CUbIQ and Coherent Demonstrate Pluggable Quantum-Safe Security for AI Infrastructure

Rigetti Computing said in its latest technology update that the biggest challenge in its quantum roadmap is no longer adding more qubits but improving the performance of its flagship 108-qubit Cepheus system. During the second quarter of 2026 earnings call, management acknowledged that coherence time has become the primary bottleneck limiting two-qubit gate fidelity, even as Cepheus-1-108Q stands among only three generally available gate-based quantum computers with more than 100 qubits. The system currently operates with coherence times of roughly 25-30 microseconds, a level that constrains the reliability of quantum operations. Rigetti is directing engineering efforts toward chip redesigns, fabrication process improvements and new materials, including tantalum-capped superconducting contacts, and management expects these initiatives to gradually double or even triple coherence times over the next several years. In peer updates, Quantum Computing Inc. signed a three-year Framework Agreement with Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar covering quantum computing, sensing and communications, while IonQ secured an $8.18 million commercial agreement with Congruity360 to integrate quantum-safe networking into its enterprise data management platform.

IonQ has announced a multi-year strategic partnership with Korea-based quantum technology and software company SDT, Inc. to bring both advanced quantum computing and quantum networking to the Asia-Pacific region. Under the agreement, IonQ will supply SDT with a Superion 256 quantum computer and its silicon-vacancy quantum memory module, marking the first deployment of both the Superion 256 system and the SiV quantum memory module in South Korea. The Superion 256 system is planned for deployment with an SDT customer in South Korea, where the two companies intend to collaborate on a hybrid quantum-classical data center. SDT also plans to establish a dedicated quantum manufacturing and system-integration facility in Gumi, South Korea, which will serve as the site for IonQ's SiV quantum memory packaging and manufacturing, quantum system assembly, integration and commissioning. The partnership expands the two companies' ongoing collaboration from cloud-based software integration to physical hardware production, assembly, and regional resale, and SDT will also participate in a separate in-country cancer center project developing hybrid quantum-classical infrastructure for medical and biomedical research with IonQ.

Quantum Computing Inc. announced it will showcase, for the first time, an integrated quantum security platform combining encryption and authentication in a single solution at the ECOC Exhibition 2026, held September 21–23 at FYCMA in Málaga, Spain. At Booth #1436, the company will demonstrate live quantum communication solutions using time-frequency and polarization-based approaches, pairing quantum key distribution with hardware-based Quantum Identity Authentication. The platform combines high-dimensional quantum key distribution, direct entanglement verification, Quantum Identity Authentication, and integrated key management in a telecom-compatible architecture, and is based on QCi's patented invention recognized with the 44th Edison Patent Award, presented to Dr. Yuping Huang and Dr. Lac Nguyen. QCi will also present at the ECOC Product Focus Theatre on Wednesday, September 23, from 14:50 to 15:10, in a session titled "The Quantum Secure Solution: Quantum-authenticated communications for broad applications in security," delivered by Massimo Di Blasio, Director, Product Line Management/Business Development. Chief Technology Officer Yong Meng Sua said the demonstrations give the telecom industry a firsthand look at how quantum technologies can strengthen the security of tomorrow's communications.