Celebrating a Decade of Rigetti: An Evolution of Technology and a Quantum Ecosystem
Since 2013, Rigetti has been at the helm of quantum computing innovation. From our chips up to the software needed to access our QPUs on the cloud, Rigetti’s commitment to advancing the quantum computing field has never wavered. Today, we celebrate a decade of the passion, talent, and ingenuity that the Rigetti team and its partners have brought to not only our technology, but to the flourishing ecosystem of students, researchers, and industry professionals leveraging quantum computing.
Over the past decade, we’ve seen the quantum computing industry grow from just a handful of startups and academic labs to a competitive, thriving global market. Along the way we’ve had the privilege of contributing to industry milestones, collaborating with fellow quantum computing leaders on algorithm and system performance, and witnessing the Rigetti team continuously overcome the hurdles of building the world’s most powerful computers.
As the Rigetti team looks towards the future and what the next decade holds for us and the quantum computing industry, let’s take a look back at how we’ve evolved with the support and talent of our colleagues past and present, and our longstanding and newly developed partnerships.
On July 8, 2013 Rigetti was founded by Chad Rigetti as the world’s first full-stack, universal pure-play quantum computing company. Three years later, Rigetti’s Fab-1 was commissioned as the first dedicated quantum chip fabrication facility. Built to further accelerate our progress in design and manufacturing capabilities, Fab-1 continues to be a foundational resource for developing state-of-the-art superconducting qubits and enabling innovative chip architecture — from developing the first scalable quantum chip based on our proprietary modular architecture, to our latest fourth generation Ankaa™ system featuring a square lattice, tunable couplers, and 2x faster gate speeds.
Making our QPUs accessible to the quantum computing ecosystem has been our priority since launching the first hybrid cloud platform in 2018 — Rigetti’s Quantum Cloud Services (QCS™). For the first time, quantum processors were tightly integrated with classical computing infrastructure to deliver application-level performance needed to work towards quantum advantage. Today, QCS enables our customers and partners to access the latest Rigetti QPUs in their preferred cloud environment, such as Microsoft Azure¹ or Amazon Braket², or integrated directly with their existing infrastructure. We’ve had the privilege of seeing inspiring work done on our systems to advance quantum computing algorithm and application research. By integrating our QPUs into the fabric of the cloud, we hope that end users can continue to unlock the potential of quantum computing.
While end users leverage Rigetti QPUs to further their own research, our partners over the last decade have worked closely throughout our hardware and software stack to explore practical use cases for quantum computing and investigate ways in which we can improve our materials and processes for improving our QPU performance. A pivotal moment for the U.S.’s quantum computing strategy, the introduction of the National Quantum Initiative (NQI), also was the beginning of a key relationship with Fermilab with the launch of their Superconducting Quantum Materials & Systems (SQMS) Center, one of the five national quantum centers funded by the NQI. As the lead industry partner of SQMS, Rigetti works closely with SQMS researchers to research and mitigate sources of decoherence, one of the most important limiting factors of quantum systems and devices.
Across the pond, another close partnership we’ve fostered is one with the UK quantum computing ecosystem. With funding from UK Research & Innovation, Rigetti launched its first international quantum computer, a milestone of our consortium with some of the UK’s leading organizations to develop practical quantum computing applications. By partnering with pioneering organizations who are identifying real-world use cases, and delivering scalable, powerful quantum computing technology via QCS, we were able to — and continue to strive to — empower the UK to harness the value of practical quantum computing.
At the core of our company are our QPUs. In 2017, Rigetti deployed its first device, the 8Q Agave. This is the quantum computer on which we initially experimentally tested parametric entangling gates. Later that year our 19Q device was launched. It was on this device that Rigetti became the first to solve an unsupervised machine learning problem on a gate model quantum computer.
The evolution to our Aspen™-series in 2020 marked the move to an octagon lattice, which offered an intrinsic 3-fold connectivity, fast 1Q and 2Q gates (60ns and 160ns), long qubit coherence times measuring ~20µs, and the addition of excitation-preserving XY entangling gates. The 32Q Aspen-8 system was our initial QPU to be deployed on Amazon Braket, enabling even broader accessibility to our most advanced system at that time. In 2022 we deployed Aspen-M, the first device to utilize our proprietary modular chip architecture and to demonstrate entangling gates on two different dies.
Six years since launching our 8Q device on the cloud, we’re excited to be planning to introduce our 4th generation Ankaa system to the general public later this year after having deployed it internally earlier this year for testing and development. The 84Q Ankaa system builds on years of in-house research and development and is the result of unwavering commitment to deploying a scalable, powerful quantum computer capable of solving real-word problems. Built using a square architecture and tunable couplers, we believe Ankaa-1 will enable faster gates, higher fidelity, better connectivity, and optimization for error correction. Our team is laser focused on delivering 2Q gate fidelity of 98% with Ankaa-1 to support the anticipated Ankaa-2 launch, and we can’t wait to see what our partners and customers do with our most superior architecture and engineering design to date. Looking ahead, we are excited to work towards developing our 336Q Lyra system which will leverage our multi-chip design — the cornerstone of our path towards scalability.
Rigetti’s evolution over the past decade has seen quantum computing industry firsts, internal milestones, and collaborations that drive this revolutionary technology to new heights. None of this would have been imaginable without the talented, driven, and inventive individuals who have been a part of the Rigetti team — past and present. Their contributions to Rigetti, and the quantum industry, continue to motivate us to push the boundaries of what’s possible.
Voices of Rigetti
“[I am] proud to have led scoping for our winning bid into the DARPA Quantum Benchmarking program, and for championing quality delivery to DARPA for the last couple of years. Also amazed by the capabilities of the team we’ve built to support our DARPA programs and our search for quantum advantage, who eclipse my skills in virtually every way.”
— Mark Hodson, Software Engineering Director
“Rigetti has built and enabled an open work culture. The ability to access data and analyze it (for example, from Arborist, from Pawpaw, from QDash) enables learning and helped me and my team to contribute meaningfully in various non-fab forums. I am deeply appreciative of this.”
— Kameshwar Yadavalli, Senior Director, JJ Process Technology
“A memorable moment for me was the first time I entered the Rigetti office in Berkeley and saw the mission statement written in large letters on the wall: ‘Build the world’s most powerful computers to help solve humanity’s most important and pressing problems.’ This embodies all that we do, working together to solve really difficult problems, doing things that have never been done before. It inspires me and excites me every day.”
— David Garvin, Principal, Quantum Finance Applications
“I am filled with joy and gratitude for the opportunity to work with such remarkable individuals at Rigetti. Their brilliance, humility, and camaraderie have continually impressed me. It is a true pleasure to be part of a team where everyone’s intellect shines, yet egos remain grounded.”
— Cassidy Berk, Software Engineer
“My kids love hearing about what Rigetti does, and for me it’s so fun to see their enthusiasm around science and engineering. I brought them into the lab one day and they were *very* excited to touch a fridge and to later tell their friends they had been just a few inches away from one of the coldest things in the known universe.”
— Steve Grind, Senior Manager, Manufacturing Engineering
Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this communication may be considered “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements with respect to expectations of Rigetti’s business plan, including with respect to its objectives and its technology roadmap, its ability to achieve milestones including developing and releasing to the general public the Ankaa 84-qubit system and achieve at least median 2-qubit fidelity of 98% on Ankaa-1 on the anticipated timing or at all; Rigetti’s expectations with respect to the timing of next generation systems; Rigetti’s ability to scale to develop the Lyra 336-qubit system and develop practical applications on the anticipated timing or at all; the results of Rigetti’s work with SQMS in mitigating sources of decoherence; the results of Rigetti’s work with the UK quantum computing ecosystem, including the consortium funded by UK Research & Innovation with the goal of empowering the UK to harness the value of practical quantum computing; Rigetti’s expectations with respect to the anticipated stages of quantum technology maturation, including its ability to develop a quantum computer that is able to solve a practical, operationally relevant problem significantly better, faster, or cheaper than a current classical solution and achieve narrow quantum advantage on the anticipated timing or at all; expectations with respect to the potential of Rigetti; and the potential of quantum computing to become mainstream and the timing thereof. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events and can be identified by terminology such as “commit,” “may,” “should,” “could,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “intend,” “strive,” “expect,” “intend,” “will,” “estimate,” “believe,” “predict,” “potential,” “pursue,” “aim,” “goal,” “outlook,” “anticipate,” “assume,” or “continue,” or the negatives of these terms or variations of them or similar terminology. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by Rigetti and its management, are inherently uncertain. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to: Rigetti’s ability to achieve milestones, technological advancements, including with respect to its roadmap, help unlock quantum computing, and develop practical applications; the ability of Rigetti to complete ongoing negotiations with government contractors successfully and in a timely manner; the potential of quantum computing; the ability of Rigetti to obtain government contracts and the availability of government funding; the ability of Rigetti to expand its QCS business; the success of Rigetti’s partnerships and collaborations; Rigetti’s ability to accelerate its development of multiple generations of quantum processors; the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against Rigetti or others; the ability to meet stock exchange listing standards; costs related to operating as a public company; changes in applicable laws or regulations; the possibility that Rigetti may be adversely affected by other economic, business, or competitive factors; Rigetti’s estimates of expenses and profitability; the evolution of the markets in which Rigetti competes; the ability of Rigetti to execute on its technology roadmap; the ability of Rigetti to implement its strategic initiatives, expansion plans and continue to innovate its existing services; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Rigetti’s business; disruptions in banking systems, increased costs, international trade relations, political turmoil, natural catastrophes, warfare (such as the ongoing military conflict between Russia and Ukraine and related sanctions against Russia), and terrorist attacks; and other risks and uncertainties set forth in the section entitled “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” in Rigetti’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, Rigetti’s future filings with the SEC, including Rigetti’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31, 2023, and other documents filed by Rigetti from time to time with the SEC. These filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and Rigetti assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements other than as required by applicable law. Rigetti does not give any assurance that it will achieve its expectations.
¹Microsoft and Azure are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.
² Amazon Braket is a trademark of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.
