IBM reveals new quantum roadmap

IBM foresees a 1,000-qubit device by 2023, and 'frictionless quantum computing' by 2025

IBM has published its quantum computing development roadmap, intending to bring more clarity to the future of quantum computers.

'Quantum computing is on the verge of sparking a paradigm shift,' the company claims.

'Software reliant on this nascent technology, one rooted in the physical laws of nature, could soon revolutionise computing forever.'

IBM expects quantum technology to take a big leap 'in just a few short years', but adds, 'it can't take this leap alone.'

IBM's software roadmap for quantum computing builds on its previous roadmap from September 2020, in which the firm outlined a pathway to achieve over 1,000 qubits by 2023.

The company said at the time that its researchers were working to develop 'a suite of scalable, increasingly larger and better processors, with a 1,000-plus qubit device, called IBM Quantum Condor, targeted for the end of 2023.'

The company also said it was developing a dilution refrigerator larger than any currently available commercially, to house 'even more massive devices beyond Condor.'

IBM's latest quantum computing roadmap talks about the Qiskit runtime (see below), advanced control systems, circuit libraries and new software interfaces.

The company expects that by 2025, 'frictionless quantum computing' will enable a wide array of applications, surpassing classic computing.

However, much will depend on IBM's new open source programme execution environment, Qiskit, which the company plans to release this year.

Qiskit runtime will serve as a platform for further quantum software development - delivering a 100 times speed increase for tasks that depend on iterative circuit execution.

IBM will achieve the huge speedup by cutting the latency in communication between quantum and classic computers. Programmes will be executed on classic computers located beside quantum hardware to do so.

The latency reduction will result in faster computations, with IBM claiming workloads that currently take months to complete will take 'a few hours'.

IBM's roadmap also talks about quantum systems handling a wider range of circuits. The company plans to release new control systems and circuit libraries in 2023, to help it reach the goal of running systems with 1,000+ qubits.

"Roadmaps give people more confidence on what to expect and when," said Bob Sutor, vice president of IBM Quantum Ecosystem Development at IBM.

IBM has been among the leading organisations trying to build momentum for quantum computing.

In January 2019, the company launched what it claimed was the world's first commercial quantum computing system, developed with UK design studios Map Project Office and Universal Design Studio.

Later in September 2019, the company unveiled a new 53-qubit quantum computer, which it made available to clients of the IBM Q Network.

In addition to a higher number of qubits, IBM's new quantum system featured other improvements, including a new processor design, lower space requirements and the ability to cut error rates and interference.