20-qubit machine going commercial…

(Save your money for next year’s model….)

IBM is now claiming a huge milestone with the Q System One – an elegant, nine-foot glass cube that looks like something a hapless minor character might get sucked into during a science-fiction movie. The company worked with two British design companies – Map Project Office and Universal Design Studio – on the design, which aims to take quantum computing out of the laboratory and into the real world.

“This new system is critical in expanding quantum computing beyond the walls of the research lab as we work to develop practical quantum applications for business and science,” said IBM’s Arvind Krishna as part of the announcement.

But don’t throw away your old supercomputer just yet. The Q System One has 20 qubits, some way short of the 50 qubits that most researchers believe will be required to reach quantum supremacy. “A 20-qubit system is unlikely to be practically useful,” says Robert Young, director of the Lancaster Quantum Technology Centre.

Some in the field are surprised that it even makes financial sense. “Quite reasonably, many anticipated that something like IBM’s announcement was not that far away,” says Kiran Bhagotra, CEO and founder of ProtectBox. “But what is rather unexpected to many is that this level of qubits is commercially viable as a standalone.”

Getting quantum computing into the hands of consumers will require a big breakthrough – either by developing quantum systems that can work at higher temperatures, or improving and miniaturising the cooling technology.

Essentially, the Q System One is the quantum equivalent of the room-sized mainframe computers of the 1950s and 1960s. “It’s aimed at allowing a large corporation with a team of engineers to operate a quantum computer in house, rather than at consumers,” says Young. It’s an important step forward – but not a giant quantum leap.