Alice & Bob, the Paris- and Boston-based quantum computing company, has joined TERATEC, the French high-performance computing initiative, as part of a push to accelerate the integration of quantum technologies into Europe’s HPC infrastructure.
The move brings the startup into a network of more than 80 universities, laboratories, and industrial groups, including Airbus, AMD, École Polytechnique, GENCI, L’Oréal, and Thales. TERATEC, headquartered near the CEA’s computing facilities at Bruyères-le-Châtel, promotes collaboration across simulation, HPC, artificial intelligence, and early fault-tolerant quantum computing.
The partnership will see Alice & Bob contribute expertise in connecting quantum processors to HPC environments, a capability regarded as increasingly important as data centres begin experimenting with quantum processing units.
Emmanuelle Vergnaud, Operations Manager and Head of Quantum at TERATEC, said the shift towards hybrid quantum–classical computing required closer coordination between the two sectors.
“Because the integration of quantum hardware will transform computing in the near term, it is crucial that the HPC and quantum companies partner and make integration plans today,” she said, adding that Alice & Bob’s experience would support advances across multiple research domains.
Rémi de La Vieuville, Head of Quantum HPC at Alice & Bob, said that although some HPC centres had installed early quantum machines, genuine integration remained a work in progress.
“We approach this with a lot of humility: HPC has a long history of engineering excellence, and we see real value in learning from TERATEC’s ecosystem,” he said. He added that the company’s focus on fault-tolerant hardware, combined with its software stack, aligned well with the needs of large-scale computing facilities.
As quantum pilots proliferate, both organisations expect demand to grow for new software and application co-design across quantum, HPC, and end-user communities. Cécile Perrault, Head of Innovation and Partnerships at Alice & Bob, said TERATEC’s industrial network would strengthen European research capacity.
“Together, we can create new opportunities for HPC experts and quantum hardware specialists to design tomorrow’s commercial applications,” she said.
Alice & Bob recently published a study outlining how HPC centres can prepare for the shift to fault-tolerant quantum computing, arguing that partnerships between quantum specialists and supercomputing operators will be central to building practical systems.
Founded in 2020, Alice & Bob has raised €130 million and employs more than 150 staff. The company specialises in cat-qubit technology originally developed by its founders and later adopted by Amazon, and claims that its approach could reduce the hardware needed for large-scale quantum systems by up to 200 times compared with rivals.
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