IBM Delivers New Quantum Processors, Software, and Algorithm Breakthroughs

At the annual Quantum Developer Conference, IBM unveiled fundamental progress on its path to delivering both quantum advantage by the end of 2026 and fault-tolerant quantum computing by 2029. “There are many pillars to bringing truly useful quantum computing to the world,” said Jay Gambetta, Director of IBM Research and IBM Fellow.

“We believe that IBM is the only company that is positioned to rapidly invent and scale quantum software, hardware, fabrication, and error correction to unlock transformative applications. We are thrilled to announce many of these milestones today,” added Gambetta.

IBM is unveiling IBM Quantum Nighthawk, its most advanced quantum processor yet, and it is designed with an architecture to complement high-performing quantum software to deliver quantum advantage next year: the point at which a quantum computer can solve a problem better than all classical-only methods. IBM Nighthawk is expected to be delivered to IBM users by the end of 2025 and will offer 120 qubits linked together with 218 next-generation tunable couplers. This increased qubit connectivity will allow users to accurately execute circuits with 30 percent more complexity than on IBM’s previous processor while maintaining low error rates. This architecture will enable users to explore more computationally demanding problems that require up to 5,000 two-qubit gates, the fundamental entangling operations critical for quantum computation.

IBM expects future iterations of Nighthawk to deliver up to 7,500 gates by the end of 2026 and then up to 10,000 gates in 2027. By 2028, Nighthawk-based systems could support up to 15,000 two-qubit gates enabled by 1,000 or more connected qubits extended through long-range couplers first demonstrated on IBM experimental processors last year. IBM anticipates that the first cases of verified quantum advantage will be confirmed by the wider community by the end of 2026.