Traditional processors, built on deterministic, binary logic, struggle with the complexity and unpredictability of real-world problems. Plus, the computational cost of precision-based processing is becoming unsustainable. Quantum Dice is taking a different approach.
The company’s ORBIT™ processor brings quantum principles to probabilistic computing, enabling systems that work with randomness instead of trying to suppress it. Its probabilistic bits, or p-bits, can fluctuate between states rather than remain fixed on 0 or 1, allowing the processor to solve complex problems more efficiently and with significantly lower energy demand.
Today, Quantum Dice received a €2 million grant from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator programme. The funding will accelerate Quantum Dice’s efforts to commercialise the platform and advance the company’s goal of creating scalable hardware to support probabilistic AI and industrial optimisation.
Harnessing quantum entropy for more energy‑conscious computing systems
Quantum Dice was founded in 2020 by Dr Ramy Shelbaya, Dr Zhanet Zaharieva, Wenmiao Yu, George Dunlop, and Marko von der Leyen from the University of Oxford’s quantum optics laboratory. Drawing on their academic expertise in quantum photonics, the group set out to transform a scientific insight into practical technology.
Its ORBIT™ quantum‑enabled processor is built on patented self-correcting quantum photonic entropy sources. This approach offers tangible advantages over both conventional computing and most quantum platforms.
Shelbaya elaborates further, “The technology for which we were awarded the EIC grant is a probabilistic computing processor architecture based on quantum photonics that allows for the execution of probabilistic algorithms to solve complex computational problems, orders of magnitude faster and more energy efficient than comparable approaches.”
He adds, “Probabilistic algorithms are key to solving a myriad of hard computational problems that are otherwise intractable, from the optimisation of large-scale networks to the execution of the next generation of probabilistic AI models. “
While companies such as PsiQuantum and IQM focus on fully quantum systems that require extreme operating conditions, such as cryogenic cooling, Quantum Dice’s hardware operates at room temperature and integrates easily with current semiconductor technology.
What about diversity?
When we asked about diversity, Shelbaya tells TFN, “Our team is diverse across gender, nationality, and academic background. Women make up one-third of the company, including two of the five founding members. We represent at least eight nationalities and speak more than ten languages. Nearly half of our team (48%) self-identifies as ethnicities other than White. Two-thirds of the team are focused on engineering, with deep expertise reflected in seven PhDs and 11 additional members holding Master’s degrees across the wider business.”
What’s next?
Shelbaya concludes, “Key objectives in the medium-term include the development and deployment of our first commercially ready probabilistic processing unit based on our patented ORBITTM architecture, expanding awareness of probabilistic computing, and developing a network of developers and users that rely on our probabilistic computers. “
