The Canadian startup XANADU, previously marked by joint work with NVIDIA on quantum simulators, reported the creation of a computing quantum system on photons. Quantum equipment on photons can be used at room temperature and placed in ordinary server racks. Having created a basic set of racks, nothing prevents the manufacture of thousands of such systems that in the near future will make a quantum calculator with a million cubes.
Image source: Nature 2025
The statement made by Xanadu Quantum Technologies means that a quantum computer has practical value is not far off. The company itself hopes to present a quantum computer with a million cubes by 2029. Not a single serious company in the development of quantum computers has yet allowed itself to give such bold promises. It is hoped that Xanadu at least try to fulfill it.
In the recently published work in the journal Nature, the XANADU experts told what the work of their system is being built on and how it will look. A set called Aurora is represented by four standard server racks, which, of course, is much more convenient and practical than using cryogenic chambers for superconducting cubes. In one rack, a laser system is collected for the formation of a supporting and modulating rays, as well as an optical system for their distribution and control of them.
It should be said that quantum “optical chips” XANADU operate with the physical states of laser rays, taking into account their recombination and addition. Ultimately, the result of calculating the algorithm will be the number of photons in a laser beam at the exit of the system. However, there is an important nuance that XANADU does not emphasize: although the computing complex itself really works at room temperature, sensors, counting photons in the resulting ray, are cooled to cryogenic temperatures. To do this, in the room next to the racks, a special refrigeration equipment is placed, without which the system cannot function.
At the moment, a total of 35 chips are involved in three computing racks that form an array of 12 cubes to launch the algorithm. In his work, Xanadu does not reveal the mechanisms of error correction – the weakest place of quantum calculations. However, the company confidently states that its platform is easily scale to millions of cubes. In the lower part of the racks there are optical chains for the connection between the racks, which allows you to connect thousands of such modules. Compared to the efforts of competing companies, this scaling process looks much simpler.
The Xanadu admits that the decision they proposed far from perfect. In particular, in the process of processing, part of the world (photons) is lost, which leads to an increase in the frequency of errors. Nevertheless, the company promises to improve the platform and does not lose hope of creating a practical value of a quantum computer by 2029.