1、Annual Report2023 sUNITED STATESSECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSIONWashington,D.C.20549FORM 10-K(Mark One)ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d)OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934For the fiscal year ended December 31,2023ORTRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d)OF THE SECURITIES E
2、XCHANGE ACT OF 1934 FOR THETRANSITION PERIOD FROMTOCommission File Number 001-39694IONQ,INC.(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)Delaware85-2992192(State or other jurisdiction ofincorporation or organization)(I.R.S.EmployerIdentification No.)4505 Campus DriveCollege Park,MD20740(Add
3、ress of principal executive offices)(Zip Code)Registrants telephone number,including area code:(301)298-7997Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b)of the Act:Title of each classTrading Symbol(s)Name of each exchange on which registeredCommon Stock,$0.0001 par value per shareWarrants,each exe
4、rcisable for one share of commonstock for$11.50 per shareIONQIONQ WSNew York Stock ExchangeNew York Stock ExchangeSecurities registered pursuant to Section 12(g)of the Act:NoneIndicate by check mark if the Registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer,as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.Yes No
5、 Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)of the Act.Yes No Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant:(1)has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d)of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during thepreceding 12 m
6、onths(or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports),and(2)has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90days.Yes No Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursua
7、nt to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T(232.405 of this chapter)during the preceding 12 months(or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to submit such files).Yes No Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer,an accelerated filer,a non-accelerated filer,sma
8、ller reporting company,or an emerging growthcompany.See the definitions of“large accelerated filer,”“accelerated filer,”“smaller reporting company,”and“emerging growth company”in Rule 12b-2 of theExchange Act.Large accelerated filerAccelerated filerNon-accelerated filerSmaller reporting companyEmerg
9、ing growth companyIf an emerging growth company,indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revisedfinancial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a)of the Exchange Act.Indicate by check mark whether the
10、registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its managements assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control overfinancial reporting under Section 404(b)of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act(15 U.S.C.7262(b)by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.If secur
11、ities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b)of the Act,indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect thecorrection of an error to previously issued financial statements.Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are rest
12、atements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of theregistrants executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to 240.10D-1(b).Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a shell company(as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).
13、Yes No The aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates of the Registrant,based on the closing price of$13.53,per share of theRegistrants common stock on the New York Stock Exchange on June 30,2023,was$2.3 billion.This calculation excludes shares of the re
14、gistrants common stockheld by current executive officers,directors and stockholders that the registrant has concluded are affiliates of the registrant.This determination of affiliate status is nota determination for other purposes.The number of shares of registrants common stock outstanding as of Fe
15、bruary 21,2024 was 208,229,519.DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCECertain information required in Item 10 through Item 14 of Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K is incorporated herein by reference to the Registrantsdefinitive proxy statement for its 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders,which
16、shall be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Regulation 14Aof the Securities Act of 1934,as amended.iTable of ContentsPageCAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTSiiiGLOSSARY OF SELECTED TERMINOLOGY1PART IItem 1.Business3Item 1A.Risk Factors16Item 1B.Unresolved S
17、taff Comments49Item 1C.Cybersecurity49Item 2.Properties50Item 3.Legal Proceedings51Item 4.Mine Safety Disclosures51PART IIItem 5.Market for Registrants Common Equity,Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities52Item 6.Reserved52Item 7.Managements Discussion and Analysis of
18、Financial Condition and Results of Operations53Item 7A.Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk61Item 8.Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data61Item 9.Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure61Item 9A.Controls and Proced
19、ures62Item 9B.Other Information62Item 9C.Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections.62PART IIIItem 10.Directors,Executive Officers and Corporate Governance63Item 11.Executive Compensation63Item 12.Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Sto
20、ckholder Matters63Item 13.Certain Relationships and Related Transactions,and Director Independence63Item 14.Principal Accountant Fees and Services63PART IVItem 15.Exhibit and Consolidated Financial Statements Schedules64Item 16.Form 10-K Summary66SIGNATURESIn this report,unless otherwise stated or t
21、he context otherwise indicates,the terms“IonQ,Inc.,”“the Company,”“we,”“us,”“our”and similar references refer to“IonQ”and our other registered and common law trade names,trademarks and service marks areproperty of IonQ,Inc.All other trademarks,trade names and service marks appearing in this annual r
22、eport are the property of theirrespective owners.Solely for convenience,the trademarks and trade names in this report may be referred to without the and symbols,but such references should not be construed as any indicator that their respective owners will not assert their rights thereto.iiWHERE YOU
23、CAN FIND MORE INFORMATIONInvestors and others should note that we announce material financial information to our investors using our investor relationswebsite at ,press releases,filings with the U.S.Securities and Exchange Commission(“SEC”)and publicconference calls and webcasts.We also use IonQs bl
24、og and the following social media channels as a means of disclosing informationabout the Company,our products and services,our planned financials and other announcements and attendance at upcoming investorand industry conferences,and other matters.This is in compliance with our disclosure obligation
25、s under Regulation FD:IonQ Company Blog(https:/ LinkedIn Page(https:/ X(Twitter)Account(https:/ YouTube Account(https:/ posted through these social media channels may be deemed material.Accordingly,in addition to reviewing ourpress releases,SEC filings,public conference calls and webcasts,investors
26、should monitor IonQs blog and our other social mediachannels.The information we post through these channels is not part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.The channel list on how toconnect with us may be updated from time to time and is available on our investor relations website.iiiCAUTIONARY NOTE
27、REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTSThis Annual Report on Form 10-K(this“Annual Report”)contains statements that may constitute“forward-looking statements”within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933,as amended(the“Securities Act”)and Section 21E of the SecuritiesExchange Act of 1
28、934,as amended(the“Exchange Act”)that involve substantial risks and uncertainties.All statements contained inthis Annual Report other than statements of historical fact,including statements regarding our future results of operations andfinancial position,our business strategy and plans,and our objec
29、tives for future operations,are forward-looking statements.The words“believes,”“expects,”“intends,”“estimates,”“projects,”“anticipates,”“will,”“plan,”“may,”“should,”or similar language areintended to identify forward-looking statements.These forward-looking statements include statements concerning t
30、he following:our financial and business performance,including financial projections and business metrics;changes in our strategy,future operations,financial position,estimated revenues and losses,projected costs,prospects andplans;the implementation,market acceptance and success of our business mode
31、l and growth strategy;our expectations and forecasts with respect to market opportunity and market growth;our ability to sell full quantum computing systems to customers,either over the cloud or for local access;the ability of our products and services to meet customers compliance and regulatory nee
32、ds;our ability to attract and retain qualified employees and management;our ability to adapt to changes in customer preferences,perception and spending habits and develop and expand ourproduct offerings and gain market acceptance of our products,including in new geographies;our ability to develop an
33、d maintain our brand and reputation;developments and projections relating to our competitors and industry;our expectations regarding our ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection and not infringe on the rightsof others;the impact of global economic and political developments on
34、 our business,as well as the value of our common stock andour ability to access capital markets;the impact of public health crises,or geopolitical tensions,in and around Ukraine,Israel and other areas of the world,onour business and the actions we may take in response thereto;our future capital requ
35、irements and sources and uses of cash;our ability to obtain funding for our operations and future growth;andour business,expansion plans and opportunities.You should not rely on forward-looking statements as predictions of future events.We have based the forward-lookingstatements contained in this A
36、nnual Report primarily on our current expectations and projections about future events and trends thatwe believe may affect our business,financial condition and operating results.The outcome of the events described in these forward-looking statements is subject to risks,uncertainties and other facto
37、rs described in the section titled“Risk Factors”and elsewhere inthis Annual Report.A summary of selected risks associated with our business are set forth below.Moreover,we operate in a verycompetitive and rapidly changing environment.New risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time,and it is not
38、 possible for us topredict all risks and uncertainties that could have an impact on the forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report.Theresults,events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements may not be achieved or occur,and actual results,eventsor circumstances co
39、uld differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.In addition,statements that“we believe”and similar statements reflect our beliefs and opinions on the relevant subject.Thesestatements are based on information available to us as of the date of this Annual Report.While we b
40、elieve that information provides areasonable basis for these statements,that information may be limited or incomplete.Our statements should not be read to indicatethat we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into,or review of,all relevant information.These statements are inherently uncertain,and inv
41、estors are cautioned not to unduly rely on these statements.ivThe forward-looking statements made in this Annual Report relate only to events as of the date on which the statements aremade.We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made in this Annual Report to reflect event
42、s orcircumstances after the date of this Annual Report or to reflect new information or the occurrence of unanticipated events,except asrequired by law.We may not actually achieve the plans,intentions or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements,andyou should not place undue reliance
43、on our forward-looking statements.Our forward-looking statements do not reflect the potentialimpact of any future acquisitions,mergers,dispositions,joint ventures or investments.1GLOSSARY OF SELECTED TERMINOLOGYAs used in this Annual Report on Form 10-K,unless the context otherwise requires,referenc
44、es to the following terms have therespective meaning as defined below:Algorithmic Qubit:A metric describing the number of“useful”qubits in a system,considering noise,connectivity limitations,andother sources of error.Barium:A silvery rare-earth metal,atomic number 56,that can be used as a qubit for
45、quantum computing.IonQ has recently startedexploring barium as an alternative qubit species because its slightly more complex structure offers higher fundamental gate andreadout fidelities when controlled correctly,and because it primarily interacts with light in the visible spectrum,allowing additi
46、onalopportunities for standard fiber optic technologies in parts of the system.Classical Computer:A computer that stores and calculates information using classical mechanics:information is stored as a 0 or a 1,in a transistor.Coherence Time:A measurement of the“lifetime”of a qubit,coherence time mea
47、sures how long a qubit can maintain coherentphase,which allows it to successfully retain quantum information and behave in the ways necessary for it to be part of a usefulcomputation.Entanglement:A property of quantum mechanics where two particles,even when physically separated,behave in ways condit
48、ionallydependent on each other.Error-Corrected Qubit:Groups of physical qubits that are logically combined using techniques called error correction encoding withthe goal of having them act together as one much higher-quality qubit for computational purposes.Fault Tolerance:A systems ability to accom
49、modate errors in its operation without losing the information it is processing and/orstoring.Gate Fidelity/Error Rate:A measure of how much noise(or error)is introduced in each operation during a quantum algorithm.Ion Trap:An apparatus that holds ions in place,ready for computation,in a trapped-ion
50、quantum computer.Measurement:The process at the end of a quantum computation where the exponentially large computational space available duringcomputation collapses down to a binary string in order to produce readable results.Multi-Core QPU:A single quantum processor that has multiple quantum comput
51、e zones that can compute in parallel and beentangled via moving and recombining ion chains.Noise:For quantum computers to compute correctly,they must be isolated from the environment around them.Any interaction withthe environment,or imperfection in the control systems that perform gates,introduces
52、noise.As noise accumulates,the overalllikelihood that an algorithm will produce a successful answer goes down.With too much noise,a quantum computer is no longeruseful at all.Photonic Interconnect:A connection between two qubits using photons,typically via a fiber optic cable.A photonic interconnect
53、 isused to remotely connect two qubits.Physical Qubit:The hardware implementation of a qubit in a quantum computer.Quantum Algorithm:A series of quantum logic gates that together solve a specific problem.Quantum Bit(Qubit):The quantum equivalent of bits in classical computing,able to exist in a supe
54、rposition of states and beentangled with other qubits.Quantum Circuit:A collection of quantum logic gates to be run in a specific order on a given set of qubits.Quantum Logic Gate(s):Gates used to manipulate the state of qubits,including putting them in superposition states and creatingentanglement.
55、2Quantum Processing Unit(QPU):A complete system made up of physical qubits and the apparatus for controlling them.Superconducting Qubit:A qubit implementation that uses specialized silicon-fabricated chips at ultracold temperatures.Synthetic(Fabricated)Qubit:A qubit that uses an engineered or“manufa
56、ctured”quantum system,rather than a naturally occurringone.Examples of synthetic(fabricated)qubits include superconducting transmon qubits and semiconductor quantum dot qubits.Trapped Ion Qubit:A qubit implementation using charged atomic particles(ions)suspended in vacuum and manipulated with lasers
57、.3PART IItem 1.Business.OverviewWe are developing quantum computers designed to solve some of the worlds most complex problems,and transform business,society and the planet for the better.We believe that our proprietary technology,our architecture and the technology exclusivelyavailable to us throug
58、h license agreements will offer us advantages both in terms of research and development,as well as thecommercial value of our intended product offerings.Today,we sell specialized quantum computing hardware together with related maintenance and support.We also sell access toseveral quantum computers
59、of various qubit capacities and are in the process of researching and developing technologies for quantumcomputers with increasing computational capabilities.We currently make access to our quantum computers available via three majorcloud platforms,Amazon Web Services(“AWS”)Amazon Braket,Microsofts
60、Azure Quantum and Googles Cloud Marketplace,and also to select customers via our own cloud service.This cloud-based approach enables the broad availability of quantum-computing-as-a-service(“QCaaS”).We supplement our offerings with professional services focused on assisting our customers in applying
61、 quantum computing totheir businesses.We also expect to sell full quantum computing systems to customers,either over the cloud or for local access.We are still in the early stages of commercial growth.Since our inception,we have incurred significant operating losses.Ourability to generate revenue su
62、fficient to achieve profitability will depend heavily on the successful development and furthercommercialization of our quantum computing systems.Our net losses were$157.8 million and$48.5 million for the years endedDecember 31,2023 and 2022,respectively,and we expect to continue to incur significan
63、t losses for the foreseeable future.As ofDecember 31,2023,we had an accumulated deficit of$352.1 million.We expect to continue to incur losses for the foreseeable futureas we prioritize reaching the technical milestones necessary to achieve an increasingly higher number of stable qubits and higherle
64、vels of fidelity than presently existsprerequisites for quantum computing to reach broad quantum advantage.The Quantum OpportunityThroughout human history,technological breakthroughs have dramatically transformed society and altered the trajectory ofeconomic productivity.In the 19th century,it was t
65、he industrial revolution,powered by the scientific advances that brought us steam-powered machines,electricity,and advanced medicine.These technologies drastically improved human productivity and lengthenedlife expectancy.In the 20th century,computingarguably the greatest of all human inventionsleve
66、raged human intelligence to run complexcalculations,paving the way for profound advances in virtually every realm of human experience,including information processing,communication,energy,transportation,biotechnology,pharmaceuticals,agriculture and industry.Since classical computing emerged in the m
67、id-twentieth century,there has been exponential progress in computer design,withprocessing power roughly doubling every few years(Moores law).The true economic and social impact of computing is difficult tomeasure because it has so thoroughly permeated every aspect of life,altering the trajectory of
68、 society.However,as transformative as computing has been,many classes of problems strain the ability of classical computers,and somewill never be solvable with classical computing.In this traditional binary approach to computing,information is stored in bits that arerepresented logically by either a
69、 0(off)or a 1(on).Quantum computing uses information in a fundamentally different way thanclassical computing.Quantum computers are based on quantum bits(qubits),a fundamental unit that can exist in both states 0 and 1simultaneously(superposition).As a result,we believe that quantum computers can ad
70、dress a set of problems classical computing maynever solve.The types of problems that currently defeat classical computing include:the simulation of quantum systems(e.g.,inmaterials science or pharmaceuticals);number factoring for decryption;and complex optimization problems.Many of these problemsar
71、e fundamental,involving societys most pressing needs,such as how to live sustainably on our planet,how to cure diseases,andhow to efficiently move people and goods.Classical computers cannot solve these problems because the calculations would take fartoo long(i.e.,millions to trillions of years)or b
72、ecause the problems involve quantum systems that are far too complex to berepresented on a classical computer,even if their remarkable pace of development were to continue indefinitely.While these problemsare not solvable by todays quantum computers,we believe that a quantum computer currently offer
73、s the best possibility forcomputational power that could be used to solve them.The future success of quantum computing will be based on the development of a computer with a substantially higher number ofqubits than our current computers.We believe that we will find solutions to these challenges and
74、that our proprietary technology and4architecture and the technology exclusively available to us through exclusive license agreements will offer advantages both in terms ofresearch and development as well as the ultimate product we wish to offer customers.There are certainly thousands,if not millions
75、,of important and fundamental unanswered questions about how the universeworks and opportunities associated with the answers to those questions.We envision a future powered by quantum computing andbelieve the 21st century is poised to be the dawn of this era.Our StrategyOur mission is to be the lead
76、ing quantum computing company enabling the new era of quantum computing.We intend to fulfillour mission by:Leveraging Our Technology.We believe that our technology offers substantial technological advantages compared toother competing quantum computing systems.We intend to build upon our technologic
77、al lead by leveraging our world-class team of leaders and engineers who are pioneers in quantum computing,with proven track records in innovation andtechnical leadership.To date,we have developed and assembled nine generations of quantum computer prototypes andsystems,have constructed quantum operat
78、ing systems and software tools,and have worked with leading cloud vendors,quantum programming languages and quantum software development kits(“SDKs”).Selling Direct Access to Quantum Computers.We sell specialized quantum computing hardware to select customers,complemented by access to quantum expert
79、s and algorithm development capabilities.We intend to sell direct access to thequantum computers we manufacture,with units offered on a whole system or usage basis.We believe that by offeringdirect access to quantum computing,supplemented by our professional services,we can assist select customers i
80、ndeepening their application of quantum solutions.Offering QCaaS.We provide QCaaS,complemented by access to quantum experts and algorithm developmentcapabilities.We manufacture,own and operate quantum computers.Our quantum computing solution is currentlydelivered via AWSs Amazon Braket,Microsofts Az
81、ure Quantum and Googles Cloud Marketplace.We believe that byoffering QCaaS,we can accelerate the adoption of our quantum computing solutions,while efficiently promotingquantum computing across our partner ecosystems.Continuing to Enhance Our Proprietary Position.We have exclusively licensed our core
82、 technology from the Universityof Maryland and Duke University(together,the“Universities”),and our complex technology is protected by an extensivepatent portfolio.We intend to continue to drive innovation in quantum computing and seek intellectual property protectionwhere appropriate to enhance our
83、proprietary technology position.Further Developing Our Quantum Computing Partner Ecosystem.We believe our relationships with leading technologyenterprises and university research institutes will accelerate innovation,distribution and monetization of our quantumcapabilities.Market Opportunity:A Futur
84、e Driven by Quantum ComputingThe potential uses for quantum applications are widespread and address a number of problems that would be impossible to solveusing classical computing technology.Below are a few of the use cases in which we believe quantum computers,if they aresuccessfully developed,will
85、 become an important tool for businesses to remain competitive in the market over the coming years.Quantum Simulations in ChemistryWe believe that there are thousands of problems that could benefit from these quantum algorithms across the pharmaceutical,chemical,energy and materials industries.An ex
86、ample of such a simulation problem is modeling the core molecule in the nitrogenfixation process to make fertilizer.Nature is able to fixate nitrogen(i.e.,turn atmospheric nitrogen into more useful ammonia)at roomtemperature.Scientists,however,have only been able to achieve fixation using a resource
87、-intensive,high-temperature,high-pressureprocess,called the Haber-Bosch process.A cornerstone of the global agriculture industry,the Haber-Bosch process consumes aboutone percent of the worlds energy and produces about one percent of the worlds carbon dioxide.Agronomists have attempted tomodel the c
88、ore molecule in natures nitrogen fixation process,but the molecule is too large for todays classical supercomputers tosimulate.Understanding the quantum process used in nature to fixate nitrogen could lead directly to more efficient ways for scientiststo do the same.Quantum chemistry simulation is e
89、xpected to impact multiple markets and become an essential tool in chemical industries.Forexample,computer-aided drug discovery in the pharmaceutical industry is limited by the computing time and resources required tosimulate a large enough chemical system with sufficient accuracy to be useful.If fu
90、ture generations of more powerful quantumcomputers are successfully developed,we believe that we could improve the speed and accuracy of virtual high-throughput screening5and improve the molecular docking predictions used in structure-based drug discovery,dramatically reducing the development cost o
91、fnew drugs and reducing the time to market.Similarly,we believe that developing a detailed understanding of chemical reactionscritical to various industries,such as catalytic reaction in battery chemistry for electric vehicles,can lead to higher performingsolutions with extended energy storage capac
92、ity.Quantum Algorithms for Monte Carlo SimulationsMonte Carlo simulations are probability simulations used to calculate the expected distribution of possible outcomes in hard-to-predict processes involving random variables.Such simulations are used pervasively in finance,banking,logistics,economics,
93、engineering and applied sciences.A key parameter of Monte Carlo simulations is the degree of accuracy desired to attain with theresult.To obtain 99.9%accuracy,a classical computer requires around one million simulations.Quantum algorithms,however,canachieve the same accuracy using only one thousand
94、simulations,thereby significantly reducing the time it takes to perform MonteCarlo simulations.This is especially important when running these simulations is expensive.One application of the quantum Monte Carlo algorithm is to price options for the financial industry.Simple options models areused ub
95、iquitously in finance,the most famous of these being the Black-Scholes model.However,these models fail to capture thecomplexities of real markets,and financiers use more sophisticated simulations to obtain better model predictions.Currently,many ofthese models are limited by the number of simulation
96、s required to reach the desired accuracy within a fixed time budget.Quantumalgorithms for Monte Carlo simulations could give some financial firms a competitive advantage by enabling them to price optionsmore quickly.Quantum Algorithms for OptimizationOptimization problems have enormous economic sign
97、ificance in many industries,and they often cannot be solved with classicalcomputers due to their daunting complexity.Quantum algorithms are naturally suited for problems in which an exponential number ofpossibilities must be considered before an optimized output can be identified.It is widely believ
98、ed that quantum computers will beable to arrive at a better approximate optimization solution than classical computers can,and with reduced computational cost andtime.One method of quantum optimization is a hybrid method called the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm,in whichlayers of quantum
99、 computations are executed within circuit parameters optimized using classical high-performance computers.Because optimization issues bedevil so many complicated processes in industries ranging from logistics to pharmaceutical drug designto climate modeling,the application of quantum algorithms to o
100、ptimization problems could have far-reaching impacts on society.Quantum Machine LearningQuantum computers can generate probability distributions that cannot be efficiently simulated on a classical computer.Similarly,there are probability distributions that can only be efficiently distinguished from
101、each other using a quantum computer.Inthese examples,models utilizing quantum circuits can be used to capture complex internal structures in the data set much moreeffectively than classical models.In other words,quantum computers can“learn”things that are beyond the capabilities of classicalcomputer
102、s.Quantum computing is likely to offer new machine-learning modalities,greatly improving existing classical machinelearning when used in tandem with it.Examples of areas where quantum machine learning could have an impact are risk analysis infinance,natural language processing,and classification of
103、multivariate data such as images and chemical structures.Machine learningis used broadly in industry today,and we believe quantum machine learning could have a similarly broad impact.As with any completely new technology,the use cases imagined by us today are only a subset of the opportunities that
104、willemerge if future generations of more powerful quantum computers are successfully developed,as users understand the power ofquantum algorithms.Remaining Challenges in Quantum Computing EvolutionOne can compare any particular quantum algorithms performance to the best classical algorithm for the s
105、ame problem.Thepoint at which a quantum computer is able to perform a particular computation that exceeds its classical counterpart in speed orreduces its cost to solution is known as the point of“quantum advantage.”Given the substantial research and development required to build a modern quantum co
106、mputer that is both functional andpractical,industry experts describe the remaining challenges in quantum computing to achieve quantum advantage as being solved inthree phases.Although none of these challenges have yet been fully solved,we believe that we are well positioned to do so.A 20196publicly
107、 available report by a leading third-party consulting firm describes these phasesand the associated technical barriersasparaphrased below:Noisy and intermediate-scale quantum(NISQ)computers:The earliest stage of development will see componentdemonstrations and intermediate-scale system development w
108、ith limited commercial application.The main technicalbarrier involves the mitigation of errors through improved fabrication and engineering of underlying qubit devices andadvanced control techniques for the qubits.These devices are used for developing and validating fundamentally newquantum approach
109、es to tackling difficult problems,but are not expected to generate substantial commercial revenues.Broad quantum advantage:In this stage,quantum computers are expected to provide an advantage over classicalcomputers with a meaningful commercial impact.The main technical barrier is the deployment of
110、quantum error-correcting codes that allow bigger applications to be executed.If this barrier can be overcome,we believe that quantumcomputing will offer practical solutions to meaningful problems superior to those provided by classical computers.Full-scale fault tolerance:This last stage will see la
111、rge modular quantum computers with enough power to tackle a widearray of commercial applications relevant to many sectors of the economy.At this stage,classical computers are expectedto no longer compete with quantum computers in many fields.The technical barrier will be the adoption of a modularqua
112、ntum computer architecture that allows the scalable manufacturing of large quantum computer systems.Building a Quantum ComputerRequirements for Building Useful Quantum ComputersQuantum computers are difficult to build and operate because the physical system of qubits must be nearly perfectly isolate
113、dfrom its environment to faithfully store quantum information.Yet the system must also be precisely controlled through the applicationof quantum gate operations,and it must ultimately be measured with high accuracy.A practical quantum computer requires well-isolated,near-perfect qubits that are chea
114、p,replicable and scalable,along with the ability to initialize,control and measure their states.Breakthroughs in physics,engineering,and classical computing were prerequisites for building a quantum computer,which is why formany decades the task was beyond the limits of available technology.To execu
115、te computational tasks,a quantum computer must be able to(i)initialize and store quantum information in qubits,(ii)operate quantum gates to modify information stored in qubits and(iii)output measurable results.Each of these steps must beaccomplished with sufficiently low error rates to produce relia
116、ble results.Moreover,to be practical,a quantum computer must beeconomical in cost and scalable in compute power(i.e.,the number of qubits and the number of gate operations)to handle real worldproblems.The development of large-scale quantum computing systems is still in early stages,and several poten
117、tial engineeringarchitectures for how to build a quantum computer have emerged.We are developing quantum computers based on individual atomsas the core qubit technology,which we believe has key advantages in scaling.The ability to produce cheap error-corrected qubits atscale in a modular architectur
118、e is one of the key differentiators of our approach.Today,we have achieved many engineering firsts inthis field and we believe that,with our focus on achieving additional technical milestones over the next few years,we are wellpositioned to bring quantum computing advantage to the commercial market.
119、Scientific Approaches to Quantum ComputingThere are a variety of different approaches to(or architectures for)building a quantum computer,each of which involvestradeoffs in meeting the three functional and practical requirements outlined above.Roughly,approaches to performing a quantumcomputation fa
120、ll into one of three categories:natural quantum bits,solid state or classical computer simulation.Natural quantum bits:In natural qubit-based quantum computers,a system is built around naturally occurring substratesexhibiting quantum properties.Atoms:In atomic-based quantum computers,the qubits are
121、represented by internal states of individual atoms trapped andisolated in a vacuum.There are two categories within this approach:the use of ionized(charged)atoms and the use ofneutral atoms.Photons:In this approach,the state of a photon,a particle of light,is used as the qubit.Various aspects of a p
122、hoton,suchas presence/absence,polarization,frequency(color)or its temporal location can be used to represent a qubit.7Solid state:In solid-state-based quantum computers,the qubits are engineered into the system.Spins in semiconductors:This approach uses the spins of individual electrons or atomic nu
123、clei in a semiconductor matrix.There are two categories within this approach:(1)the use of electrons trapped in quantum dot structures fabricated bylithographic techniques and(2)the use of atomic defects(or dopants)that capture single electrons.The nuclear spin of thedopant atoms,or the nearby atoms
124、 to defects,are often used to store qubits.Superconducting circuits:This approach uses circuits fabricated using superconducting material that features quantumphenomena at cryogenic temperatures.Two states of the circuit,either charge states or states of circulating current,areused as the qubit.Clas
125、sical computer simulation:Classical computers in a data center can be used to simulate quantum computers.Althoughuseful for small-scale quantum experiments,quantum simulation on classical computers is still bound by the same limitations ofclassical computing and would require an impractical number o
126、f data centers to tackle meaningful quantum problems.Our Technology ApproachOur Approach to Quantum Computing:Trapped IonsWe have adopted the atom-based approach described above and use trapped atomic ions as the foundational qubits to constructpractical quantum computers.We are pursuing a modular c
127、omputing architecture to scale our quantum computers,meaning that,ifsuccessful,individual quantum processing units will be connected to form increasingly powerful systems.We believe that the ion trapapproach offers the following advantages over other approaches:Atomic qubits are natures qubits:Using
128、 atoms as qubits means that every qubit is exactly identical and perfectlyquantum.This is why atomic qubits are used in the atomic clocks that do the precise timekeeping for mankind.Manyother quantum systems rely upon fabricated qubits,which bring about imprecisions such that no single qubit is exac
129、tly thesame as any other qubit in the system.For example,every superconducting qubit comes with a different frequency(ormust be tuned to a frequency)due to manufacturing imprecision.Overall,we believe that systems relying upon fabricationof their qubits are more susceptible to error.Trapped ion qubi
130、ts are well-isolated from environmental influences:When a quantum system interacts with itsenvironment,the quantum state loses coherence and is no longer useful for computing.For example,in a superconductingqubit,the qubit tends to lose its coherence within approximately 10 to 50 microseconds.Even n
131、eutral atoms are perturbedto some extent when they are trapped in space.In contrast,trapped ion qubits are confined via electric fields in an ultra-high vacuum environment,and their internal qubits are hence perfectly isolated.As a result,the coherence of trapped ionscan be preserved for about an ho
132、ur,and may be able to be preserved for longer if isolation technology improves.Longercoherence times mean more computations can be performed before noise overwhelms the quantum calculation and are keyto minimizing the overhead of error correction needed for large-scale quantum computers.Lower overhe
133、ad for quantum error-correction.Quantum error-correction will likely be necessary to reduce theoperational errors in any large-scale quantum computations relevant to commercial problems.Quantum error-correctionuses multiple physical qubits to create an error-corrected qubit with lower levels of oper
134、ational errors.For solid-statearchitectures,we estimate that it may take at least 1,000 physical qubits to form a single error-corrected qubit,while fornear-term applications with ion traps the ratio is closer to 16:1.Trapped ion quantum computers can run at room temperature:Solid-state qubits curre
135、ntly require temperatures close toabsolute zero(i.e.,-273.15C,or-459.67F)to minimize external interference and noise levels.Maintaining the correcttemperature requires the use of large and expensive dilution refrigerators,which can hamper a systems long-termscalability because the cooling space,and
136、hence the system space,is limited.Trapped ion systems,on the other hand,canoperate at room temperature.This is because the qubits themselves are not in thermal contact with the environment,asthey are electromagnetically confined in free space inside a vacuum chamber.Although modest cryogenics(10 deg
137、reesabove absolute zero)can be used to dramatically improve the vacuum environment,the inherent properties of the qubitsthemselves do not degrade at room temperature.The laser-cooling of the qubits themselves is extremely efficient becausethe atomic ions have very little mass and this requires just
138、a single low-power laser beam(microwatts).This allows us tominimize the system size as technology progresses,while scaling the compute power and simultaneously reducing costs.All-to-all connectivity:In superconducting and other solid-state architectures,individual qubits are connected via physicalwi
139、res,hence a particular qubit can only communicate with a further-removed qubit by going through the qubits that lie in-between.In the trapped ion approach,however,qubits are connected by electrostatic repulsion rather than throughphysical wires.As a result,qubits in our existing systems can directly
140、 interact with any other qubit in the system.Ourmodular architecture benefits from this flexible connectivity,significantly reducing the complexity of implementing agiven quantum circuit.8Ion traps require no novel manufacturing capabilities:Ion trap chips consist of electrodes and their electrical
141、connections,which are built using existing technologies.The trap chips themselves are not quantum materials.They simply provide theconditions for the ion qubits to be trapped in space,and in their current state,they can be fabricated with existingconventional and standard silicon or other micro-fabr
142、ication technologies.By contrast,solid-state qubits,such assuperconducting qubits or solid-state silicon spins,require exotic materials and fabrication processes that demand atomicperfection in the structures of the qubits and their surroundings;fabrication with this level of precision is an unsolve
143、dchallenge.Technological Complexity Creates Significant Barriers to EntryAlongside the benefits of the trapped ion approach,there are several challenges inherent in it that serve as barriers-to-entry,strengthening the advantages of our systems.These key challenges include:Complex laser systems:One o
144、f the challenges of trapped ion quantum computing is the set of lasers required and thedegree to which they must be stable to operate the system.Traditionally,these laser systems were assembled on an opticaltable on a component-by-component basis,which led to serious stability and reliability issues
145、.We believe that we haveresolved this issue from an engineering standpoint and that our future roadmap will further improve manufacturability.Ultra-high vacuum(UHV)technology:The conventional method to achieve UHV conditions for ion trapping experimentsinvolves using vacuum chamber designs with care
146、fully chosen materials,assembly procedures with cumbersome electricalconnections,and a conditioning procedure to prepare and bake the chamber at elevated temperatures for extended periodsof time.We have developed new approaches,such as environmental conditioning,that we believe will substantiallyred
147、uce the time and cost to prepare the UHV environment to operate the quantum computer.Executing high fidelity gates with all-to-all connectivity:While trapped ion qubits feature the highest fidelity entanglinggates,it is nevertheless a major technical challenge to design a control scheme that enables
148、 all qubits in a system to formgates with each other under full software control.Through innovation in gate-implementation protocols,we believe thatwe have developed laser delivery and control systems that will allow us to implement fully programmable,fullyconnected gate schemes in our system.Slow g
149、ate speeds:Compared to their solid-state counterparts,trapped ions are widely believed to have slow gate speeds.While slow gate speeds are the case for many systems in operation today,both theoretical analyses and experimentaldemonstrations suggest this may not be a fundamental limit of trapped ion
150、qubits(although this has not yet beendemonstrated in commercial applications).In fact,high-fidelity gates with speeds comparable to those of solid-state qubitshave been realized in several research laboratories.We expect that our future quantum computers based on barium ionswill be faster,more power
151、ful,more easily interconnected,and that feature more uptime for customers.Moreover,webelieve that as systems with other qubit technologies scale up,their restricted connectivity and high error-correctionoverhead will significantly slow down their overall computation time,which we believe will make t
152、he trapped ionapproach more competitive in terms of operational speed.Our Trapped Ion ImplementationThe specific implementation of our trapped ion systems leverages the inherent advantages of the substrate and creates what webelieve is a path for building stable,replicable and scalable quantum compu
153、ters.Trapped Ion InfrastructureOur systems are built on individual atomic ions that serve as the computers qubits.Maintaining identical,replicable,and cost-effective qubits is critical to our potential competitive advantage,and we have developed a process to produce,confine and manipulateatomic ion
154、qubits.To create trapped atomic ion qubits using our approach,a solid source containing the element of interest is either evaporated orlaser-ablated to create a vapor of atoms.Laser light is then used to strip one electron selectively from each of only those atoms of aparticular isotope,creating an
155、electrically charged ion.Ions are then confined in a specific configuration of electromagnetic fieldscreated by the trapping structure(i.e.,the ion trap),to which their motion is confined due to their charge.The trapping is done in anUHV chamber to keep the ions well-isolated from the environment.Is
156、olating and loading a specific isotope of a specific atomicspecies ensures each qubit in the system is identical.Two internal electronic states of the atom are selected to serve as the qubit foreach ion.The two atomic states have enough frequency separation that the qubit is easy to measure through
157、fluorescence detectionwhen an appropriate laser beam is applied.9To build quantum computers,many atomic ions are held in a single trap,and the repulsion from their charges naturally forcesthem into a stable linear crystal(or chain)of qubits.The qubits are highly isolated in the UHV chamber,only pert
158、urbed by occasionalcollisions with residual molecules in the chamber,which provides near-perfect quantum memory that lasts much longer than mostcurrently envisioned quantum computing tasks require.The qubits are initialized and measured through a system of external gatedlaser beams.An additional set
159、 of gated laser beams applies a force to selected ions and modulates the electrical repulsion between theions.This process allows the creation of quantum logic gates between any pair of qubits,regardless of their distance within the crystal,which can be arbitrarily reconfigured in software.System Mo
160、dularity and ScalabilityToday,all qubits in our systems are stored on a single chip,referred to as a quantum processing unit(“QPU”).QPUs can haveseveral cores,or zones for trapping chains of ions,comparable to multicore central processing unit(“CPU”)chips in classicalcomputing.Each core can contain
161、up to about 100 qubits in a linear crystal,and dozens of cores can potentially be co-located in asingle QPU.Within a QPU,some qubits can be physically moved between cores to accommodate quantum communication betweenthe cores.This process of moving ions within a QPU is called“shuttling”and is achieve
162、d by modifying the electromagnetic fields thatform the trap.In addition to increasing the number of qubits per QPU,we believe we have identified,and we are currently developing,thetechnology needed to connect qubits between trapped ion QPUs,which may be commercially viable in the future.This technol
163、ogy,known as a photonic interconnect,uses light particles to communicate between qubits while keeping information stored stably oneither end of the interconnect.The basic protocol for this photonic interconnect between ion traps in two different vacuum chamberswas first realized in 2007.We believe t
164、his protocol can be combined with all-optical switching technology to enable multi-QPUquantum computers at large scale.We at IonQ have assembled a team with deep expertise in photonics and are designing PhotonicInterconnects that will enable our systems to compute with entangled qubits spanning mult
165、iple QPUs.We believe this can open up thepossibility of scaling quantum computers indefinitely,similar to how high-performance computers and data centers have been scaled.Our quantum architecture is modular,meaning that if development of this architecture is successful,the number of qubits in aQPU,o
166、r the number of QPUs in a system,could be scaled.Also,by allowing for each qubit in a system to entangle with any otherqubit in that system,we believe that a systems number of quantum gates could increase rapidly with each additional qubit added.Thisall-to-all connectivity is one of the key reasons
167、we believe our systems will be computationally powerful.Gate ConfigurationOur qubits are manipulated(for initialization,detection,and forming quantum logic gates)by shining specific laser beams ontothe trapped ions.Our systems employ a set of lasers and a sophisticated optical system to deliver beam
168、s precisely tailored to achievethis manipulation.The laser beams are tailored by programming radio frequency(“RF”)signals using state-of-the-art digital chipsets,which are custom-configured to generate the signals for qubit manipulation.An operating system manages the quantum computer,maintaining th
169、e system in operation.It includes software toolsets for converting quantum programs from users into a set ofinstructions the computer hardware can execute to yield the desired computational results.To support system access from the cloud,we offer cloud management tools and application programming in
170、terfaces(“APIs”)that permit programming jobs to run remotely.Our quantum gates are fully programmable in software;there is no“hard-wiring”of qubit connections in the quantumcomputing hardware.The structure of a quantum circuit or algorithm can therefore be optimized in software,and the appropriate l
171、aserbeams can then be generated,switched,or modulated to execute any pattern of gate interactions.Our programmable gateconfigurations make our systems adaptable.Unlike quantum computer systems that are limited to a single class of problems due totheir architecture,we believe that any computational p
172、roblem with arbitrary internal algorithmic structure could be optimized to runon our system(although this has not been demonstrated at scale).Quantum Error CorrectionA key milestone in building larger quantum computers is achieving fault-tolerant quantum error-correction.In quantum error-correction,
173、individual physical qubits prone to errors are combined to form an error-corrected qubit(sometimes referred to as a logicalqubit)with a much lower error rate.Determining how many physical qubits are needed to form a more reliable logical qubit(theresource“overhead”)depends on both the error rate of
174、the physical qubits and the specific error-correcting codes used.In 2020,ateam of researchers at the University of Maryland,including some current IonQ employees,demonstrated the first fault-tolerant error-corrected qubit using 13 trapped ion qubits.With our unique architecture,we believe quantum er
175、ror-correction can be completelycoded in software,allowing varying levels and depths of quantum error-correction to be deployed as needed.Because the ion qubitsfeature very low idle and native error rates and are highly connected,we expect the error-correction overhead to be about 16:1 toachieve the
176、 first useful quantum applications.This contrasts with other approaches,for which we estimate the overhead to be in therange of 1,000:1 to 100,000:1.10We believe our architectural decisions will make our systems uniquely capable of achieving scale.We have published aroadmap for scaling to larger qua
177、ntum computing systems,with concrete technological innovations designed to significantly improvethe performance of the systems.For example,in 2022,we announced that through our partnership with the U.S.Department ofEnergys Pacific Northwest National Laboratory(“PNNL”),we were able to shrink the bari
178、um source material down to a microscopicscale.We believe this is significant because it will allow us to reduce the size of core system components,an important step in thecreation of quantum computers small enough to be networked together.However,meeting future milestones included in our roadmapis n
179、ot guaranteed and is dependent on various technological advancements,which could take longer than expected to realize or turnout to be impossible to achieve.We believe that,with engineering advancements and firsts yet to be achieved,our quantum computerswill become increasingly compact and transport
180、able,opening up future applications of quantum computing at the edge.Our Forward-Looking RoadmapIn December 2020,we publicly released a forward-looking technical roadmap for the next eight years.Our technical roadmapwas designed to provide transparent guidance to our quantum computer users regarding
181、 when we expect certain quantum computingcapabilities to become available.As part of this roadmap,we introduced the notion of“algorithmic qubits”as a metric to measureprogress,and a detailed description of how to define and measure the number of algorithmic qubits(#AQ)in early 2022.Roughlyspeaking,#
182、AQ represents the total number of qubits that can be used to perform a quantum computational task that involves an orderof(#AQ)2 entangling gate operations in a list of quantum algorithms that reflect representative real-world use cases of a quantumcomputer.This metric provides a simple and effectiv
183、e measure to estimate the computational power of each generation of quantumcomputers.At low#AQ,the size of the problem the quantum computer can tackle is limited by the error rate of the entangling gateoperations,rather than by the number of physical qubits available in the computer.The aggressive p
184、ush for improving the power ofquantum computers,including the early introduction of quantum error-correction,is intended to significantly compress the timerequired for reaching the point when we expect quantum computers may become commercially impactful at scale.We believe thatmany of the technologi
185、cal components needed to accomplish the performance goals of the roadmap,such as high-fidelity gateoperations,photonic interconnects and quantum error-correction,have been realized in proof-of-concept demonstrations in trapped ionsystems.Given our track record of engineering and technology developme
186、nt,we believe that,over time,we will be able tosuccessfully translate these technology components into products,which may enable successful deployment of our quantumcomputers and deliver material commercial value to customers.We are targeting a Modular Architecture,Designed to Scale,resulting in Sma
187、ller Systems and Cheaper Compute Power for EachGenerationThe scaling of classical computer technology,which unlocked continuously growing markets over many decades,was driven byexponential growth in computational power coupled with exponential reduction in the cost of computational power for eachgen
188、eration(Moores law).The key economic driver permitting the expansion of digital computer applications to new segments of themarket was this very phenomenon of capability doubling in each generation with costs rising only modestly.We believe the scaling ofquantum computing may follow a similar trajec
189、tory:as the#AQ available in each generation scales,the per-AQ cost is also reducedand enables true scaling of quantum computers.Our systems have benefited from years of architectural focus on scalability thataddresses both#AQ and per-AQ cost and,as such,we believe that if we are able to successfully
190、 solve remaining scalabilitychallenges,these systems may become increasingly powerful and accessible in tandem.At the heart of our approach is the modular architecture that may enable such growth.We expect our future systems to bemodular networks of many QPUs working together as a large quantum comp
191、uter,similar to how classical data centers are designed,constructed and operated today.Our engineering effort is focused on reducing the size,weight,cost and power consumption of theQPUs that will be the center of each generation of the modular quantum computer,while increasing the number of QPUsman
192、ufactured each year.We intend to focus on achieving these engineering efforts over the next several years.If successful,weexpect that we may be able to achieve compact,lightweight and reliable quantum computers,which can be deployed at the edge,similarly to how personal computers have enabled new ap
193、plications for both government and commercial use.Our Business ModelQuantum Computing and the Compute Access ModelAs quantum hardware matures,we expect the quantum computing industry to increasingly focus on practical applications forreal-world problems,known as quantum algorithms.Today,we believe t
194、hat there are a large number of quantum algorithms widelythought to offer advantages over classical algorithms in that each of these algorithms can solve a problem more efficiently,or in adifferent manner,than a classical algorithm.Our business model is premised on the belief that businesses with ac
195、cess to quantumcomputers will likely have a competitive advantage in the future.11We envision providing quantum computing services,complemented by access to quantum experts and algorithm developmentcapabilities,to solve some of the most challenging issues facing corporations,governments and other la
196、rge-scale entities today.Weintend to manufacture,own and operate quantum computers,with compute units being offered to potential customers through systemhardware sales and on a QCaaS basis.We expect our target markets to experience two stages of quantum algorithm deployment:the development stage and
197、 theapplication stage.We expect our involvement in these two stages,to the extent they will take place,to be as follows:During the development stage,our experts will assist customers in developing an algorithm to solve their businesschallenges.Customers may be expected to pay for quantum compute usa
198、ge,in addition to an incremental amount for theconsulting and development services provided in the creation of algorithms.We may choose to sell this computing time tocustomers in a variety of ways.In this stage,we expect revenue to be unevenly distributed,with individual customerspotentially contrib
199、uting to peaks in bookings.During the application stage,once an algorithm is fully developed for a market,we anticipate that customers would becharged to run the algorithm on our hardware.Given the mission critical nature of the use cases we anticipate quantumcomputing will attract,we believe a usag
200、e-based revenue model will result in a steady stream of revenue while providingthe incremental ability to grow with customers as their algorithm complexity and inputs scale.Our Customer JourneyIn each new market that stands to benefit from quantum computing,we intend to guide our customers and partn
201、ers through twostages:the development phase and the application phase.Development Phase:This first stage focuses on quantum algorithm development and we expect it to involve deep partnershipsbetween us and our customers to lay the groundwork for applying quantum solutions to the customers industry.W
202、e also anticipateuneven revenue for this period given that the quantum computing market is still nascent.We expect the development phase for eachmarket to be characterized by the following go-to-market channels:Co-development of quantum applications with strategic partners.We intend to form long-ter
203、m partnerships with selectindustry-leading companies(aligned with our technology roadmap)to co-develop end-to-end solutions for the partner andto provide an early-adopter advantage to the partner in their industry.IonQ has announced co-development agreementswith Hyundai Motor Company to pursue solut
204、ions for battery chemistry and with ZapataAI and the US Defense AdvancedResearch Projects Agency(DARPA),to help establish the next generation of benchmarking for quantum computers.Preferred compute agreements with clients.We expect our preferred offerings to give the customers applicationengineers d
205、irect access to our cutting-edge quantum systems,as well as technical support to pursue their solutiondevelopment.Dedicated hardware.We sell certain specialized quantum computing hardware to select customers.We also anticipatemanufacturing and selling complete quantum systems for dedicated use by a
206、single customer,to be hosted on premises bythe customer or remotely by us.Cloud access to quantum computing.Our current and future cloud partnerships with AWSs Amazon Braket,MicrosoftsAzure Quantum,Googles Cloud Marketplace and other cloud providers are designed and will continue to be designed toma
207、ke access to quantum computing hardware available to a broader community of quantum programmers.Application Phase:This second phase is expected to commence if we are successful in demonstrating the commercial viabilityof quantum advantage in the industry and can therefore commence with developing co
208、mmercial applications and applying thatadvantage broadly throughout the market with new customers.Delivery of a full-scale quantum compute platform.For customers who have worked alongside us in the developmentphase to curate deep in-house technical expertise in quantum computing capabilities at the
209、time quantum advantage isachieved for the customers application,our preferred compute agreements,cloud offerings,and dedicated hardware salesare expected to offer sufficient quantum computational capacity.Packaged solution offerings.When appropriate,we may develop full-stack quantum solutions that c
210、an be provideddirectly to customers,regardless of their in-house quantum expertise.Accelerated high-impact applications development.We intend to provide opportunities for accelerated applicationsdevelopment to customers seeking compressed development timelines to solve some of their biggest problems
211、 and driveefficiencies.12We expect the technical complexity of the solutions required for quantum algorithms to address how each application area willimpact the timing of that markets inflection point and transition from the development phase to the application phase.During theNISQ computing era,we
212、expect quantum machine learning to be the first solution to transition into broadly available applications.Additional markets taking advantage of quantum material science research and optimization speed-ups may come online next if broad-scale quantum advantage becomes accessible.If our quantum compu
213、ters achieve full-scale fault tolerance,a diverse array ofindustries,ranging from quantum chemistry to deeper optimization,may be able to be transitioned to the application phase.Customers and ProspectsQuantum Computing Systems and HardwareWe sell certain specialized quantum computing hardware to se
214、lect customers.We are also engaged with certain prospects whoare interested in purchasing partial or entire quantum computing systems,either over the cloud or for local access.Direct Access CustomersBy directly integrating with us,customers can reserve dedicated execution windows,receive concierge-l
215、evel applicationdevelopment support,gain early access to next-generation hardware,or host their own quantum computer.Such access is currentlylimited to a select group of end-users.We expect our standard offerings will include additional bundled value-add services in exchange for an annual commitment
216、,such as reserved system time,consultations with solution scientists,and other application and integration support.QCaaSWe sell access to our quantum computing solutions via AWSs Amazon Braket,Microsofts Azure Quantum,and GooglesCloud Marketplace,and directly to select customers via our own cloud se
217、rvice.Making systems available through the cloud in bothcases enables wide distribution.Through our cloud service providers,potential customers across the world in industry,academia andgovernment can access our quantum hardware with just a few clicks.These platforms serve an important purpose in the
218、 quantumecosystem,allowing virtually anyone to try our systems without an upfront commitment or needing to integrate with our platform.Government AgenciesOur customers,potential customers and partners include government agencies such as the United States Air Force ResearchLab.Government agencies and
219、 large organizations often undertake a significant evaluation process.Our contracts with governmentagencies are typically structured in phases,with each phase subject to satisfaction of certain conditions.Agreements with the University of Maryland and Duke UniversityExclusive License AgreementIn Jul
220、y 2016,we entered into a license agreement with the University of Maryland(UMD)and Duke University(“Duke”),which was subsequently amended in September 2017,October 2017,October 2018,February 2021,April 2021,September 2021,andJanuary 2023(as amended,the“License Agreement”),under which we obtained a w
221、orldwide,royalty-free,sublicensable licenseunder certain patents,know-how and other intellectual property to develop,manufacture and commercialize products for use in certainlicensed fields,the scope of which includes the application of the licensed intellectual property in ion trap quantum computin
222、g.TheLicense Agreement provides an exclusive license under the Universities interest in all patents(and non-exclusive for other types ofintellectual property),subject to certain governmental rights and retained rights by the Universities and other non-profit institutions touse and practice the licen
223、sed patents and technology for internal research and other non-profit purposes.We also entered into anexclusive option agreement(“Option Agreement”)with each of the Universities in 2016 whereby we have the right to exclusivelylicense additional intellectual property developed by the Universities by
224、exercising an annual option and issuing a certain number ofcommon shares to each of Duke and UMD.We are obligated to use commercially reasonable efforts to commercialize the inventions covered by the licensed patent rightsand achieve certain milestones,including the hiring of a Chief Executive Offic
225、er,obtaining equity financing by specified times andsuch other milestones that we may specify in a development plan provided by us to the Universities.We have met all existingmilestones as provided for in the License Agreement,have not included any additional milestones in any development plan provi
226、dedto the Universities,and no longer have any obligation to submit any future development plans to the Universities.We are alsoresponsible for the prosecution and maintenance of the licensed patents,at our expense and using commercially reasonable efforts.Wehave the sole right to enforce the license
227、d patents,at our expense.13We may terminate the License Agreement at any time for any reason with at least 90 days written notice to UMD.UMD andDuke may terminate the License Agreement if we enter into an insolvency-related event or in the event of our material breach of theagreement or other specif
228、ied obligations therein,in each case,that remains uncured for 90 days after the date that it is provided withwritten notice of such breach by either university.In consideration for the rights granted to us under the License Agreement,we issued UMD and Duke shares of our commonstock.Pursuant to Dukes
229、 policy,Jungsang Kim,our Chief Technology Officer and Director,may receive remuneration from Dukerelating to any stock we have issued to Duke.Option Agreement with Duke UniversityIn July 2016,we entered into an option agreement with Duke,which was subsequently amended in December 2020 and March2021(
230、as amended,the“Duke Option Agreement”),under which it obtained the right to add Dukes interests in certain patents or otherintellectual property to the License Agreement,including if they were developed by Jungsang Kim,Christopher Monroe or KennethBrown,a professor at Duke,or by individuals under th
231、eir respective supervision and such patents or intellectual property relates to thefield of quantum information processing devices.We have added patents and other intellectual property to the License Agreementthrough the Duke Option Agreement.Pursuant to the terms of the Duke Option Agreement,we iss
232、ued Duke shares of common stock,including shares of common stock issued pursuant to the amendment of the Duke Option Agreement.The Duke Option Agreementterminates in July 2026.Lease with the University of MarylandIn March 2020,we entered into an amended and restated office lease with UMD for the lea
233、se of our corporate headquarters andour research and development and manufacturing facility.This lease expires on December 31,2030.We may terminate this lease withnot less than 120 days written notice beginning in year six.Any early termination will result in a termination fee ranging from$2.5millio
234、n in year six to$0.5 million in year ten,with each year subject to a reduction of$0.5 million.Annual base rent starts at$0.7million and increases approximately 3.0%each subsequent year.Contracts with the University of MarylandIn September 2021,we entered into a contract with UMD to provide certain q
235、uantum computing services and facility access(the“UMD Quantum Agreement”)related to the National Quantum Lab at UMD in exchange for payments totaling$14.0 million overthree years.Over the term of the contract,we estimate that we will make payments to UMD of approximately$1.4 million,including acontr
236、ibution of$1.0 million to establish the IonQ Endowed Professorship in the College of Computer,Mathematical and NaturalSciences at UMD.The pledge and other estimated payments to UMD will not be an exchange for distinct goods or services under theprovisions of ASC 606 and therefore are considered a re
237、duction of the transaction price for the UMD Quantum Agreement.Thetransaction price is currently estimated at$12.6 million,reflecting this reduction.In July 2022,we entered into an agreement to provide customized quantum computing hardware to UMD for a transaction priceof$0.7 million.CompetitionTher
238、e are many other approaches to quantum computing that use qubit technology besides the trapped ion approach we aretaking.In some cases,conflicting marketing messages from these competitors can lead to confusion among our potential customerbase.Large technology companies such as Google and IBM,and st
239、artup companies such as Rigetti Computing,are adopting asuperconducting circuit technology approach,in which small amounts of electrical current circulate in a loop of superconductingmaterial(usually metal where the electrical resistance vanishes at low temperatures).The directionality of the curren
240、t flow,in such anexample,can represent the two quantum states of a qubit.An advantage of superconducting qubits is that the microfabricationtechnology developed for silicon devices can be leveraged to make the qubits on a chip;however,a disadvantage of superconductingqubits is that they need to be o
241、perated in a cryogenic environment at near absolute-zero temperatures,and it is difficult to scale thecryogenic technology.Compared to the trapped ion approach,the qubits generated via superconducting suffer from short coherencetimes,high error rates,limited connectivity,and higher estimated error-c
242、orrection overhead(ranging from 1,000:1 to 100,000:1 torealize the error-corrected qubits from physical qubits).There are companies pursuing photonic qubits,such as PsiQuantum and Xanadu,among others.PsiQuantum uses photons(i.e.,individual particles of light)as qubits,whereas Xanadu uses a combinati
243、on of photons and a collective state of many photons,knownas continuous variable entangled states,as the qubits.Each companys approach leverages silicon photonics technology to fabricatehighly integrated on-chip photonic devices to achieve scaling.The advantages to this approach are that photons are
244、 cheap to generate,they can remain coherent depending on the property of the photons used as the qubit,and they integrate well with recently-developedsilicon photonics technology;however,the disadvantages of photonic qubit approaches include the lack of high-quality storage14devices for the qubits(p
245、hotons move at the speed of light)and weak gate interactions(photons do not interact with one anothereasily).Both of these problems lead to photon loss during computation.Additionally,this approach requires quantum error correctingprotocols with high overhead(10,000:1 or more).Several other companie
246、s use a trapped ion quantum computing approach similar to ours,including Quantinuum Ltd.and AlpineQuantum Technologies GmbH.These companies share the fundamental advantages of the atomic qubit enjoyed by our approach.Thedifferences between our technology and that of these companies lies in our proce
247、ssor architecture,system design and implementationand our strategies to scale.Based on publicly available information,Quantinuum processors operate with the application circuitsbroken down to two qubits at a time,with a bus width of two,and the ion qubits are shuffled between each gate operation.Our
248、processor core involves a wide-bus architecture,where the interaction among a few dozens of atomic ion qubits can be controlledusing programmable laser pulses.This typically allows quantum logic gates between all possible pairs of qubits in the processor corewithout extraneous operations,which will
249、enable us to operate some quantum gates that are not possible on other quantumarchitectures.We have also demonstrated the ability to shuttle multiple processor cores on the same chip,increasing the potentialqubit capacity of a system.At scale,we believe these architectural features will confer benef
250、its in the speed and efficiency of runningalgorithms.At a higher level,our scaling architecture will exploit optical interconnects among multiple QPUs in a way that allows fullconnectivity between any pair of qubits across the entire system.The modular scaling of multiple QPUs with photonic intercon
251、nects isunique in our architecture.Lastly,there are alternative approaches to quantum computing being pursued by other private companies as well as the researchdepartments at major universities or educational institutions.For example,D-Wave computing produces quantum annealers,a separateform of comp
252、uting technology that hopes to tackle a class of problems with some overlap to those solved by quantum computing.Another example is QuEra,which hopes to use neutral rubidium atom arrays to build quantum computers.Intellectual PropertyWe rely on a combination of the intellectual property protections
253、afforded by patent,copyright,trademark and trade secret lawsin the United States and other jurisdictions,as well as license agreements and other contractual protections,to establish,maintain andenforce rights in our proprietary technologies.Unpatented research,development,know-how and engineering sk
254、ills make animportant contribution to our business.We pursue patent protection only when it is consistent with our overall strategy forsafeguarding intellectual property.In addition,we seek to protect our intellectual property rights through non-disclosure and invention assignment agreements withour
255、 employees and consultants and through non-disclosure agreements with business partners and other third parties.We haveaccumulated a broad patent portfolio,both owned and exclusively licensed,across a range of technological fronts that relate to oursystems and will continue to protect our inventions
256、 in the United States and other countries.Our patent portfolio is deepest in the areaof devices,methods and algorithms for controlling and manipulating trapped ions for quantum computing.Our trade secrets primarilycover the design,configuration,operation and testing of our trapped-ion quantum comput
257、ers.As of February 1,2024,we own or license,on an exclusive basis,82 issued U.S.patents and 185 pending or allowed U.S.patentapplications,21 issued foreign patents and 137 pending or allowed foreign patent applications,8 registered U.S.trademarks and 14pending U.S.trademark applications,and 22 regis
258、tered international trademarks and 2 pending international trademark applications.Our issued patents expire between 2029 and 2041.Human Capital ManagementOur employees are critical to our success.As of December 31,2023,we had a 324 person-strong team of quantum hardware andsoftware developers,engine
259、ers,and general and administrative staff.Approximately 38%of our full-time employees are based in thegreater Washington,D.C.metropolitan area and approximately 26%of our full-time employees are based in the greater Seattle,WAmetropolitan area.We also engage a small number of consultants and contract
260、ors to supplement our permanent workforce.A majorityof our employees are engaged in research and development and related functions,and more than half of our research and developmentemployees hold advanced engineering and scientific degrees,including many from the worlds top universities.To date,we h
261、ave not experienced any work stoppages and maintain good working relationships with our employees.None ofour employees are subject to a collective bargaining agreement or are represented by a labor union at this time.Corporate InformationIonQ,formerly known as dMY Technology Group,Inc.III(“dMY”)was
262、incorporated in the state of Delaware in September2020,and formed as a special purpose acquisition company.Our wholly owned subsidiary,IonQ Quantum,Inc.(formerly known asIonQ,Inc.,and referred to as“Legacy IonQ”herein),was incorporated in the state of Delaware in September 2015.15On March 7,2021,Leg
263、acy IonQ entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger(the“Merger Agreement”),with dMY and IonTrap Acquisition Inc.,a direct,wholly owned subsidiary of dMY(the“Merger Sub”).Pursuant to the Merger Agreement,onSeptember 30,2021,the Merger Sub was merged with and into Legacy IonQ with Legacy IonQ contin
264、uing as the survivingcorporation following the merger,becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of dMY and the separate corporate existence of the MergerSub ceased(the“Business Combination”).Commensurate with the closing of the Business Combination,dMY changed its name toIonQ,Inc.and Legacy IonQ changed it
265、s name to IonQ Quantum,Inc.Our principal executive offices are located at 4505 Campus Drive,College Park,MD 20740,and our telephone number is(301)298-7997.Our corporate website address is .Information contained on or accessible through our website is not a partof this Annual Report,and the inclusion
266、 of our website address in this Annual Report is an inactive textual reference only.Available InformationOur website address is .We make available on our website,free of charge,our Annual Reports,our QuarterlyReports on Form 10-Q and our Current Reports on Form 8-K and any amendments to those report
267、s filed or furnished pursuant toSection 13(a)or 15(d)of the Exchange Act,as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with,or furnishit to,the Securities and Exchange Commission(the“SEC”).The SEC maintains a website that contains reports,proxy and informationstatement
268、s and other information regarding our filings at www.sec.gov.The information found on our website is not incorporated byreference into this Annual Report or any other report we file with or furnish to the SEC.16Item 1A.Risk Factors.RISK FACTORSInvesting in our securities involves a high degree of ri
269、sk.Before you make a decision to buy our securities,in addition to therisks and uncertainties described above under“Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,”you should carefullyconsider the risks and uncertainties described below together with all of the other information contained in t
270、his Annual Report.If anyof the events or developments described below were to occur,our business,prospects,operating results and financial condition couldsuffer materially,the trading price of our common stock could decline,and you could lose all or part of your investment.The risks anduncertainties
271、 described below are not the only ones we face.Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that wecurrently believe to be immaterial may also adversely affect our business.Summary Risk FactorsOur business is subject to a number of risks of which you should be aware before making
272、a decision to invest in our securities.These risks include,among others,the following:We are an early-stage company and have a limited operating history,which makes it difficult to forecast our future resultsof operations.We have a history of operating losses and expect to incur significant expenses
273、 and continuing losses for the foreseeablefuture.We may not be able to scale our business quickly enough to meet customer and market demand,which could result inlower profitability or cause us to fail to execute on our business strategies.We may not manage our growth effectively.Our management has l
274、imited experience in operating a public company.Our estimates of market opportunity and forecasts of market growth may prove to be inaccurate.Even if the market in which we compete achieves the forecasted growth,our business could fail to grow at similar rates,ifat all.Our operating and financial re
275、sults forecast relies in large part upon assumptions and analyses we developed.If theseassumptions or analyses prove to be incorrect,our actual operating results may be materially different from our forecastedresults.We may need additional capital to pursue our business objectives and respond to bus
276、iness opportunities,challenges orunforeseen circumstances,and we cannot be sure that additional financing will be available.We have not produced a scalable quantum computer and face significant barriers in our attempts to produce quantumcomputers.The quantum computing industry is competitive on a gl
277、obal scale and we may not be successful in competing in thisindustry or establishing and maintaining confidence in our long-term business prospects among current and future partnersand customers.We have experienced in the past,and could also suffer disruptions,outages,defects and other performance a
278、nd qualityproblems with our quantum computing systems,our private cloud,our research and development activities,our testbeds,our facilities,or with the public cloud,internet,and other infrastructure on which they rely.Even if we are successful in developing quantum computing systems and executing ou
279、r strategy,competitors in theindustry may achieve technological breakthroughs that render our quantum computing systems obsolete or inferior toother products.We may be negatively impacted by any early obsolescence of our quantum computing technology.We may be unable to reduce the cost per qubit suff
280、iciently,which may prevent us from pricing our quantum systemscompetitively.The quantum computing industry is in its early stages and volatile,and if it does not develop,if it develops slower than weexpect,if it develops in a manner that does not require use of our quantum computing solutions,if it
281、encounters negativepublicity or if our solution does not drive commercial engagement,the growth of our business will be harmed.17If our computers fail to achieve a broad quantum advantage,our business,financial condition and future prospects may beharmed.We have and may continue to face supply chain
282、 issues that could delay the introduction of our product and negativelyimpact our business and operating results.If we cannot successfully execute on our strategy or achieve our objectives in a timely manner,our business,financialcondition and results of operations could be harmed.Our products may n
283、ot achieve market success,but will still require significant costs to develop.We are highly dependent on our key employees who have specialized knowledge,and our ability to attract and retainsenior management and other key employees is critical to our success.We may not be able to accurately estimat
284、e the future supply and demand for our quantum computers,which could resultin a variety of inefficiencies in our business and hinder our ability to generate revenue.Much of our revenue is concentrated in a few customers,and if we lose any of these customers through contractterminations,acquisitions,
285、or other means,our revenue may decrease substantially.Our systems depend on the use of a particular isotope of an atomic element that provides qubits for our ion traptechnology.If we are unable to procure these isotopically enriched atomic samples,or are unable to do so on a timely andcost-effective
286、 basis,and in sufficient quantities,we may incur significant costs or delays,which could negatively affectour operations and business.If our quantum computing systems are not compatible with some or all industry-standard software and hardware in thefuture,our business could be harmed.If we are unabl
287、e to maintain our current strategic partnerships or we are unable to develop future collaborativepartnerships,our future growth and development could be negatively impacted.Our business depends on our customers abilities to implement useful quantum algorithms and sufficient quantumresources for thei
288、r business.Our future growth and success depend in part on our ability to sell effectively to government entities and large enterprises.Contracts with government and state agencies are subject to a number of challenges and risks.Our future growth and success depend on our ability to sell effectively
289、 to large customers.If our information technology systems,data,or physical facilities,or those of third parties upon which we rely,are or werecompromised,we could experience adverse business consequences resulting from such compromise.Unfavorable conditions in our industry or the global economy,coul
290、d limit our ability to grow our business and negativelyaffect our results of operations.Government actions and regulations,such as tariffs and trade protection measures,may adversely impact our business,including our ability to obtain products from our suppliers.Because our success depends,in part,o
291、n our ability to expand sales internationally,our business will be susceptible torisks associated with international operations.Licensing of intellectual property is of critical importance to our business.If we are unable to obtain and maintain patent protection for our products and technology,or if
292、 the scope of the patentprotection obtained is not sufficiently broad or robust,our competitors could develop and commercialize products andtechnology similar or identical to ours,and our ability to successfully commercialize our products and technology may beadversely affected.Moreover,our trade se
293、crets could be compromised,which could cause us to lose the competitiveadvantage resulting from these trade secrets.We may face patent infringement and other intellectual property claims that could be costly to defend,result in injunctionsand significant damage awards or other costs and limit our ab
294、ility to use certain key technologies in the future or requiredevelopment of non-infringing products,services,or technologies.Some of our in-licensed intellectual property,including the intellectual property licensed from the University of Marylandand Duke University,has been conceived or developed
295、through government-funded research and thus may be subject tofederal regulations providing for certain rights for the U.S.government or imposing certain obligations on us andcompliance with such regulations may limit our exclusive rights and our ability to contract with non-U.S.manufacturers.18If ou
296、r operating and financial performance in any given period does not meet the guidance provided to the public or theexpectations of investment analysts,the market price of our common stock may decline.Our quarterly operating results may fluctuate significantly and could fall below the expectations of
297、securities analysts andinvestors due to several factors,some of which are beyond our control,resulting in a decline in our stock price.Risks Related to Our Financial Condition and Status as an Early Stage CompanyWe are an early-stage company and have a limited operating history,which makes it diffic
298、ult to forecast our future results ofoperations.As a result of our limited operating history,our ability to accurately forecast our future results of operations is limited andsubject to a number of uncertainties,including our ability to plan for and model future growth.Our ability to generate revenu
299、es willlargely be dependent on our ability to develop and produce quantum computers with increasing numbers of algorithmic qubits.As aresult,our scalable business model has not been formed and it is possible that neither our December 2020 forward-looking technicalroadmap nor our latest technical roa
300、dmap will be realized as quickly as expected,or even at all.The development of our scalablebusiness model will likely require the incurrence of a substantially higher level of costs than incurred to date,while our revenues willnot substantially increase until more powerful,scalable computers are pro
301、duced,which requires a number of technologicaladvancements that may not occur on the currently anticipated timetable or at all.As a result,our historical results should not beconsidered indicative of our future performance.Further,in future periods,our growth could slow or decline for a number of re
302、asons,including but not limited to slowing demand for our service offerings,increased competition,changes to technology,inability to scaleup our technology,a decrease in the growth of the overall market,or our failure,for any reason,to continue to take advantage ofgrowth opportunities.We have also e
303、ncountered,and will continue to encounter,risks and uncertainties frequently experienced by growing companiesin rapidly changing industries.If our assumptions regarding these risks and uncertainties and our future growth are incorrect orchange,or if we do not address these risks successfully,our ope
304、rating and financial results could differ materially from ourexpectations,and our business could suffer.Our success as a business ultimately relies upon fundamental research and developmentbreakthroughs in the coming years and decade.There is no certainty these research and development milestones wi
305、ll be achieved asquickly as expected,or even at all.We have a history of operating losses and expect to incur significant expenses and continuing losses for the foreseeable future.We have historically experienced net losses from operations.For the year ended December 31,2023,we incurred a loss fromo
306、perations of$157.8 million.As of December 31,2023,we had an accumulated deficit of$352.1 million.We believe that we willcontinue to incur losses each year until at least the time we begin significant production and delivery of our quantum computers.Evenwith significant production,such production may
307、 never become profitable.We expect the rate at which we will incur operating losses to be significantly higher in future periods as we,among other things,continue to incur significant expenses in connection with the design,development and construction of our quantum computers,and aswe expand our res
308、earch and development activities,invest in manufacturing capabilities,build up inventories of components for ourquantum computers,increase our sales and marketing activities,develop our distribution infrastructure,and increase our general andadministrative functions to support our growing operations
309、 and costs of being a public company.We may find that these efforts aremore expensive than we currently anticipate or that these efforts may not result in revenues,which would further increase our losses.If we are unable to achieve and/or sustain profitability,or if we are unable to achieve the grow
310、th that we expect from theseinvestments,it could have a material adverse effect on our business,financial condition or results of operations.Our business model isunproven and may never allow us to cover our costs.We may not be able to scale our business quickly enough to meet customer and market dem
311、and,which could result in lowerprofitability or cause us to fail to execute on our business strategies.In order to grow our business,we will need to continually evolve and scale our business and operations to meet customer andmarket demand.Quantum computing technology has never been sold at large-sc
312、ale commercial levels.Evolving and scaling ourbusiness and operations places increased demands on our management as well as our financial and operational resources to:effectively manage organizational change;design scalable processes;accelerate and/or refocus research and development activities;19ex
313、pand manufacturing,supply chain and distribution capacity;increase sales and marketing efforts;broaden customer-support and services capabilities;maintain or increase operational efficiencies;scale support operations in a cost-effective manner;implement appropriate operational and financial systems;
314、andmaintain effective financial disclosure controls and procedures.Commercial production of quantum computers may never occur.We have no experience in producing large quantities of ourproducts and are currently constructing advanced generations of our products.As noted above,there are significant te
315、chnological andlogistical challenges associated with developing,producing,marketing,selling and distributing products in the advanced technologyindustry,including our products,and we may not be able to resolve all of the difficulties that may arise in a timely or cost-effectivemanner,or at all.We ma
316、y not be able to cost-effectively manage production at a scale or quality consistent with customer demand in atimely or economical manner.Our ability to scale is dependent also upon components we must source from the optical,electronics and semiconductorindustries.Shortages or supply interruptions i
317、n any of these components will adversely impact our ability to deliver revenues.The stability of ion traps may prove poorer than hoped,or more difficult to manufacture.It may also prove more difficult oreven impossible to reliably entangle/connect ion traps together.Both of these factors would adver
318、sely impact scalability and costs ofthe ion trap system.If commercial production of our quantum computers commences,our products may contain defects in design and manufacturethat may cause them to not perform as expected or that may require repair,recalls and design changes.Our quantum computers are
319、inherently complex and incorporate technology and components that have not been used for other applications and that may containdefects and errors,particularly when first introduced.We have a limited frame of reference from which to evaluate the long-termperformance of our products.There can be no a
320、ssurance that we will be able to detect and fix any defects in our quantum computersprior to the sale to potential customers.If our products fail to perform as expected,customers may delay deliveries,terminate furtherorders or initiate product recalls,each of which could adversely affect our sales a
321、nd brand and could adversely affect our business,prospects and results of operations.If we cannot evolve and scale our business and operations effectively,we may not be able to execute our business strategies in acost-effective manner and our business,financial condition,profitability and results of
322、 operations could be adversely affected.We may not manage growth effectively.If we fail to manage growth effectively,our business,results of operations and financial condition could be harmed.Weanticipate that a period of significant expansion will be required to address potential growth.This expans
323、ion will place a significantstrain on our management,operational and financial resources.Expansion will require significant cash investments and managementresources and there is no guarantee that they will generate additional sales of our products or services,or that we will be able to avoidcost ove
324、rruns or be able to hire additional personnel to support them.In addition,we will also need to ensure our compliance withregulatory requirements in various jurisdictions applicable to the sale,installation and servicing of our products.To manage thegrowth of our operations and personnel,we must esta
325、blish appropriate and scalable operational and financial systems,procedures andcontrols and establish and maintain a qualified finance,administrative and operations staff.We may be unable to acquire the necessarycapabilities and personnel required to manage growth or to identify,manage and exploit p
326、otential strategic relationships and marketopportunities.Our management has limited experience in operating a public company.Our executive officers have limited experience in the management of a publicly traded company.Our management team maynot successfully or effectively manage reporting obligatio
327、ns under federal securities laws.Their limited experience in dealing with theincreasingly complex laws pertaining to public companies could be a significant disadvantage in that it is likely that an increasingamount of their time may be devoted to these activities,which will result in less time bein
328、g devoted to our management and growth.The development and implementation of the standards and controls necessary for us to achieve the level of accounting standardsrequired of a public company in the United States may require costs greater than expected.We have and we may be required to20continue t
329、o expand our employee base and hire additional employees to support our operations as a public company,which willcontinue to increase our operating costs in future periods.Our estimates of market opportunity and forecasts of market growth may prove to be inaccurate.Market opportunity estimates and g
330、rowth forecasts,including those we have generated,are subject to significant uncertainty andare based on assumptions and estimates that may not prove to be accurate.The variables that go into the calculation of our marketopportunity are subject to change over time,and there is no guarantee that any
331、particular number or percentage of companies coveredby our market opportunity estimates will purchase our products at all or generate any particular level of revenue for us.In addition,alternatives to quantum computing may present themselves,which could substantially reduce the market for quantum co
332、mputingservices.Any expansion in our market depends on a number of factors,including the cost,performance,and perceived valueassociated with quantum computing solutions.The methodology and assumptions used to estimate market opportunities may differ materially from the methodologies andassumptions p
333、reviously used to estimate the total addressable market.To estimate the size of our market opportunities and our growthrates,we have relied on market reports by leading research and consulting firms.These estimates of the total addressable market andgrowth forecasts are subject to significant uncertainty,are based on assumptions and estimates that may not prove to be accurate andare based on data
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