Alphabet just spun out out its quantum tech group, launching it as an independent company

It may be time for quantum tech to have its moment.

One of the few pure play quantum tech companies in the world, Rigetti Computing, went public by merging with a special purpose acquisition company. IonQ went public in October and narrowly missed being the first publicly traded company to focus on commercializing quantum tech. D-Wave says it is also planning to go public.

One indicator that quantum tech is progressing beyond the realm of theoretical is the fact that it is getting ready for its close-up ties to Alphabet, which said this morning that it was spinning out its six subsidiaries.

Jack Hidary, who was the director of artificial intelligence and quantum at Sandbox and is a member of the X Prize board, will continue to lead the company.

The former chief scientist of Xerox PARC, John Seely Brown, is one of the advisers that Sandbox has assembled.

Sandbox has nine-figure funding and is rolling out. Jim Breyer, the founder of Breyer Capital, has joined the board of advisers. The investor mix includes Section 32, Guggenheim Investments, TIME Investments and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price.

Market demand is one of the reasons for the decision to spin out Sandbox. By next year, 20% of global organizations are expected to budget for quantum-computing projects, up from less than 1% this year.

The Mount Sinai Health System is one of the customers who are paying for the computing power.

The realization that fault-tolerant quantum computing means the ability to harness quantum physics to zip through numerous possibilities and determine a probable outcome is a bigger driver of growing interest in quantum tech.

Sandbox focuses on how quantum tech intersects with artificial intelligence, developing applications to strengthen cybersecurity platforms, among other things. In the company's own words, there are many aspects of quantum physics and technology that can be used in the near term with no need for quantum computers.

When we spoke a couple of weeks ago, Breyer told us that there were tremendous national security opportunities for the quantum companies.

Think of a very high-powered 1,000x light microscope that can be applied to medicine.

While quantum computing platforms will eventually play a role in helping catch diseases faster, improve security systems and protect all kinds of data, they might also be used to attack some of those systems, which is why larger organizations, including governments and corporations.

There are quantum technologies that are not at the point where quantum computing will be in four or five years. At the time, he suggested that the team at Sandbox was leading the charge.