ҹɫֱ extends its significant lead in quantum computing, achieving historic milestones for hardware fidelity and Quantum Volume
ҹɫֱ has raised the bar for the global ecosystem by achieving the historic and much-vaunted “three 9's” 2-qubit gate fidelity in its commercial quantum computer and announcing that its Quantum Volume has surpassed one million – exponentially higher than its nearest competitors.
By Ilyas Khan, Founder and Chief Product Officer, Jenni Strabley, Sr Director of Offering Management
All quantum error correction schemes depend for their success on physical hardware achieving high enough fidelity. If there are too many errors in the physical qubit operations, the error correcting code has the effect of amplifying rather than diminishing overall error rates. For decades now, it has been hoped that one day a quantum computer would achieve “three 9's” – an iconic, inherent 99.9% 2-qubit physical gate fidelity – at which point many of the error-correcting codes required for universal fault tolerant quantum computing would successfully be able to squeeze errors out of the system.
That day has now arrived. Building on several previous laboratory demonstrations , ҹɫֱ has become the first company ever to achieve “three 9's” in a commercially-available quantum computer, with the first demonstration of 99.914(3)% 2-qubit gate fidelity, showing repeatable performance across all qubit pairs on our H1-1 system that is constantly available to customers. This production-environment announcement is a marked difference to one-offs recorded in carefully contrived laboratory conditions. This demonstrates what will fast become the expected standard for the entire quantum computing sector.
ҹɫֱ is also announcing another milestone, a seven-figure Quantum Volume (QV) of 1,048,576 – or in terms preferred by the experts, 220 – reinforcing our commitment to building, by a significant margin, the highest-performing quantum computers in the world.
These announcements follow a historic month that started when we proved our ability to scale our systems to the sizes needed to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems – and in a way that offers the best path to universal quantum computing.
On March 5th, 2024, ҹɫֱ researchers disclosed details of our experiments that provide a solution to a totemic problem faced by all quantum computing architectures, known as the wiring problem. Supported by a video showing qubits being shuffled through a 2-dimensional grid ion-trap, our team presented concrete proof of the scalability of the quantum charge-coupled device (QCCD) architecture used in our H-Series quantum computers.
Stop-motion ion transport video showing a chosen sorting operation implemented on an 8-site 2D grid trap with the swap-or-stay primitive. The sort is implemented by discrete choices of swaps or stays between neighboring sites. The numbers shown (indicated by dashed circles) at the beginning and end of the video show the initial and final location of the ions after the sort, e.g. the ion that starts at the top left site ends at the bottom right site. The stop-motion video was collected by segmenting the primitive operation and pausing mid-operation such that Yb fluorescence could be detected with a CMOS camera exposure.
On April 3rd, 2024 in partnership with Microsoft, our teams announced a breakthrough in quantum error correction that delivered as its crowning achievement the most reliable logical qubits on record.
We revealed detailed demonstrations in an of the reliability achieved via 4 logical qubits encoded into just 30 physical qubits on our System Model H2 quantum computer. Our joint teams were able to demonstrate logical circuit error rates far below physical circuit error rates, a capability that our full-stack quantum computer is currently the only one in the world with the fidelity required to achieve.
Explaining the importance of 2-qubit gate fidelity
Reaching this level of physical fidelity is not optional for commercial scale computers – it is essential for error correction to work, and that in turn is a necessary foundation for any useful quantum computer. Our record two-qubit gate fidelity of 99.914(3)% marks a symbolic inflection point for the industry: at ”three 9's” fidelity, we are nearing or surpassing the break-even point (where logical qubits outperform physical qubits) for many quantum error correction protocols, and this will generate great interest among research and industrial teams exploring fault-tolerant methods for tackling real-world problems.
Without hardware fidelity this good, error-corrected calculations are noisier than un-corrected computations. This is why we call it a “threshold” – when gate errors are “above threshold”, quantum computers will remain noisy no matter what you do. Below threshold, you can use quantum error correction to push error rates way, way down, so that quantum computers eventually become as reliable as classical computers.
Four years ago, ҹɫֱ claimed that it would improve the performance of its H-Series quantum computers by 10x each year for five years, when measured by the industry’s most widely recognized benchmark, QV (an industry standard not to be confused with less comprehensive metrics such as Algorithmic Qubits).
Today’s achievement of a 220 QV – which as with all our demonstrations was achieved on our commercially-available machine – shows that our team is living up to this audacious commitment. We are completely confident we can continue to overcome the technical problems that stand in the way of even better fidelity and QV performance. Our QV data is , as are
The combination of high QV and gate fidelities puts the ҹɫֱ system in a class by-itself – it is far and away the best of any commercially-available quantum computer.
QCCD: the path to fault tolerance
Additionally, and notably, these benchmarks were achieved “inherently”, without error mitigation, thanks to the H Series’ all-to-all connectivity and QCCD architecture. Full connectivity results in less errors when running large, complicated circuits. While other modalities depend on error mitigation techniques, such techniques are not scalable and present only a modest near-term value.
Lower physical error and high connectivity means our quantum computers have a provably lower overhead for error-corrected computation.
Looking more deeply, experts look for high fidelities that are valid in all operating zones and between any pair of qubits. In contrast to our competitors, this is precisely what our H Series delivers. We do not suffer from a broad distribution of gate fidelities between different pairs of qubits, meaning that some pairs of qubits have significantly lower fidelities. ҹɫֱ is the only quantum computing company with all qubit pairs boasting above 99.9% fidelity.
Alongside these benefits and demonstrations of scalability, fidelity, connectivity, and reliability, it is worth noting how these features impact what arguably matters the most to users – time to solution. In the QCCD architecture, speed of operations is decoupled from speed to reach a computational solution thanks to a combination of:
- a better signal to noise ratio than other modalities
- drastically reducing or eliminating the number of swap gates required (because we can move our ions through space), and
- reducing the number of trials required for an accurate result.
The net effect is that for increasingly complex circuits it takes a high-fidelity QCCD-type quantum computer less time to achieve accurate results than other 2D connected or lower-fidelity architectures.
“Getting to three 9’s in the QCCD architecture means that ~1000 entangling operations can be done before an error occurs. Our quantum computers are right at the edge of being able to do computations at the physical level that are beyond the reach of classical computers, which would occur somewhere between 3 nines and 4 nines. Some tasks become hard for classical computers before this regime (e.g. Google’s random circuit sampling problem) but this new regime allows for much less contrived problems to be solved. At that point, these machines become real tools for new discoveries – albeit they will still be limited in what they can probe, likely to be physics simulations or closely related problems,” said Dave Hayes, a Senior R&D manager at ҹɫֱ.
“Additionally, these fidelities put us, some would say comfortably, within the regime needed to build fault-tolerant machines. These fidelities allow us to start adding more qubits without needing to improve performance further, and to take advantage of quantum error correction to improve the computational power necessary for tackling truly large problems. This scaling problem gets easier with even better fidelities (which is why we’re not satisfied with 3 nines) but it is possible in principle.”
ҹɫֱ’s new records in fidelity and quantum volume on our commercial H1 device are expected to be achieved on the H2, once upgrades are implemented, underscoring the value that we offer to users for whom stability, reliability and robust performance are pre-requisites. The quantum computing landscape is complex and changing, but we remain at the head of the pack in all key metrics. The relationship with our world-class applications teams means that co-designed devices for solving some of the world’s most intractable problems are a big step closer to reality.
ҹɫֱ is the world’s leading quantum computing company, and our world-class scientists and engineers are continually driving our technology forward while expanding the possibilities for our users. Their work on applications includes cybersecurity, quantum chemistry, quantum Monte Carlo integration, quantum topological data analysis, condensed matter physics, high energy physics, quantum machine learning, and natural language processing – and we are privileged to support them to bring new solutions to bear on some of the greatest challenges we face.
About ҹɫֱ
ҹɫֱ, the world’s largest integrated quantum company, pioneers powerful quantum computers and advanced software solutions. ҹɫֱ’s technology drives breakthroughs in materials discovery, cybersecurity, and next-gen quantum AI. With over 500 employees, including 370+ scientists and engineers, ҹɫֱ leads the quantum computing revolution across continents.
Quantum computing companies are poised to exceed $1 billion in revenues by the close of 2025, to McKinsey & Company, underscoring how today’s quantum computers are already delivering customer value in their current phase of development.
This figure is projected to reach upwards of $37 billion by 2030, rising in parallel with escalating demand, as well as with the scale of the machines and the complexity of problem sets of which they will be able to address.
Several systems on the market today are fault-tolerant by design, meaning they are capable of suppressing error-causing noise to yield reliable calculations. However, the full potential of quantum computing to tackle problems of true industrial relevance, in areas like medicine, energy, and finance, remains contingent on an architecture that supports a fully fault-tolerant universal gate set with repeatable error correction—a capability that, until now, has eluded the industry.
ҹɫֱ is the first—and only—company to achieve this critical technical breakthrough, universally recognized as the essential precursor to scalable, industrial-scale quantum computing. This milestone provides us with the most de-risked development roadmap in the industry and positions us to fulfill our promise to deliver our universal, fully fault-tolerant quantum computer, Apollo, by 2029.
In this regard, ҹɫֱ is the first company to step from the so-called “NISQ” (noisy intermediate-scale quantum) era towards utility-scale quantum computers.
Unpacking our achievement: first, a ‘full’ primer
A quantum computer uses operations called gates to process information in ways that even today’s fastest supercomputers cannot. The industry typically refers to two types of gates for quantum computers:
- Clifford gates, which can be easily simulated by classical computers, and are relatively easy to implement; and
- Non-Clifford gates, which are usually harder to implement, but are required to enable true quantum computation (when combined with their siblings).
A system that can run both gates is classified as and has the machinery to tackle the widest range of problems. Without non-Clifford gates, a quantum computer is non-universal and restricted to smaller, easier sets of tasks - and it can always be simulated by classical computers. This is like painting with a full palette of primary colors, versus only having one or two to work with. Simply put, a quantum computer that cannot implement ‘non-Clifford’ gates is not really a quantum computer.
A fault-tolerant, or error-corrected, quantum computer detects and corrects its own errors (or faults) to produce reliable results. ҹɫֱ has the best and brightest scientists dedicated to keeping our systems’ error rates the lowest in the world.
For a quantum computer to be fully fault-tolerant, every operation must be error-resilient, across Clifford gates and non-Clifford gates, and thus, performing “a full gate set” with error correction. While some groups have performed fully fault-tolerant gate sets in academic settings, these demonstrations were done with only a few qubits and —too high for any practical use.
Today, we have published that establishes ҹɫֱ as the first company to develop a complete solution for a universal fully fault-tolerant quantum computer with repeatable error correction, and error rates low enough for real-world applications.
This is where the magic happens
The describes how scientists at ҹɫֱ used our System Model H1-1 to perfect magic state production, a crucial technique for achieving a fully fault-tolerant universal gate set. In doing so, they set a record magic state infidelity (7x10-5), 10x better than any .
Our simulations show that our system could reach a magic state infidelity of 10^-10, or about one error per 10 billion operations, on a larger-scale computer with our current physical error rate. We anticipate reaching 10^-14, or about one error per 100 trillion operations, as we continue to advance our hardware. This means that our roadmap is now derisked.
Setting a record magic state infidelity was just the beginning. The paper also presents the first break-even two-qubit non-Clifford gate, demonstrating a logical error rate below the physical one. In doing so, the team set another record for two-qubit non-Clifford gate infidelity (2x10-4, almost 10x better than our physical error rate). Putting everything together, the team ran the first circuit that used a fully fault-tolerant universal gate set, a critical moment for our industry.
Flipping the switch
In the , co-authored with researchers at the University of California at Davis, we demonstrated an important technique for universal fault-tolerance called “code switching”.
Code switching describes switching between different error correcting codes. The team then used the technique to demonstrate the key ingredients for universal computation, this time using a code where we’ve previously demonstrated full error correction and the other ingredients for universality.
In the process, the team set a new record for magic states in a distance-3 error correcting code, over 10x better than with error correction. Notably, this process only cost 28 qubits . This completes, for the first time, the ingredient list for a universal gate setin a system that also has real-time and repeatable QEC.
Fully equipped for fault-tolerance
Innovations like those described in these two papers can reduce estimates for qubit requirements by an order of magnitude, or more, bringing powerful quantum applications within reach far sooner.
With all of the required pieces now, finally, in place, we are ‘fully’ equipped to become the first company to perform universal fully fault-tolerant computing—just in time for the arrival of Helios, our next generation system launching this year, and what is very likely to remain as the most powerful quantum computer on the market until the launch of its successor, Sol, arriving in 2027.
If we are to create ‘next-gen’ AI that takes full advantage of the power of quantum computers, we need to start with quantum native transformers. Today we announce yet again that ҹɫֱ continues to lead by demonstrating concrete progress — advancing from theoretical models to real quantum deployment.
The future of AI won't be built on yesterday’s tech. If we're serious about creating next-generation AI that unlocks the full promise of quantum computing, then we must build quantum-native models—designed for quantum, from the ground up.
Around this time last year, we introduced Quixer, a state-of-the-art quantum-native transformer. Today, we’re thrilled to announce a major milestone: one year on, Quixer is now running natively on quantum hardware.
Why this matters: Quantum AI, born native
This marks a turning point for the industry: realizing quantum-native AI opens a world of possibilities.
Classical transformers revolutionized AI. They power everything from ChatGPT to real-time translation, computer vision, drug discovery, and algorithmic trading. Now, Quixer sets the stage for a similar leap — but for quantum-native computation. Because quantum computers differ fundamentally from classical computers, we expect a whole new host of valuable applications to emerge.
Achieving that future requires models that are efficient, scalable, and actually run on today’s quantum hardware.
That’s what we’ve built.
What makes Quixer different?
Until Quixer, quantum transformers were the result of a brute force “copy-paste” approach: taking the math from a classical model and putting it onto a quantum circuit. However, this approach does not account for the considerable differences between quantum and classical architectures, leading to substantial resource requirements.
Quixer is different: it’s not a translation – it's an innovation.
With Quixer, our team introduced an explicitly quantum transformer, built from the ground up using quantum algorithmic primitives. Because Quixer is tailored for quantum circuits, it's more resource efficient than most competing approaches.
As quantum computing advances toward fault tolerance, Quixer is built to scale with it.
What’s next for Quixer?
We’ve already deployed Quixer on real-world data: genomic sequence analysis, a high-impact classification task in biotech. We're happy to report that its performance is already approaching that of classical models, even in this first implementation.
This is just the beginning.
Looking ahead, we’ll explore using Quixer anywhere classical transformers have proven to be useful; such as language modeling, image classification, quantum chemistry, and beyond. More excitingly, we expect use cases to emerge that are quantum-specific, impossible on classical hardware.
This milestone isn’t just about one model. It’s a signal that the quantum AI era has begun, and that ҹɫֱ is leading the charge with real results, not empty hype.
Stay tuned. The revolution is only getting started.
Our team is participating in (ISC 2025) from June 10-13 in Hamburg, Germany!
As quantum computing accelerates, so does the urgency to integrate its capabilities into today’s high-performance computing (HPC) and AI environments. At ISC 2025, meet the ҹɫֱ team to learn how the highest performing quantum systems on the market, combined with advanced software and powerful collaborations, are helping organizations take the next step in their compute strategy.
ҹɫֱ is leading the industry across every major vector: performance, hybrid integration, scientific innovation, global collaboration and ease of access.
- Our industry-leading quantum computer holds the record for performance with a Quantum Volume of 2²³ = 8,388,608 and the highest fidelity on a commercially available QPU available to our users every time they access our systems.
- Our systems have been validated by a #1 ranking against competitors in a recent benchmarking study by Jülich Research Centre.
- We’ve laid out a clear roadmap to reach universal, fully fault-tolerant quantum computing by the end of the decade and will launch our next-generation system, Helios, later this year.
- We are advancing real-world hybrid compute with partners such as RIKEN, NVIDIA, SoftBank, STFC Hartree Center and are pioneering applications such as our own GenQAI framework.
Exhibit Hall
From June 10–13, in Hamburg, Germany, visit us at Booth B40 in the Exhibition Hall or attend one of our technical talks to explore how our quantum technologies are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible across HPC.
Presentations & Demos
Throughout ISC, our team will present on the most important topics in HPC and quantum computing integration—from near-term hybrid use cases to hardware innovations and future roadmaps.
Multicore World Networking Event
- Monday, June 9 | 7:00pm – 9:00 PM at Hofbräu Wirtshaus Esplanade
In partnership with Multicore World, join us for a ҹɫֱ-sponsored Happy Hour to explore the present and future of quantum computing with ҹɫֱ CCO, Dr. Nash Palaniswamy, and network with our team.
H1 x CUDA-Q Demonstration
- All Week at Booth B40
We’re showcasing a live demonstration of NVIDIA’s CUDA-Q platform running on ҹɫֱ’s industry-leading quantum hardware. This new integration paves the way for hybrid compute solutions in optimization, AI, and chemistry.
Register for a demo
HPC Solutions Forum
- Wednesday, June 11 | 2:20 – 2:40 PM
“Enabling Scientific Discovery with Generative Quantum AI” – Presented by Maud Einhorn, Technical Account Executive at ҹɫֱ, discover how hybrid quantum-classical workflows are powering novel use cases in scientific discovery.
See You There!
Whether you're exploring hybrid solutions today or planning for large-scale quantum deployment tomorrow, ISC 2025 is the place to begin the conversation.
We look forward to seeing you in Hamburg!