
Drill Down, Ep. #253: Xanadu Quantum Technologies (CLUM:NASDAQ) CEO Christian Weedbrook
From The Drill Down by Cory Johnson
March 27, 2026 · 25 min
About this episode
The episode features an interview with Xanadu Quantum Technologies CEO Christian Weedbrook discussing the company's upcoming SPAC transaction and the future of photonic quantum computing.
Xanadu is heading toward the public markets with a SPAC transaction that could deliver roughly $500 million in gross proceeds, putting fresh scrutiny on whether photonic quantum computing can move beyond being a science project. CEO Christian Weedbrook lays out why Xanadu believes networking quantum systems across server racks changes the scaling equation, and where optical loss and error correction still threaten timelines. The conversation explains how PennyLane became one of the most widely used quantum software platforms, and why software adoption may matter more than qubit counts. Weedbrook also addresses what commercial workloads might realistically arrive before fault tolerance, and which won’t. With backers including Advanced Micro Devices, the stakes are no longer academic — they’re financial, operational and soon to be public. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
People in this episode
Host: Cory Johnson
Guest: Christian Weedbrook
Topics covered
- quantum computing
- SPAC transaction
- photonic quantum systems
- software adoption
- commercial workloads
Keywords
- quantum technologies
- SPAC
- photonic computing
- error correction
- PennyLane
- commercial workloads
- Advanced Micro Devices
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Xanadu Quantum Technologies, Advanced Micro Devices, PennyLane, CLUM:NASDAQ
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