Eighteen months after the successful sale of his startup to chipmaker AMD for $665 million, Finnish entrepreneur Peter Sarlin has transitioned from his role as CEO of the unit now known as AMD Silo AI. Sarlin is now directing his expertise toward two burgeoning ventures, serving as chairman for both NestAI, a physical AI laboratory, and QuTwo, an AI startup dedicated to equipping companies for the transformative era of quantum computing.
QuTwo, which operates as “an AI lab for the quantum era,” is currently fully capitalized by Sarlin’s family office, PostScriptum. Rather than passively awaiting the full maturation of quantum computing, the company is proactively engaging with enterprise clients. This includes a significant collaboration with European fashion retailer Zalando, where they are jointly developing “lifestyle agents”—advanced AI tools designed to transcend conventional product search and offer proactive suggestions for products and experiences.
The foundation of QuTwo rests on the premise that AI is encountering an efficiency plateau, a challenge that quantum computing holds the potential to ultimately resolve. However, Sarlin informed TechCrunch that the company is not speculating on the exact timeline for this resolution. Instead, QuTwo is strategically building QuTwo OS, an innovative orchestration layer engineered to facilitate a seamless transition for companies from classical to quantum computing environments, effectively leveraging hybrid computing solutions throughout this evolution.
Through PostScriptum, Sarlin has also invested in Finnish quantum companies IQM and QMill, aligning himself with a growing cohort of investors who foresee quantum computing eventually surpassing classical systems across diverse industry applications, concurrently alleviating the substantial energy demands of AI. He further posits that initial practical applications will necessitate mixed hardware environments, allowing enterprises to concentrate on their core business challenges while QuTwo OS adeptly manages the underlying routing complexities.
In this context, a crucial advantage lies in the “quantum-inspired” computing approach, which represents a viable middle ground available today. This method utilizes classical hardware to simulate quantum behavior, effectively circumventing current impediments to quantum hardware development. Complementing this, QuTwo OS is engineered for maximum flexibility, ensuring compatibility with both quantum and non-quantum algorithms and chip architectures.
QuTwo boasts a highly experienced team with profound expertise spanning both the quantum and AI domains. The quantum side is fortified by IQM cofounder Kuan Yen Tan and board member Antti Vasara, who also chairs SemiQon, a Finnish semiconductor startup specializing in quantum chips. The enterprise dimension is robustly represented by Sarlin himself and Kaj-Mikael Björk, one of his former cofounders at Silo AI. Further bolstering the board is Pekka Lundmark, the former CEO of Finnish telecom titan Nokia.
Collectively, the team comprises over 30 quantum and AI scientists. Sarlin unequivocally defines the company’s strategic position: “We’re building for the quantum world, but QuTwo is an AI company,” he stated, emphasizing that QuTwo’s core mission involves “pushing AI workloads from classical to quantum.”
This strategic orientation implies a potentially expansive customer base. Beyond its partnership with Zalando, QuTwo has also initiated a joint quantum AI research endeavor with OP Pohjola, a prominent Finnish financial services provider, further illustrating its broad appeal across sectors.
From its inception, QuTwo has adopted a commercially astute approach, already securing “large design partnerships which are in the tens of millions,” according to Sarlin. These design partnerships, where QuTwo co-develops its product in close collaboration with enterprise customers, serve as invaluable channels for understanding client expectations. Simultaneously, they represent a strategic investment by enterprises aiming to establish an early competitive foothold in anticipation of quantum computing’s eventual widespread adoption.
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