The race for quantum computing is a marathon with several intermediate milestones that must be met. The initial milestones have already been achieved with low-capacity systems, but they are essential to continue the journey and reach the era of quantum utility, where quantum computers can be used to solve meaningful scientific problems, rather than just for advancing the study of quantum computing itself, as IBM explains.
For this new stage, which employs tools and programs that yield better results than classical procedures and which cannot be simulated, it is necessary to surpass 100 qubits (the qubit is the smallest unit of quantum computing), and, as of Tuesday, Spain’s Ikerbasque scientific foundation is at the forefront of this race with the inauguration at its San Sebastián headquarters of the IBM Quantum System Two, a computer equipped with a 156-qubit Heron processor, the first of its kind in Europe and the third in the world.
The IBM–Euskadi Quantum Computing Center at the Ikerbasque campus, together with the first quantum computer in Spain with 100% European technology installed at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), position Spain as one of the six key technological hubs for this developing science, alongside the United States, Canada, Germany, Japan and South Korea.
Horacio Morell, president of IBM Spain, sees System Two as “an opportunity for the country,” a tool to establish itself in a new sector and overcome the gap created by other waves of innovation. “We have the opportunity to lead this new technology, develop it, and create a new industry,” he emphasizes, explaining how the inauguration serves as a driving force for the development of programs, equipment, and components that will be used worldwide.
With System Two, Spain joins IBM’s select quantum computer club, which includes more than 700,000 people, and which India will join next year. However, the Basque Country facilities and the multinational have been contributing work to this ecosystem since 2023 through remote access to other global facilities. In this way, the San Sebastián-based center has contributed to the challenge of error correction that will allow systems to scale, to the development of industrial applications, and to the training of specialists in collaboration with universities.
Regarding practical uses for quantum technology, Morell points out that programs are already underway for predictive maintenance of energy assets or for optimizing prices or investment portfolios. Exxon is already using it to optimize gas distribution logistics networks, Mercedes-Benz to create more efficient lithium batteries, and Boeing to develop better aircraft fuselages.
Morell predicts that these initiatives will increase exponentially when, on that long-awaited horizon at the end of the decade, quantum computers become fault-tolerant and can “solve problems that can’t be addressed with a classical computer.” The IBM executive is optimistic: “We already know how to do it. We know the science, and we already have the error-correction algorithms. Now it’s a matter of execution, of engineering.”
We already know how to do it. We know the science, and we already have the error-correction algorithms. Now it’s a matter of execution, of engineering.
Horacio Morell, president of IBM España
Andrea G. Rodríguez is Director of Quantum Technologies at the Adigital association, which she joined after leading a consortium of companies linked to these developments in The Netherlands. She isn’t directly involved with the IBM computer, but welcomes it in a country that already has around 15 relevant quantum projects specialized in strategic sectors such as finance and the ecological transition. “We have a great opportunity. It’s time to move faster,” she says.
The Heron processor’s 156 qubits stand out in the model launched by IBM, placing it at the forefront of quantum computers in Europe. “Very few have this capacity, but what I find most interesting is that it will not only be used for research, but also be useful for companies, and this seems key to the growth of the innovation system, to create the breeding ground for artificial intelligence companies to begin using quantum capabilities. It’s a tremendously positive step,” he says.
Rodríguez believes all models are welcome because each one is suited to different purposes: “When you’re a researcher, you don’t need a 156-qubit chip. Having quantum computers of different capacities in various locations across Spain also helps familiarize yourself with the technology and fosters initiatives. A computer as powerful as IBM’s could have more industrial applications.”
Michael Eggleston, a researcher at Nokia Bell Labs, is cautious about current quantum computers, mainly because of the instability of qubits, which lose coherence in milliseconds due to any kind of interaction, and considers them “impractical.” In MIT Technological Review, he writes: “Current quantum computers are based on these architectures that don’t scale well. They will take up giant rooms, requiring whole data centers to operate. The first ‘useful’ quantum computer will be able to do 1% of the things we want it to do. So, how do we go beyond that?”
Rodríguez admits that the ideal quantum platform has not yet been defined and that it is not out of the question that current developments will “hit a technological wall,” but he defends the current race for “the ecosystem that is being created around it.” He also disagrees with Eggleston’s statement, replying: “At this very moment, this technology is being useful.”
“I assure you, quantum computers are practical and very useful. There has been a lot of talk about supremacy [capacity unmatched by other systems], but as we advance in the sciences, as related to quantum technologies, we can already see the results in fields such as medicine, materials science and communications,” he asserts.
The machine
The computer at the San Sebastián facility, in which the Basque regional government has invested more than €50 million ($58 million), surpasses the one opened a year ago in Ehningen (Germany), where IBM has its second quantum data center (the first is in the U.S.) and two Eagle processors with 127 qubits each. Research published in the journal Nature claimed that this chip is capable of measuring expected values in physics operations beyond the capabilities of the best current classical computational methods.
The San Sebastián Heron is 50 times more capable, has a lower error rate, is 16 times more precise, and 25 times faster. It was developed for interconnection, and its architecture responds to the concept known as “tuneable coupler” (tuning the interaction between two elements in a circuit). This formula allows for modular growth from a base system to achieve quantum advantage by 2026, when its systems will solve real-world problems, such as the development of new drugs, materials, or complex optimization processes. By the end of this decade, it will achieve the ultimate dream: quantum computing that is tolerant of the faults generated in these types of systems by any interaction with the environment, which, for now, can only be mitigated or corrected.
System Two will be accessible from anywhere thanks to open-source software (Qiskit), which facilitates its use through a networked quantum computing architecture. This replicates the conventional cloud architecture, with access to databases distributed around the world.
Its installation required the construction of a specific infrastructure due to energy usage requirements, extraordinary cooling systems (to ensure process stability), and the complex electronics associated with it.
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