# Quantum Effect Dev

**Canonical:** https://apis.io/providers/quantum-effect-dev/  
**APIs profiled:** 0

Quantum Effect Devices (QED, originally Quantum Effect Design) was a fabless semiconductor company founded in 1991 by former MIPS Computer Systems managers Tom Riordan, Earl Killian, and Ray Kunita. QED designed MIPS-based 32- and 64-bit embedded RISC microprocessors (the RM5200 and RM7000 families) for networking and communications systems including routers, switches, and optical transport equipment. The company completed an IPO in 2000 and was acquired the same year by PMC-Sierra for approximately $2.3 billion. It has no independent operations, developer platform, or API surface today; the former corporate site (qedinc.com) is defunct. This record was surfaced as a Lightspeed Venture Partners portfolio company and is retained as a historical/no-API-surface entry.

## Kin Score — 5.0 / 100 (minimal)

Scored 2026-08-20 under rubric 0.12.0. Trend: flat (+0.0 from 5.0).

| Facet | Score |
|---|---|
| Discoverability | 50.0 |
| Contract Quality | 0.0 |
| Governance | 0.0 |
| Contract Governance | 0.0 |
| Operational Transparency | 0.0 |
| Developer Ergonomics | 0.0 |
| Commercial Clarity | 0.0 |
| Access Clarity | 0.0 |

## Agent readiness — 0.0 (human-only)

| Dimension | Value |
|---|---|
| Spec Presence | no |
| Agentic Access | no |
| Reversibility Documented | no |
| MCP Server | no |
| Auth Clarity | no |
| Idempotency | no |
| Error Semantics | no |
| OpenAPI Examples | no |
| Rate Limit Signal | no |
| Event Surface Described | no |
| Agent Skills | no |
| Well Known Catalog | no |
| Consent Identity | no |
| Agent Card | no |
| Dry Run Mode | no |

## Access

Unknown — onboarding: unknown, pricing: unknown, trial: no (confidence: low).

## Tags

Company, Semiconductors, Microprocessors, MIPS, Networking, Hardware, Defunct

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Profiled by [API Evangelist](https://apievangelist.com) and published on [APIs.io](https://apis.io/providers/quantum-effect-dev/). Scores are computed from the provider's own public artifacts under a published rubric.