TL;DR: Alice & Bob and France's CEA announced on Sept. 17, 2026, that they will jointly improve Bull's Qaptiva software to run quantum processors together with classical supercomputers, starting with materials physics.

A French software bet for hybrid computing

Quantum computing startup Alice & Bob and France's Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) announced a collaboration on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, to develop software for using quantum computers alongside classical supercomputers, according to Reuters reporting carried by Channel News Asia. The initial research focus is applications in materials physics. The announcement identifies software integration, not a new processor launch, as the subject of the agreement.

The partners said they would develop software linking quantum processors with traditional supercomputers. The objective is to assign to the quantum machine only the parts of a problem for which it may eventually offer an advantage, while conventional systems handle the remainder. That division of labor is central to hybrid quantum-high-performance-computing operation.

The work will begin with many-body physics, which studies how large numbers of interacting particles behave, according to The Next Web. That field is important for materials science and chemistry. The partners selected it as the first test domain for hybrid workflows.

What Qaptiva does in the plan

The partners will seek to improve the largely open-source Qaptiva software developed by state-owned supercomputer maker Bull, according to Channel News Asia. Qaptiva is a quantum application platform created by Bull. The goal is to broaden the range of tools available to quantum developers alongside Nvidia's CUDA-Q.

Alice & Bob will connect its software to Qaptiva, allowing developers to write a program once and use it on different quantum machines, according to The Next Web. The setup will let workloads be shared between quantum and classical hardware. Developers could run code on quantum back ends on-premises or on cloud, according to the company's description of the integration approach summarized in partner coverage.

The project did not disclose financial terms, according to The Next Web. The announcement did not list a contract value, equity investment, or licensing fee. It described a joint technical and research program centered on software and use cases.

Why CUDA is part of the conversation

Executives at CEA told Reuters that having multiple software frameworks alongside Nvidia's CUDA-Q would help avoid the kind of software bottleneck that developed around CUDA in artificial intelligence. The concern is dependence on a single software ecosystem, which helped cement Nvidia's dominance in artificial intelligence, according to Channel News Asia.

Alice & Bob said software is the part of quantum computing that makes the technology usable. "The more alternatives there are, the faster the whole field moves," Alice & Bob U.S. General Manager Juliette Peyronnet said, as quoted by Channel News Asia.

Leaders from both organizations told Reuters that Qaptiva will broaden the range of tools available alongside Nvidia's CUDA-Q, according to The Next Web. They also hope to prevent software from becoming a bottleneck for European machines. The framing presents Qaptiva as a French-built expansion of developer choice.

"Our priority is to make Alice & Bob's unique FTQC technology usable in environments where real computational work happens," said Chloe Poisbeau, chief operating officer at Alice & Bob, as quoted by The Next Web. FTQC refers to fault-tolerant quantum computing. The quote positions high-performance-computing centers as the deployment environment.

CEA's role as lab, customer and host

CEA, a research centre with an annual budget of nearly 6 billion euros, equivalent to $6.9 billion, notably oversees France's nuclear deterrent, according to Channel News Asia. The agency said the program aimed to boost the domestic quantum industry by becoming an early customer for French startups and granting them access to its computing facilities.

That early-customer model gives startups deployment experience and access to large-scale computing infrastructure. CEA operates classical supercomputing resources and hosts quantum systems beside them. The collaboration gives Alice & Bob access to CEA computing facilities and practices.

The exchange rate cited with the budget figure was $1 equals 0.8714 euros, according to Channel News Asia. That conversion accompanied the Sept. 17 report. It underscores the scale of CEA relative to startup participants.

Hardware already at CEA and what comes in 2027

CEA has already installed quantum computers from French companies Quandela and Pasqal alongside its classical supercomputer, according to Channel News Asia. Alice & Bob's system will be added in 2027. The schedule places three French quantum hardware providers in the same CEA environment over time.

According to Reuters, Alice & Bob's quantum computer will be installed at CEA facilities in 2027, The Next Web reported. The agency currently hosts quantum computers from Quandela and Pasqal. The phased additions support comparison and integration work across different hardware approaches.

The Alice & Bob installation is described as a future delivery, not a completed installation. The Sept. 17 announcement covers software development and joint research before that hardware arrival. The partners aim to define use cases that can use the hardware when it arrives.

Many-body physics as the first workload

The research will begin with many-body physics, according to The Next Web. That area examines collective behavior of interacting particles. It connects fundamental science with industrial simulation needs in materials, chemistry and related fields.

"Many-body physics sits at the crossroads of fundamental science and industrial relevance," said Jacques-Charles Lafoucriere, program director at CEA, as quoted by The Next Web. He said the collaboration couples high-performance-computing practices with Alice & Bob's fault-tolerant technology to define concrete, high-impact use cases.

Lafoucriere added that the intent is to validate value-creation pathways before larger systems mature, so they are ready to scale when early fault-tolerant systems reach required maturity, as quoted by The Next Web. The partners aim to create algorithms for early fault-tolerant quantum computers, which they expect to see by around 2030. That date is a planning expectation, not a delivered system.

Cat qubits and the fault-tolerance path

Alice & Bob constructs its processors using what are known as cat qubits, according to The Next Web. Those qubits are engineered to counteract one of the two primary types of error that affect quantum bits. That design is intended to require fewer physical qubits for error correction.

The company states that the method can reduce hardware requirements by up to 200 times compared with competing approaches, according to The Next Web. The figure describes hardware-resource reduction enabled by the cat architecture. It relates to the long-term goal of building a useful large-scale machine.

Alice & Bob presented its Helium system in June, according to The Next Web. It has received support from Nvidia's NVentures and is one of the companies involved in France's state-supported quantum program. The software collaboration adds a French platform, laboratory and machine combination to that hardware trajectory.

What this means for developers and U.S. readers

For developers, the practical implication is write-once portability across back ends through Qaptiva, according to The Next Web. A program written through the integrated stack could target different quantum machines and share work with classical hardware. That portability could reduce rework when moving between systems.

For high-performance-computing operators, the model keeps classical supercomputers at the center and adds quantum processors for selected subproblems. The quantum processor handles only portions where it may eventually offer an advantage, according to Channel News Asia. The rest remains on proven classical infrastructure.

For U.S. readers, the direct relevance is expanded choice alongside CUDA-Q rather than replacement of existing tools. The French partners explicitly positioned Qaptiva as an additional option, not an exclusive standard, according to Channel News Asia and The Next Web. Nvidia's CUDA-Q remains a parallel framework in the ecosystem described in the announcement.

Sources referenced