• IBM Quantum Nighthawk: Processor built for quantum advantage will deliver circuits with 30 percent more complexity
• Together with partners, IBM contributes three experiments to open the community quantum advantage tracker, with results comparable to leading classical simulation methods.
• The new Kiskit capabilities demonstrate a 24 percent increase in accuracy with dynamic circuits and a more than 100-fold reduction in the cost of producing accurate results with HPC-driven error mitigation.
• IBM Quantum Loon features all hardware elements of fault-tolerant quantum computing
• Efficient quantum error correction decoding achieved with speeds up to 10 times that of current leading approaches (1) – accomplished one year ahead of schedule
• IBM has doubled the pace of development with a transition to a 300 mm wafer fabrication facility, increasing the physical complexity of quantum chips by 10 times for a fault-tolerant error correction roadmap.
November 12, 2025
Yorktown Heights, New York – November 12, 2025 – At the annual Quantum Developer Conference, IBM (NYSE: IBM) today unveiled fundamental progress on its path to delivering both quantum advantage by the end of 2026 and fault-tolerant quantum computing by 2029.
“There are many pillars to bringing really useful quantum computing into the world,” he said Jay Gambetta, Director of IBM Research and IBM Fellow“We believe IBM is the only company poised to rapidly invent and scale quantum software, hardware, fabrication, and error correction to unlock transformative applications, We are thrilled to announce several of these milestones today,”
IBM quantum computers were built to increase profits
IBM is unveiling its most advanced quantum processor to date, the IBM Quantum Nighthawk, and it is designed with an architecture complemented by high-performance quantum software to deliver a quantum advantage next year: the point at which a quantum computer can solve a problem better than all classical-only methods.
An IBM researcher holds an IBM Quantum Nighthawk chip (Credit: IBM)
IBM Nighthawk is expected to be delivered to IBM users by the end of 2025, and will offer:
- 120 qubits connected with 218 next-generation tunable couplers For its four nearest neighbors in a square lattice, an increase of more than 20 percent of dyads compared to the IBM Quantum Heron.
- This increased qubit connectivity will allow users to execute circuits precisely 30 percent more complexity Compared to IBM’s previous processors while maintaining a low error rate.
- This architecture will enable users to explore more computationally demanding problems Up to 5,000 two-qubit gatesFundamental entanglement operations important for quantum computation.
IBM expects future iterations of Nighthawk to have capacity up to 7,500 gates by the end of 2026, and then 10,000 gates in 2027. By 2028, Nighthawk-based systems could support 15,000 two-qubit gates enabled by 1,000 or more connected qubits extended through long-range couplers, which were first demonstrated on IBM experimental processors last year.
IBM estimates that the first cases of verified quantum advantage will be confirmed by the broader community by the end of 2026. To encourage their rigorous validation and advance the best quantum and classical approaches, researchers at IBM, Algorithm, the Flatiron Institute, and BlueQubit are contributing new results to an open, community-led quantum advantage tracker to systematically monitor and verify emerging demonstrations of advantage.
Today, the community tracker supports three experiments for quantum advantage in problems with observable estimation, variational problems, and efficient classical verification. IBM encourages the community to contribute to the tracker and to back-and-forth with best classical methods.
“I am proud that our team in Algorithmics is leading one of three projects in the new Quantum Advantage Tracker. The model we have designed explores such complex regimes that it challenges all state-of-the-art classical methods tested so far,” he said. Sabrina Maniscalco, CEO and Co-Founder, Algorithm“We are seeing promising experimental results, and independent simulations from Flatiron Institute researchers validate its classical rigor, These are only the first steps – it will take time to verify the quantum advantage, and the tracker will let everyone follow that journey,”
“BlueQubit is proud to support IBM’s efforts to track quantum advantage claims and algorithms as quantum computers enter a regime beyond classical ones,” said Hayek Tepanian, CTO and Co-Founder, BlueCubit“Through our work around Peak Circuits, we are excited to help formalize examples where quantum computers are starting to outperform classical computers by orders of magnitude,”
To achieve verifiable quantum advantage on successful quantum hardware, developers need to be able to use high-performance classical computers (HPC) to highly control their circuits and minimize errors arising in calculations.
Qiskit is the world’s best-performing quantum software stack, developed by IBM. It is now giving developers more control than ever before by scaling dynamic circuit capabilities that deliver a 24 percent increase in accuracy at a scale of 100+ qubits. IBM is also extending Kiskit with a new execution model that enables finer-grained control and C-API, unlocking HPC-accelerated error mitigation capabilities that reduce the cost of extracting accurate results by more than 100 times.
As quantum computers mature, the global quantum community is expanding to the HPC and scientific communities. IBM is providing a C++ interface to Qiskit, powered by the C-API, to enable users to program Quantum natively in existing HPC environments. IBM continues to be a leader in advanced circuit execution capabilities, including increased control over circuit execution for dynamic circuits and error mitigation.
By 2027, IBM plans to expand KisKit with computational libraries in areas such as machine learning and optimization to better solve basic physics and chemistry challenges such as differential equations and Hamiltonian simulations.
IBM provides building blocks for fault-tolerant quantum computing
In a parallel path, IBM is rapidly reaching milestones toward building the world’s first large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer by 2029.
The company is announcing its experimental processor IBM Quantum Loon, which marks the first time that IBM has demonstrated all the key processor components needed for fault-tolerant quantum computing. IBM Loon will validate a new architecture to implement and scale the components needed for practical, high-efficiency quantum error correction. IBM has already demonstrated key features that will be included in Loon, including the introduction of multiple high-quality, low-loss routing layers to provide longer routes, on-chip connections (or “C-couplers”) that go beyond nearest-neighbor couplers and physically link distant qubits together on the same chip, as well as techniques for resetting qubits between calculations. Is.
IBM Quantum Loon chip (Credit: IBM)
Working on another key pillar of fault-tolerant quantum computing, IBM has proven that it is possible to use classical computing hardware to accurately decode errors in real time (less than 480 nanoseconds) using QLDPC codes. This engineering feat was achieved a full year ahead of schedule. Together with Loon, it demonstrates the cornerstones needed to scale QLDPC codes on the high-speed, high-fidelity superconducting qubits that form the core of IBM quantum computers.
IBM scales up construction of 300mm facilities to accelerate quantum wafer development
As IBM expands its quantum computers, it is announcing that primary manufacturing of its quantum processor wafers is being conducted at an advanced 300 mm wafer fabrication facility at the NY Creates Albany Nanotech Complex in New York.
An IBM researcher holds a 300 mm IBM Quantum Nighthawk wafer (Credit: IBM)
The state-of-the-art semiconductor tooling and always-on capabilities within this facility have already accelerated the pace at which IBM can learn from, improve, and expand the capabilities of its quantum processors; This will help the company increase its qubit connectivity, density and performance. To date, IBM has been able to:
- double the speed in its research and development efforts by at least halving the time required to manufacture each new processor;
- achieve tenfold growth in the physical complexity of its quantum chips; And,
- Enable to research and explore multiple designs in parallel.
A 300 mm cleanroom in Albany creates the Albany Nanotech Complex in Albany, NY (Credit: IBM)
(1) Compared to a recent approach here: https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.25213
About IBM
IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI and business services provider, helping customers in more than 175 countries leverage insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs, and gain competitive edge in their industries. Thousands of governments and corporate entities in critical infrastructure sectors such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to effect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services provide our customers with open and flexible choices. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, accountability, inclusivity and service.
For more information, visit https://research.ibm.com.
media Contact:
Erin Angelini
IBM Communications
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Chris has
IBM Communications
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