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Series banner: the golden stages of Alice & Bob's cryostat on the left, the title Eighteen qubits set on the right against a dark ground.

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Eighteen qubits

What a quantum machine actually does, what it never will, and the one deadline that binds you.

  • En cours
  • 5 episodes
  • 56 min read
  • Un nouvel épisode tous les 2 jour(s)

On 17 June 2026, France bought eighteen qubits. This series follows the object from the signature to whatever it changes, or fails to change, in your organisation. Five episodes, five questions, five beliefs overturned.

  1. Aerial view of a vast chemical site beside a river, episode title on the right. 01 25 August 2026 Eighteen qubits: why France paid for so little On 17 June 2026 France bought a machine that can do fewer things than an ordinary phone. Two impassable walls explain the spending, and three conditions…
  2. The golden stages of a dilution cryostat, episode title on the right. 02 Coming soon 27 August 2026 A current that turns for ever Neither copper nor gold: a quantum chip is etched in tantalum on silicon, and lives one hundredth of a degree above absolute zero. Here is what…
  3. The coaxial cables of a dilution refrigerator, episode title on the right. 03 Coming soon 29 August 2026 No, the machine does not try every answer at once A qubit is not worth zero and one at the same time, and a quantum machine explores nothing in one go. Here is what a quantum…
  4. The Sycamore quantum processor seen close up, episode title on the right. 04 Coming soon 31 August 2026 A hundred and one qubits to get a single one Google showed in late 2024 that stacking qubits could finally serve a purpose, at the price of a hundred and one components for one usable qubit.…
  5. The machine room of the JUPITER supercomputer, episode title on the right. 05 Coming soon 2 September 2026 The only dated deadline is not a technical one No power station will close, no server will be replaced, and yet French companies are already working against a deadline that no laboratory set. The researcher…