Nirvanic AI founded to develop quantum computation systems for robots that learn continuously in the present moment

Hacker News · April 27, 2026

AI Summary

•Nirvanic, founded by physicist Suzanne Gildert, is conducting experiments integrating a robot's sensory-action feedback loop with quantum computers. The company encodes sensory inputs and action options into qubits; upon wave function collapse, the system determines what to do given its current experience.
•The company is developing Quantum Conscious Agency Theory (QCAT)—a hypothesis that technological systems might become conscious if they process quantum information in specific ways using entanglement of qubits and wave function collapses. Unlike many consciousness theories, the company states this one is testable and falsifiable with experiments today.
•Nirvanic proposes that robots guided by quantum computation could perceive, decide, and act with real-time agency in novel situations, rather than relying on pretrained models or scripted behaviors. Initial experiments will connect test robots to adiabatic annealing quantum computers, with subsequent research testing gate-model systems such as trapped-ion and photonic quantum processors.

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