Quantum computers could revolutionize the way we tackle problems that stump even the best classical computers.
Single atom transistor recently introduced has been seen as a tool that could lead the way to building a quantum computer. For general introduction how quantum computer work, read A tale of two qubits: how quantum computers work article.
D-Wave Announces Commercially Available Quantum Computer article tells that computing company D-Wave has announced that they’re selling a quantum computing system commercially, which they’re calling the D-Wave One. D-Wave system comes equipped with a 128-qubit processor that’s designed to perform discrete optimization operations. The processor uses quantum annealing to perform these operations.
D-Wave is advertisting a number of different applications for its quantum computing system, primarily in the field of artificial intelligence. According to the company, its system can handle virtually any AI application that can be translated to a Markov random field.
Learning to program the D-Wave One blog article tells that the processor in the D-Wave One – codenamed Rainier – is designed to perform a single mathematical operation called discrete optimization. It is a special purpose processor. When writing applications the D-Wave One is used only for the steps in your task that involve solving optimization problems. All the other parts of your code still run on your conventional systems of choice. Rainier solves optimization problems using quantum annealing (QA), which is a class of problem solving approaches that use quantum effects to help get better solutions, faster. Learning to program the D-Wave One is the first in a series of blog posts describing the algorithms we have run on D-Wave quantum computers, and how to use these to build interesting applications.
But is this the start of the quantum computers era? Maybe not. D-Wave Announces Commercially Available Quantum Computer article comments tell a story that this computer might not be the quantum computer you might be waiting for. It seem that the name “quantum computer” is a bit misleading for this product. There are serious controversies around the working and “quantumness” of the machine. D-Wave has been heavily criticized by some scientists in the quantum computing field. First sale for quantum computing article tells that uncertainty persists around how the impressive black monolith known as D-Wave One actually works. Computer scientists have long questioned whether D-Wave’s systems truly exploit quantum physics on their products.
Slashdot article D-Wave Announces Commercially Available Quantum Computer comments tell that this has the same central problem as before. D-Wave’s computers haven’t demonstrated that their commercial bits are entangled. There’s no way to really distinguish what they are doing from essentially classical simulated annealing. Recommended reading that is skeptical of D-Wave’s claims is much of what Scott Aaronson has wrote about them. See for example http://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=639, http://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=198 although interestingly after he visited D-Wave’s labs in person his views changed slightly and became slightly more sympathetic to them http://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=954.
So it is hard to say if the “128 qubits” part is snake oil or for real. If the 128 “qubits” aren’t entangled at all, which means it is useless for any of the quantum algorithms that one generally thinks of. It seem that this device simply has 128 separate “qubits” that are queried individually, and is, essentially an augmented classical computer that gains a few minor advantages in some very specific algorithms (i.e. the quantum annealing algorithm) due to this qubit querying, but is otherwise indistinguishable from a really expensive classical computer for any other purpose. This has the same central problem as before: D-Wave’s computers haven’t demonstrated that their commercial bits are entangled.
Rather than constantly adding more qubits and issuing more hard-to-evaluate announcements, while leaving the scientific characterization of its devices in a state of limbo, why doesn’t D-Wave just focus all its efforts on demonstrating entanglement, or otherwise getting stronger evidence for a quantum role in the apparent speedup? There’s a reason why academic quantum computing groups focus on pushing down decoherence and demonstrating entanglement in 2, 3, or 4 qubits: because that way, at least you know that the qubits are qubits! Suppose D-Wave were marketing a classical, special-purpose, $10-million computer designed to perform simulated annealing, for 90-bit Ising spin glass problems with a certain fixed topology, somewhat better than an off-the-shelf computing cluster. Would there be even 5% of the public interest that there is now?
1,265 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/05/meet-the-companies-racing-to-build-quantum-chips/
Tomi Engdahl says:
First-ever silicon-based quantum computer brings scalable quantum power to the masses
Equal1 has just revealed a major step forward in quantum computing. The company’s new machine, Bell-1, is changing the way people think about quantum technology. Rather than needing a special…
https://www.thebrighterside.news/post/first-ever-silicon-based-quantum-computer-brings-scalable-quantum-power-to-the-masses/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Suomi tilasi 150- ja 300-kubitin kvanttikoneet
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2025/05/20/suomi-tilasi-150-ja-300-kubitin-kvanttikoneet/
Suomalainen IQM on voittanut kilpailutuksessa VTT:n seuraavan suprajohtavan 300- ja 150-kubitin kvanttitietokoneen tilauksen. Tämän lisäksi ne kehittävät yhteistyössä kvanttialueen laitekomponentteja materiaaliosaamista.
Nyt allekirjoitettuun yhteiskehityshankkeen toimitukseen kuuluu 150 kubitin suprajohtava kvanttitietokone kesällä 2026 sekä 300 kvanttitietokone vuoden 2027 loppuun mennessä. Uudet kvanttitietokoneet liitetään suomalaiseen suurteholaskentainfrastruktuuriin hybridilaskennan edistämiseksi. Toimitus sisältää myös pilvipalvelualustan, jonka kautta yritykset ja yliopistotutkijat pääsevät käyttämään kvanttitietokoneita sekä parivuotisen ylläpitosopimuksen hankkeen jälkeen.
IQM kasvattaa 300 kubittiin jo vuoden 2027 lopulla
https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/17541-iqm-kasvattaa-300-kubittiin-jo-vuoden-2027-lopulla
Suomalainen kvanttiteknologiayritys IQM Quantum Computers toimittaa VTT:lle 300-kubittisen suprajohtavan kvanttitietokoneen vuoteen 2027 mennessä. Tulevaa konetta kehutaan maailman suorituskykyisimmäksi.
Hankkeen tavoitteena on nostaa Suomi kvanttilaskennan kärkimaiden joukkoon. Sopimus sisältää kahdessa vaiheessa toimitettavat kvanttitietokoneet: 150-kubittinen kone saapuu jo kesällä 2026, ja huipputasoinen 300-kubittinen järjestelmä otetaan käyttöön vuoden 2027 loppuun mennessä.
Kyseessä on maailmanlaajuisesti poikkeuksellinen saavutus, sillä yksikään tähän asti toimitettu suprajohtava kvanttitietokone ei ole sisältänyt näin montaa kubittia. Toimitettava järjestelmä liitetään Suomen kansalliseen suurteholaskentainfrastruktuuriin, mikä mahdollistaa tehokkaan hybridilaskennan tutkimuksen ja soveltamisen.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Lockheed and IBM use quantum processor to model open-shell methylene molecule, solving complex chemistry puzzle. https://link.ie.social/g4BZS0
Tomi Engdahl says:
Canadian firm unveils Tesseract code to make quantum computers 90% more energy efficient, compact, and faster. https://link.ie.social/uRWhOS
Tomi Engdahl says:
It Might Actually Be 20 Times Easier for Quantum Computers to Break Bitcoin, Google Says
Google researchers found that cracking RSA encryption—the same tech that secures crypto wallets—needs way fewer quantum resources than anyone thought
https://decrypt.co/322128/quantum-computers-break-bitcoin-20-times-easier-google
Tomi Engdahl says:
Quantum computers are on the edge of revealing new particle physics
Computer simulations of high-energy particles are pushing the boundaries of what we can learn about the interactions that happen inside particle colliders
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2482991-quantum-computers-are-on-the-edge-of-revealing-new-particle-physics/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Global first: Quantum computer generates bits of unpredictable randomness
For the first time, scientists have used a quantum computer to create certified random bits—something classical computers can’t do.
https://www.thebrighterside.news/post/global-first-quantum-computer-generates-bits-of-unpredictable-randomness/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2482057-qubit-breakthrough-could-make-it-easier-to-build-quantum-computers/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://scitechdaily.com/quantum-computers-just-outsmarted-supercomputers-heres-what-they-solved/
Tomi Engdahl says:
D-Wave’s stock is surging — but here’s why projecting the quantum-computing company’s future revenue is tricky
While the company has made a new system available, it’s difficult to know when new hardware sales will materialize
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/d-waves-stock-is-surging-but-heres-why-projecting-future-revenue-is-tricky-388d56c9
Tomi Engdahl says:
IQM to deliver world-leading 300-qubit quantum computer to Finland
https://meetiqm.com/press-releases/iqm-to-deliver-world-leading-300-qubit-quantum-computer-to-finland/
IQM will deliver two IQM Radiance quantum computers to VTT in Finland: first a 150-qubit computer in 2026 and a 300-qubit computer in 2027.
The 300-qubit system is powered by two superconducting 150-qubit quantum processors.
The quantum computers will be specifically designed to serve as testbeds for quantum error correction (QEC) to enable research and development for fault-tolerant quantum computers.
The two quantum computers will be integrated with the Finnish HPC infrastructure.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/05/19/quantum-machines-launches-open-source-framework-that-cuts-quantum-computer-calibration-from-hours-to-minutes/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Oliver Barnes / Financial Times:
Maryland-based quantum computing company IonQ agrees to acquire Oxford Ionics, which spun out of Oxford University, in a $1.07B all-stock deal, closing in 2025
https://www.ft.com/content/dde7bac2-cacb-4deb-9223-5bcfe285db15