ORCA launches PT-3 quantum computer in London datacentre

ORCA Computing has switched on the PT-3, its newest quantum computer, in a London datacentre. The machine is a test deployment at the Digital Realty Innovation Lab that runs alongside Nvidia-accelerated computing. ORCA claims it is the first quantum system built to deliver what the company calls “commercial quantum advantage”.

The PT-3 runs at room temperature and draws 6 kW across two standard server racks, has a claimed install time of hours, and upgrades in the field. That sets it apart from superconducting machines from rivals such as IBM, Google and Finland’s IQM, which need cooling to near absolute zero inside cryogenic fridges.

Quantum computers handle information differently from the machines that run today’s IT. Where a classical computer works through a maze one path at a time – albeit very quickly – a quantum machine behaves more like water poured into the whole maze at once, weighing up many possible answers in the same moment. The PT-3 is photonic, which means it encodes information in light rather than superconducting circuits.

The company’s headline result is in drug discovery. ORCA extended Nvidia’s Proteína model, an AI system that designs proteins, the molecules behind most medicines. Trained on 32 Nvidia Hopper GPUs alongside the PT-3, the hybrid model produced 20% more protein candidates that passed real-world quality checks than the classical version, and it generated a broader variety of protein shapes.