IBM announced a battery of advances in processors, software and error correction that, according to the company, bring verifiable and fault-tolerant quantum computing closer. The package spans the Nighthawk and Loon chips, improvements to Qiskit and accelerated manufacturing, with implications for researchers, supercomputing centers and companies relying on high-performance quantum algorithms.
IBM introduced the IBM Quantum Nighthawk processor, described as its most advanced unit, with 120 qubits and 218 tunable couplers—representing a 20% increase in connectivity over its predecessor. IBM says the added interconnection enables circuits with 30% more complexity while maintaining low error rates, and Nighthawk-based systems could handle up to 5,000 two-qubit gates; the internal roadmap estimates 7,500 in 2026, 10,000 in 2027 and 15,000 in 2028.
IBM frames these developments as a step toward verifiable advantage and scalable, fault-tolerant systems, emphasizing tighter hardware–software integration and faster error-correction pipelines.
In parallel, IBM Quantum Loon targets components needed for quantum error correction (QEC). The experimental processor integrates layers of low-loss routing for longer on‑chip links and qubit reset techniques between computations, aiming to validate architectures that scale toward fault-tolerant computing.
Nighthawk and Loon: next-generation chips for IBM
The software stack advanced with Qiskit, improving execution of dynamic circuits and delivering a 24% increase in accuracy at the scale of more than 100 qubits. IBM reports a reduction in the cost of extracting accurate results by over 100 times, enabled by error mitigation powered by HPC and a new C‑API to integrate classical‑quantum workflows.
QEC decoding saw a 10x speed-up with real-time latencies below 480 ns, using AMD FPGA chips to offload classical compute load. This division of tasks between classical processors and qubits is designed to improve operational reliability during quantum runs.
Fabrication shifted to a 300 mm facility in Albany (NY), which IBM says has halved processor build times and increased by tenfold the physical complexity possible on chips. The company also projects the IBM Quantum Starling system for 2029 in a new Poughkeepsie data center, aimed at running hundreds of logical qubits and hundreds of millions of gate operations. Technical definition: a qubit is the basic unit of quantum information, equivalent to a classical bit but capable of superposed states that allow greater computational parallelism.
The next milestone indicated by IBM is to reach a “verified quantum advantage” by the end of 2026 and to demonstrate fault-tolerant systems by 2029. Until then, the sector will watch for independent tests and real applications that confirm these metrics translate into useful performance. Related: IBM plans to build Starling for 2029.
