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In The Quantum Computing Circus, This Man Is The Lion Tamer: Spin Qubits With Brandon Severin
How do you wrangle a qubit that doesn’t want to listen? They’re like 6 year-old children after 18 packets of Haribo and no sleep. They don’t listen, have no respect, and run around in circles. And there’s a hundred of them.
Brandon Severin, Oxford PhD and founder of Conductor Quantum, joins Mark and Jeremy to explain why spin qubits can be more like well behaved, polite children.
And since this is the best technology show on Spotify right now, we also get serious. Quantum serious.
Why qubit fidelity and coherence time determine what a quantum computer can actually do
How AI automates the calibration problem that makes human-controlled quantum scaling impossible - "you can't have a billion Brandons"
Why trapped ions vs spin qubits is the wrong debate
What Google's quantum algorithm result actually proved, and why it matters
Why the physicists who understand semiconductor manufacturing may unlock use cases pure quantum researchers never reach
The two camps dividing the quantum industry: build one qubit at a time, or build for a million
--
Brandon Severin: https://www.conductorquantum.com/
--
Listen to every podcast
Follow us on Instagram
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Follow Jeremy on LinkedIn
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Email: [email protected]
--
Timestamps
(00:00) Introduction: spin qubits and the quantum scaling problem
(03:47) Trapped ions vs spin qubits: fidelity, coherence, and tradeoffs
(06:14) What qubit fidelity means and why it determines scaling limits
(08:25) What is a spin qubit? Building from the transistor up
(11:06) Semiconductor fabrication as quantum computing's manufacturing advantage
(15:00) The quantum circus: superposition, measurement, Schrödinger's cat
(17:17) Shuttling qubits — moving electrons across a chip
(20:33) How AI automates quantum calibration (the control problem)
(25:00) Quantum scaling vs AI scaling: the GPU parallel
(29:08) Quantum startup culture and the AI generation gap
(32:59) Building for a million qubits — rocket ships vs ladders
(36:52) Why quantum is taking so long: talent, concentration, and meaning
(39:43) What seems impossible now that will be routine in 20 years
View all episodes
By Mark Fielding and Jeremy GilbertsonHow do you wrangle a qubit that doesn’t want to listen? They’re like 6 year-old children after 18 packets of Haribo and no sleep. They don’t listen, have no respect, and run around in circles. And there’s a hundred of them.
Brandon Severin, Oxford PhD and founder of Conductor Quantum, joins Mark and Jeremy to explain why spin qubits can be more like well behaved, polite children.
And since this is the best technology show on Spotify right now, we also get serious. Quantum serious.
Why qubit fidelity and coherence time determine what a quantum computer can actually do
How AI automates the calibration problem that makes human-controlled quantum scaling impossible - "you can't have a billion Brandons"
Why trapped ions vs spin qubits is the wrong debate
What Google's quantum algorithm result actually proved, and why it matters
Why the physicists who understand semiconductor manufacturing may unlock use cases pure quantum researchers never reach
The two camps dividing the quantum industry: build one qubit at a time, or build for a million
--
Brandon Severin: https://www.conductorquantum.com/
--
Listen to every podcast
Follow us on Instagram
Follow us on X
Follow Mark on LinkedIn
Follow Jeremy on LinkedIn
Read our Substack
Email: [email protected]
--
Timestamps
(00:00) Introduction: spin qubits and the quantum scaling problem
(03:47) Trapped ions vs spin qubits: fidelity, coherence, and tradeoffs
(06:14) What qubit fidelity means and why it determines scaling limits
(08:25) What is a spin qubit? Building from the transistor up
(11:06) Semiconductor fabrication as quantum computing's manufacturing advantage
(15:00) The quantum circus: superposition, measurement, Schrödinger's cat
(17:17) Shuttling qubits — moving electrons across a chip
(20:33) How AI automates quantum calibration (the control problem)
(25:00) Quantum scaling vs AI scaling: the GPU parallel
(29:08) Quantum startup culture and the AI generation gap
(32:59) Building for a million qubits — rocket ships vs ladders
(36:52) Why quantum is taking so long: talent, concentration, and meaning
(39:43) What seems impossible now that will be routine in 20 years