A day ahead of its Quantum Summit 2021 keynote, IBM has announced it is the world’s first company to produce a 127-qubit processor. The chip, codenamed Eagle, uses a new multilayer design. The exact quantum volume computing specifics for the processor are unknown.
“Our first 127-qubit Eagle processor is available as an exploratory system on the IBM Cloud to select members of the IBM Quantum Network,” Jerry Chow, the director of IBM’s Quantum Hardware System Development unit, told Engadget.
The wafer includes multiple layers for the computing units and a single layer for the connected qubits. IBM claims it would be impossible for classical computers to simulate the new processor, stating it would take “more classical bits than there are atoms in every human being on the planet.”
“The arrival of the ‘Eagle’ processor is a major step towards the day when quantum computers can outperform classical computers at meaningful levels,” said Dr. Darío Gil, Senior Vice President, IBM and Director of Research. “Quantum computing has the power to transform nearly every sector and help us tackle the biggest problems of our time. This is why IBM continues to rapidly innovate quantum hardware design, build ways for quantum and classical workloads to empower each other, and create a global ecosystem that is imperative to the adoption of quantum computing.”