IonQ

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IonQ, Inc.
Company typePublic
NYSE: IONQ
IndustryQuantum computing
Founders
HeadquartersCollege Park, Maryland, US
Key people
Niccolo de Masi (President and CEO)
Peter Chapman (Executive Chair)[1]
ProductsTrapped ion quantum computation
Websiteionq.com
IonQ headquarters in College Park, Maryland

IonQ, Inc. is an American quantum computing hardware and software company headquartered in College Park, Maryland. The company develops general-purpose trapped ion quantum computers and accompanying software to generate, optimize, and execute quantum circuits.

History

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IonQ was co-founded by Christopher Monroe and Jungsang Kim, professors at Duke University,[2] in 2015,[3] with the help of Harry Weller and Andrew Schoen, partners at venture firm New Enterprise Associates.[4]

The company is an offshoot of the co-founders’ 25 years of academic research in quantum information science.[3] Monroe's quantum computing research began as a Staff Researcher at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) with Nobel-laureate physicist David Wineland[5] where he led a team using trapped ions to produce the first controllable qubits and the first controllable quantum logic gate,[6] culminating in a proposed architecture for a large-scale trapped ion computer.[7]

Kim and Monroe, who was at the time a professor at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD), began collaborating formally as a result of larger research initiatives funded by the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA).[8] They wrote a review paper[8] for Science Magazine entitled Scaling the Ion Trap Quantum Processor,[9] pairing Monroe's research at UMD in trapped ions with Kim's focus on scalable quantum information processing and quantum communication hardware.[10]

This research partnership became the seed for IonQ's founding. In 2015, New Enterprise Associates invested $2 million to commercialize the technology Monroe and Kim proposed in their Science paper.[4]

In 2016, they brought on David Moehring from IARPA—where he was in charge of several quantum computing initiatives[11][4]—to be the company's chief executive.[3] In 2017, they raised a $20 million series B, led by GV (formerly Google Ventures) and New Enterprise Associates, the first investment GV has made in quantum computing technology.[12] They began hiring in earnest in 2017,[13] with the intent to bring an offering to market by late 2018.[3][14] In May 2019, former Amazon Prime executive Peter Chapman was named new CEO of the company.[15][16] IonQ then partnered to make its quantum computers available to the public through Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud.[17][18][19]

In October 2021, IonQ became publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange via a special-purpose acquisition company.[20][21] The company opened a dedicated research and development facility in Bothell, Washington, in February 2024, touting it as the first quantum computing factory in the United States.[22]

Niccolò de Masi became President and Chief Executive Officer of IonQ on February 26, 2025, after serving on the company’s board since 2021[23]. He succeeded Peter Chapman, who transitioned to the role of Executive Chair.

On August 6, 2025, de Masi was unanimously appointed chairman of IonQ's board[24].

Acquisitions

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In May, the company acquired a controlling stake in ID Quantique (IDQ)[25], a Geneva-based firm specializing in quantum-safe cryptography and sensing technologies, adding hundreds of patents to IonQ’s portfolio.

In June 2025, IonQ agreed to acquire British quantum computing startup, Oxford Ionics, for approximately $1.1 billion.[26] Also in June, IonQ completed the acquisition of Lightsynq Technologies[27], a US startup developing photonic interconnects and quantum memory.

In July 2025, IonQ finalized its acquisition of Capella Space[28], a satellite imaging company, with the aim of supporting plans for space-based quantum key distribution networks.

Technology

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See also: Trapped ion quantum computer

IonQ's hardware is based on a trapped ion architecture, from technology that Monroe developed at the University of Maryland, and that Kim developed at Duke.[29]

In November 2017, IonQ presented a paper at the IEEE International Conference on Rebooting Computing describing their technology strategy and current progress. It outlines using a microfabricated ion trap and several optical and acousto-optical systems to cool, initialize, and calculate. They also describe a cloud API, custom language bindings, and quantum computing simulators that take advantage of their trapped ion system's complete connectivity.[30]

IonQ and some experts claim that trapped ions could provide a number of benefits over other physical qubit types in several measures, such as accuracy, scalability, predictability, and coherence time.[31][3][32] Others criticize the slow operational times and relative size of trapped ion hardware, claiming other qubit technologies are just as promising.[31]

References

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  1. ^ "IonQ Names Niccolo de Masi as President & Chief Executive Officer".
  2. ^ "Jungsang Kim - Department of Physics". phy.duke.edu.
  3. ^ a b c d e Castellanos, Sara (26 July 2017). "Venture Firms Back Startup with Novel Twist on Quantum Computing". Wall Street Journal.
  4. ^ a b c Gregg, Aaron (1 January 2017). "Start-up IonQ sees opportunity in still-developing area of quantum computers" – via www.washingtonpost.com.
  5. ^ Popkin, Gabriel (1 December 2016). "Scientists are close to building a quantum computer that can beat a conventional one". Science. doi:10.1126/science.aal0442.
  6. ^ "Quantum Computing with Ions [Re-Post]". Scientific American. August 2008.
  7. ^ Kielpinski, D.; Monroe, C.; Wineland, D. J. (June 2002). "Architecture for a large-scale ion-trap quantum computer". Nature. 417 (6890): 709–711. Bibcode:2002Natur.417..709K. doi:10.1038/nature00784. hdl:2027.42/62880. PMID 12066177. S2CID 4347109.
  8. ^ a b "The future of ion traps". 7 March 2013.
  9. ^ Monroe, C.; Kim, J. (7 March 2013). "Scaling the Ion Trap Quantum Processor". Science. 339 (6124): 1164–1169. Bibcode:2013Sci...339.1164M. doi:10.1126/science.1231298. PMID 23471398. S2CID 206545831.
  10. ^ "Welcome to Prof. Jungsang Kim's MIST Research Group - Multifunctional Integrated Systems Technology". mist.pratt.duke.edu.
  11. ^ "Quantum Leaps - Trajectory Magazine". 3 August 2016.
  12. ^ "Startup's Trapped Ions Could Lead to Better Quantum Performance". July 26, 2017. Archived from the original on March 23, 2020.
  13. ^ Castelvecchi, Davide (3 January 2017). "Quantum computers ready to leap out of the lab in 2017". Nature. 541 (7635): 9–10. Bibcode:2017Natur.541....9C. doi:10.1038/541009a. PMID 28054624.
  14. ^ BlueYard Capital (8 September 2017). "Building a Quantum Computer: David Moehring, IonQ" – via YouTube.
  15. ^ Hacket, Robert (21 May 2019). "Amazon Prime Boss Named CEO of Google-Backed Quantum Computing Startup". www.fortune.com. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  16. ^ Watch Congressman, IonQ CEO Aim to Grow US Quantum Computing - Bloomberg, 2024-09-05, retrieved 2024-09-21
  17. ^ Castellanos, Sara (13 August 2020). "Amazon's Cloud Unit to Offer Quantum Computing From 3 Tech Companies". www.wsj.com. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  18. ^ Lardinois, Frederic (1 February 2021). "Microsoft's Azure Quantum platform is now in public preview". www.techcrunch.com. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  19. ^ Kissell, Kevin (17 June 2021). "Expanding access to quantum today for a better tomorrow".
  20. ^ Castellanos, Sara (8 March 2021). "Quantum-Computing Startup IonQ Plans Public Debut in $2 Billion SPAC Merger". www.wsj.com. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  21. ^ "IonQ Becomes First Publicly Traded, Pure-Play Quantum Computing Company; Closes Business Combination with dMY Technology Group III". finance.yahoo.com. 1 October 2021. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  22. ^ Podsada, Janice (February 16, 2024). "Nation's first quantum computing manufacturing plant opens in Bothell". The Everett Herald. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
  23. ^ Swayne, Matt (2025-02-26). "IonQ Names Niccolo de Masi as President & Chief Executive Officer". The Quantum Insider. Retrieved 2025-09-07.
  24. ^ Kline, Alan (August 7, 2025). "IonQ shakes up leadership, CEO de Masi takes on dual role as board chair". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2025-09-07.
  25. ^ Swayne, Matt (2025-05-06). "IonQ Completes Acquisition of ID Quantique, Cementing Leadership in Quantum Networking and Secure Communications". The Quantum Insider. Retrieved 2025-09-08.
  26. ^ Subin, Samantha (June 9, 2025). "IonQ buys UK quantum startup Oxford Ionics for more than $1 billion". CNBC.
  27. ^ Swayne, Matt (2025-06-03). "IonQ Reports Completion of Lightsynq Acquisition". The Quantum Insider. Retrieved 2025-09-08.
  28. ^ Jewett, Rachel (2025-07-15). "IonQ Completes Capella Space Acquisition, With Plans to Build Space-Based QKD Network". Via Satellite. Retrieved 2025-09-08.
  29. ^ Wright, K.; Beck, K. M.; Debnath, S.; Amini, J. M.; Nam, Y.; Grzesiak, N.; Chen, J.-S.; Pisenti, N. C.; Chmielewski, M.; Collins, C.; Hudek, K. M.; Mizrahi, J.; Wong-Campos, J. D.; Allen, S.; Apisdorf, J. (2019-11-29). "Benchmarking an 11-qubit quantum computer". Nature Communications. 10 (1): 5464. arXiv:1903.08181. Bibcode:2019NatCo..10.5464W. doi:10.1038/s41467-019-13534-2. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 6884641. PMID 31784527.
  30. ^ Allen, Stewart; Kim, Jungsang; Moehring, David L.; Monroe, Christopher R. (2017). "Reconfigurable and Programmable Ion Trap Quantum Computer". 2017 IEEE International Conference on Rebooting Computing (ICRC). pp. 1–3. doi:10.1109/ICRC.2017.8123665. ISBN 978-1-5386-1553-9. S2CID 5942415.
  31. ^ a b Monroe, Christopher R.; Schoelkopf, Robert J.; Lukin, Mikhail D. (19 April 2016). "Quantum Connections". Scientific American. 314 (5): 50–57. Bibcode:2016SciAm.314e..50M. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0516-50. PMID 27100255.
  32. ^ Emerging Technology from the arXiv. "The Long-Awaited Promise of a Programmable Quantum Computer".
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