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IBM Announces Integration of Quantum Modules, Aiming for First Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computer by 2029

Welcome to the latest edition of "Quantum Leap" where The Fly decodes news and activity in the quantum computing space.LEAP FORWARD:IBMannounced it has joined and cooled down two cryogenic modules into a single environment. The new architecture is designed to scale into the modular, shared, and ultra-cold system required to link hundreds of quantum chips into a more powerful quantum computer capable of solving large problems. The company said its deployment is a milestone on IBM's path to delivering IBM Quantum Starling in 2029, which is expected to be the world's first fault-tolerant quantum computer and will integrate advances across error correction, processor design, decoding, and systems engineering. Combined, the first two operational modules stand more than eight feet tall and eight feet wide, and initial tests demonstrated they can jointly cool down to four Kelvin in under five days, reaching a final temperature of below 15 millikelvin shortly after. Each module's vacuum enclosure offers up to 12 times more wiring space than the most widely used IBM quantum systems, enabling more chip-to-chip connections both within and between modules. IBM's new box-shaped design allows modules to connect in a tight row and use this larger space to directly link quantum processors with IBM's "L-coupler" technology. L-couplers connect separate quantum chips together to share information, communicate, and operate as part of a larger quantum computer. By 2027, IBM's quantum roadmap plans to use L-couplers to link multiple processors into a larger quantum computer with at least 1,000 programmable qubits, which are qubits that can be directly used to perform computations. Towards this goal, IBM will install IBM Quantum Nighthawk processors into the cryogenic modules later this year to expand operational performance testing. At the time Starling is delivered, IBM plans for each cryogenic module to house thousands of qubits. "Bringing fault-tolerant quantum computers to industries depends on several fundamental advances," said Jay Gambetta, Director of IBM Research and IBM Fellow. "The successful connection and operation of these cryogenic modules signals a leap forward in that direction and will accelerate our progress alongside continued innovation in quantum hardware, software, and algorithms."CLOUD QUANTUM COMPUTING:IonQannounced a collaboration with CMC Microsystems. This collaboration integrates IonQ's commercial trapped-ion quantum computing systems into Canada's FABrIC Quantum Computing Sandbox. The framework for this initiative is covered under a newly signed memorandum of understanding, which designates IonQ as a listed cloud quantum computing access provider for the QCS. The QCS is operated through FABrIC, an initiative backed by funding from the Government of Canada's Strategic Response Fund and managed by CMC Microsystems.QUANTUM SAFE CENTRE:IBM and the Singapore Institute of Technology, or SIT, are planning to establish the Quantum-Safe Centre, targeted for launch by the end of 2026, as a dedicated hub to accelerate Singapore's transition to quantum-safe cybersecurity. The Centre will help organizations assess risks, adopt new security approaches and develop the talent needed for the post-quantum era. The Quantum-Safe Centre, located in the SIT Punggol Campus within the Punggol Digital District, is designed to help organizations prepare for and transition to quantum-safe cryptograph. Siew San Tan, general manager and technology leader, IBM Singapore, said: "Singapore's critical infrastructure, enterprises, and government agencies are at a pivotal moment in their cybersecurity journey, and the time to prepare for the post-quantum risk is now. Through our collaboration with SIT and the establishment of the Quantum-Safe Centre, IBM is committed to supporting Singapore's organizations with the technology, expertise and capabilities they need to understand their cryptographic vulnerabilities and take decisive steps toward quantum-safe resilience. This initiative would help to ensure that Singapore's digital economy remains secure and trusted in the years ahead."INTEGRATION:Sealsqand PalmPay, a brand developed by Palm Technologies in India, announced a strategic partnership to collaborate on the integration of Sealsq's QS7001 hardware-security technology into Palm Technologies' existing and future PalmPay biometric-authentication products. Sealsq will provide its QS7001 technology and technical support for secure-element integration, while Palm Technologies will lead product architecture, biometric-system design, application development, firmware, system integration, local compliance and product deployment.PRODUCTION QUANTUM ADOPTION:D-Wave Quantumand NTT DOCOMO announced that DOCOMO has deployed a second D-Wave-powered quantum computing application in production. The new application reduced location registration signals generated when devices cross tracking area list boundaries by 65.3% at the daily peak while also reducing paging signals by 7.0%, lowering network signaling load and improving operational efficiency. "DOCOMO is showing telecom operators around the world what production quantum adoption looks like: move beyond a single use case and apply the technology to distinct, increasingly complex operational challenges," said Alan Baratz, CEO of D-Wave. "Telecom networks are highly complex, resource-constrained environments, and these results demonstrate how D-Wave's annealing quantum computing technology can help operators improve network performance and efficiency today."COLLABORATION:Quanta Computerand Quantinuumannounced a collaborative development agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, the companies plan to jointly develop critical hardware infrastructure supporting future generations of Quantinuum's quantum systems, combining Quantinuum's quantum technology with Quanta's expertise in scaling computing platforms. Quanta and Quantinuum aim to create a practical pathway from today's quantum systems to commercially deployable quantum computers capable of supporting broad enterprise and scientific adoption.QUANTUM DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM:Qtrex Quantumannounced that it is in discussions with a U.S. Department of Defense's research laboratory to establish a joint quantum development program. The parties are targeting the fourth quarter of 2026 to formalize the program. The laboratory already operates the company's AME system and is distinct from the U.S. government laboratory referenced in Qtrex's July 6, announcement, extending the company's disclosed footprint to a second U.S. government research institution. The program under discussion targets the layer where scaled quantum systems physically break: the interconnect.MOU:BTQ Technologieshas signed a memorandum of understanding, or MOU, with Itcenglobal, one of Korea's largest IT services groups, through its listed security platform subsidiary Itcen PNS. The signed MOU establishes a framework for collaboration between BTQ and Itcen PNS to integrate post-quantum cryptography, quantum-safe authentication, and next-generation security infrastructure for Korean and international markets.ANALYST COMMENTARY:Craig-Hallum initiated coverage of Horizon Quantumwith a Buy rating and $21 price target. The firm sees the company's Triple Alpha addressing more of the developer- and run-time stack than anywhere else in the world, and if it's successful in creating efficiencies at both points, Horizon Quantum will have a strategically important asset positioned at the crux of the new quantum world. This position in the hybrid quantum-classical dev-/run-time and applications mirrors the position that Microsoftbuilt in the classical client computing world nearly a half century ago, and this outcome could create very high returns, Craig-Hallum noted. As such, the firm believes Horizon Quantum deserves a place in any growth investor's portfolio.

Quantinuum Partners with Oracle for Quantum Computing

Welcome to the latest edition of "Quantum Leap" where The Fly decodes news and activity in the quantum computing space.HYBRID QUANTUM-AI INFRASTRUCTURE:Quantinuumand Oracleentered a multi-year strategic partnership to bring quantum computing to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Under the partnership, OCI customers will be able to directly access Quantinuum's Helios through OCI's quantum service, alongside OCI's high-performance computing and GPU infrastructure. Together, Quantinuum and Oracle plan to explore how hybrid quantum-AI infrastructure could address some challenges facing enterprises and broaden access for universities and research institutions advancing scientific discovery and education. The partnership reflects a shared vision that the future of enterprise computing will be built on the convergence of AI, classical supercomputing, and quantum computing.ANNEALING QUANTUM COMPUTERS:D-Wave Quantumhas been awarded up to C$300,000 in funding from the National Research Council of Canada's Applied Quantum Computing Challenge program to advance annealing quantum computing software for commercial applications. In collaboration with the NRC, D-Wave's team located at its Quantum Centre of Engineering Excellence in Burnaby, British Columbia, will develop next-generation software and algorithms to help organizations solve larger, more complex optimization problems on D-Wave's Advantage annealing quantum computers. The project will create new graph minor-embedding algorithms for D-Wave's Zephyr topology and integrate them into the company's open-source Ocean software development kit.GRID CONTINGENCY:Infleqtionnoted that Eatonselected the company to support new research evaluating how quantum computing can improve the resilience of the U.S. electrical grid. As part of an Eaton award from the Air Force Research Laboratory, Infleqtion received a subcontract to apply quantum computing hardware to support grid contingency analysis. Infleqtion and Eaton aim to advance reliability analysis used by utilities to predict and prevent cascading power outages.LAWSUIT:Quantum Cyberannounced that it has filed a complaint in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, against White Diamond Research, Adam Gefvert and Stocktwits. The complaint asserts causes of action for market manipulation and conspiracy to commit market manipulation under New York General Business Law Section 339, and for defamation, seeking damages over $5.69M, together with exemplary damages. The company said, "As alleged in the complaint, on or about June 29, 2026, White Diamond published a report concerning the Company that contained false, misleading, and disparaging statements about the Company's business and its Chief Executive Officer. The complaint alleges that White Diamond markets itself publicly as "an Independent institutional-grade research" firm, while burying on a tertiary webpage on its own site it discloses that White Diamond "along with its clients, affiliates, and related entities, may have a short position in the securities discussed and stand to realize significant gains in the event that the price of the stock declines." The complaint further alleges, that both White Diamond and Mr. Gefvert likely profited from the effects of the report through short positions in QUCY. The complaint further alleges that Stocktwits, which the Company had retained to disseminate its business and press releases, made a deliberate editorial decision to publish and amplify the White Diamond report through the "News" section of its platform to its more than five million registered users, and subsequently pushed the content onto Apple Stocks and Yahoo! Finance, making it available to hundreds of millions of additional readers. According to the complaint, at no point in its publication, dissemination, or accompanying commentary did Stocktwits or its staff writer include any disclaimer regarding White Diamond's position as a proprietary short-selling market participant. The complaint alleges that this omission led readers to the false impression that White Diamond was an independent research firm with no financial interest in a decline in QUCY's share price, and that Stocktwits published the report with reckless disregard for its truth or falsity."GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS:IonQwas awarded a $28M contract extension through the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, It's About Time program. Under the program, IonQ will advance its scalable clock production capabilities for its Evergreen-05 optical atomic clocks and deliver 125 units to U.S. government customers. The clocks are designed for mission-critical applications including radar, secure communications, and precision geolocation. Originally developed under DARPA's Robust Optical Clock Network program, IonQ's Evergreen-05 is a compact, fully integrated optical atomic clock with a 5-liter, shoe box-sized form factor. It delivers timing stability of 50 femtoseconds at one second and nanosecond holdover over 10 days-projecting to a timing error of less than one second over 30M years. The company also reported that Capella, an IonQ company, has been awarded a contract under the National Reconnaissance Office's, or NRO, Radar Commercial Augmentation program. Under the contract, the company will provide commercial synthetic aperture radar imagery and data services in support of U.S. national security missions. Through the RCA program, Capella will provide commercial radar imagery and data services.ANALYST COMMENTARY:Bernstein raised the firm's price target on Quantinuum to $95 from $94 and reiterated an Outperform rating on the shares. The company reported Q2 earnings after the market closed on Tuesday beating consensus on revenue and EPS and raising full year revenue guidance but missing slightly on Adjusted EBITDA. The results also included the IPO related costs including SBC that was triggered by the IPO. The stock was down slightly in the aftermarket. But the Quantinuum story is less about the near term numbers and more about the company's ability to deliver their fourth and fifth generation quantum computers on schedule, Bernstein added.Jefferies lowered the firm's price target on Rigetti Computingto $18 from $20 and maintained a Hold rating on the shares following Q2 results. The firm remains constructive on long-term progress, but maintained a Hold rating as execution against near-term fidelity targets is still needed, the analyst told investors in a post-earnings note.Roth Capital cut its price target on D-Wave Quantum to $30 from $40 and kept a Buy rating on the shares. D-Wave Quantum noted growing commercial traction in its QCaaS business and expanding system sales pipeline, with performance advantages and a broad annealing and gate-model offering supporting its competitive positioning, the analyst noted.Morgan Stanley boosted its price target on IonQto $49 from $48.50 and affirmed an Equal Weight rating on the shares. Q2 results showed strong commercial momentum, with Tempo deployments driving upside and RPO expanding, the analyst told investors.Canaccord lowered the firm's price target on Xanadu Quantumto $34 from $45 and backed a Buy rating on the shares. The firm noted they posted their second quarter since going public and said its revenue growth was driven primarily by DARPA Stage B program revenue, though it declined sequentially from $2.8M on lower grant revenue in the quarter. Canaccord said its long-term thesis on Xanadu remains intact. Xanadu is the only public pure-play photonic quantum computing company.