QuantWare will build you a custom 25-qubit quantum processor in 30 days

It's still very early days for quantum computing, but even so, we're already seeing early signs of hardware and an environment that resembles the classical computing space. Today, the company announced that it can now offer researchers and other startups a 25-qubit quantum processing unit. In an industry with long lead times, QuantWare says it can deliver the new QPU in 30 days.

The first processor was launched last year. There was a five-qubit affair. It was a nice proof of concept, and the five-qubit QPU has already been used to build full-stack quantum computers. The 25-qubit QPU allows anyone in the field to get to the state of the art of the best laboratories in the world.

The image is from QuantWare.

A group of highly qualified researchers and engineers have been attracted to the Netherlands by the investment in quantum startups and the heritage of the spin-off company. The company's director of Engineering, Alessandro Bruno, spent more than 10 years working on different aspects of quantum computing, including at the DICarlo lab at Delft University.

It isn't the first place you think about when you think about quantum computing, but it has become a hub for quantum innovation. Microsoft has set up a lab at the university, as well as a wide variety of startups that are associated with the school, though we haven't heard much about the company's own efforts to build qubits. Maybe it's no surprise that Microsoft engineers have been hired by QuantWare.

Because of the existing tech community, QuantWare can get access to state-of-the-art facilities to produce its QPUs. The company has been able to collaborate with a lot of other quantum startups. We can give them the chip they need.

Potential buyers can choose from a library of components and buyers can choose how the qubits are wired together based on their specific needs. This hardware control system limits the size of the chip because every qubit features multiple lines to control and read their state. You will run out of space at the edges. The team expects to use a different technology for its next-generation chip, though Rijlaarsdam wasn't ready to give any details about that yet.

A quantum computer with a 25-qubit QPU can't keep up with what IBM, IonQ, Rigetti and others can currently offer, but it is also the first play at selling its unit to the systems integrator market. The company is talking to a few companies that plan to build full-stack quantum systems based on its design.