IBM inaugurates its first quantum data center in Europe with the company’s most advanced systems

IBM inaugurated this Tuesday in Ehningen (Germany) its first quantum data center outside the United States which is equipped with the company’s most advanced systems and which will be reinforced with the upcoming installation of Quantum Heron chips.

After announcing its construction in June last year, IBM has inaugurated the first IBM Quantum Data Center in Europe, the second in the world after the facility in New York (United States), which will also serve as the European IBM Quantum cloud region. .

This new center is available through the IBM Quantum Platform, and represents an important expansion of its fleet of advanced quantum systems at utility scale, available to users around the world through the cloud.

The IBM Quantum Data Center in Europe it is already operational in the German city of Ehningen, and has two new commercial-scale systems based on IBM Quantum Eagle. Soon will incorporate a new system based on Quantum Heronwhich was presented at the end of 2023 with a computing power of 133 qubits and control ‘hardware’ that allows classic real-time communication between separate processors.

Heron is the company’s most powerful quantum chip to date; Delivers up to 16x more performance and 25x faster speed than IBM’s previous quantum computers, according to measurements carried out two years ago, as the company has reported. It is also the first in a class of performance processors that improves the error rate by up to five times compared to the 127-qubit Quantum Eagle.

Once the IBM Heron-based system is available in the IBM Quantum Data Center in Europe, it will become the third IBM Heron installed across IBM’s fleet-wide quantum systems accessible by the company’s global quantum network. made up of more than 250 companies, universities, research centers and organizations from around the world.

The inauguration this Tuesday of the new quantum data center was attended by the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and the Minister of Economy, Labor and Tourism of the State of Baden-Württemberg, Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut. Also with IBM CEO and President, Arvind Krishna, and several IBM leaders, including IBM Senior Vice President, Dario Gil, and IBM EMEA General Manager, Ana Paula Assis.

For the chancellor, this quantum data center “will serve as a location for innovation and business growth.” “The German Government is providing specific support to the development of quantum technologies, promoting the creation of skills and capabilities in this field to promote a robust ecosystem around the development of quantum computers,” he declared at the opening ceremony.

For her part, the general director of IBM EMEA, Ana Paula Assis, highlighted IBM’s commitment to Europe, and pointed out, in the subsequent press conference, that European investment in quantum technology is expected to reach one billion euros next year, which reinforces the company’s intention to be part of the opportunities that will be deployed as part of this investment.

Several senior leaders from global companies based in Europe have also attended, including Crédit Mutuel, Bosch, E.ON, Volkswagen Group, as well as representatives from research institutions such as the University of the Basque Country, in Spain, and Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, from Germany, two of the more than 80 European institutions that make up the IBM Quantum Network and that will be able to access the IBM Quantum Data Center systems to investigate the algorithms and applications of quantum computing that could help solve some of the most complex challenges of their sectors.