Quantum News Nexus

TGIF. So, IonQ must be done making news for this week, right? Wrong!

Ok, this isn’t really IonQ’s announcement, but the headline-grabbing quantum firm of the week is part of it: At Quantum World Congress, EPB Quantum, a pioneering quantum networking company based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and an ongoing IonQ collaborator, announced its venture into hybrid classical-quantum computing capabilities. 

EPB said via press release that it has an agreement with its Volunteer State neighbor the US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), under which an Nvidia DGX system has been installed at the EPB Quantum Center in Chattanooga. That is the hub that was at the heart of a $22 million deal between IonQ and EPB earlier this year. The EPB Quantum Center is already home to what was the first commercially available quantum network in the US and will house IonQ’s Forte Enterprise Quantum Computer, scheduled for commissioning in early 2026. 

That makes EPB’s hub the latest in a fast-growing list of computing centers where classical is meeting quantum under one roof. EPB said it and ORNL initially are focused on working with Nvidia and IonQ to explore solutions for optimizing power grids. By pushing the frontier on maximizing efficiency in local electric system operations, the project aims to identify algorithms, methodologies and best practices for enhancing power distribution across the U.S.

EPB CEO David Wade commented, “This grid optimization project with ORNL, IonQ and Nvidia shows how EPB Quantum is bridging a critical gap. By making a comprehensive suite of quantum development resources accessible as a real-world platform for innovation, we’re making it possible for entrepreneurs, industry leaders, national labs and universities to work side by side toward breakthroughs that can really make a difference for people and communities in the years ahead.”

To say EPB was a pioneer in quantum networking may be putting it lightly, as the broadband provider and electric utility has been talking about the topic for most of this decade, and opened its quantum network for subscriptions more than two years ago this month. 

The release added, “Since launching the country’s most advanced automated energy grid in 2009, EPB’s electric system has generated trillions of operational data points through thousands of automated sensors operating across 15,000 miles of fiber optic cable. The new project will focus on minimizing electrical losses and voltage drops while better balancing load to improve capacity and enhance reliability.”

IonQ also has been no slouch in quantum networking, as former CEO Peter Chapman last year identified quantum networking as the next frontier for quantum computing, and the key to enabling massive scalability for multiple quantum computers working together. In the interim, IonQ has acquired multiple forms with quantum networking expertise, including Lightsynq, ID Quantique, Capella Space, and Qubitekk.

In the EPB release, current IonQ Chairman and CEO Niccolo de Masi stated, “IonQ’s quantum hardware is advancing at a tremendous pace, which has allowed us to unlock early quantum advantage by partnering and building powerful algorithms. By combining EPB’s real-world infrastructure with the expertise in national labs, industry leaders and innovators, IonQ is developing practical applications with real commercial advantage.”

Also commenting was AI juggernaut and quantum enthusiast Nvidia: “The future of scientific computing will see businesses and researchers draw on both quantum and classical hardware within hybrid supercomputing systems,” said Sam Stanwyck, Group Product Manager for quantum computing at Nvidia. “Nvidia’s work with EPB, ORNL and IonQ on this project is not only allowing us to glimpse this future but is also helping to build it.”

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Quantum News Nexus is a new site from freelance writer and editor Dan O’Shea that covers quantum computing, quantum sensing, quantum networking, quantum-safe security, and more. You can find him on X @QuantumNewsGuy and doshea14@gmail.com. Support QNN here, and thank you for reading!