New Mexico opens quantum computing hub to boost US technology

New Mexico officials on Tuesday launched a shared quantum computing research facility designed to bring together private companies and two US national laboratories in an effort to accelerate the development and commercialization of quantum technology.

The Roadrunner Quantum Lab is a 35,000-square-foot (3,252-square-meter) facility in Albuquerque equipped with specialized infrastructure for quantum research, including concrete floors several feet thick and dilution refrigerators — cryogenic cooling systems capable of reaching temperatures at which atoms barely move, Reuters reported.

The facility represents the first major step in New Mexico's effort to direct hundreds of millions of dollars toward developing the state's quantum computing industry.

Quantum computers could eventually solve certain problems that would take conventional computers thousands of years to process, although the technology remains under development.

Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratory are among the facility's initial tenants. Both are among the US laboratories involved in developing and maintaining the country's nuclear weapons arsenal.