Hey Everyone,
Just a quick update. I noticed Quantum computing related company Zapata AI is going public via its SPAC.
The shareholder approval comes a little over two weeks after the Securities and Exchange Commission had declared the Form S-4 for the proposed merger “effective,” clearing the path for the deal to proceed.
Two key members of the SPAC’s management team are racing legends Mario and Michael Andretti. Really? That’s not so reassuring. I’m pretty skeptical of the SPAC route for Quantum computing related firms judging on recent past history.
What does Zapata AI do?
Zapata AI develops and delivers generative AI solutions to solve customers’ highly complex industrial-scale operational challenges, leveraging the performance advantages of the company’s innovative algorithms based on quantum physics. Zapata AI’s enterprise and government customers have included Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank (SMTB), BBVA, BP, BASF, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and Andretti Global, among numerous research and university partners.
Their CEO is Christopher Savoie over in Boston. Chris knows a thing or two about AI. Christopher Savoie is a published scholar in medicine, biochemistry, and computer science, and his research and business interests over the years have focused on the intersection of machine learning, biology, and chemistry. Christopher is the co-inventor of AAOSA, the A.I.-based natural language interface technology used to develop Apple’s Siri.
The combined company, which was renamed Zapata Computing Holdings Inc., will operate as Zapata AI and its common stock and warrants will begin trading on April 1, 2024 on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker symbols "ZPTA" and "ZPTAW", respectively.
Another Quantum SPAC, Rigetti, hasn’t done so well. It’s not a penny stock below $2. And down almost 85% since its own SPAC. It began trading on the NASDAQ in March, 2022. Sadly this is about par for the course for SPACs. They are a shortcut to going public but with a cost.
Zapata AI was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Boston. They build enterprise software to power the Industrial Generative AI revolution. Lately however they name drop Generative AI more than they do Quantum computing. Recently they announced a partnership with D-Wave to that brings together powerful generative AI and quantum computing technologies focused on building applications for accelerating new discoveries and solving complex optimization problems. This is relating to so-called Quantum enabled machine learning.
The race success of Quantum computing stocks going public so far has been IonQ $IONQ that is up 60% this year alone at nearly $10. Read more articles about Zapata AI on Quantum Insider here.
Zapata AI claims Traction
Zapata AI's consultative go-to-market approach has gained traction, and the company sees multiple growth opportunities and is in discussions with leading companies across telecommunications, financial services, transportation and logistics, biotech/pharmaceutical and life sciences, automotive OEMs, advanced global manufacturing, and defense and government
Zapata AI's generative AI and optimization offerings include Zapata AI Sense™, a numerical, computational solution, and Zapata AI Prose™, a text-based large language model solution.
These capabilities are available individually or combined, running through Zapata AI’s Sensor Intelligence Platform (SIP), uniquely designed to ingest and process vast amounts of live streaming sensor data, while delivering real-time insights in mission-critical environments and to the edge.
These generative AI solutions are enabled by Zapata AI's Orquestra® reference architecture, the company's full-stack development platform which seamlessly integrates with customers’ existing data and tools, and across multiple cloud environments, including AWS, GCP, Azure, and others.
Zapata AI is an Industrial Generative AI company, revolutionizing how enterprises solve complex problems with its powerful suite of Generative AI software. By combining numerical and text-based solutions, Zapata AI empowers industrial-scale commercial, government and military/defense enterprises to leverage large language models and numerical generative models better, faster, and more efficiently delivering solutions to drive growth, savings and unprecedented insight.
What they are known for in Quantum Circles?
I think I would consider them an “AQ” incubator of pilot of sorts. Zapata AI researchers have demonstrated how quantum circuits can extend and complement the capabilities of classical generative AI.
The research was published online on December 15th, 2023 and can be accessed here.
In August, 2023 they partnered with IonQ on Research.
Zapata Computing Holdings is going to be interesting to watch. Is there a demand for what they are brining to Enterprise AI? They appear to have a global salesforce in the U.S., Europe and Asia.
The reality is AQ firms are rare these days even as Generative AI has made vastly more progress in the last three years than has Quantum computing.
They wrote in the blog:
In 2019, we filed our first patent for quantum techniques for generative AI. Later, in 2020 we were the first to generate high-quality data using a quantum-enhanced generative model, and then innovated the use of quantum generative AI to boost optimization solutions. More recently, we published research showing the potential advantages of quantum-enhanced generative models for drug discovery and also manufacturing plant optimization.
As I cover emerging tech I had to take notice. It’s unclear to me how much Quantum is really part of what they do in practice. But some of their claims are fascinating:
Their SPAC will be a litmus test for other AQ firms going forward on the public market. Companies that focus on Enterprise AI might have an edge given the current AI hype environment.
With so many firms making claims about Quantum error correction, it’s hard to know what all these claims will amount to anytime soon.
Does Zapata AI have some quantum advantage that will make a material difference to Enterprise companies and how they roll out their Generative AI systems?
Is quantum research a differentiator in that crowded field? Time will tell.
SPAC? What could possibly go wrong? 😉 The SEC made a weak attempt to crack down on SPACs in September 2022, but it's still a "pump & dump" Ponzi scheme. 70% of the value lost in 3 days. https://sergeiai.substack.com/p/why-did-i-say-no-to-100-spac-offers