First commercially available superconducting quantum processor

1 min read

The Dutch startup QuantWare has announced the launch of the world’s first commercially available superconducting processor for quantum computers (QPU).

This is the first time superconducting quantum processors have been made available ‘off the shelf’, and is being seen as a development with the potential to significantly accelerate the quantum computing revolution.

Quantum technology promises to significantly expand the amount of data computers are able to process, which could have huge implications across A.I., medicine, business intelligence, and cybersecurity. However, in what is still a new, developing industry scaling is difficult.

Companies building parts for quantum computers need qubits, the microscopic objects that make quantum computing possible, but it is often cost prohibitive for them to produce them themselves. QuantWare’s superconducting QPUs are intended to eliminate that barrier and may be instrumental in accelerating the development of the quantum computer market.

Superconducting is the leading and most mature approach to quantum processors - Google achieved “quantum supremacy” in 2019 using superconducting QPUs. While other QPUs are already available “off the shelf”, this is the first time a superconducting QPU has been easily available in productised form, leveling the playing field for quantum experimentation.

QuantWare’s proprietary product, Soprano, is a 5-qubit QPU which is seen as sufficient for the immediate customer base QuantWare expects to attract, namely research institutions and university labs.

“The race towards useful Quantum Computation is heating up, but still reserved to a small group of companies. By making QPUs more available, we will speed up the development of practical quantum-driven solutions to the world’s biggest problems.” said QuantWare co-founder Dr. Alessandro Bruno.

Another way to achieve “Quantum Advantage” is by designing a chip specifically for a particular application and QuantWare is looking to exploit this by making co-designed QPUs together with software companies to allow them to develop processors specialized in their algorithms.