QBTS 8-K
D-Wave Quantum Inc. (QBTS)
8-K
2025-03-31
For: 2025-03-31
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Added on
July 07, 2026
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
_____________________________________________________________
FORM 8-K
_____________________________________________________________
CURRENT REPORT
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): March 31, 2025
_____________________________________________________________
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
_____________________________________________________________
| (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (Commission File Number) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) | ||||||
(Address of principal executive offices)
(604 ) 630-1428
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
N/A
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)
_____________________________________________________________
Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:
| Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425) | |||||
| Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12) | |||||
| Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b)) | |||||
| Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c)) | |||||
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
| Title of each class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of each exchange on which registered | ||||||||||||
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).
| Emerging growth company | ||||||||
| If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. | ||||||||
Item 7.01 Regulation FD Disclosure.
On March 31, 2025, D-Wave Quantum Inc. (“D-Wave”) and the pharmaceutical division of Japan Tobacco Inc. (“JT”) announced the completion of a joint proof-of-concept project that used quantum computing technology and artificial intelligence (“AI”) in the drug discovery process. JT and D-Wave enhanced large language models with a quantum-hybrid workflow to increase their generative capabilities and enable JT to produce novel, more ‘drug-like’ molecular structures beyond those found in the training datasets for the quantum-hybrid generative AI system. The project results indicate that D-Wave’s quantum processing unit provided the teams with higher quality, lower energy samples, highlighting the potential benefits of quantum computing in generative AI for drug discovery. A copy of this press release is attached as Exhibit 99.1.
Also on March 31, 2025, D-Wave and Ford Otosan, a joint venture between Ford Motor Company and Koç Holding in Turkey, announced that the vehicle manufacturer has deployed a hybrid-quantum application in production, streamlining manufacturing processes for its Ford Transit line of vehicles. The application, which uses D-Wave’s annealing quantum computing technology, has improved vehicle production sequencing at Ford Otosan, a powerful demonstration of quantum computing’s real-world impact in automotive manufacturing. According to Ziya Dalkılıç, data scientist at Ford Otosan, Ford Otosan was able to build and deploy a quantum optimization application using D-Wave’s technology that goes beyond what they were able to achieve with a purely classical computing approach. A copy of this press release is attached as Exhibit 99.2.
The information in this Item 7.01 to this Current Report on Form 8-K, including Exhibit 99.1 and Exhibit 99.2, is intended to be furnished and shall not be deemed to be “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section, nor shall such information be deemed incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except as expressly set forth by specific reference in such a filing.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this report are forward-looking, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the information expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements and may not be indicative of future results. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, among others, various factors beyond management’s control, including the risks set forth under the heading “Risk Factors” discussed under the caption “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in Part I of D-Wave’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K or any updates discussed under the caption “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in Part II of D-Wave’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and in D-Wave’s other filings with the SEC. Undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements in this report in making an investment decision, which are based on information available to D-Wave on the date hereof. D-Wave undertakes no duty to update this information unless required by law.
Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.
(d) Exhibits
| Exhibit No. | Description | |||||||
| Press release, dated March 31, 2025. | ||||||||
| Press release, dated March 31, 2025. | ||||||||
| 104 | Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document). | |||||||
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
Date: March 31, 2025 | D-Wave Quantum Inc. | |||||||
| By: | /s/ Alan Baratz | |||||||
| Name: | Alan Baratz | |||||||
| Title: | President & Chief Executive Officer | |||||||
Japan Tobacco and D-Wave Announce Quantum Proof-of-Concept Outperforms Classical Results for LLM Training in Drug Discovery
Quantum computing project aims to enhance the speed and quality of drug development processes to create first-in-class small molecule pharmaceuticals
PALO ALTO, Calif. – March 31, 2025 – D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS) (“D-Wave” or the “Company”), a leader in quantum computing systems, software, and services, and the pharmaceutical division of Japan Tobacco Inc. (“JT”) today announced the completion of a joint proof-of-concept project that used quantum computing technology and artificial intelligence (AI) in the drug discovery process. JT and D-Wave enhanced large language models (LLMs) with a quantum-hybrid workflow to increase their generative capabilities and enable JT to produce novel, more ‘drug-like’ molecular structures beyond those found in the training datasets for the quantum-hybrid generative AI system.
The work demonstrated that LLM hybrid models that used classical computation together with D-Wave’s quantum processing unit (QPU) resulted in more valid generated molecules when compared to classical methods alone. In addition, the molecules generated by QPU-assisted LLM training showed a higher quantitative estimate of drug-likeness compared to the training dataset and the models trained with classical computation-driven LLM training methods. This indicates that the QPU provided the teams with higher quality, lower energy samples, highlighting the potential benefits of quantum computing in generative AI for drug discovery.
The goal of this project is to accelerate the discovery of first-in-class small-molecule compounds while improving quality and speed in various processes. In this proof-of-concept, D-Wave’s annealing quantum computing technology was used in JT’s AI technology framework to train LLMs such as a transformer architecture — the same engine behind ChatGPT — for the exploration of chemical space. This enabled the teams to evaluate the feasibility of building a machine learning framework capable of handling a broader range of molecular properties and activities of compounds, which, in our view, initiates a new stage in the use of Quantum AI technologies for drug discovery. By combining AI and quantum computing technologies, the project further confirmed the potential for facilitating the small-molecule compound discovery process in both quality and speed of drug development.
“We are excited by the results we are seeing from our proof-of-concept project with D-Wave. In the experiment, with support from D-Wave’s professional services and product R&D teams, we utilized D-Wave’s annealing quantum computer to train JT’s AI model,” said Dr. Masaru Tateno, Chief Scientific Officer of Central Pharma Research Institute. “Our quantum-hybrid AI system shifted generated compounds to a more ‘drug-like’ molecular ensemble than the training dataset, without imposing any driving factors of molecular properties in our AI model. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work for annealing quantum computation to outperform classical results concerning LLM training in drug discovery. This validation has also revealed that annealing quantum computing systems can deliver high quality, low energy samples that could drive enhanced performance in generative AI architectures. So, moving forward, with D-Wave’s quantum annealing machines, we aim to maximize the use of quantum computing hardware characteristics and accelerate our efforts in achieving Quantum AI-driven drug discovery.”
“AI has made impressive advancements but faces a computational challenge due to escalating power needs and costs,” said Dr. Alan Baratz, CEO of D-Wave. “Quantum computing’s integration with AI and machine learning could offer scalable, energy-efficient solutions to address these issues and potentially offer enhanced AI capabilities. We believe that our work with JT is an important demonstration and validation of quantum’s integration with AI. When used together, these powerful technologies can help customers build more efficient, rapid, and energy-saving AI and machine learning workloads. While we are just at the beginning of exploring Quantum AI’s potential impact, in our view, this work is a resounding step forward.”
Following the proof-of-concept project, the pharmaceutical division of JT plans to further advance the development of Quantum AI-driven drug discovery technology and then use quantum computing technology for molecular design.
About JT Pharmaceutical division
JT commenced its pharmaceutical business in 1987 with its mission to create original and innovative drugs for patients suffering from diseases around the world. To learn more, visit https://www.jt.com/about/division/pharma/index.html
About D-Wave Quantum Inc.
D-Wave is a leader in the development and delivery of quantum computing systems, software, and services. We are the world’s first commercial supplier of quantum computers, and the only company building both annealing and gate-model quantum computers. Our mission is to help customers realize the value of quantum, today. Our 5,000+ qubit Advantage™ quantum computers, the world’s largest, are available on-premises or via the cloud, supported by 99.9% availability and uptime. More than 100 organizations trust D-Wave with their toughest computational challenges. With over 200 million problems submitted to our Advantage systems and Advantage2TM prototypes to date, our customers apply our technology to address use cases spanning optimization, artificial intelligence, research and more. Learn more about realizing the value of quantum computing today and how we’re shaping the quantum-driven industrial and societal advancements of tomorrow: www.dwavequantum.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the information expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements and may not be indicative of future results. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, among others, various factors beyond management’s control, including the risks set forth under the heading “Risk Factors” discussed under the caption “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in Part I of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K or any updates discussed under the caption “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in Part II of our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and in our other filings with the SEC. Undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements in this press release in making an investment decision, which are based on information available to us on the date hereof. We undertake no duty to update this information unless required by law.
Media Contacts:
D-Wave
Alex Daigle
In Production: Ford Otosan Deploys Vehicle Manufacturing Application Built with D-Wave Technology
Hybrid-quantum application streamlines vehicle production sequencing
PALO ALTO, Calif. AND GÖLCÜK, Turkey – March 31, 2025 – D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS) (“D-Wave” or the “Company”), a leader in quantum computing systems, software, and services, and Ford Otosan, a joint venture between Ford Motor Company and Koç Holding in Turkey, today announced that the vehicle manufacturer has deployed a hybrid-quantum application in production, streamlining manufacturing processes for its Ford Transit line of vehicles. The application, which uses D-Wave’s annealing quantum computing technology, has improved vehicle production sequencing at Ford Otosan, a powerful demonstration of quantum computing’s real-world impact in automotive manufacturing.
Ford Otosan is the global leading manufacturer of Ford Transit line of vehicles, including passenger vans, which are among the most customizable commercial vehicles available, with more than 1,500 variants in production. This model variability presents manufacturing efficiency challenges because producing identical products consecutively is significantly more productive than frequently adjusting for custom specifications. Sequencing these vehicles is a highly constrained optimization problem, as it requires maximizing throughput and adhering to physical and workforce constraints of the body shop, paint shop, and assembly line.
Ford Otosan collaborated with D-Wave to simplify elements of its manufacturing processes, including the optimization of its production sequencing. By leveraging D-Wave’s hybrid solvers available through the Leap™ quantum cloud service, Ford Otosan reduced the scheduling time of 1,000 vehicles per run from 30 minutes to less than five. Moreover, D-Wave's annealing quantum computing solution offered more flexibility for the manufacturer to adapt to changes in demand or auto part availability, maintaining productivity without disruption.
“It is imperative that Ford Otosan maintains the highest standards of production processes and efficiencies to meet customer demand,” said Ziya Dalkılıç, data scientist at Ford Otosan. “Working with D-Wave’s technology, we’ve built and now deployed a quantum optimization application that goes beyond what we were able to achieve with a purely classical computing approach.”
“Production scheduling demands meticulous planning and agile responses, and classical computing methods can often struggle to keep up with the manufacturing industry’s growing scale and complexity,” said Dr. Alan Baratz, CEO of D-Wave. “For manufacturers on the leading-edge of innovation—such as Ford Otosan—D-Wave’s quantum computing technology has proven capable of finding better solutions to complex, real-world problems than classical computing alone. We’re thrilled to see this application move into production and help Ford Otosan realize the powerful benefits of quantum.”
By reducing workload imbalances, Ford Otosan aims to minimize the frequency of unplanned maintenance, ensuring a more stable production process. Optimizing longer schedules can also help mitigate supplier uncertainties and reduce supply delays. As a result, Ford Otosan anticipates increasing peak production throughput of vehicles per hour, effectively reclaiming lost manufacturing time and achieving efficiencies not possible through classical computing alone. Ford Otosan also plans to activate quantum scheduling in additional body shops and extend its optimization benefits to other processes, including its paint shops, assembly lines, and buffer zones.
To learn more about the application, visit Ford Otosan’s submission to the World Economic Forum’s Quantum Application Hub as well as D-Wave's website for information about how quantum optimization can help manufacturers today.
About Ford Otosan
Founded in 1959, Ford Otosan is the largest commercial vehicle production center in Ford Europe with a production capacity of 746,500 vehicles, 437,500 engines and 140,000 powertrains by 2023. Kocaeli and Eskişehir Plants are ranked among Ford’s ‘Best Vehicle Production Centers’. The Eskişehir Plant is the only plant in Türkiye that can produce vehicles, diesel engines and powertrains in the same environment. In addition to having a long-standing business partnership with its dealers, Ford is represented all over Türkiye and provides maintenance, repair and service services through expert authorized services. It undertakes the design, engineering and production processes of Ford
Trucks, Ford's only heavy commercial vehicle brand. With its Ford Trucks business unit, Ford Otosan also assigns distributorships and dealerships abroad and provides service and spare parts services.
About D-Wave Quantum Inc.
D-Wave is a leader in the development and delivery of quantum computing systems, software, and services. We are the world’s first commercial supplier of quantum computers, and the only company building both annealing and gate-model quantum computers. Our mission is to help customers realize the value of quantum, today. Our 5,000+ qubit Advantage™ quantum computers, the world’s largest, are available on-premises or via the cloud, supported by 99.9% availability and uptime. More than 100 organizations trust D-Wave with their toughest computational challenges. With over 200 million problems submitted to our Advantage systems and Advantage2TM prototypes to date, our customers apply our technology to address use cases spanning optimization, artificial intelligence, research and more. Learn more about realizing the value of quantum computing today and how we’re shaping the quantum-driven industrial and societal advancements of tomorrow: www.dwavequantum.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the information expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements and may not be indicative of future results. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, among others, various factors beyond management’s control, including the risks set forth under the heading “Risk Factors” discussed under the caption “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in Part I of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K or any updates discussed under the caption “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in Part II of our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and in our other filings with the SEC. Undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements in this press release in making an investment decision, which are based on information available to us on the date hereof. We undertake no duty to update this information unless required by law.
Media Contacts:
D-Wave
Alex Daigle