Eighteen months after selling his startup to AMD for $665 million, Finnish entrepreneur Peter Sarlin has left his position as CEO of AMD Silo AI. He is now chairman at two new ventures: NestAI and QuTwo, an AI startup focused on the quantum computing era.
QuTwo, fully funded by Sarlin’s family office PostScriptum, positions itself as “an AI lab for the quantum era.” Working with enterprise clients such as European retailer Zalando, it develops “lifestyle agents,” AI tools that go beyond product search to suggest products and experiences proactively.
QuTwo believes AI is facing an efficiency barrier that quantum computing might resolve. However, instead of waiting for quantum advancements, the startup is building QuTwo OS, an orchestration layer for transitioning from classical to quantum computing, utilizing hybrid computing in the process.
Sarlin has invested in Finnish quantum companies IQM and QMill through PostScriptum, joining others who anticipate quantum computing’s superiority over classical technologies in industry applications while reducing AI’s energy consumption. QuTwo envisages mixed hardware environments for initial use cases, allowing enterprises to focus on their problems as QuTwo OS handles the computing transition.
“Quantum-inspired” computing, leveraging classical hardware to simulate quantum behavior, offers immediate benefits while overcoming current quantum hardware limitations. QuTwo OS is versatile, supporting both quantum and non-quantum algorithms and chips.
QuTwo’s team includes experts like IQM cofounder Kuan Yen Tan and board member Antti Vasara from the quantum sector, along with Sarlin and Kaj-Mikael Björk from the enterprise side. Pekka Lundmark, former Nokia CEO, also joined QuTwo’s board. The team comprises over 30 quantum and AI scientists. Sarlin emphasizes, “We’re building for the quantum world, but QuTwo is an AI company,” highlighting the transition of AI workloads from classical to quantum.
QuTwo’s potential customer base extends beyond Zalando, including a joint quantum AI research venture with Finnish financial services provider OP Pohjola. From its inception, QuTwo has been commercially driven, securing “large design partnerships” worth tens of millions. These partnerships, where products are co-developed with customers, help QuTwo understand client needs while positioning enterprises for potential quantum computing advances.