IBM Announces Nighthawk r3 Quantum Chip and Plans 1,040-Qubit Linked System for 2027

Technology · First reported 11 Nov, 12:00 · Updated 12:10

Image: Wikimedia Commons · Ysherazi · CC BY-SA 4.0

IBM has introduced its next-generation Quantum Nighthawk r3 processor, engineered to execute 10,000 operations across 520 programmable qubits. The company plans to connect two r3 processors via modular couplers in 2027 to create a unified system with 1,040 qubits.

IBM announced its upcoming Quantum Nighthawk r3 processor, which is designed to run 10,000 quantum operations on 520 programmable qubits with 2,034 total physical components.
In 2027, IBM intends to link two Nighthawk r3 chips together using chip-to-chip interconnects called l-couplers to create a single 1,040-qubit system.
The existing Nighthawk r2 processor, released in September, features a fast qubit reset that reduces wait times between runs and has demonstrated speedups of up to 19x over earlier Heron chips across 34 billion executions.
IBM reported linking earlier Nighthawk processors with state transfer fidelity between 99.3% and 99.4%, progressing toward its operational target of 99.9% fidelity.
The company also expanded its IBM Quantum Platform to integrate quantum workflows with classical high-performance computing, collaborating with partners such as AMD and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

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Key facts

Target launch year for linked system: 2027
Nighthawk r3 operations capacity: 10,000 quantum operations
Nighthawk r3 programmable qubits: 520 qubits
Linked system total qubits: 1,040 qubits
Coupler transfer fidelity target: 99.9%
Current Nighthawk r2 operations capacity: Over 7,500 operations on 120 qubits