IonQ launches Superion 256, a quantum computer built for volume production

Quantum chip developer IonQ Inc. today launched Superion 256, a 256-qubit quantum computer built around control chips made on standard semiconductor lines, which IonQ says lets it produce the systems in volume.

Superion 256 is IonQ’s sixth generation of quantum computer, and every future system is meant to sit on the same platform. IonQ pre-sold the first unit in the first quarter. Production machines will also run on the company’s cloud service.

The chips come from SkyWater Technology Inc., the foundry IonQ agreed to buy in January in a $1.8 billion deal. IonQ has fabricated its first fully integrated 256-qubit quantum processing units there and trapped ions in prototype systems now being assembled at several U.S. sites. The chip went through six tapeouts in the first half of 2026. Working with SkyWater’s quantum foundry cut the design cycle from nine months to two, the company said, and produced 12 times more wafer lots over six months than a previous foundry partner.

Electronic Qubit Control powers the system, a technology IonQ picked up with its $1.075 billion purchase of Oxford Ionics Ltd. last year. Trapped-ion machines have generally leaned on laser arrays for qubit control. On Superion the electronics sit on the chip.