Canadian-led startup Extropic has successfully closed a $14.1 million seed funding round to advance its development of “physics-based computing” hardware tailored for generative artificial intelligence (AI). Formerly known as Qyber, Extropic garnered attention this summer for its reported focus on a chip designed to efficiently run large language models.
In a cryptic blog post dated December 4, Extropic’s founder and CEO, Guillaume Verdon, shed light on the company’s technological pursuits, describing it as “a novel full-stack paradigm of physics-based computing” with the capability to scale generative AI. However, Verdon’s announcement refrained from providing detailed technical insights into the nature of the solution.
Amidst the evolving landscape of quantum physics-based computing, which faced persistent scalability challenges, Verdon expressed the team’s pursuit of an alternative path for practical physics-based computing. This envisioned approach, as Verdon explained, does not rely on quantum mechanics, embraces noise as an asset rather than a liability, and eliminates the need for miraculous advancements in device physics to achieve industrial-scale viability.
The seed funding round was spearheaded by Kindred Ventures, with substantial contributions from Buckley Ventures, HOF Capital, Julian Capital, Marque VC, OSS Capital, Valor Equity Partners, and Weekend Fund. Distinguished angel investors include Tobias Lütke, CEO of Canadian e-commerce giant Shopify, Aidan Gomez, and Ivan Zhang, co-founders of Toronto-based OpenAI rival Cohere, among others.
Extropic, founded in 2022 by Guillaume Verdon, a Canadian with a background in mathematics, physics, and quantum information from McGill University, the University of Waterloo, and Waterloo’s Perimeter Institute, has a notable history in the tech industry. Verdon, also known by the handle @BasedBeffJezos on X (formerly Twitter), previously served as the quantum tech lead within the physics and AI team at X, Alphabet’s “moonshot factory.” There, he played a pivotal role in establishing Google’s TensorFlow Quantum project, a library designed for running AI models on quantum computing chips.
Forbes recently revealed Verdon’s identity as @BasedBeffJezos, a key figure in the “effective accelerationism” or ‘e/acc’ movement within the tech community, advocating for an accelerated pace of technological progress, especially in AI. Esteemed figures like Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, have acknowledged @BasedBeffJezos as one of the “patron saints of techno-optimism.”
Extropic’s leadership extends beyond Verdon and includes CTO Trevor McCourt and principal architect Christopher Chamberland, both alumni of the University of Waterloo. McCourt, originally trained as a mechanical engineer, previously conducted research at Alphabet, where he collaborated with Verdon on TensorFlow Quantum. Chamberland brings experience from Amazon Web Services (AWS), IBM, and Microsoft to his role at Extropic.
The team at Extropic comprises scientists and engineers with diverse backgrounds in physics and AI, having worked at leading organizations such as AWS, Meta, IBM, Nvidia, Toronto-based quantum computing unicorn Xanadu, and various academic institutions. This collective expertise positions Extropic at the forefront of developing innovative solutions in the realm of physics-based computing for the advancement of generative AI. As the startup progresses with its groundbreaking endeavors, industry watchers eagerly anticipate further revelations about the specifics of Extropic’s technology and its potential impact on the future of artificial intelligence.
