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PsiQuantum, founded in 2016 by four researchers with roots at Bristol University, Stanford University, and York University, is one of a few quantum computing startups that’s kept a moderately low PR profile. (That’s if you disregard the roughly $700 million in funding it has attracted.) The main reason is PsiQuantum has eschewed the clamorous public chase for NISQ (near-term intermediate scale quantum) computers and set out to develop a million-qubit system the company says will deliver big gains on big problems as soon as it arrives.

When will that be?

PsiQuantum says it will have all the manufacturing processes in place “by the middle of the decade” and it’s working closely with GlobalFoundries (GF) to turn its vision into reality. The generous size of its funding suggests many think it will succeed. PsiQuantum is betting on a photonics-based approach called fusion-based quantum computing (paper) that relies mostly on well-understood optical technology but requires extremely precise manufacturing tolerances to scale up. It also relies on managing individual photons, something that has proven difficult for others.

Teledyne FLIR Defense has announced the partnership with MFE Inspection Solutions to integrate the FLIR MUVE C360 multi-gas detector on Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot and commercial unmanned aerial systems (UAS). The integrated solutions will enable remote monitoring of chemical threats in industrial and public safety applications.

The compact multi-gas detector can detect and classify airborne gas or chemical hazards, allowing inspection personnel to perform their job more safely and efficiently with integrated remote sensing capabilities from both the air and ground.

MUVE C360 is designed to operate on Boston Dynamics‘Spot mobile robot, which can autonomously inspect dangerous, inaccessible, or remote environments. It is also compatible with common commercial UAS systems, which allow operators to fly the C360 into a scene to perform hazard assessments in real-time.