IonQ Appoints Katie Arrington as Chief Information Officer
Welcome to the latest edition of "Quantum Leap" where The Fly decodes news and activity in the quantum computing space.NEW CIO:IonQannounced that Katie Arrington will join its executive team as chief information officer, reporting to IonQ COO and CFO Inder Singh, beginning January 19. IonQ also announced that Leslie Kershaw, currently with IonQ Capella, will advance into a newly expanded role as chief information security officer, reporting to Arrington. Most recently, Arrington performed the duties of the Department of War's chief information officer.PLANNED IPO:Honeywellannounced that Quantinuum, which is majority owned by Honeywell, plans to make a confidential submission of a draft registration statement on Form S-1 to the U.S. SEC relating to the proposed initial public offering of Quantinuum's common stock. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined. The offering is subject to market and other conditions and the completion of the SEC's review process.QUOBLY:Sealsqhas entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding leading to exclusive negotiations with the shareholders of Quobly SAS to make an initial minority investment and then potentially acquire a majority stake in Quobly. The proposed transaction remains subject to the negotiation and execution of definitive agreements, completion of financial, legal, technical and commercial due diligence, receipt of required corporate and regulatory approvals, and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions. These exclusive negotiations result from the execution of a non-binding memorandum of understanding that contemplates a multi-stage transaction. This transaction is anchored within Sealsq's quantum strategy and supported in part by its dedicated quantum fund designed to accelerate the emergence of quantum technologies across Europe. If completed, the transaction would result in a total investment of approximately $200M by Sealsq in return for a majority stake in Quobly. The entering into exclusive negotiations with Quobly follows the ongoing strategic collaboration between Sealsq and Quobly, announced on November 21, 2025.Q4 RESULTS:Sealsq reported preliminary Q4 revenue of $8M compared to $4M last year. Carlos Moreira, CEO of Sealsq, commented, "Our 2025 revenue and expectations for further significant growth for 2026 underscore the strength of our commercial strategy, technology roadmap, and market position. With a business pipeline now exceeding $200 million in potential opportunities from 2026 to 2028, SEALSQ is positioned to capture growing global demand for quantum-resistant security, sovereign semiconductor capabilities, and next-generation trust technologies. We are well-positioned to capture growing demand from governments, enterprises, and critical industries for secure, quantum-ready infrastructure. Backed by a robust financial foundation, Sealsq is focused on scaling production, accelerating R&D, and expanding our global footprint, solidifying our role as a leader in the emerging quantum-security ecosystem."STALKING HORSE BIDDER:Quantum Computingannounced that, following its previously announced agreement to acquire Luminar Semiconductor, it has submitted a bid and has been selected as the stalking horse bidder for selected remaining assets of Luminar Technologies. This proposed transaction will be completed in connection with Luminar's ongoing Chapter 11 process and is subject to approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and the completion of a court-supervised auction and sale process. Under the stalking horse agreement, QCi has agreed to serve as the initial bidder for the remaining Luminar assets at a purchase price of approximately $22M, subject to higher or better offers received through the auction process and other customary terms and conditions. If approved, QCi expects the transaction to close in the first quarter of 2026.INDIA EXPANSION:WISeKeyannounced that its subsidiary, WISeSat.Space signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Kaynes Technology India satellite subsidiary Kaynes Space Technology, or KSTPL, to manufacture post-quantum-secure WISeSat satellites in India and establish India as one of its official satellite launch locations, in addition to its current launch operations in the United States. This collaboration, which brings together two of WISeKey's subsidiaries, WISeSat and Sealsq, along with KSTPL aims to create a new generation of quantum-resilient satellite infrastructure designed to protect global IoT connectivity against the emerging threats of quantum computing. Under the agreement, KSTPL will manufacture next-generation WISeSats in India, integrating Sealsq's post-quantum cryptographic semiconductor technology and WISeKey's Root of Trust into each satellite. WISeSat and Sealsq are preparing the launch of their next-generation post-quantum-hardened secure satellite in 2026. Sealsq also announced that it has reached a final, binding agreement with Kaynes SemiCon to establish Sealkaynesq, a joint venture in India. The JV is being formed with the objective of developing, personalizing, and deploying a sovereign Indian post-quantum semiconductor platform.CEPHEUS-1-108Q DELAY:Rigetti Computingannounced that it is revising its roadmap and adjusting the date for general availability of its 108-qubit quantum computing system, Cepheus-1-108Q. Cepheus-1-108Q is now expected to reach general availability around the end of Q1. "While we are making strong progress with Cepheus-1-108Q, we are taking more time to test and optimize the system to ensure the performance is up to our standards," said Rigetti CEO Subodh Kulkarni. "We have a clear understanding of what we need to do to achieve 99.5% median two-qubit gate fidelity, and are well on our way. Building higher qubit count systems can uncover new challenges. We encountered complexities with our tunable couplers and have decided to run another iteration of our chip to further optimize the system and improve fidelity. We continue to improve our system performance, achieving a median two-qubit gate fidelity of 99% on our 108-qubit system, 99.7% on our 9-qubit system, and 99.6% on our 36-qubit system. This underscores our unwavering commitment to delivering the highest performing systems for our partners and customers."ANALYST COMMENTARY:Rosenblatt raised the firm's price target on D-Wave Quantumto $43 from $40 and reiterated a Buy rating on the shares. The company executed a "one-two punch" with a $550M acquisition and technical breakthrough, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm believes D-Wave "significantly strengthened" its long-term position with demonstrating on-chip cryogenic control. The Quantum Circuits deal secures "superior" error correction capabilities, added Rosenblatt.
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