IBM targets 1,040-qubit computer using two linked chips in 2027
The planned Nighthawk r3 chip is designed for 10,000 quantum operations on 520 usable qubits, with connectors to join processors.
IBM plans to combine two Nighthawk r3 processors in 2027 to create a quantum computer with 1,040 qubits, the company said. Each next-generation chip is designed to handle 10,000 quantum operations using 520 usable qubits.
The r3 design includes 10 connectors for linking processors. IBM said connections between earlier Nighthawk chips achieved 99.3% accuracy, below its target of 99.9%. Connecting chips remains one of quantum computing’s hardest challenges as systems grow.
IBM’s existing Nighthawk r2, introduced in September, can deliver as many as 100,000 results each second using 120 qubits, according to the company. IBM said customers and partners had executed 34 billion programs on that chip, reporting speedups reaching 19x compared with its older Heron processors.
Among those users, German energy company E.ON reported a 15x speedup for work on optimizing power grids. The performance figures were supplied by IBM and its partners.
Speed matters alongside qubit counts because a quantum program produces one result per run, while useful work can require millions or billions of runs. IBM also retains its goal of delivering Starling, its first error-corrected quantum computer, by 2029, according to Live Science.
