Taking Quantum Logic to the Edge
Jason Turner, Chairman and CEO of Entanglement, started the AI quantum computing company in 2017. He quickly realized it was too early. Rather than focus on quantum computing hardware, which is still on the journey to maturity, he chose to focus on quantum logic, and quantum inspired algorithms applicable to existing compute technologies.
He and his team therefore turned their attention to using quantum logic. “We reframed the math into our own solvers that can solve massive problems on non-classical computer technology. We are now applying that to different applications, including oceanography and maritime security. We can bring together the best of breed sensors, whether they are quantum or not, and detect things that weren’t previously detectable – in a time that matters: real-time.”
By non-classical computer technology, Turner means technologies such as graphics processing units, quantum annealers, simulated annealers, photonic computers, and acoustic computers.
The company has worked with a range of AI technology and chip companies to create its unique capabilities. “Our systems are quantum ready, meaning they will work on quantum computers with quantum-level encryption. The problem is that there aren’t any with enough qubits to give us answers at scale. Another challenge is that quantum computers are being built into quantum data centers, and what does that mean? It means all this information has to flow back to a central location.”
This is not suitable for mission-critical applications that need to provide real-time situational awareness. “People think a lot about quantum computers, and we work on things that they are well suited for, but it’s not necessarily an important distinction for us,” he says. The quantum logic that is useful for many maritime applications is very powerful on different types of computer architecture. “You don’t need a quantum computer to do quantum logic.”
In January, Entanglement, Inc. completed its acquisition of Applied Ocean Sciences (AOS), a leading ocean science and ocean acoustics company with expertise spanning environmental science, maritime operations, and large-scale sensing and modeling.
Entanglement and AOS have already created a new company, Maritech Intelligence Systems, which launched with two foundational product platforms:
MIST™ (Maritime Information Synthesis Terminal) — a living digital twin of the world’s oceans that fuses remote sensing, in-situ sensors, and quantum-logic-enabled AI. Built on decades of ocean acoustic research and real-world deployments, MIST delivers real-time maritime awareness, prediction, and targeting with unmatched precision—globally, continuously, and in context.
MADEN™ (Maritime Autonomous Distributed Edge Network) — a resilient, distributed edge intelligence network developed from years of operational ocean sensing and communications experience. MADEN extends sensing, communications, navigation and analytics across vast maritime environments, above and below the waterline, even in remote or GPS-degraded regions.
Together, MIST and MADEN form a unified maritime intelligence stack that supports a rapidly expanding set of high-value, dual-use applications, including:
• Ocean sustainability and conservation at planetary scale
• Detection of pollution events and environmental impact on marine mammals and ecosystems
• Identification of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing
• Maritime safety, port security, and protection of critical infrastructure
• Detection of smuggling, drug trafficking, and human trafficking routes
• Defense and security missions requiring the world’s most accurate, real-time sensing and targeting capabilities
• Search and rescue, disaster response, and navigation safety.
MIST and MADEN can be operated on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure to enable secure, scalable, and compliance-capable global operability. This enables customers—including sovereign governments—to deploy Maritech systems worldwide while maintaining control over data residency, security, and regulatory requirements.
Maritech represents the culmination of years of deep domain expertise in ocean acoustics, oceanography, and environmental science, maritime security combined with next-generation AI powered by Entanglement’s Quantum Logic Core™.
“When combined with quantum-logic-powered AI, we’re able to extract meaning from the ocean faster, more accurately, and at a scale that was previously impossible,” says Dr. Christopher Verlinden, Chief Technology Officer of Applied Ocean Sciences and now Chief Technologist at Entanglement.
He explains that two types of mathematical approaches stand out as examples of the benefits of quantum logic. One is classically mathematically intractable or unsolvable inverse problems with easily verifiable forward problems. Examples of this range from prime factorization for encryption applications to acoustic tomography for measuring ocean properties using sound.
The other is complex problems with probabilistic answers, ones that are suited to quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO), such as optimizing where to place a small number of sensors in a massive ocean and how to achieve navigation by autonomous vehicles.
These compute technologies can even be applied to solving some of the biggest climatological and weather forecasting problems of our time. Dr. Verlinden even thinks some day the technology they are developing could be applied to things like developing the ability to predict El Niño. “El Niño causes famine, drought, floods, economies collapse, and socioeconomic instability. There's trillions of dollars on the line with El Niño and people's lives. Yet it's fundamentally a physics system; it's one equation. It's just a really hard equation to solve.”
Using models to predict certain statistics that can be verified by a limited number of measurements means a “guess and check” approach can be used to identify the optimal model for predicting the weather system which matches the observations.
Verlinden and his team are currently using this approach to develop a system for predicting visibility at sea for seafarers. They are taking an ocean atmosphere model, developing sensors, and assimilating sensor data from a sparse set of observations to predict maritime visibility. “We were doing this before the merger with Entanglement as part of a NOAA project, and we were doing fine. But once you start throwing the math that the Entanglement crew have been making over the last five years, it becomes very, very powerful.”
The team has also been applying the quantum-AI technology they are developing to user interfaces. The approach enables users to chat with MIST like a person. “You don’t need a PhD in computer science to use it.”
Turner says Maritech is delivering maritime intelligence capabilities that were once thought to be computationally unreachable. “From protecting marine ecosystems and global trade routes to enabling unmatched real-time sensing and targeting, Maritech brings together science, sustainability, and advanced computing at true ocean scale—delivering trusted intelligence for those who must act decisively, in a time that truly matters.”