IBM has inaugurated the first quantum data center outside the US: it is in Europe and promises a lot for the region

IBM wants to lead in the field of quantum computing, and has several projects underway to achieve this. The legendary American company announced last year that it would have its first 100,000-qubit quantum computer ready no later than 2033. In parallel, in 2023 it launched its first quantum data center in Poughkeepsie, New York, and promised that the second such infrastructure would be located in Europe.

Time has passed and IBM has fulfilled its promise. The just announced the inauguration of the first IBM Quantum Data Center outside the United States. We are talking about a cutting-edge facility located within its campus in Ehningen, Germany, which promises to perform calculations that go beyond the simulation capabilities of conventional computers, opening the door to the development of drugs, materials, and much more.

IBM already has a quantum data center in Europe

As we pointed out in a previous article, this IBM data center has been designed to bring together several quantum systems. In this first stage, two new systems are operational IBM Quantum Eagle whose heart is chips 127 qubits. Now, this data center will take a significant leap when at a later date it incorporates an IBM Quantum Heron system that promises to offer up to 16 times more performance than previous chips.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and industry leaders at the inauguration of the data center in Ehningen

So far, IBM has only two active Heron systems at the moment, so the expansion of its new European data center will allow it to have three such systems in the short term. The good news is that once it is deployed, its power can be used by companies, universities and research centers in different parts of the world, which will have access to the promising quantum technology to boost their projects.

The multinational’s plans go much further. In recent years he has also been working on a 433-qubit chip called Osprey and another 1,121 qubits whose name is Condor. It is not unreasonable to think that these chips will be part of cutting-edge systems that will end up powering the company’s new machines. The quantum world still has a lot to grow, and these steps are very interesting.

Images | IBM

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