The Australian and Queensland governments will provide $614 million in funding to support PsiQuantum’s development of the world’s first commercial-use quantum computer in Australia.
In a press release announcing the investment on Monday, Palo Alto, California-based PsiQuantum disclosed that it will build the quantum computer near Brisbane Airport in Queensland. The company expects the site to be operational by the end of 2027 and to start work on a fault-tolerant quantum computer capable of providing commercially useful solutions for industry problems in chemistry, physics and mathematics. According to PsiQuantum, such solutions can transform major industrial and commercial endeavors, including projects on renewal energy, mining, transportation and health care.
“A utility-scale quantum computer represents an opportunity to construct a new, practical foundation of computational infrastructure and in so doing ignite the next industrial revolution,” said Jeremy O’Brien, PsiQuantum co-founder and CEO. Partnering with the federal and Queensland governments is “a massive step” in its development, he added.
In remarks at an ABC Radio Brisbane newscast on the PsiQuantum deal, Australian Chief Scientist Cathy Foley said quantum computers are “going to be the most complex machine ever built by humanity,” and they will soon become a part of everyday life for everybody.