US firm gets $1.5M funding boost in race to build practical quantum computers

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded Genesis Mission grants totaling $1.5 million to quantum startup BlueQubit and its research partners to support the development of fault-tolerant quantum computing systems, the company announced. The funding will help accelerate efforts to overcome technical barriers preventing quantum computers from reaching application-scale performance. Working alongside Microsoft, Argonne National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and several universities, BlueQubit will use AI and machine learning techniques to improve quantum error correction. The research focuses on reducing physical qubit requirements and lowering real-time decoding latency. BlueQubit CEO Hrant Gharibyan said achieving practical quantum advantage requires overcoming the gap between theoretical error-correction methods and the physical limitations of current hardware. He added that the awards highlight the vital role of AI-driven co-design and high-fidelity simulation in solving quantum computing's toughest engineering challenges. The initiatives integrate AI, quantum algorithms and error-correction advances to address challenges holding back practical quantum computing. By bringing together industry, research labs and universities, the efforts aim to accelerate the development of more reliable and scalable quantum systems.