IBM recently announced a new breakthrough in quantum hardware and software, outlining a groundbreaking vision for quantum-centric supercomputing. This progress was unveiled at the annual IBM Quantum Summit 2022 — an exhibition of the quantum ecosystem of customers, developers and partners — which showcases useful advances in quantum computing around the world.
IBM and Research Director and Senior Vice President Dario Gil said the new 433-bit Osprey processor brings them one step closer to the point where quantum computers will be used to solve previously unsolved problems.
In addition, he said, they are continually scaling up their quantum technology across hardware, software and classical computing, along with partnerships with customers around the world. “This work will lay the groundwork for the coming era of quantum-centric supercomputers,” Gil said. IBM’s new 433-qubit (qubit) processor called ‘IBM Osprey’ has the most qubits of any quantum processor of any firm, tripling the 127 qubits on the recently launched IBM Eagle processor. The new processor performs complex quantum computing better than the computational capabilities of a classical computer.
At the Global Artificial Intelligence Summit, Scott Crowder, IBM vice president and CTO, said: “If we continue to move forward according to our roadmap. This year we will demonstrate the 433 kubit system. Next year, we will demonstrate a 1,000 plus cubit system.” In addition, a beta update has been released for the Qiskit Runtime, which will now allow users to trade speed to reduce errors by choosing a simple option in the API.
Summit also unveiled new information about IBM Quantum System Two, which combines multiple processors into a single system using links. The company says the next-generation system will be built online by the end of 2023 — the building block of a quantum-centric supercomputing system — to scale further, using a modular architecture for classical workflows and integrating quantum-free interference.
In May 2022 at the Think conference, IBM announced its intention to develop more than 4,000 qubit quantum computers by 2025. In 2019, IBM unveiled its first integrated quantum computing system called ‘IBM Quantum System One. In 2020, the tech giant unveiled a roadmap for creating a set of scalable, bigger and better processors.