IBM unveils Quantum Nighthawk quantum processor

At the annual Quantum Developer Conference, IBM (IBM) unveiled fundamental progress on its path to delivering both quantum advantage by the end of 2026 and fault-tolerant quantum computing by 2029. IBM is unveiling IBM Quantum Nighthawk, its most advanced quantum processor yet and designed with an architecture to complement high-performing quantum software to deliver quantum advantage next year: the point at which a quantum computer can solve a problem better than all classical-only methods. IBM Nighthawk is expected to be delivered to IBM users by the end of 2025, and will offer: 120 qubits linked together with 218 next-generation tunable couplers to their four nearest neighbors in a square lattice, an increase of over 20% more couplers compared to IBM Quantum Heron. This increased qubit connectivity will allow users to accurately execute circuits with 30% more complexity than on IBM’s previous processor while maintaining low error rates. This architecture will enable users to explore more computationally demanding problems that require up to 5,000 two-qubit gates, the fundamental entangling operations critical for quantum computation.