantum calculations.

Why are we particularly interested in it today? ?

There are two main reasons. First, we always need more computing power. Today, if you look at everything that is done in artificial intelligence, it is software, so there is a need for computers to run the software. And then, the solution we have found today to make computers more efficient is to make them bigger and bigger. So it consumes more and more electricity and it ends up becoming a real issue. For example, a ChatGPT request is the energy equivalent of boiling a glass of water.

Today, you are announcing a major breakthrough in a project carried out with Thales in satellite planning. What is it about ?

This is a particularly complex calculation because, to optimize the trajectory of the satellites, there are a huge number of parameters to take into consideration. And when you put a lot of parameters, you have a lot of possible solutions and in the end, you have to find the best one. It’s a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack. A quantum computer is capable of doing this much more efficiently than our classical solutions.

Many investors are interested in you. You managed to raise 100 million euros, which shows if the financial world thinks there is growth potential. This is a lot and at the same time, it is little compared to the financing capacity of the behemoths in the sector, namely IBM and Microsoft.

I like this sentence which says that in France, we don’t have oil, but we have ideas. To make a quantum computer, you need both money and ideas. And then actually, if you look at the IBM and Microsoft teams, they’re not that huge.

“We are fighting, I think, on equal terms with IBM and Microsoft and above all, we have a differentiating approach which is technology.”

George-Olivier Reymond

at franceinfo

Do you have better technology than IBM and Microsoft?

Yes. And regarding financing, so far, we are good, but we must continue. It is an ongoing effort.

Why is it important to have a sovereign policy regarding cutting-edge technologies such as quantum computing, vis-à-vis the American and Chinese behemoths?

As I said earlier, there will be a “before” and an “after”. There are people who will have one, there are people who will not have one. So, that’s why it’s an issue today to have them. There is the software aspect and there is the hardware part. So if you manage to be sovereign over the part, like here, hardware, and you add software sovereignty – I’m going to make a small reference to Mistral -, you become independent. However, high performance computing is everywhere in our everyday lives. We don’t necessarily realize it. For Airbus, today, an aircraft is designed entirely on a computer, using simulations on supercomputers.

In addition to your factories in France and Canada, you are expanding in Asia. Why is it important to be international, when we have just been talking about sovereignty in Europe ?

There are two aspects. There is a speed race on the one hand. So we have to move quickly. One way to move quickly is to increase your resources and have more factories to manufacture more. The second aspect is that there are markets to conquer, and there is always a bonus for those who come first. And then, building a quantum computer is still something complex. We have a lot of assets in France and in Europe, but we cannot do everything ourselves. So there is also a need to look for specific key skills in other geographies.

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