Rigetti Computing Inc (RGTI) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Rigetti Computing's Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Financial Results Conference Call. At this time all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation there will be a question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

您好，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 Rigetti Computing 2023 年第四季和全年財務業績電話會議。此時所有參與者都處於只聽模式。演講者演講結束後將有問答環節。（操作員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄音。

I would now like to hand the conference over to your first speaker today, Subodh Kulkarni, Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead, sir.

現在，我想將會議交給今天的第一位演講者、執行長 Subodh Kulkarni。先生，請繼續。

Good afternoon and thank you for participating in Rigetti's earnings conference call covering the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2023.

下午好，感謝您參加 Rigetti 涵蓋 2023 年 12 月 31 日第四季和年度的收益電話會議。

Joining me today is Jeff Bertelsen our CFO who will review our results in some detail following my overview. Our CTO, David Rivas is also here to participate in the Q&A session. We will be pleased to answer your questions at the conclusion of our remarks.

今天與我一起的是我們的財務長 Jeff Bertelsen，他將在我的概述之後詳細回顧我們的表現。我們的技術長 David Rivas 也出席了問答環節。我們將很高興在發言結束時回答您的問題。

We would like to point out that this call and Rigetti's Q4 and year ended December 31, 2023 press release contain forward-looking statements regarding current expectations, objectives, and underlying assumptions regarding our outlook and future operating results.

我們想指出的是，本次電話會議以及 Rigetti 截至 2023 年 12 月 31 日的第四季度和年度新聞稿包含有關當前預期、目標以及對我們的前景和未來經營業績的基本假設的前瞻性陳述。

These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described and are discussed in more detail in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, and other documents filed by the company from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

這些前瞻性陳述受多種風險和不確定因素的影響，這些風險和不確定因素可能導致實際結果與所述結果有重大差異，這些風險和不確定因素在我們截至2023 年12 月31 日的10 -K 在表年度報告中進行了更詳細的討論，以及公司不時向證券交易委員會提交的其他文件。

These filings identify and address important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. We urge you to review these discussions of risk factors.

這些文件識別並解決了可能導致實際事件和結果與前瞻性陳述中所述的存在重大差異的重要風險和不確定性。我們敦促您回顧這些有關風險因素的討論。

Turning now to recent events, I am pleased to report on a number of new developments. In February 2024, we were awarded a Small Business Research Initiative grant from Innovate UK and funded by the National Quantum Computing Center to develop and deploy a 24-qubit quantum computer based on our Ankaa class architecture. The proposed system is planned to be deployed at NQCC's Harwell Campus, which is expected to open later this year and will serve as NQCC's landmark facility to support quantum computing research in the UK.

現在回顧最近發生的事件，我很高興地報告一些新的進展。2024 年 2 月，我們獲得了 Innovate UK 的小型企業研究計畫資助，並由國家量子運算中心資助，以開發和部署基於我們的 Ankaa 級架構的 24 量子位元量子電腦。擬議的系統計劃部署在 NQCC 的哈威爾校區，該校區預計於今年稍後開放，並將成為 NQCC 支持英國量子計算研究的標誌性設施。

Since deploying our first UK-based quantum computer in 2022, we have had the privilege of collaborating with the UK's talented quantum computing research community. We believe building a system at the NQCC could enable even more innovative discoveries to deepen our understanding of how to improve superconducting quantum computers with the goal of solving practical problems currently intractable by classical resources alone.

自 2022 年部署第一台英國量子電腦以來，我們有幸與英國才華橫溢的量子計算研究界合作。我們相信，在 NQCC 建立一個系統可以實現更多創新發現，加深我們對如何改進超導量子電腦的理解，以解決目前僅靠傳統資源無法解決的實際問題。

In December 2023, we launched the Novera quantum processing unit, our first commercially available QPU. Novera has 9-qubit and is based on our Ankaa class chip architecture. We have completed two Novera QPU sales, both to leading national labs. The first sale was to the Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Center, led by Fermilab in the second quarter of 2023.

2023 年 12 月，我們推出了 Novera 量子處理單元，這是我們的第一款商用 QPU。Novera 有 9 個量子位元，基於我們的 Ankaa 類晶片架構。我們已經完成了兩次 Novera QPU 銷售，均銷售給領先的國家實驗室。第一次銷售是向由費米實驗室領導的超導量子材料和系統中心在 2023 年第二季度進行的。

In the third quarter of 2023, we delivered our second Novera QPU to the Air Force Research Lab Information Directorate as part of our Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity contract. The IDIQ contract enables AFRL to harvest Rigetti's fabrication capabilities for quantum networking hardware research and development. We are continuing our efforts to develop quantum computing solutions for financial institutions.

2023 年第三季度，我們根據不定期交付不定期數量合約向空軍研究實驗室資訊局交付了第二台 Novera QPU。IDIQ 合約使 AFRL 能夠利用 Rigetti 的製造能力進行量子網路硬體研究和開發。我們正在繼續努力為金融機構開發量子運算解決方案。

We were recently awarded an Innovate UK grant with the aim to develop quantum machine learning techniques to enable financial institutions to more effectively process, interpret, and make decisions with complex data streams. Joining Rigetti in this project is Amazon Web Services, Imperial College London, and Standard Chartered.

我們最近獲得了英國創新署的資助，旨在開發量子機器學習技術，使金融機構能夠更有效地處理、解釋複雜資料流並做出決策。參與該計畫的 Rigetti 包括亞馬遜網路服務、倫敦帝國學院和渣打銀行。

We were recently awarded Phase 2 of the DARPA program, which aims to develop a resource estimation framework to provide insight into the requirements of a superconducting quantum computing system necessary for solving large-scale complex problems.

我們最近獲得了 DARPA 計劃第二階段的資助，該計劃旨在開發一個資源估算框架，以深入了解解決大規模複雜問題所需的超導量子計算系統的要求。

The goal of Phase 2 is to refine and optimize the estimates for selected utility-scale problems, delivering new upper bounds on these requirements. The University of Technology Sydney, Aalto University, and the University of Southern California will continue to be project partners in Phase 2.

階段 2 的目標是改善和最佳化所選公用事業規模問題的估計，為這些要求提供新的上限。雪梨科技大學、阿爾託大學和南加州大學將在第二階段繼續擔任計畫合作夥伴。

We are partnering with Riverlane and Oak Ridge National Laboratory to work to improve high performance computing and quantum integration. To develop the integration of quantum computers into high performance computing environments, the project partners plan to build a first-ever benchmarking suite for measuring the performance of a joint HPC plus quantum system to be run on ORNL's Summit supercomputer.

我們正在與 Riverlane 和橡樹嶺國家實驗室合作，致力於提高高效能運算和量子整合。為了將量子電腦整合到高效能運算環境中，專案合作夥伴計劃建立第一個基準測試套件，用於測量在 ORNL 的 Summit 超級電腦上運行的聯合 HPC 加量子系統的性能。

For the quantum components, researchers plan to use simulated hardware based on key elements of Riverlane's quantum error correction stack and real remote hardware located at our headquarters in California.

對於量子組件，研究人員計劃使用基於 Riverlane 量子糾錯堆疊的關鍵元素的模擬硬體和位於加州總部的真實遠程硬體。

And now a few comments regarding our technology roadmap. Following the internal development of 84-qubit Ankaa-1 system in March 2023, our 84-qubit Ankaa-2 system was made publicly available in December 2023. The 84-qubit Ankaa-2 system is our highest qubit count QPU available to the public.

現在針對我們的技術路線圖提出一些評論。繼 2023 年 3 月內部開發 84 量子位元 Ankaa-1 系統後，我們的 84 量子位元 Ankaa-2 系統於 2023 年 12 月公開發布。84 量子位元的 Ankaa-2 系統是我們提供給大眾的量子位元數最高的 QPU。

In addition to a new chip architecture that features a square lattice and tunable couplers, Ankaa-2 includes a new chip fabrication process, new printed circuit board technology, and electronics improvements. Combined, these improvements contributed to Ankaa-2 achieving a 98% median 2-qubit gate fidelity, a 2.5x increase in error performance compared to our prior QPUs.

除了採用方晶格和可調耦合器的新晶片架構外，Ankaa-2 還採用了新的晶片製造製程、新的印刷電路板技術和電子改進。綜合起來，這些改進使得 Ankaa-2 實現了 98% 的中位數 2 量子位元閘保真度，與我們之前的 QPU 相比，錯誤性能提高了 2.5 倍。

We plan to develop and deploy our anticipated 84-qubit Ankaa-3 system with the goal of achieving 99% median 2-qubit gate fidelity by the end of 2024. Thereafter, it's our plan to develop the 336-qubit Lyra system. We are confident in our ability to build better performing QPUs as evidenced by our impressive Ankaa-2 performance.

我們計劃開發和部署預期的 84 量子位元 Ankaa-3 系統，目標是到 2024 年底實現 99% 的中位數 2 量子位元閘保真度。此後，我們計劃開發 336 量子位元的 Lyra 系統。我們有信心打造出效能更佳的 QPU，我們優秀的 Ankaa-2 效能就證明了這一點。

We believe we have laid the groundwork for building scalable, high performing QPUs with our proven modular chip architecture and innovative Ankaa chip design that resulted in a 98% median 2-qubit gate fidelity.

我們相信，憑藉我們成熟的模組化晶片架構和創新的 Ankaa 晶片設計，我們已經為構建可擴展、高性能 QPU 奠定了基礎，從而實現了 98% 的中位數 2 量子位元閘保真度。

We are excited for the anticipated development and deployment of our Ankaa-3 system which we believe will demonstrate the excellence and ingenuity of our R&D teams. We believe our leadership and expertise in full-stack quantum systems, paired with our strong collaborations with researchers around the world across academia, industry and government, puts us in a unique position to tackle the challenges of building a quantum computer capable of addressing real-world problems.

我們對 Ankaa-3 系統的預期開發和部署感到非常興奮，我們相信這將展示我們研發團隊的卓越和獨創性。我們相信，憑藉我們在全端量子系統方面的領導地位和專業知識，加上我們與世界各地學術界、工業界和政府研究人員的密切合作，我們將處於獨特的地位，能夠應對建構能夠解決現實問題的量子電腦的挑戰。

With Rigetti QPUs now in two research labs internationally, we are even more optimistic that practical quantum computing is in reach.

現在，Rigetti QPU 已在全球兩個研究實驗室投入使用，我們更加樂觀地認為，實用的量子運算即將實現。

Jeff will now make a few remarks regarding our recent financial performance.

傑夫現在將對我們最近的財務表現發表一些評論。

Thanks, Subodh. Revenues in the fourth quarter of 2023 were 3.4 million compared to 6.1 million in the same period of 2022 when a large amount of revenue from SQMS was recognized.

謝謝，Subodh。2023 年第四季的營收為 340 萬美元，而 2022 年同期為 610 萬美元，當時確認了來自 SQMS 的大量收入。

Gross margins in the fourth quarter of 2023 came in at 75% compared to 87% for the fourth quarter of 2022. Revenue and gross margin variability is to be expected at this stage of the company's evolution given the variable nature of contract deliverables and timing with major government agencies.

2023 年第四季的毛利率為 75%，而 2022 年第四季的毛利率為 87%。由於合約交付成果和與主要政府機構的時間安排具有可變性，在公司發展的這個階段，收入和毛利率的變化是可以預料的。

On the expense side, total OpEx in the fourth quarter of 2023 was 19.7 million compared to 32 million in the same period in the prior year. The year-over-year decrease was primarily due to the 5.4 million goodwill impairment charge booked in the fourth quarter of 2022 and a 3.5 million reduction in stock compensation expense.

在費用方面，2023 年第四季的總營運支出為 1,970 萬美元，而去年同期為 3,200 萬美元。年減主要由於 2022 年第四季提列的 540 萬美元商譽減損費用以及股票薪酬費用減少 350 萬美元。

In the fourth quarter of 2023, stock compensation expense totaled 3.7 million compared to 7.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2022. Other decreases in the fourth quarter of 2023 included lower employee wages and benefit costs resulting from our February 2023 reduction of workforce.

2023 年第四季度，股票薪酬費用總計 370 萬美元，而 2022 年第四季為 720 萬美元。2023 年第四季的其他減幅包括由於我們 2023 年 2 月裁員導致的員工薪資和福利成本降低。

Operating loss for the fourth quarter of 2023 was 17.2 million compared to an operating loss of 26.7 million for the same period of 2022. Net loss for the fourth quarter of 2023 was 12.6 million or 0.09 per share compared to a net loss of 22.9 million or 0.19 per share for the same period of 2022.

2023 年第四季營業虧損為 1,720 萬美元，而 2022 年同期營業虧損為 2,670 萬美元。2023 年第四季淨虧損為 1,260 萬美元或每股 0.09 美元，而 2022 年同期淨虧損為 2,290 萬美元或每股 0.19 美元。

Cash, cash equivalents and available-for-sale investments totaled 99.9 million as of December 31, 2023, compared with 110.2 million as of September 30, 2023, and 142.8 million at December 31, 2022. During the fourth quarter of 2023, we raised 5.5 million from the sale of 5.2 million shares of common stock under our common stock purchase agreement with B. Riley.

截至 2023 年 12 月 31 日，現金、現金等價物及可供出售投資總額為 9,990 萬美元，而截至 2023 年 9 月 30 日為 1.102 億美元，截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日為 1.428 億美元。2023 年第四季度，我們根據與 B.Riley 簽訂的普通股購買協議，出售 520 萬股普通股，籌集了 550 萬美元。

Subsequent to year-end, during the first quarter of 2024, we raised a further 12.8 million from the sale of 10.1 million shares of common stock under the B. Riley agreement. There are no more shares available for sale under this agreement.

年底之後，也就是 2024 年第一季度，我們根據 B.Riley 協議出售 1,010 萬股普通股，又籌集了 1,280 萬美元。根據本協議，不再有可供出售的股份。

In December 2023, we filed a 250 million shelf registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We are continually evaluating our financing options.

2023年12月，我們向美國證券交易委員會提交了一份2.5億股的擱置註冊聲明。我們正在不斷評估我們的融資選擇。

Thank you. We would now be happy to answer your questions.

謝謝。我們現在很樂意回答您的問題。

Quinn Bolton, Needham & Co.

奎因博爾頓，尼德漢姆公司

Hey, guys, can you hear me?

嘿，夥計們，你聽得到我說話嗎？

Yes, we can.

是的，我們可以。

Perfect. Congratulations on the nice finish. I guess since this is the fiscal year-end, Subodh, are there any milestones you can give us for 2024, sort of your highest priorities? You mentioned a couple, the Ankaa-3 at 99% median 2-qubit gate fidelities and but wondering if there's anything else you can share kind of in terms of big milestones.

完美的。恭喜你取得了圓滿的結局。我想，既然這是財政年度末，Subodh，您能為我們提供 2024 年的任何里程碑嗎，您的最高優先事項是什麼？您提到了一些，Ankaa-3 的中位數 2 量子位元閘保真度為 99%，但想知道您是否還有其他可以分享的重大里程碑。

And then maybe for Jeff, anything, I think last year, you sort of provided a year-end cash balance target. I don't know if you're prepared to do anything like that for '24. But anything you can sort of do to help shape revenue cash flow or year-end cash expectations would be helpful. Thank you.

然後也許對傑夫來說，任何事情，我想去年，你都提供了一個年終現金餘額目標。我不知道您是否準備好在 24 年做類似的事情。但任何有助於塑造收入現金流或年終現金預期的措施都是有幫助的。謝謝。

Sure. Thanks, Quinn. So certainly, the most important milestone we plan to deliver in 2024 is improvement in fidelity. That is the most important metric for quantum computing right now. So our plan, as we stated, is to get us from 98% median 2-qubit gate fidelity, which is where we are today with our 84-qubit system to 99-plus percent median 2-qubit gate fidelity, and that's a big milestone not only because it's a 2x reduction in errors, but also at 99% fidelity, you can start doing realistic error correction, error mitigation, those kinds of things that are well known and well proven in conventional computation systems. So that's a big milestone from a technology standpoint.

當然。謝謝，奎因。因此，我們計劃在 2024 年實現的最重要的里程碑無疑是保真度的提升。這是目前量子計算最重要的指標。因此，正如我們所說的，我們的計劃是將2 量子位元閘保真度的中位數從98%（即我們目前的84 量子位元系統）提高到99% 以上的中位數，這是一個很大的這是一個里程碑，不僅因為它將錯誤減少了2 倍，而且在99% 的保真度下，你可以開始進行現實的錯誤更正、錯誤緩解，這些都是在傳統計算系統中眾所周知和經過充分驗證的事。從技術角度來看，這是一個重要的里程碑。

As we mentioned in our press release, once we hit 99%, we'll also start working towards our 336-qubit Lyra system. And while we do that, we'll obviously continue to improve fidelity. Our goal is to get into the mid-99s next year along with the several hundred qubit. So those are the technology milestones. Along with it and as you can see (technical difficulty) both the DOE quantum computing lab and now that we can say AFRL, the premier DOD quantum computing lab have essentially chosen Rigetti (technical difficulty) choice (technical difficulty) with all the other big companies.

正如我們在新聞稿中提到的，一旦達到 99%，我們也將開始致力於 336 量子位元 Lyra 系統。當我們這樣做的時候，我們顯然會繼續提高保真度。我們的目標是明年進入 99 年代中期，達到數百個量子位元。這些就是技術里程碑。同時，正如你所看到的（技術難度），美國能源部量子計算實驗室和現在我們可以說美國國防部的頂級量子計算實驗室都選擇了Rigetti（技術難度）選擇（技術難度），以及所有其他大公司公司。

So (technical difficulty) securing the DOE and DoD (technical difficulty) if you will. Along with it, the UK government or national lab of UK government had set up a competition and we came out at the top, so the UK government has chosen to deploy our 24-qubit quantum computing system.

所以（技術難度）確保 DOE 和 DoD 的安全（技術難度）如果你願意的話。同時，英國政府或英國政府國家實驗室舉辦了一場競賽，我們贏得了冠軍，所以英國政府選擇部署我們的 24 量子位元量子運算系統。

We are continuing to work with other national governments, including DOE, DOD, and the UK, and we hope we'll announce some more wins as the year goes on, whether it's higher qubit count systems to the existing customers like DOE or DOD or UK or to new national labs, and we certainly hope we can announce some of those. So that's at a high level what we are doing both from a technology as well as business standpoint.

我們將繼續與其他國家政府合作，包括美國能源部、國防部和英國，我們希望在今年宣布更多成果，無論是向美國能源部或國防部等現有客戶提供更高量子位元數的系統，還是英國或新的國家實驗室，我們當然希望能夠宣布其中一些。因此，從技術和業務角度來看，這都是我們所做的事情的高水準。

Jeff, you want to answer the question about cash?

傑夫，你想回答有關現金的問題嗎？

Sure. Yeah, Quinn, we are not providing any forward-looking guidance right now, although I would comment that given our current cash and available for sale securities on hand, we have sufficient funding to take us into the early part of Q3 2025. So I just want to provide that cash runway outlook.

當然。是的，奎因，我們目前沒有提供任何前瞻性指引，但我想說，鑑於我們目前的現金和可供出售的證券，我們有足夠的資金支持我們進入 2025 年第三季初。所以我只想提供現金跑道前景。

Okay. Understanding that you don't want to sort of give sort of any kind of formal guidance for '24. Maybe can you walk through, Jeff, obviously, you've got contracts. You also have the QPU sales and especially as you get to a 24-qubit QPU, I think the ASPs go up. Is it reasonable for analysts to sort of think you should see revenue trending sort of flat to higher through the year from kind of the December run rate? I mean, again, I won't try to get you to, I won't pinpoint you, but certainly feels like between contracts that you've announced and QPU sales that revenue is likely to grow '24 over '23.

好的。我理解您不想為‘24’提供任何形式的正式指導。傑夫，您能帶我看一下嗎，顯然，您已經簽訂了合約。您還擁有 QPU 銷售，特別是當您獲得 24 量子位元 QPU 時，我認為 ASP 會上升。分析師是否合理地認為，從 12 月的運行率來看，全年營收趨勢應該持平或上升？我的意思是，再說一次，我不會試圖讓你知道，我不會指出你的錯誤，但確實感覺在你宣布的合約和 QPU 銷售之間，24 年的收入可能會比 23 年增長。

Sure. Again, no forward-looking guidance, but obviously, it's our goal to continue to drive revenues and reduce our loss. I mean we do have the 9 QPU Novera product now that we can sell, and we did just get the nice 24-q NQCC contract, which certainly helped. So, we're definitely focused on those things, which will extend our cash runway and help in that regard. So, we're definitely focused on all the levers.

當然。再次強調，沒有前瞻性的指導，但顯然，我們的目標是繼續增加收入並減少損失。我的意思是我們現在確實有 9 QPU Novera 產品可以銷售，而且我們剛剛獲得了不錯的 24-q NQCC 合同，這無疑有幫助。所以，我們肯定會專注於這些事情，這將延長我們的現金流並在這方面提供幫助。所以，我們肯定會注意所有的槓桿。

I mean again (technical difficulty) that just given the basic contracts we already have, plus the 24-qubit sale to NQCC, we certainly expect sales growth. But the main story over here continues to be the technology and fidelity improvement and getting close to quantum (technical difficulty). So I don't want sales to be the metric of how we are succeeding with the technology.

我再次表示（技術難度），僅鑑於我們已經擁有的基本合同，再加上向 NQCC 出售的 24 量子比特，我們當然預計銷售額會增長。但這裡的主要故事仍然是技術和保真度的改進，以及接近量子（技術難度）。所以我不希望以銷量來衡量我們如何應用這項技術。

Got it. Maybe just one last quick one, Subodh. Just knowing that the gate fidelity is the most important goal, obviously, you announced that Ankaa-2 is at 98%. But as you continue to run wafers in Fab-1, do you feel like perhaps the 9-qubit fidelities are already well on their way to sort of the 99% or 99-plus percent qubit fidelity? And do you have sort of the proof points that give you confidence in your ability to get to that 99% for Ankaa-3 by the end of the year? Thanks.

知道了。也許只需要最後一個快速問題，Subodh。只知道門保真度是最重要的目標，顯然，你宣布 Ankaa-2 達到了 98%。但是，隨著你們繼續在 Fab-1 中運行晶圓，你是否覺得 9 量子比特保真度已經接近 99% 或 99% 以上的量子比特保真度了？您是否有證據能讓您有信心在年底前讓 Ankaa-3 達到 99% 的完成率？謝謝。

That's a good question. And actually, we do have data. I mean you always have a lot of data on 9-qubit before we put it out together for 24-qubit and 84-qubit systems. So, all initial indications with 9-qubit and Ankaa-3 are that we feel very confident of hitting our 99% goal at the 84-qubit level, which means we certainly will be much higher than that at the 9-qubit level. So, all our initial data is very promising for Ankaa-3, and we feel pretty good about getting to 99% at the 84-qubit level before the end of this year.

這是個好問題。事實上，我們確實有數據。我的意思是，在我們把 24 量子位元和 84 量子位元系統的資料放在一起之前，你總是會擁有大量關於 9 量子位元的資料。因此，9 量子位元和 Ankaa-3 的所有初步跡像都表明，我們非常有信心在 84 量子位元層級達到 99% 的目標，這意味著我們在 9 量子位元層級的目標肯定會高得多。因此，我們所有的初始數據對 Ankaa-3 來說都非常有希望，我們對在今年年底之前達到 84 量子位元水平的 99% 感到非常有信心。

Perfect. Thank you.

完美的。謝謝。

Thank you, Quinn.

謝謝你，奎因。

Thank you. (Operator Instructions)

謝謝。（操作員指令）

Brian Kinstlinger, Alliance Global Partners.

聯盟全球合作夥伴 (Alliance Global Partners) 的 Brian Kinstlinger。

Hi, guys. Thanks for taking my questions. My first is could you discuss the NQCC award for the 24-qubit system. How long was the evaluation process? Who is the competition specifically for the QPU piece of the procurement? And what was the feedback on why Rigetti?

嗨，大家好。感謝您回答我的問題。首先，您能否討論一下 24 量子位元系統所獲得的 NQCC 獎。評估過程持續了多久？採購 QPU 部分的具體競爭對手是誰？關於為什麼選擇 Rigetti 的回饋如何？

Thanks, Brian. Good questions. So the NQCC competition was set by the, basically, the UK government. They wanted a foundational quantum computer in their facility on which they build UK's quantum infrastructure. So that's a very key piece of equipment that they were procuring.

謝謝，布萊恩。好問題。因此，NQCC 比賽基本上是由英國政府設立的。他們希望在他們的設施中擁有一台基礎量子計算機，並在此基礎上建立英國的量子基礎設施。這是他們購買的一件非常關鍵的設備。

The competition was set for roughly a six-month period. They didn't divulge all the competitors that they evaluated, but we are pretty sure most of the companies that are at the cutting edge of technology and quantum computing were part of that competition. That's why we feel really good that they chose us as the technology of choice to build UK's quantum infrastructure. So clearly, it demonstrates their faith in superconducting quantum computing technology and within conducting quantum computing technology Rigetti as the leading technology of choice.

比賽持續時間約為六個月。他們沒有透露他們評估的所有競爭對手，但我們非常肯定，大多數處於技術和量子計算前沿的公司都參與了競爭。這就是為什麼我們很高興他們選擇我們作為建造英國量子基礎設施的首選技術。因此，很明顯，這表明了他們對超導量子計算技術的信心，並將 Rigetti 作為首選的傳導量子計算技術。

So very important competition. We feel really good about the fact that an external third-party validated and confirmed our beliefs that we are making the best quantum computers right now.

因此比賽非常重要。我們很高興看到外部第三方驗證並證實了我們的信念，即我們正在製造目前最好的量子電腦。

And did you for your QPU only compete with the gating technology? Or was it against, you think, all the different types of technology for you?

您的 QPU 是否只與門控技術競爭？或者您認為，它是否對您而言不利於所有不同類型的技術？

They didn't clarify that, but based on the fact that they were looking for general purpose computing, they probably looked more at gate-based computing approaches. As you probably know, when you look at things like annealing, they're very restricted to the number of applications they can pursue like optimization and a few other applications like that. As soon as you say general purpose computing for the broader market, really, you have to go with a gate-based approach. So the fact that they were looking for general computing tells me that they were primarily looking at gate-based approaches.

他們沒有澄清這一點，但基於他們正在尋找通用計算的事實，他們可能更專注於基於閘的計算方法。您可能知道，當您查看諸如退火之類的事物時，它們可以進行的應用數量受到很大限制，例如優化和其他一些類似的應用。當你說到面向更廣泛市場的通用計算時，實際上你必須採用基於閘門的方法。所以他們尋求通用計算的事實告訴我，他們主要研究基於門的方法。

Great. And then does this award put you in a leadership position so that the NQCC has other procurements or other national labs see that, are you seeing increased interest? I guess I'm just kind of curious if this can lead to additional QPU sales, whether it's 9-qubit, 24 or even more?

偉大的。那麼，這個獎項是否會讓您處於領導地位，以便 NQCC 有其他採購或其他國家實驗室看到這一點，您是否看到了越來越多的興趣？我只是有點好奇這是否可以帶來額外的 QPU 銷售，無論是 9 量子位元、24 量子位元還是更多？

Certainly, I mean, the fact that the DOE's premier quantum computing facility, Fermilab, chose us middle of 2023, that certainly was a factor, I'm sure, in NQCC's decision of choosing us. And now that both the US government DOE, DOD labs and now in NQCC, the UK lab have chosen us, I'm pretty sure the next few national labs who are looking at similar test beds and quantum computing facilities will look at us much more carefully because of -- if the US government and UK government deems that we are making the best quantum computer, chances are we are making the best quantum computers.

當然，我的意思是，美國能源部首屈一指的量子計算設施費米實驗室在 2023 年中期選擇了我們，我確信這肯定是 NQCC 選擇我們的一個因素。現在，美國政府能源部、國防部實驗室以及英國國家量子計算中心實驗室都選擇了我們，我相信接下來幾個正在研究類似測試平台和量子計算設施的國家實驗室也會更加關注我們之所以要如此謹慎，是因為——如果美國政府和英國政府認為我們正在製造最好的量子計算機，那麼很有可能我們正在製造最好的量子計算機。

And are there any other national labs that are running procurements right now? Or is it all incoming early base calls to kind of fill out the industry?

目前還有其他國家實驗室正在進行採購嗎？或者說所有早期的基本電話都是為了填補這個行業空缺？

There are several countries around the world where they have quantum initiatives going on. If you go around the world, you can certainly see governments have sponsored and sometimes even gotten builds to their respective governments. I mean, Japan in specific, Australia, India, Italy, Germany, Denmark and a few other European countries. There are clearly initiatives going on in various countries to get themselves up to speed in quantum computing. So we are really optimistic about our position with US and UK right now and leveraging that and extending that to these different countries that are getting into quantum computing.

世界上有許多國家正在進行量子計畫。如果你環遊世界，你肯定會看到政府贊助甚至有時得到各自政府的建設。我指的是具體日本、澳洲、印度、義大利、德國、丹麥和其他一些歐洲國家。顯然，各國都在採取措施，加速量子計算的發展。因此，我們對目前與美國和英國的地位非常樂觀，並利用這一點並將其擴展到這些進入量子計算領域的不同國家。

Right. Last question I have. What's the biggest obstacle you have to achieving the 99% fidelity on the 84-qubit system in 2024? And I guess the same question for 2025 on the larger system for 99.5?

正確的。我的最後一個問題。2024 年實現 84 量子位元系統 99% 保真度的最大障礙是什麼？我猜對於 2025 年更大的 99.5 系統來說也會有同樣的問題？

Certainly, I mean, the basic discipline most of us in the semiconductor industry use to improve error is what we call Pareto analysis. So we'll -- we look at errors just about every day. We'll do a thorough diagnosis of where the errors are coming from and plot them and then that's called Pareto analysis and then we look at the biggest contributor of errors and then we go chase them. And then once we resolve them, then the next tier and so on.

當然，我的意思是，我們半導體產業中的大多數人用來改進錯誤的基本原則就是所謂的帕累托分析。所以我們幾乎每天都會查看錯誤。我們將徹底診斷錯誤的來源並繪製它們，然後這就是所謂的帕累托分析，然後我們查看錯誤的最大貢獻者並去追蹤它們。一旦我們解決了這些問題，再進行下一層，依此類推。

So first, to get from 95% to 98% last year, we did all things in the -- what you call the Josephson Junction itself, which is a proper device in the chip. We also did some changes in the electronics like PCBs that we use as well as the refrigeration systems. This year, to go from 98% to 99%, our focus is primarily on the proper design of the qubit itself, of what we call the Hamiltonian also more look into the refrigeration systems and the losses that we are getting from the refrigeration systems. So (technical difficulty) scientific way of going after errors and addressing them. We feel pretty good about getting to 99% this year using that methodology.

首先，為了從去年的 95% 提高到 98%，我們在所謂的約瑟夫森結本身中做了所有事情，它是晶片中的一個適當的設備。我們也對我們使用的電子設備（如 PCB）以及冷凍系統做了一些改變。今年，為了從 98% 達到 99%，我們主要關注量子位元本身的正確設計，我們稱之為漢密爾頓量，同時也更多地研究冷凍系統以及我們從冷凍系統中獲得的損失。因此（技術難度）需要科學的方法來尋找錯誤並解決它們。我們很高興看到，使用該方法，今年我們的目標達到了 99%。

Great. Thanks, Subodh.

偉大的。謝謝，Subodh。

Thank you, Brian.

謝謝你，布萊恩。

Krish Sankar, TD Cowen.

克里什·桑卡爾（Krish Sankar），TD Cowen。

Hi. Thanks so much for taking my questions. This is Stephen calling on behalf of Krish. Subodh, maybe first one for you. Just kind of going back to the NQCC win and sort of the deployment timing. I know you mentioned that, that facility will be up and running later this year and start the deployment of the system around that time. But just curious in terms of when the procurement and installation of your -- whether it's the QPU or a number of subcomponents that goes into their system. Can you talk about when that approximate timing might be? Is it late this year? Or is it potentially into early next year?

你好。非常感謝您回答我的問題。我是史蒂芬，代表克里什打電話來。Subodh，也許是你第一個。只是回顧 NQCC 的勝利和部署時機。我知道您提到過，該設施將於今年稍後投入運營，並在那時開始部署該系統。但我只是好奇您的採購和安裝時間——無論是 QPU 還是進入其係統的多個子組件。能談談大概的時間嗎？今年晚了嗎？或者可能要明年年初？

And also, just more broadly, you referenced other initiatives in other countries that might still be early. Is the NQCC's timeline in terms of building out and potentially installing it, is that a good template for future kind of installments or buildouts by other countries?

而且，更廣泛地說，您提到了其他國家可能仍處於早期階段的舉措。NQCC 的建造和潛在安裝時間表是否為其他國家未來安裝或建造提供一個良好的範本？

Yes. Thanks, Krish. So certainly, the NQCC time line that they have provided us is more gated by their facility rather than our ability to supply the QPU. We already have started ordering several subcomponents, and we already have the chip and the core products are already ready basically. So we are working with them right now on the facility side to make sure that the facility is done once it comes up. Having said all that, the target right now is middle of this year, sometime in the June through August time period is when the facility will be ready. It will take us a few weeks, maybe a month or so to get it delivered and installed properly and then probably another month of debugging also. So before -- well before the end of this year, the system should be up and running. That's the overall timeline.

是的。謝謝，克里什。因此可以肯定的是，他們向我們提供的 NQCC 時間表更取決於他們的設施，而不是我們供應 QPU 的能力。我們已經開始訂購幾個子組件，而且我們已經有了晶片，核心產品基本上已經準備好了。因此，我們現在正在設施方面與他們合作，以確保設施建成後能夠順利完成。話雖如此，目前的目標是今年年中，也就是六月到八月的某個時間，屆時該設施將準備就緒。我們需要幾週甚至一個月左右的時間來交付和正確安裝，然後可能還需要一個月的調試。因此，在今年年底之前，該系統就應該能夠啟動並運行。這就是整體時間表。

As we discussed with other national labs in other countries. This model that NQCC is doing is seems to be a replicable model, if you will, and other countries are looking along the same lines where they want 20-odd qubit system to start. 9-qubit is a good starting point, but it's really for basic research applications. 28-plus qubits gives you enough horsepower to do some real computations work. So many national labs that we are talking to right now are talking about 20-plus systems. There are a couple that are about 80-plus cubit systems, too. Those are the more aggressive ones. Obviously, the price points will be higher.

正如我們與其他國家的其他國家實驗室所討論的。如果你願意的話，NQCC 正在做的這個模型似乎是一個可複製的模型，其他國家也在沿著同樣的思路研究他們希望從 20 多個量子位元系統開始。 9 量子位元是一個很好的起點，但它實際上適用於基礎研究應用。 28 多個量子位元為您提供了足夠的馬力來完成一些實際的計算工作。我們目前正在與之交談的許多國家實驗室正在討論 20 多個系統。也有一些是大約 80 多肘尺的系統。這些都是比較具有攻擊性的。顯然，價格點會更高。

So our hope is that besides NQCC, we will get at least one more, maybe a couple more national labs this year, of different countries using the 20-plus qubit system and then hopefully some early work starts with some 80-plus qubit systems that may get installed early next year or middle of next year. But again, really, the focus is all mostly on fidelity. As fidelity improves, all these opportunities will continue to happen.

因此，我們希望除了 NQCC 之外，今年我們至少還會有另外一兩個不同國家的國家實驗室使用 20 多個量子位元系統，然後希望一些早期工作能夠從一些 80 多個量子位元系統開始，可能會在明年年初或明年年中安裝。但實際上，重點主要還是在於保真度。隨著保真度的提高，所有這些機會將會繼續出現。

Got it. Got it. That's very helpful. And also, in terms of the Novera QPU, very exciting to see the formalized program and marketing for that. From some of the details that you've published so far, and it seems like the pricing for that is just under $1 million, but just kind of curious like are you only selling standard versions? Or is there opportunities for more bespoke configurations and what that -- would you be able to talk about is sort of the rough ASP revenue that could be associated with more bespoke designs?

知道了。知道了。這非常有幫助。此外，就 Novera QPU 而言，很高興看到其正式化的計劃和行銷。從您目前發布的一些細節來看，它的定價似乎略低於 100 萬美元，但有點好奇您只銷售標準版本嗎？或者是否有機會實現更多客製化配置，您能否談談與更多客製化設計相關的大致 ASP 收入？

And lastly, in terms of the product lead time or backlog, is it still sort of intra-quarter type orders that get fulfilled pretty quickly? Or is there a longer backlog or a lead time associated with Novera?

最後，就產品交付週期或積壓訂單而言，它是否仍然是能夠很快完成的季度內訂單？或者 Novera 是否存在更長的積壓訂單或交貨時間？

Regarding Novera, I mean, the product is fairly simple. I mean our product is essentially for 900K. We will ship you a basic QPU that can essentially become a plug and play modules into your dilution refrigeration systems. Our baseline assumption is that the customer already has a DR in their facility, are familiar with quantum computing in general, so they can just take our QPU and plug it into their DR. That's the whole concept of Novera.

關於 Novera，我的意思是，該產品相當簡單。我的意思是我們的產品基本上是針對 900K 的。我們將向您發送一個基本的 QPU，它基本上可以成為稀釋冷凍系統中的即插即用模組。我們的基本假設是，客戶在其設施中已經擁有 DR，並且對量子計算總體上很熟悉，因此他們只需採用我們的 QPU 並將其插入他們的 DR 即可。這就是 Novera 的整體概念。

And they can -- we have all of the parts ready, and we literally keep one or two in stock right now. So if an order comes tomorrow, we can ship it within a day practically. And it's fairly straightforward to get it integrated and up and running for a customer who's familiar with quantum computing and dilution refrigerations. So, it's a fairly straightforward product sale, if you will, get the order, ship the standardized QPU that goes directly into the system.

他們可以——我們已經準備好了所有的零件，而且我們現在確實有一兩個庫存。因此，如果明天有訂單，我們實際上可以在一天內發貨。對於熟悉量子計算和稀釋製冷的客戶來說，將其整合並啟動和運行是相當簡單的。因此，這是一個相當簡單的產品銷售，如果您願意，可以獲得訂單，發送直接進入系統的標準化 QPU。

There is three dilution refrigeration companies that are generally available in the world right now, Blue Force, a Finnish company, Oxford Instruments from UK, FormFactor from California, and then a couple of other smaller companies are getting into the business. Each one has a slightly different consideration of their DR. So depending on the exact model and which -- what the customer has, it may need some customization, but our plan is to try to keep it as an off-the-shelf standard product that we can ship quickly, that will plug into your existing DR. But there are some DRs that may not be suitable to do a plug and play, in which case, we may have to do some adjustments or they may have to do adjustment on the customer side. But the idea is a straightforward simple shipment.

目前全球有三家稀釋冷凍公司，分別是芬蘭的 Blue Force、英國的 Oxford Instruments、加州的 FormFactor，另外還有幾家規模較小的公司也正在涉足這項業務。每個人對於他們的 DR 的考慮都略有不同。因此，根據具體型號和客戶擁有的產品，可能需要進行一些定制，但我們的計劃是盡量將其保持為現成的標準產品，以便快速發貨，並接入您的現有的 DR。但有些 DR 可能不適合即插即用，在這種情況下，我們可能必須做一些調整，或者他們可能必須在客戶端進行調整。但這個想法是簡單直接的。

Okay. Great. Thank you so much for that. And just a last one for Jeff. Jeff, on the share count side, just wondering if you could help quantify a bit what the share count might be for this quarter and when the full dilution from all the recent equity raise, what that might be for next quarter? Thank you.

好的。偉大的。非常感謝。對 Jeff 來說這只是最後一個問題。傑夫，在股票數量方面，我只是想知道您是否可以幫助量化本季的股票數量，以及當所有最近的股權增加完全稀釋後，下個季度的股票數量可能是多少？謝謝。

Sure. Yes. I mean the full share count impact from the activity that I mentioned in Q1 of 2024 that will really kick in for the second quarter of 2024. We did sell 10.1 million shares in the first quarter. So from a share count perspective, we will be north of 150 million shares here by the time we get to the end of Q1.

當然。是的。我的意思是，我提到的 2024 年第一季的活動對總股數的影響將在 2024 年第二季真正顯現出來。我們在第一季確實出售了 1,010 萬股。因此，從股票數量的角度來看，到第一季末，我們的股票數量將超過 1.5 億股。

Okay, great. Thank you so much.

好的，太好了。太感謝了。

Thank you, Krish.

謝謝你，克里什。

Thank you. (Operator Instructions)

謝謝。（操作員指令）

David Williams, The Benchmark Company.

大衛威廉斯 (David Williams)，The Benchmark Company。

Hey, good afternoon, gentlemen. I hope you can hear me okay.

嘿，先生們，下午好。我希望你能聽到我的聲音。

Yes, we can hear you. David.

是的，我們能聽到你的聲音。大衛。

Great. Some pretty significant progress across (technical difficulty) the aspects of the firm and the company. And just bringing that road map, I think from (technical difficulty) something will be sustainable. (technical difficulty) path as you set forward. Kind of wondering, as you look out, what do you think the next big steps are for Rigetti? And how do you feel about your (technical difficulty) relative to your peers?

偉大的。公司和企業在各方面（技術難度）都取得了相當重大的進展。只要有這份路線圖，我認為從技術難度來看，某些事情將是可持續的。 （技術難度）路徑，正如你所設定的前進方向。有點好奇，當您觀察時，您認為 Rigetti 的下一步重大舉措是什麼？與同行相比，您覺得自己的（技術難度）如何？

Yes. Your line was cutting out, but I think I got the gist of the question, so I'll answer it from what I understood. So regarding our road map and critical points, as I mentioned, fidelity is the top critical point for all of us in quantum computing. We are at 98% median 2-qubit gate fidelity at the 84-qubit level. Obviously, the number is much higher for smaller qubit accounts. Our goal is to get to 99% this year and in the mid-99s next year at 84-qubit at which point, hopefully, we'll start dialing up the qubit count to several hundred qubit.

是的。您的回答有點太簡短了，但我想我已經明白問題的主旨了，所以我將根據我的理解來回答。因此，關於我們的路線圖和關鍵點，正如我所提到的，保真度是我們所有人在量子計算領域的首要關鍵點。在 84 量子位元級別，2 量子位元閘的中位數保真度達到 98%。顯然，對於較小的量子位元帳戶來說，這個數字要高得多。我們的目標是今年達到 99%，明年達到 99% 左右，達到 84 量子比特，屆時，我們希望能夠將量子比特數增加到數百個量子比特。

We talk a lot about fidelity and qubit count, and that gets a lot of the attention. But another important metric is gate speed. Generally, our gate speeds are in the 50 to 100 nanosecond range right now. Most of us in the supercomputing space are in that 50 to 200 nanosecond gate speed range. When we look at other modalities, particularly things like trapped ion or pure atoms, they are dealing with three orders of magnitude slower gate speeds than what we in the superconducting camp are looking at.

我們討論了很多關於保真度和量子比特數的話題，這引起了很多關注。但另一個重要指標是門速度。一般來說，我們的門速度現在在50到100奈秒範圍內。超級運算領域中的大多數人的門速度都處於 50 到 200 奈秒的範圍內。當我們觀察其他模式時，特別是諸如捕獲離子或純原子之類的東西，它們處理的門速度比我們超導陣營所觀察到的要慢三個數量級。

So as we have always said, the challenge for superconducting quantum computing is fidelity. The benefits we have are scalability and gate speed. The challenges for the other modalities like trapped ion and pure atoms, their fidelity intrinsically is better because they are dealing with pure ions or pure atoms. But the big challenge for them is scalability and gate speed. I mean it's really hard to overcome three orders of magnitude gate speed for those kinds of technologies in addition to the scalability challenge.

所以正如我們一直所說，超導量子運算的挑戰是保真度。我們的優勢是可擴展性和門速。對於其他模式（如捕獲離子和純原子）來說，它們的保真度本質上更好，因為它們處理的是純離子或純原子。但對他們來說，最大的挑戰是可擴展性和門速度。我的意思是，除了可擴展性的挑戰之外，克服這類技術的三個數量級的門速度確實非常困難。

So overall, within the quantum computing space, we continue to be firm believers in superconducting quantum computing. We think that is the right way to go about tackling real-life problems. And that's why you look at collectively between us and other companies in the superconducting space like IBM, Google, and a few others. We are really making rapid progress all of us. So, within the next two to three years, I'm sure more than one of us in the superconducting camp will be at 1,000-plus qubit at 99.5% or better percent fidelity with sub-100 nanosecond gate speed. And that's really when real-life quantum advantage type applications start becoming meaningful.

因此整體而言，在量子計算領域，我們仍然堅信超導量子計算。我們認為這是解決實際問題的正確方法。這就是為什麼我們要將我們與超導領域的其他公司（例如 IBM、Google和其他一些公司）進行綜合比較。我們所有人都確實取得了快速的進步。因此，我確信在未來的兩到三年內，超導陣營中的不止一個人能夠實現 1,000 多個量子比特，保真度達到 99.5% 或更高，門速度低於 100 奈秒。這正是現實生活中的量子優勢類型的應用開始變得有意義的時候。

So I think that's where the superconducting camp is going. We feel pretty good that we are in the leadership position in that camp as evidenced by the government of US and the government of UK choosing us over others. So this is pretty good about superconducting quantum computing in general and within that, our position. Hopefully, that answers your question if I heard it correctly.

所以我認為這就是超導陣營的發展方向。我們很高興能夠處於陣營的領導地位，美國政府和英國政府選擇了我們而不是其他人，這證明了這一點。因此，這對於超導量子計算總體而言是相當不錯的，也是我們的立場。如果我沒聽錯的話，希望這能回答你的問題。

Thank you. I'm currently showing no further questions at this time. I'd like to hand the conference back over to Mr. Subodh Kulkarni for closing remarks.

謝謝。我目前沒有其他問題。我想將會議交還給 Subodh Kulkarni 先生，請他作最後發言。

Thank you all for your questions and interest. We look forward to updating you as the year progresses. Thanks again.

謝謝大家的提問和關注。我們期待著隨著時間的推移向您更新最新情況。再次感謝。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect. Everyone have a wonderful day.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。祝大家有美好的一天。