Before the advent of quantum computing, this startup needed businesses that had already started

Eighteen months after selling his startup to chipmaker AMD $665 millionFinnish entrepreneur Peter Sarlin said resigned from his role as CEO of the unit now known as AMD Silo AI. He is now the chair of two innovations: a physical AI lab Carryingand QuTwoan AI startup that aims to help companies prepare for the era of quantum computing

He is currently fully supported by the Sarlin family office, PostscriptumQuTwo describes itself as an “AI lab for the quantum era.” Instead of waiting for computers to become more common, however, they are already working with business customers – including European retailer Zalando, which is developing what the two companies call “life support,” AI tools designed to go beyond search results and quickly show what has happened and what has happened.

QuTwo is built on the premise that AI is hitting a performance wall that quantum computing can help overcome. But the company isn’t betting on when that will happen, Sarlin told TechCrunch. Instead, the startup is building QuTwo OS as a platform that allows companies to transition from classical to quantum computing – using hybrid computing on the go.

Sarlin invested in Finnish quantum companies The value of IQM and QMill via PostScriptum, and is one of the growing number of investors who believe that in the end they beat old computers in various industries and limit the power of AI. But he also thinks that the first applications will require a mixed hardware environment, and that businesses can focus on their business problems while QuTwo OS manages the process.

In the same way, the potential of the medium known as “quantum-inspired” computing is that it is already possible today, because it uses conventional devices while simulating quantum processes, working around the problems that prevent quantum hardware. Currently, QuTwo OS is designed to be flexible, supporting quantum and non-quantum algorithms and chips alike.

The QuTwo team brings experiences from both sides of the quantum-AI field. On the quantitative side, there is IQM co-founder Kuan Yen Tan and board member Antti Vasara, who is also the chairman of SemiQon, a Finnish semiconductor startup focused on quantum chips. The business side is equally represented, with Sarlin himself and Kaj-Mikael Björk, one of the former co-founders of Silo AI. Pekka Lundmark, the former Finnish CEO of Nokia telecom, has joined the QuTwo team.

Across the board, the team counts more than 30 quantum and AI scientists, and Sarlin is clearly where the company stands. “We are creating a quantum world, but QuTwo is an AI company,” he said, meaning that QuTwo is “pushing AI applications from classical to quantum.”

This also means that its customers can be wider. Beyond Zalando, QuTwo also launched a joint AI research project with OP Pohjola, a Finnish financial services provider.

From the beginning, QuTwo has been business-minded and already has “major design partnerships that are in the tens of millions,” Sarlin said. Partnering – in which the seller creates its products together with the business customers – is a way for QuTwo to learn what those customers expect while developing its products. They are also bets from businesses that want to set the stage for when and if quantum computing will ever arrive.