IBM's new quantum processor, Nighthawk, will be launched by the end of the year, moving towards the fault-tolerant era in 2029.

IBM announced on Wednesday that they are on track to achieve quantum advantage by the end of next year and fault-tolerant quantum computing by 2029. In addition, the company showcased a new quantum processor, Quantum Nighthawk, at their headquarters in Armonk, New York. IBM stated that Nighthawk can handle circuits with complexity 30% higher and is expected to be delivered to customers by the end of this year. The processor features 120 qubits connected by 218 next-generation tunable couplers, resulting in a more than 20% increase compared to the IBM Quantum Heron. The company also announced new experimental results achieved in collaboration with partners like Algorithmiq and the Flatiron Institute, which will bring a new open community quantum advantage tracker. Other announcements include new quantum software with a 24% improvement in circuit accuracy and more than 100 times reduction in extraction cost, a new IBM Quantum Loon processor, and more efficient quantum error correction techniques. IBM also stated that they will shift towards 300mm wafer manufacturing to double the speed of quantum development and increase processor complexity by tenfold. "To realize the practical value of quantum computing, it requires a variety of foundational support," said Jay Gambetta, Director of IBM Research and IBM Fellow. "We believe IBM is the only company with a competitive position to rapidly invent and scale quantum software, hardware, manufacturing processes, and error correction techniques to unlock transformative applications. We are delighted to announce many of these milestones today." This announcement follows a series of recent advances in IBM's quantum computing work. IBM recently announced that they have entered the second stage of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Quantum Benchmarking Program. Last month, Jay Gambetta, Vice President of IBM's quantum business, stated that IBM is able to run key quantum computing algorithms on AMD's common chips. As of the time of writing, IBM's stock has increased by 2.02% in pre-market trading, reaching $320.06.