Atom Computing
US neutral-atom quantum-computing company building nuclear-spin qubits in optical tweezer arrays. Founded at UC Berkeley in 2018; HQ in Berkeley, CA with a 17,000 sq-ft systems-build facility in Boulder, CO. First prototype ("Phoenix", 2021) used strontium-87 atoms in a 10x10 array; the second- generation platform pivoted to ytterbium-171 nuclear-spin qubits and in 2023 became the first gate-based quantum computer to cross 1,000 qubits (1,180 atoms in a 1,225-site array). Now co-developing the 50-logical-qubit Magne machine with Microsoft for delivery to QuNorth (Copenhagen) in 2027.
Timeline
Current flagship
Atom Computing 2nd-generation system — neutral-atom Yb-171 nuclear-spin (1,180-qubit class)
Milestones
- 2025-07Microsoft and Atom Computing announce QuNorth partnership — Magne, a 50-logical-qubit / 1,225-physical-qubit neutral-atom machine, to be installed in Copenhagen by EIFO and the Novo Nordisk Foundation (EUR 80M acquisition); operational early 2027
- 2024-11Microsoft x Atom Computing demonstrate 24 entangled logical qubits (GHZ state) on neutral-atom hardware; error-detection and correction shown on 28 logical qubits; commercial machine offered via Azure Quantum for 2025 delivery
- 2024-09Unattributed late-stage financing round (~USD 10.5M) with participation from PensionDanmark; sets up Nordic deployment
- 2023-10Second-generation system unveiled — 1,225-site optical array populated with 1,180 ytterbium-171 nuclear-spin qubits; first gate-based platform past 1,000 qubits
- 2022-09Opens 17,000 sq-ft systems-build facility in Boulder, CO — site for next-generation 1,000+ qubit machines
- 2022-01USD 60M Series B led by Third Point Ventures and Prime Movers Lab to build the second-generation machine
- 2021-07Unveils Phoenix, first-generation 100-qubit neutral-atom system based on a 10x10 strontium-87 optical tweezer array; closes USD 15M Series A
- 2018-01Company founded by Ben Bloom and Jonathan King in Berkeley, CA; USD 5M seed round
Roadmap
- 2025 Deliver commercial machine with Microsoft on Azure Quantum based on the 24/28-logical-qubit architecture source ↗
- 2026 Advance quantum error correction, develop networking technology for modular scale-up, and design third-generation systems with ~10,000 physical qubits (~10x prior generation) source ↗
- 2027 Magne — 50 logical qubits built from ~1,225 physical neutral-atom qubits — operational at QuNorth, Copenhagen (with Microsoft); Level-2 fault-tolerant commercial system source ↗
Capability details
Quantum computing
- Qubit type
- neutral-atom
- Physical qubits
- 1180
- Logical qubits
- 24
- 1Q gate fidelity
- —
- 2Q gate fidelity
- —
- T₁
- —
- T₂
- 40000 ms
- EC code
- —
- Connectivity
- reconfigurable
Networking
- Role
- research
10 unverified fields
-
modalities.qc.one_q_fidelity -
modalities.qc.two_q_fidelity -
modalities.qc.coherence_t1_ms -
modalities.qc.gate_set -
modalities.qc.coherence_t2_ms— 40-second nuclear-spin coherence widely cited from 2022-2023 Atom Computing announcements; not from a peer-reviewed Atom-Computing paper reference checked here. This is a coherence (idle) time; gate-fidelity figures have not been separately verified here. -
modalities.qc.ec_code— Microsoft + Atom Computing 24-logical-qubit work uses a [[d,1,d]] color / surface-style code per Azure Quantum blog; no Atom-Computing peer-reviewed code-paper citation found. -
modalities.qc.logical_qubits_current— 24 entangled logical qubits demonstrated (28 with EC) in the Microsoft x Atom Computing Nov 2024 blog; full peer-reviewed paper not verified in this run. -
modalities.network.role— Atom Computing has stated 2026 networking-technology development as a roadmap item; no networking product or atom-photon entanglement paper has been published under the Atom Computing name as of this verification date. Strontium-87 and Yb-171 neutral-atom platforms emit photons at optical wavelengths natively, so a microwave-to-optical transducer is not required for inter-machine photonic interconnect — a structural advantage over superconducting platforms. Closest external reference: PRX Quantum 6, 010101 (2025) and Nature Communications 16 (2025) on nanofiber- and cavity-mediated atom-photon entanglement (not Atom Computing-authored). -
shareholders -
key_personnel.CTO
People
References
- blog https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/quantum/2024/11/19/microsoft-and-atom-computing-offer-a-commercial-quantum-machine-with-the-largest-number-of-entangled-logical-qubits-on-record/ Microsoft Azure Quantum blog (Nov 2024) — 24 entangled logical qubits, 28 logical qubits with error detection / correction, commercial offering.
- press https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/quantum-startup-atom-computing-first-to-exceed-1-000-qubits-301964712.html First gate-based platform past 1,000 qubits — 1,180 Yb-171 atoms in a 1,225-site array (Oct 2023).
- paper https://www.nature.com/articles/s41534-024-00898-7 Two-qubit encoding in neutral ytterbium-171 atoms (npj Quantum Information, 2024) — Atom Computing-authored architecture paper for the Yb-171 nuclear-spin platform.
- paper https://journals.aps.org/prxquantum/abstract/10.1103/28h7-jl1v Three-qubit encoding in Yb-171 atoms for simulating 1+1D QCD (PRX Quantum) — further work on the Yb-171 platform; preprint at arXiv:2507.18426.
- press https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/07/17/microsoft-and-atom-computing-partner-on-level-2-quantum-system-for-nordic-users/ QuNorth / Magne announcement — 50-logical-qubit machine to Copenhagen via EIFO and Novo Nordisk Foundation (Jul 2025).
- blog https://atom-computing.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Atom-Computing-Whitepaper-2025.pdf 2025 company whitepaper — roadmap, architecture, error-correction plans.