What Atom Computing does
Atom Computing builds quantum computers based on neutral atoms trapped in optical lattices, a technology approach that promises better scalability than competing superconducting and trapped-ion systems. The company's machines manipulate individual atoms (currently strontium) with optical tweezers, using their nuclear spin states as qubits. Because neutral atoms can be held in large 2D and 3D arrays at room temperature without cryogenics or complex wiring, the architecture scales naturally to thousands of qubits.
In November 2024, Atom Computing and Microsoft announced a breakthrough demonstrating quantum error correction on neutral atoms by creating and entangling 24 logical qubits — the largest number of entangled logical qubits ever achieved. The two companies plan to deliver a commercial quantum computer with 1,000+ physical qubits in 2025-2026, marking the first generally available system at that scale. Atom Computing has also signed agreements with national labs and is working with the Department of Energy on quantum advantage benchmarks.
Who it's for
Atom Computing's customers are national labs, defense agencies, pharmaceutical R&D, materials-science labs, and financial institutions exploring quantum algorithms for optimization, chemistry, and cryptography. Access is gated through partnerships and the Microsoft Azure Quantum platform.
Pricing
Access is delivered via cloud partnerships and enterprise contracts; pricing is not publicly listed.
Team & funding
Atom Computing was founded in 2018 by Benjamin Bloom (CTO) and Jonathan King (Chief Scientist) in Berkeley, California. The company has raised approximately $101M across 7 rounds from 19 investors, including a $60M Series B in 2022 led by Third Point Ventures and a $10M extension in September 2024 led by PensionDanmark with participation from Danmarks Eksport og Investeringsfond. Other backers include Innovation Endeavors, Venrock, and Prelude Ventures.
Position vs competitors
Atom Computing competes with IonQ, Rigetti, PsiQuantum, Quantinuum, IBM Quantum, and QuEra in the race to useful quantum advantage. Its neutral-atom approach is also pursued by QuEra and Pasqal but Atom's Microsoft partnership and logical-qubit milestone give it a leading position in commercial deliverability.