IBM launches new quantum processors, details plans to integrate generative AI with quantum computing

Representative image

US technology giant IBM on December 4 announced a series of updates on its quantum computing roadmap; expanding it to a 10-year plan and launching ‘IBM Quantum Heron’, a new series of utility-scale quantum processors with an architecture to deliver IBM’s highest performance metrics and lowest error rates of any IBM Quantum processor to date.

The company also launched IBM Quantum System Two, its first modular quantum computer and the cornerstone of IBM’s quantum-centric supercomputing architecture. These announcements were made during the IBM Quantum Summit.

The first IBM Quantum System Two which is located in Yorktown Heights, New York, has begun operations with three IBM Heron processors and supporting control electronics.

IBM was the first company in 2019 to launch its circuit-based commercial quantum computer called Quantum System One. The system comprises custom components that work to create the most advanced cloud-based quantum computing platform.

Quantum Computing involves using quantum mechanics or mathematical descriptions of the motion and interaction of subatomic particles for superfast calculations by superposition, interference, and entanglement.

With these new launches, the tech giant is now extending its IBM Quantum Development Roadmap to 2033 with new targets to significantly advance the quality of gate operations. IBM plans for this system to house IBM’s future generations of quantum processors.

“Also, as part of this roadmap, these future processors are intended to gradually improve the quality of operations they can run to significantly extend the complexity and size of workloads they are capable of handling,” the company said in a statement.

“We are firmly within the era in which quantum computers are being used as a tool to explore new frontiers of science,” said Dario Gil, IBM SVP and Director of Research.

He added, “As we continue to advance how quantum systems can scale and deliver value through modular architectures, we will further increase the quality of a utility-scale quantum technology stack – and put it into the hands of our users and partners who will push the boundaries of more complex problems.”

Closer home, in October 2023, IBM signed three memoranda of understanding (MoU) with the Indian government for artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductors and quantum computing to accelerate the country’s R&D efforts and upskill its workforce in these areas.

IBM and Digital India Corporation also plan to set up a national AI Innovation Platform (AIIP) focussed on AI skilling, ecosystem development, and integrating advanced foundation models and generative AI capabilities.

IBM has also detailed its plans to create a generation of software stack, pivoting with Qiskit 1.0 to offer stability and speed. Additionally, and to democratize quantum computing development, IBM is announcing Qiskit Patterns.

“Qiskit Patterns will serve as a mechanism to allow quantum developers to more easily create code. It is based in a collection of tools to simply map classical problems, optimize them to quantum circuits using Qiskit, execute those circuits using Qiskit Runtime, and then post-process the results,” the company said.

The technology giant is also integrating the use of generative AI for quantum code programming through Watsonx, IBM’s enterprise AI platform. This will help automate the development of quantum code for Qiskit.

Jay Gambetta, Vice President and IBM Fellow at IBM said, “Generative AI and quantum computing are both reaching an inflexion point, presenting us with the opportunity to use the trusted foundation model framework of Watsonx to simplify how quantum algorithms can be built for utility-scale exploration.”