# SandboxAQ AI + quantum technology company spun out of Alphabet in March 2022, with [[Eric Schmidt]] as board chairman. The "AQ" stands for AI + Quantum. SandboxAQ is the cleanest single example of the Google-to-Pentagon pipeline: Alphabet incubates the technology, Schmidt chairs the spinout, the spinout wins military contracts — see [[Google Defense Timeline]]. ## Origins: Incubated Inside Alphabet SandboxAQ began life in 2016 as "Sandbox," an internal quantum technology initiative at Alphabet founded by serial entrepreneur **Jack Hidary** (CEO since spinout). It operated quietly inside Google's parent for roughly six years before being spun out as an independent company in March 2022 — taking Alphabet-developed technology and an Alphabet-adjacent leadership network with it. Schmidt, who had stepped down from Alphabet's board in 2019, became chairman and a major investor. ## Funding and Valuation - **2022–2023** — Initial post-spinout rounds; backers included Breyer Capital, T. Rowe Price, Guggenheim, and Schmidt himself (via [[Hillspire]]). - **December 2024** — $300M+ round at a **$5.6B valuation**, led by investors including Fred Alger Management; [[Ray Dalio]] and T. Rowe Price participated. - **April 2025** — Series E of more than $450M at a **$5.75B valuation**, with strategic investments from **Google and Nvidia** — Alphabet investing in its own spinout, completing the circle. - **Total raised:** ~$950M+ across five rounds from 30+ investors. ~350 employees as of 2026. ## Government and Defense Work SandboxAQ's government footprint has expanded steadily: - **Post-quantum cryptography** — Flagship product **AQtive Guard** inventories and manages cryptographic vulnerabilities ahead of the quantum-decryption threat. Won [[Air Force]] work to quantum-proof military networks; achieved FedRAMP Ready status; and secured a five-year agreement with the Pentagon CIO's office for post-quantum cybersecurity migration. - **Quantum navigation** — **MagNav**, magnetometer-based positioning that works when GPS is jammed or spoofed — selected for the [[Defense Innovation Unit]]'s Transition of Quantum Sensing program. GPS-denied navigation is a core lesson of the Ukraine drone war, connecting SandboxAQ's sensing work to the same battlefield-driven market as [[White Stork]]. - **NATO** — Joined NATO's DIANA defense-innovation accelerator program. ## Civilian Applications The company also runs **AQBioSim** (AI-driven drug discovery, including a partnership with MapLight Therapeutics worth up to $200M for CNS drug development) — the classic [[Dual-Use AI]] structure in which civilian science legitimizes a business whose strategic value is military. ## RWKB Significance SandboxAQ sits in the middle of the [[Eric Schmidt]] conflicts-of-interest map: Schmidt chairs the board of a defense contractor spun out of the company whose equity made him a billionaire, while his policy vehicles (NSCAI, SCSP) wrote the government strategy — quantum-resilient cryptography, GPS-denied navigation, AI competitiveness — that SandboxAQ now sells back to the Pentagon. Unlike [[White Stork]], it is structured conventionally and publicly; the two companies represent the loud and quiet halves of the same Schmidt defense portfolio. ## See Also - [[Eric Schmidt]] — Board chairman; full conflicts map on his page - [[Hillspire]] — Schmidt's family office, an investor - [[White Stork]] — Schmidt's covert drone company; the opaque sibling - [[Google Defense Timeline]] — The arc this company emerged from - [[Defense Innovation Unit]] — Procurement bridge for its quantum sensing work - [[Defense Tech Ecosystem]] — Sector map