• Toronto-based quantum computing startup Xanadu has demonstrated quantum advantage with its new photonic quantum computer “Borealis” with 216 squeezed-state qubits. This marks the first system with quantum advantage to be accessible by the public via the cloud. 

• Borealis’ quantum advantage—published in the journal Nature—was achieved by solving a complex solution in just 36 microseconds, which would have otherwise taken 9,000 years for the world’s most powerful supercomputer. The computer will be accessible to researchers and the general public via Xanadu Cloud and is expected to be on Amazon Braket soon.

<ul><li> Analyst QuickTake: With this milestone, Xanadu joins incumbents Google and IBM in proving quantum advantage. Google demonstrated the first quantum advantage in 2019 with a 54-qubit Sycamore, which was followed by IBM ’s announcement in June 2021, of achieving 93% accuracy (errors considered) compared to 87.5% in a classical computer. Chinese research teams have also reported breakthrough advantages in 2021 using a 66-qubit superconducting processor and a photonic quantum computer with 113 photons and 144 modes.</ul>