This Month
Albanese tells Queensland to stick with $1b quantum deal
New Premier David Crisafulli is reviewing the deal with US-based start-up PsiQuantum and says speculation about its future is premature.
- Tom McIlroy and James Hall
October
‘High risk, high return’: Chief scientist sceptical on $1b quantum deal
Internal government documents show Cathy Foley took months to be convinced US-based company PsiQuantum could deliver a super computer in Australia this decade.
- Tom McIlroy
September
PwC’s moral dissonance clear to all
Readers’ letters on PwC’s behaviour; the value of mining; attacks on Hezbollah; antisemitism at Sydney University; quantum computing; bank cashbacks; and AI costing CBA jobs.
- Exclusive
- Defence
Kamala Harris’ potential defence chief backs Labor supercomputer deal
Michèle Flournoy, a possible Pentagon boss, says quantum computing will be like the nuclear bomb in how it will reshape the China v USA narrative this century.
- Andrew Tillett
Aussie cyber firm goes it alone with US expansion
Trent Telford is on a high after his firm Cocoon Data scored a Google deal and made progress cracking the US market, but he says it’s no thanks to the Australian government.
- Matthew Cranston
August
Coalition claims ‘$1 billion captain’s pick’ as PsiQuantum answers emerge
New information reveals the Commonwealth engaged in a lengthy due diligence process before making a $1 billion bet on PsiQuantum.
- Tess Bennett
July
Expert department ‘not party’ to PsiQuantum deal
Persistent criticism of the nearly $1 billion investment in PsiQuantum was again levelled at ministers and bureaucrats this week.
- James Hall
PsiQuantum promises US a computer after $US500m investment
Three months after inking almost $1 billion worth of deals with the federal and Qld governments, the tech start-up has signed up to build another quantum computer in Chicago.
- Paul Smith
June
PsiQuantum backer Playground Global back in town looking for cash
The Palo Alto-headquartered, Australian co-founded, investor has already secured government backing for its quantum bet. Now it is fundraising for a new fund.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
- Exclusive
- Funding
Cashed-up Diraq says it can win the quantum computing race
It hasn’t got as much money as government-backed PsiQuantum, but the UNSW start-up says it makes up for that in qubit size, as it banks a big funding round.
- John Davidson
- Exclusive
- Funding
Government’s $189.5m quantum computing VC investment revealed
Previously secret details behind the mammoth investment in US-based quantum computing firm PsiQuantum have been uncovered, including the government’s equity investment.
- Paul Smith
May
Where have all the good managers gone?
Readers’ letters on Australia’s dearth of quality managers; a tax system fit for AI; skilled migrants driving Ubers; a proportionate response in Gaza; why live exports matter; and worry over climate change.
Rafah strike will be Netanyahu’s undoing
Readers’ letters on horrific scenes in Rafah; The AFR View on ICC indictments; Labor’s equivocating over Gaza; the key to useful airport links; and what’s really behind the $1 billion grant for PsiQuantum.
- Analysis
- Government Observed
The real reason for spending $1b on PsiQuantum
Defence planners have long worried how vulnerable military information systems are to GPS being taken out by an adversary.
- Tom Burton
PsiQuantum deal will cost almost $30m just to check it works
But most of the details of the government’s marquee bet on the potentially powerful technology have been kept secret in the budget.
- Nick Bonyhady
- Exclusive
- Manufacturing
UK’s bet on PsiQuantum is one-fiftieth the size of Australia’s
Leading British quantum computing specialists have expressed surprise at the Albanese government’s decision to invest nearly $1 billion in backing the start-up.
- Hans van Leeuwen
Readers want government to cut debt, rein in spending
Almost 60 per cent readers want Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ federal budget priority to either reduce debt or reign in government spending in this year’s budget - but another 24 per cent want cost-of-living relief to be the focus.
- Edmund Tadros
Ex CSIRO boss would pick different ‘winners’ in $1b quantum push
Larry Marshall, former CEO of CSIRO, says taxpayer money should be targeted at points in the quantum computing supply chain, not the finished product.
- Liam Walsh
- Opinion
- Opinion
Quantum leap to secure first-mover advantage for Australia
The government’s chief scientific adviser says the investment in PsiQuantum may be high risk, but it’s also high reward.
- Cathy Foley
- Exclusive
- Brisbane
PsiQuantum in talks for bipartisan support but Coalition not swayed
PsiQuantum is confident of winning over sceptical politicians by highlighting its backing from both major parties in the US, where it has defence contracts.
- Tess Bennett