SandboxAQ optimistic about quantum AI in the UAE

Alphabet spin-off expects next wave of AI helping the Emirates export its expertise in key sectors globally, Jack Hidary says

Jack Hidary, chief executive of Alphabet spinoff SandboxAQ, during his visit to Dubai. Antonie Robertson / The National

SandboxAQ, the artificial intelligence and quantum technology company spun off from Google parent Alphabet, expects that large quantitative models (LQMs) will enable the UAE to export its expertise in key sectors worldwide.

The California-based company said biotechnology, finance, energy and logistics are the sectors that would benefit the most from LQMs, and is in the “early stages” of developing customer relationships in the Emirates, Jack Hidary, its chief executive, told The National in Dubai.

The company is financially robust as it strives to start the next wave of the AI revolution, he added.

“There is so much great activity in the UAE and so many companies interested in [LQMs] … when you look at the UAE economy, you can see there certainly is a role [for LQMs] to play, [and] the bigger applications for the UAE are really on the quantitative AI side,” he said in an interview.

LQMs are advanced AI systems that are designed to analyse, process and generate quantitative data rather than natural language, which is the basis for large language models that power generative AI.

For instance, the LQM of SandboxAQ's AQBioSim platform, which aids in drug discovery, is trained on physics-based technology to help produce entirely new molecules from scratch with desired sets of properties, according to its website.

“Word-based AI is trained only on the words of the internet. So if it's not on the internet, it doesn't know it … we produce data in a very different way [like] from actual equations. We don't take any data from the internet, so [LQMs] are a fundamentally different AI,” Mr Hidary said.

Tapping into LQMs will also enable UAE companies to create several intellectual properties, including assets in biotechnology, materials and new energy, boosting the economy and expanding the country's capabilities that would be recognised globally, he said.

“What if the UAE would be its own creator of biotech IP and it would be first approved here, then go to other countries? That would be very positive for the UAE,” Mr Hidary said.

“The IP that is produced out of our software is owned by the customer, so it's an IP-generating machine for them … that can then build up the value of the UAE's exportable assets.”

Governments and enterprises would also be able to save “significant” amounts of time and costs using LQMs, aside from producing better products, he said.

“If you use LQMs to calculate what a new drug might be, you can explore a much bigger potential drug space than humans ever could on their own. So, we could go beyond just human capabilities of physically trying to mix and match drugs or chemicals, and that's really the power of LQMs.”

SandboxAQ raised $500 million in early 2023 – boosting its valuation to about $4 billion, according to industry tracker Pitchbook – to support its quantum tech and cyber security work. The company is not seeking to raise more investments in the foreseeable future and is instead focusing on developing products, attracting customers and building its team, Mr Hidary said.

“We still have most of the money in the bank, [so] not yet. Perhaps that might happen in the future, but not at this time … the use of proceeds has been in investing in the team,” he said.

SandboxAQ was founded in 2016 by Mr Hidary as a moonshot quantum unit at Alphabet while he was a group director at the technology giant. It was then spun off in 2022 and as an independent entity, funded by investors including T Rowe Price, Breyer Capital, Guggenheim Partners, Paladin Capital Group and former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt, who became and remains as SandboxAQ's chairman.

It is focused on the third quantum revolution – the first revolved around nuclear, while the second involved lasers, global positioning systems and transistors used in mobile devices – to deliver “critical advances” in life sciences, financial services, navigation, cyber technology and other sectors, according to its website.

While LLMs have their own key purposes, LQMs, Mr Hidary said, are better suited for the “big, big sectors of the economy”.

“It will be for many more people than LLMs in the business world. From a B2B perspective, it's a much bigger market, probably 50 times as large,” he added.

LQMs are also more robust and resilient than LLMs, he said, providing extra layers of security, which has been a hot topic when it comes to the responsible use of AI.

“LQMs are trained on the equations of reality, the physics, chemistry and biology that we know to be true, and that gives it a tremendous advantage in creating IP, value, medicines and diagnostic machines, which are critical challenges,” Mr Hidary said.

“And some people say, 'maybe we need to halt or pause AI'. I would actually say the opposite when it comes to LQMs, as it is irresponsible not to use AI because it can bring so many positive benefits to humans.”