Atom Computing to invest $100 million in Colorado for quantum computer center

By Jane Lanhee Lee

(Reuters) - Atom Computing, a Berkeley, California-based quantum computer maker, said on Wednesday it would invest $100 million over the next three years in Colorado where it plans to build its next generation of quantum computers.

It is the latest quantum computing startup to build out its base in Boulder, Colorado. The state started to boost its involvement in quantum computing about two years ago, said Colorado's governor, Jared Polis, who attended Wednesday's Atom Computing event in Boulder.

"We want to be the leader of quantum computing as this industry creates hundreds of companies, tens of thousands of jobs, and powers a new technology revolution," Polis told Reuters.

Quantum computers, which use quantum mechanics, will eventually be able to operate millions of times faster than today's advanced supercomputers. The technology is still in its early stages.

The University of Colorado Boulder has been a center for quantum physics-related research, and is home to JILA, formerly known as the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics, a joint institute of the university and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Atom Computing uses lasers to control individual atoms and build qubits, the basic unit of quantum information. The company has raised a total of $80 million so far, it said.

(Reporting by Jane Lanhee Lee in Oakland, Calif.; Editing by Matthew Lewis)