PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Jeremy L. O’Brien

Also known as Jeremy O'Brien

Jeremy O’Brien is a quantum physicist and co-founder of PsiQuantum, a company that builds photonic quantum computers and announced a partnership with NVIDIA in 2025 spanning quantum computing and silicon photonics for AI supercomputing. After a physics PhD at the University of New South Wales in 2002 and a research fellowship at the University of Queensland, he coauthored an all-optical controlled-NOT gate demonstration in 2003 and became founding director of the Centre for Quantum Photonics at the University of Bristol. He received the Adolph Lomb Medal and the IUPAP Prize in 2010 and coauthored a 2014 Nature Communications paper on a variational eigenvalue solver run on a photonic quantum processor. PsiQuantum began in 2016, when he co-founded it with Terry Rudolph, Peter Shadbolt and Mark Thompson, and the company raised a $1 billion Series E round in 2025 with him as CEO. Since February 2026, he is Executive Chairman of PsiQuantum, where he leads the board and guides strategy and key partnerships.

Now at
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Timeline

  1. 2001–2006

    PhD and a Queensland fellowship

    He completes a physics PhD at the University of New South Wales in 2002, with experimental work on correlated and confined electrons in organic conductors, superconductors and semiconductor nanostructures. From 2001 to 2006, he is a research fellow at the University of Queensland, where he works on quantum optics and quantum information science with single photons.

  2. 2003

    An all-optical CNOT gate

    In 2003, he is first author, with G. J. Pryde, A. G. White, T. C. Ralph and D. Branning, of the Nature paper "Demonstration of an all-optical quantum controlled-NOT gate".

  3. By 2010

    Directing Bristol's Centre for Quantum Photonics

    By 2010, he is a Professorial Research Fellow in Physics and Electrical Engineering at the University of Bristol, where he leads the Centre for Quantum Photonics. He is the founding director of that centre and of the Quantum Engineering and Technology Labs.

  4. 2010

    Lomb Medal and IUPAP Prize

    In 2010, the Optical Society of America awards him the Adolph Lomb Medal for contributions to quantum optics, optical quantum metrology and quantum information through the foundation of the field of integrated quantum photonics. He also receives the 2010 IUPAP Prize in Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics for his work in integrated quantum photonics.

  5. 2014

    A photonic variational eigenvalue solver

    In 2014, he coauthors "A variational eigenvalue solver on a photonic quantum processor" in Nature Communications, with Alberto Peruzzo, Jarrod McClean, Alán Aspuru-Guzik and others. The team combines a reconfigurable photonic quantum processor with a conventional computer and uses ansätze and classical optimization to calculate a molecular ground-state energy.

  6. 2016

    Co-founding PsiQuantum

    In 2016, he co-founds PsiQuantum with Terry Rudolph, Peter Shadbolt and Mark Thompson, after professorships in physics and electrical engineering at Stanford and Bristol. The company builds a utility-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer on a silicon photonics architecture made in a conventional silicon chip foundry, in partnership with GlobalFoundries.

  7. September 2025

    A $1 billion Series E

    In September 2025, PsiQuantum, with him as CEO, raises $1 billion in Series E funding at a $7 billion valuation, in a round led by BlackRock, Temasek and Baillie Gifford. In 2025, the company also announces a broad partnership with NVIDIA spanning quantum computing and next-generation silicon photonics for AI supercomputing.

  8. Since February 2026

    Executive Chairman of PsiQuantum

    In February 2026, he becomes Executive Chairman of PsiQuantum while Victor Peng, a former AMD president, joins as Interim CEO. He leads the Board of Directors and continues to guide the company's strategy and key partnerships.

Career

  1. Since 2016PsiQuantumCo-founder, CEO
  2. 2001–2006University of QueenslandResearch Fellow
  3. University of BristolProfessorial Research Fellow

Education

  1. 2002UNSW SydneyPhD

From the biography.

  1. 11% of AI doctorate holders from 2010 to 2016 founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduationIncludes Jeremy L. O’Brien. We estimate how often AI doctorate holders founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduation, how waiting times compare between founders and top jobs, and which universities trained the most.
  2. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes University of Bristol. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.
  3. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes University of Bristol. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  4. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes University of Queensland. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.

Colleagues

People named in this biography, and people with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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  1. Physics - Jeremy L. O’Brien physics.aps.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. Jeremy O’Brien - Global Young Academy globalyoungacademy.net. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. Jeremy O'Brien - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. 2010: O'Brien awards | News and features | University of Bristol bristol.ac.uk. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. Prof. Jeremy O'Brien — PsiQuantum psiquantum.com. Checked 21 October 2026.
  6. Jeremy L O'Brien | Optica optica.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  7. A variational eigenvalue solver on a photonic quantum processor | Nature Communications nature.com. Checked 21 October 2026.
  8. PsiQuantum - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  9. Jeremy O’Brien: The Quantum Revolution | UNSW Sydney events.unsw.edu.au. Checked 21 October 2026.
  10. PsiQuantum: $1 Billion At $7 Billion Valuation Raised For Building Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computers pulse2.com. Checked 21 October 2026.
  11. PsiQuantum Appoints Victor Peng as Interim CEO, Co-Founder Jeremy O’Brien to Become Executive Chairman — PsiQuantum psiquantum.com. Checked 21 October 2026.
  12. PsiQuantum Appoints Victor Peng as Interim CEO; Co-Founder Jeremy O’Brien to Become Executive Chairman thequantuminsider.com. Checked 21 October 2026.