Quantum Hardware Hub to Open in New York City

- The New York hub will specifically focus on advancing BTQ's "Quantum Compute in Memory" (QCiM) program, a silicon-based architecture designed for both classical and post-quantum cryptography. This initiative aims to move the QCiM architecture from design to validated, production-ready silicon. The work will be paired with a 2026 collaboration with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) to drive rapid prototyping and testing. - BTQ’s QCiM is a soft IP cryptographic accelerator that integrates symmetric and asymmetric encryption engines into a low-power block. It is designed to be synthesizable for various foundry nodes and supports existing algorithms like AES as well as post-quantum standards such as ML-KEM (Kyber) and ML-DSS (Dilithium). - To staff the hub, BTQ has recruited senior engineers from major tech and semiconductor firms, including a former engineering lead from Apple's Special Projects Group. Other key hires bring experience from Meta, PsiQuantum, Samsung, Texas Instruments, and Tokyo Electron, covering areas like quantum control systems, ASIC design, and semiconductor manufacturing. - The New York office, located in the Flatiron District, is led by Head of Silicon Product Sean Hackett and Head of Hardware Zach Belateche. They are the principal authors of the patent portfolio for the QCiM architecture and were co-founders of Radical Semiconductor, a company BTQ acquired. - New York is emerging as a broader quantum research center, with New York University launching the NYU Quantum Institute in October 2025 to foster collaboration between academia and the private sector. In early 2026, Governor Hochul also announced a $300 million investment in Stony Brook University's quantum research hub. - The push for post-quantum cryptography is driven by the threat that future quantum computers pose to current public-key encryption algorithms like RSA and ECDSA. In response, the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is in the process of standardizing quantum-resistant algorithms. - Quantum computing has potential applications in manufacturing and supply chain management by solving complex optimization problems that are beyond the scope of classical computers. Use cases include optimizing production scheduling, logistics planning, and accelerating the discovery of new materials with improved properties like corrosion resistance. - BTQ, founded in 1998 and headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, is a publicly traded company that has recently invested in or acquired companies like Keypair and QPerfect to expand its post-quantum cryptography intellectual property.