IBM promises the world's first fail-safe quantum supercomputer: a beast arriving in 2029
IBM will build the world’s first large-scale fault-tolerant quantum computer , setting the stage for practical, scalable quantum computing. The device, called IBM Quantum Starling, will be developed at a new IBM Quantum Data Center in Poughkeepsie, New York, and is expected to be delivered in 2029. It is expected to perform 20,000 times more operations than today’s quantum computers .
IBM Quantum Starling will be able to execute hundreds of millions to billions of operations , accelerating time and cost efficiencies in fields such as drug development, materials discovery, optimization, and chemistry.
On the other hand, IBM explains in its official blog that this quantum computer will be capable of performing 100 million quantum operations using 200 logical qubits , and will also serve as the basis for IBM Quantum Blue Jay, which will be able to execute 1 billion quantum operations with more than 2,000 logical qubits.
This is how a fault-tolerant quantum computer is builtAccording to IBM, no organization had found a viable way to build such a system, so to achieve this, the technology company has cracked the code for scaling quantum fault correction —also known as low-density parity-checking or LDPC.
IBM explains that this code reduces the number of physical qubits required for error correction and minimizes the overhead required by approximately 90% compared to other leading codes. It also provides the resources needed to run large-scale quantum programs .
On the other hand, for a large-scale quantum computer to be fault-tolerant, it needs the following requirements:
- Be fault-tolerant to suppress errors , so that useful algorithms succeed.
- Prepare and measure logical qubits through calculus .
- Apply universal instructions to logical qubits.
- Modular to scale to hundreds or thousands of logical qubits to run more complex algorithms .
- Decoding logical qubit measurements in real time.
- Be efficient enough to run meaningful algorithms with realistic physical resources, such as energy and infrastructure.
IBM has unveiled its new roadmap that addresses "specific challenges for building modular, scalable, error-correcting quantum computers." These are the "key technology milestones that will demonstrate and execute fault-tolerance criteria."
- IBM Quantum Loon, planned for 2025, is designed to test architectural components for LDPC code .
- IBM Quantum Kookaburra, planned for 2026, will be IBM's first modular processor designed to store and process encoded information . It will combine quantum memory with logic operations, the building block for scaling fault-tolerant systems beyond a single chip.
- IBM Quantum Cockatoo, planned for 2027, will interlock two Kookaburra modules using L-couplers. This architecture will connect quantum chips as nodes in a larger system , avoiding the need to build impractically sized chips.
So, together, these advancements are being designed to culminate in Starling in 2029 .
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