IBM plans to scale quantum computing system beyond 1000 qubits in 2027

IBM IBM plans to scale its quantum computing system beyond 1,000 qubits next year, as the company seeks to build more powerful machines capable of solving increasingly complex problems.

The company said its next-generation Nighthawk r3 processor will be designed to perform 10,000 quantum operations across 520 programmable qubits. IBM plans to connect two such processors in 2027 to create a system with 1,040 qubits.

“Useful quantum computing hinges on whether results can be delivered with accuracy and speed, both are fundamental,” said Jay Gambetta, director of IBM Research.

The announcement builds on the performance of its current Nighthawk r2 processor, which has processed more than 34B circuits for clients and partners, including E.ON, Algorithmiq and Q-CTRL.

The partners reported performance improvements of up to 19 times compared with previous IBM quantum processors, while maintaining the accuracy needed for scientific computing, IBM said.

E.ON reported a 15-fold speedup in quantum machine learning applications for energy grid optimisation. IBM also reported a 12-fold speedup in a research project with Oak Ridge National Laboratory that simulated magnetic materials.

IBM said Nighthawk r2 can deliver up to 100,000 samples per second and execute more than 7,500 quantum operations on 120 qubits.