| Date | 4th, Dec 2023 |
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IBM Quantum System Two is the building block of quantum-centric supercomputing. IBM Quantum System Two is the bedrock for scalable quantum computation. It is now operational at IBMs lab in Yorktown Heights, NY. It is 22 feet wide, 12 feet high, and today features three IBM Quantum Heron processors. It combines cryogenic infrastructure with third-generation control electronics and classical runtime servers. IBM Quantum System Two is the modular-architecture quantum computing platform that they will use to realize parallel circuit executions for quantum-centric supercomputing.
Earlier in 2023, IBM published research that demonstrated that quantum computers could run circuits beyond the reach of brute-force classical simulations. For the first time, they have hardware and software capable of executing quantum circuits with no known a priori answer at a scale of 100 qubits and 3,000 gates. Quantum is now a computational tool, and what makes me most excited is that we can start to advance science in fields beyond quantum computing, itself.
Breaking the 1,000-qubit barrier with Condor IBM has introduced IBM Condor, a 1,121 superconducting qubit quantum processor based on our cross-resonance gate technology. Condor pushes the limits of scale and yield in chip design with a 50% increase in qubit density, advances in qubit fabrication and laminate size, and includes over a mile of high-density cryogenic flex IO wiring within a single dilution refigerator. With performance comparable to our previous 433-qubit Osprey, it serves as an innovation milestone, solving scale and informing future hardware design.
Access to the highest performing quantum processor: Heron Building on four years of research, IBM introduced the first IBM Quantum Heron processor on the ibm_torino quantum system. Featuring 133 fixed-frequency qubits with tunable couplers, Heron yields a 3-5x improvement in device performance over IBMs previous flagship 127-qubit Eagle processors, and virtually eliminates cross-talk. With Heron, IBM has developed a qubit and the gate technology that will form the foundation of their hardware roadmap going forward.
IBM Quantum Heron features 133 fixed-frequency qubits with tunable couplers, yielding a 3-5x improvement in device performance over our previous flagship 127-qubit Eagle processors, and virtually eliminates cross-talk.
Qiskit 1.0 coming in February 2024 Quantum-centric supercomputing is not achieved by hardware alone. It requires performant software for generating and manipulating quantum circuits and middleware for executing hybrid quantum-classical workflows in a heterogeneous computing environment. Qiskit 1.0 marks the first stable release of Qiskit, the most popular quantum computing SDK. It delivers marked improvements in circuit construction, compilation times, and memory consumption compared to earlier releases.
In addition, Qiskit 1.0 outperforms competing compilation frameworks in both runtime and resultant two-qubit gate counts when mapping circuits to quantum hardware.
IBM Quantum Computing Roadmap to 2033
The new IBM Quantum roadmap highlights improvements in the number of gates that our processors and systems will be able to execute. Starting with a target of Heron reaching 5,000 gates in 2024, the roadmap lays out multiple generations of processors, each leveraging improvements in quality to achieve ever-larger gate counts.
Then, in 2029, IBM hits an inflection point: executing 100 million gates over 200 qubits with our Starling processor employing error correction based on the novel Gross Code. This is error correcting codes for near-term quantum computers.
This is followed byu Blue Jay, a system capable of executing 1 billion gates across 2,000 qubits by 2033. This represents a nine order-of-magnitude increase in performed gates since IBM put their first device on the cloud in 2016. The new innovation roadmap will demonstrates the technology needed to realize the Gross code through l-, m-, and c-couplers to be demonstrated by Flamingo, Crossbill, and Kookaburra, respectively.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.
