Caruso (pictured), who last October stepped down from Zayo, which he founded in 2007, is now executive chairman and acting CEO of ColdQuanta.
In an exclusive interview, Caruso told Capacity that ColdQuanta is based on what Albert Einstein called “spooky action at a distance”.
He has taken on the role at ColdQuanta after being approached by the research team behind it, at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Dana Anderson, a professor at the university, set it up to work on the so-called Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), a new state of matter.
Major applications will be in network security, Caruso told Capacity. “Once quantum computers get to a certain power, all encryption becomes obsolete.”
But quantum physics will also allow highly-secure networks to be built, using the principle of quantum entanglement.
Two private equity investors, Digital Colony and EQT, bought Zayo for US$14.3 billion in a deal that was completed a year ago this month. Caruso stepped down from the company in October.
ColdQuanta is already generating revenue, said Caruso: “About $11 million this year.” Much will come from research commissioned by the US and UK governments. ColdQuanta has science teams working in Oxford in the UK, as well as Wisconsin, “where they are overseeing building of our quantum computer”. The computer is actually being built in Boulder, he added.
“The one we’re building will be a cloud-based computer. Multiple users will be able to use it,” said Caruso. It will be in operation “this year”. But “the second will be for purchase next year”, he said.
Capacity will publish a full interview with Caruso in the next issue.
