{ "docId": "019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-1cc056790523", "docSlug": "340e94a59fc0", "documentTitle": "IonQ Inc. (IONQ)", "authorId": "58_Scorpion_Capital", "authorName": "Scorpion Capital", "documentKindSlug": "activist-deck", "documentKindLabel": "Activist deck", "sourceTypeSlug": "short_seller", "sourceTypeLabel": "Short seller", "presentationDate": "2022-05-03 00:00:00", "orientation": "landscape", "aspectRatio": 1.2941177, "pageNumber": 167, "pageCount": 183, "prevPage": 166, "nextPage": 168, "slideType": "expose_contradiction", "function": "expose_contradiction", "density": "dense", "nDataPoints": 0, "notes": "The slide uses highlighted text to emphasize key claims about manufacturing bottlenecks, design similarity, and the lack of technical moat.", "elementsJson": [ "paragraph", "quote_block" ], "metadataConfidence": 1, "imagePath": null, "slideHref": "/slides/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-1cc056790523/167", "deckHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-1cc056790523", "deckJsonHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-1cc056790523.json", "deckAnchorHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-1cc056790523#slide-167", "components": [ { "bbox": null, "kind": "callout", "text": "IonQ’s design remains a clone of Sandia’s and dismissed the “chip” as “not special” and easy to replicate with standard microfabrication technology.", "attrs": null, "subkind": null, "toolName": "Visual emphasis", "toolSlug": "visual-emphasis", "confidence": null, "componentId": "019dd952-f5d2-7501-bd88-c23df3f61414", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.3, "w": 0.9, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.5 }, "kind": "paragraph", "text": "An ex-Sandia employee and ion trap expert indicated that some IonQ traps look identical to Sandia’s or are “very similar” and implied that IonQ simply copies Sandia’s design. “I’m pretty confident; yeah, all the pictures, it’s identical. I’m pretty sure they started off using Sandia’s ion traps [...] This, to me, looks like a trap that was modeled after a Sandia [...] It’s kind of funny because at the end, when you look at this, basically, you just have a bunch of electrodes on the sides, and then you have a couple of RF electrodes, a couple of DC electrodes in the middle going at 90-degrees to that, perpendicular to those. I mean, that’s such a standard thing to do, and then once we figured out how big our beams have to be, then the next logical conclusion is to make this trap very skinny in the middle with an hourglass shape. Have I ever seen this trap before? No. But is it from Sandia? I don’t know. It’s definitely very similar to one of their traps; it was called an HOA, a high optical access trap. Everything since then is kind of similar because that was a great design.” – Ion-trap expert, ex-Sandia employee", "attrs": null, "subkind": "paragraph", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "09cc4fb3-081f-4428-866f-e3d830b74797", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.15, "w": 0.9, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.8 }, "kind": "paragraph", "text": "Ion traps are trivial to fabricate. Q: “So, anybody with a trapped ion computer can make the trap that they need. It’s not that big a deal?” A: “Yes. It’s a well enough—it’s microfabricated. Microfabrication is a well-established technology. So yes, and it’s just math to design it, and then you have to go through testing, and you might have to iterate. But in the end, it’s math to design and experience, but all of these guys have experience, they can all do the math, and they all have access to excellent microfabrication technologies. Because of that, no, it’s not special, not any more special than the next quantum computing company unless you found out someone’s doing it in their garage and then you need to bail.” – Ion-trap expert, ex-Sandia employee", "attrs": null, "subkind": "paragraph", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "c8bd01d2-d03b-48d7-8735-593b10eb0f9f", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.15, "w": 0.9, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.35 }, "kind": "paragraph", "text": "A third former employee corroborated that IonQ’s wasn’t making its own traps and sourced them from Sandia. “It was dependent on the National Foundry, the number of machines in quantum computers is the same as the number of traps. Back then, when I was working there, it was a huge bottleneck with the number of traps because we were not making them.” – Ex-IonQ employee, senior member of technical staff", "attrs": null, "subkind": "paragraph", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "e29af31f-068d-4aaf-8e37-e95ecdc47d9a", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": null, "kind": "quote", "text": "\"It was dependent on the National Foundry, the number of machines in quantum computers is the same as the number of traps. Back then, when I was working there, it was a huge bottleneck with the number of traps because we were not making them.\" — Ex-IonQ employee, senior member of technical staff; \"I’m pretty confident; yeah, all the pictures, it’s identical. I’m pretty sure they started off using Sandia’s ion traps [...] This, to me, looks like a trap that was modeled after a Sandia [...] It’s definitely very similar to one of their traps; it was called an HOA, a high optical access trap. Everything since then is kind of similar because that was a great design.\" — Ion-trap expert, ex-Sandia employee; \"Yes. It’s a well enough—it’s microfabricated. Microfabrication is a well-established technology. So yes, and it’s just math to design it, and then you have to go through testing, and you might have to iterate. But in the end, it’s math to design and experience, but all of these guys have experience, they can all do the math, and they all have access to excellent microfabrication technologies. Because of that, no, it’s not special, not any more special than the next quantum computing company unless you found out someone’s doing it in their garage and then you need to bail.\" — Ion-trap expert, ex-Sandia employee", "attrs": null, "subkind": null, "toolName": "Authority citation", "toolSlug": "authority-citation", "confidence": null, "componentId": "019dd952-f5d2-7501-bd88-c7ae264adce9", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.02, "w": 0.3, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.96 }, "kind": "source-note", "text": "Source: Scorpion Capital consultation calls with experts", "attrs": null, "subkind": null, "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "7dad36d1-1b7c-4103-b5d7-493f0907e8d3", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.25, "w": 0.9, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.08 }, "kind": "title", "text": "Three former employees corroborated that IonQ wasn’t making its own traps but sourcing them from Sandia. A former employee of Sandia and an expert in ion traps provided further verification. IonQ now claims to be making its own traps. However, the ex-Sandia employee as well as former employees of IonQ indicated that IonQ’s design remains a clone of Sandia’s and dismissed the “chip” as “not special” and easy to replicate with standard microfabrication technology.", "attrs": null, "subkind": "headline", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "14fda2b6-f9e7-4aac-aa16-63fe55494e77", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null } ], "metrics": [], "tools": [], "frameworks": [ { "name": "fraud-exposure", "slug": null, "matchId": "dd0b8524-2955-411b-999f-905b833fe2c8", "evidence": "The slide presents expert testimony to contradict company claims regarding proprietary technology.", "confidence": 0.8 } ], "arcBeats": [], "loops": [], "imagePathAlt": null, "thumbSrc": null, "thumbSrcAlt": null, "locked": true }