Quantum Leap: IBM and Cisco team on networked distributed quantum computing

Welcome to the latest edition of “Quantum Leap” where The Fly decodes news and activity in the quantum computing space.

CNSA COMPLIANCE: Sealsq (LAES) announced that its QS7001 Quantum Shield secure element is fully ready to deliver immediate CNSA 2.0 compliance. This production-proven chip embeds NIST-standardized post-quantum cryptography directly into hardware, enabling organizations to transition to quantum-resistant architectures today while maintaining full compatibility with existing systems. Designed for a broad range of security-critical environments, the QS7001 provides protection against current and future cryptographic threats. The QS7001, already in volume production and shipping to customers worldwide, remains the industry’s first commercially available hardware-embedded PQC secure element, built on a 32-bit Secured RISC-V Architecture Microcontroller. By integrating quantum-resistant algorithms at the silicon level, the QS7001 eliminates the vulnerabilities inherent in software-only implementations, such as side-channel attacks and performance bottlenecks.

AI OFFICER: Sealsq announced the appointment of Ballester Lafuente as chief of staff and group AI officer. In this role, Lafuente will lead the integration of artificial intelligence across all Sealsq group entities. Before joining Sealsq, Ballester Lafuente served as head of IT Innovation at the International Institute for Management Development.

INVESTMENT AND PARTNERSHIP: IonQ (IONQ) announced a new investment and strategic partnership with Heven AeroTech, a developer of hydrogen-powered unmanned aerial system solutions for defense and aerospace missions. The agreement will enable Heven AeroTech to integrate IonQ’s quantum computing, quantum networking, quantum sensing, and quantum security technologies into its autonomous aerial systems. As part of the partnership, Jordan Shapiro, president and GM of IonQ’s quantum networking, sensing and security division, will join Heven AeroTech’s board of directors.

QUANTUM SYSTEMS: Sealsq and Quobly announced a collaboration to explore the convergence of secure semiconductor architectures and scalable quantum systems. This collaboration connects Sealsq’s expertise in post-quantum security technologies with Quobly’s scalable silicon-based quantum computing platform. The companies will work together to assess how advanced security hardware and quantum processing architectures may co-evolve as quantum computing moves closer to industrial deployment, with the ambition to become the first players capable of exploring hardware root-of-trust and post-quantum cryptography natively integrated into large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum systems,

FORMULA ONE PACT: Sealsq and BWT Alpine Formula One Team announced a new partnership. The collaboration will combine BWT Alpine Formula One Team’s engineering with Sealsq’s expertise in quantum-secure semiconductors and quantum as a service capability. The partnership will focus on investigating the application of quantum-related technologies across aspects of BWT Alpine Formula One Team’s operation and security systems.

QUANTUM GATES: IBM (IBM) and Cisco (CSCO) announced an intention to collaborate on the groundwork for networked distributed quantum computing, to be realized as soon as the early 2030s. By combining IBM’s expertise in building quantum computers with Cisco’s quantum networking innovations, the companies plan to explore how to scale large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers beyond IBM’s roadmap. Additionally, they will work to solve fundamental challenges towards a quantum computing internet. Within five years, IBM and Cisco will aim to demonstrate the first proof-of-concept for a network that combines individual, large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers, enabling them to work together to run computations over tens to hundreds of thousands of qubits. This network would allow problems to be run with potentially trillions of quantum gates.

HYBRID COMPUTING: SkyWater Technology (SKYT) and Silicon Quantum Computing announced a joint program to accelerate the commercialization of hybrid quantum-classical computing. By combining SQC’s quantum device engineering with SkyWater’s manufacturing and packaging capabilities, the partnership aims to advance the emerging “future compute” stack-where quantum and classical technologies operate in concert to deliver new levels of performance and capability. SkyWater’s role in the collaboration is to bring SQC’s atomically engineered quantum processors into the broader computing ecosystem. Through its Technology-as-a-Service model, SkyWater provides advanced semiconductor development and manufacturing that enables the integration of quantum and classical components within the emerging “future compute” stack.

ANALYST COMMENTARY: JPMorgan initiated coverage of IonQ with a Neutral rating and $47 price target. The company is “uniquely positioned” to lead the next generation of compute processing technology, quantum computing, which has the potential to unlock multi-trillion dollars in economic value, the analyst told investors in a research note. However, the firm views IonQ’s risk/reward as fairly balanced at current price levels, reflecting the stock’s “steep valuation.”