IBM has introduced two different quantum chips that it believes could help demonstrate the “quantum advantage”, or the ability of quantum computers to solve a problem faster than classical computers, by the end of 2026. The new chips, Nighthawk and Loon, should help do this by taking different approaches to connecting qubits in a quantum computer, generating fewer errors and supporting more complex calculations.
Of the two new chips, the IBM Quantum Nighthawk is the one the company believes can replicate this to produce a quantum advantage. By the end of 2025, Nighthawk will deliver IBM’s version to its partners, consisting of “120 qubits combined with 218 next-generation tunable couplers arranged in a square lattice” to connect to their neighbors. IBM claims this will allow Nighthawk to “execute circuits with 30 percent more complexity” while maintaining a low error rate. The company says it will also help it tackle more demanding computational problems “that require up to 5,000 two-qubit gates.”
IBM Quantum Loon Chip. (IBM)
The IBM Quantum Loon is the more experimental of the two chips, adding qubits not only horizontally on the chip, but also vertically. new scientists Writes. Whichever chip proves more useful, the additional connectivity options should allow fewer errors and more complex calculations, which could lead to new real-world applications for quantum computers.
To tie in with its new chips, IBM says it’s also contributing to a new community-led Quantum Advantage Tracker supported by Algorithmic Researchers at the Flatiron Institute and BlueQubit. IBM says, “The tracker supports three experiments for quantum advantage in problems with observable estimation, variational problems, and efficient classical verification,” and the company has invited the broader research community to contribute to it.
As new scientists Note, IBM’s approach differs from competitors like Google because it focuses on linking qubits together in small groups. Google projected its Willow chip in 2024 as being theoretically capable of demonstrating quantum advantage. A year later in 2025, the company announced its “Quantum Echoes” algorithm for Willow, “the first verifiable quantum advantage running the out-of-order time correlator (OTOC) algorithm.”