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Archer Materials’ “special year” sets stage for increasing role in quantum computing

“What was very clear at Q2B [2021 Conference] was that it is no longer a matter of ‘if’ quantum computing works, but rather ‘how’ companies can get quantum computing to work for them,” says CEO.

Archer Materials Ltd (ASX:AXE, OTC:ARRXF) has set the stage to play an important role in helping the technology sector meet growing global expectations after completing what it describes as a “special year” in 2021.

The company is focused on developing its ¹²CQ quantum computing qubit processor chip and biochip technology with both seeing step-change achievements made in the past 12 months.

Attendance at Q2B 2021

This period was capped off by the company’s attendance at the Q2B 2021 Conference in Silicon Valley, USA, which provided evidence of the growing importance of quantum computing.

The 3-day event saw leaders from the global quantum ecosystem meet to discuss the business of quantum computing and industry expectations in the mid-term.

AXE’s chief executive officer Dr Mohammad Choucair said: “What was very clear at Q2B was that it is no longer a matter of ‘if’ quantum computing works, but rather ‘how’ companies can get quantum computing to work for them.”

He said quantum computing was expected to enable innovations in many sectors dependent on computational power including, drug and materials discovery, financial portfolio management, cryptography, among many others, with tech giants and governments investing billions to achieve quantum breakthroughs.

2021 milestones

Archer is well-placed to play an increasing role in technology development during 2022 having passed a number of milestones in 2021, including:

• Patents related to the ¹²CQ quantum computing chip technology were granted in Japan, South Korea, China and USA.
• Signed a new agreement with IBM, an LOI with The Australian Missile Corporation, an MOU with The Australian Institute for Machine Learning and made significant progress with fellow IBM Quantum Network member Max Kelsen.
• The company’s mineral exploration tenements were sold and Archer was admitted to the S&P/ASX All Technology Index - as a pure-play deep tech.
• Capital was raised to grow the company through the support of global institutional investors and existing shareholders which sees Archer well-funded in the year ahead.

Read: Imugene and Archer Materials benefit from S&P Dow Jones Indices rebalance

Biochip progress

The Archer team recently made a big step in progressing its biochip technology by developing the first biochemical reactions for potential applications in on-chip detection and quantification of specific genetic information relevant to viruses and bacteria.

The work directly relates to the biochip’s future operation and applications in disease detection.

Read: Archer Materials develops sensing pathways to detect genetic information for biochip technology

Choucair said that Archer was encouraged by the opportunities presented by quantum computing and that were highlighted at Q2B 2021. “There are few hardware players in the quantum computing ecosystem, and fewer developing qubit processor chips,” he said.

‘Quantum Spring’ rises

He said that optimism in the quantum computing ecosystem was giving rise to a ‘Quantum Spring’ after a period of ‘Quantum Winter’, with investment now starting to pour in more than ever before.

“Many organisations continue to set more balanced expectations around making steady progress towards achievable yet challenging goals required for quantum advantage, and more generally, for the widespread use of quantum computing.

“It takes a global community to advance quantum computing. Collaboration is valued over competition by many in the early stage of quantum computing development. Partnerships and talent are needed for growth.”

Another pleasing aspect of the conference for Archer was the participation of IBM.

Choucair said: “It was fantastic to see the global IBM Quantum Network that includes Archer, grow to 170+ members, which includes Fortune 500 Companies, national research labs, academia, industry and start-ups.”

Early use cases emerging

Early adopters of quantum computing present at Q2B 2021 included global industry leaders across finance, chemicals, big pharma, cyber security and government and defence organisations.

“Multiple perspectives pointed to a more proactive, long-term approach to quantum computing: enterprise end-users need to get ‘quantum ready’,” Archer’s CEO said.

“There was no shortage of big names tapping into quantum computing using various few qubit machines in the cloud to begin realising their long-term strategic goals.

“For example, BP is leveraging quantum computing technology to help reach BPs net-zero goals by 2050, Roche is looking at how quantum computing can accelerate drug discovery having formed a 7-person taskforce in 2018, while PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL)’s attempts are focused on cracking fraud rings around the world.”

A “productive time”

He added: "Q2B 2021 was a friendly, collaborative forum, with the quantum computing ecosystem leaders’ mindsets firmly set to growth.

"Archer’s attendance to Q2B 2021 was a productive time to meet with our colleagues from IBM, and to explore opportunities for strategic business relationships with US organisations."

Read: Archer Materials to collaborate with AIML on quantum semiconductor development

Deloitte insights

During the trip to Silicon Valley, Dr Choucair met with members of the Deloitte US team working in the area of quantum computing.

He shares key points provided in a Deloitte insight titled ‘A business leader’s guide to quantum technology’:

• A wait-and-see attitude could cause organisations to miss critical opportunities to test and experiment with the technology while their competitors gain ground;
• Examples are provided to help explain how some Fortune 500 companies are researching how to use quantum computers to solve problems that are too hard for classical computers;
• While most laptops today can solve the same problems as early-stage quantum computers, quantum capability is growing exponentially;
• Within a decade, quantum computers are expected to be able to advance solutions to a large range of problems in numerous industries; and
• Quantum computers are probably not going to replace classical computers. It’s more likely that they will coexist with their classical counterparts.

“Excited to build on progress”

Choucair said: "Archer has made considerable progress in the development of our ¹²CQ quantum computing qubit processor chip, a world-first qubit processor technology that could allow for quantum computing powered mobile devices (QPMDs).

"We are excited to build on this progress in 2022 and I look forward to updating on Archer’s deep-tech developments, and hopefully, demystify quantum along the way."