IBM expands quantum ecosystem with Quantinuum investment

Quantinuum, the quantum computing company created by US tech firm Honeywell and UK start up Cambridge Quantum Computing, announced this week that it has received new investment from IBM.

The tech firm’s CEO Ilyas Khan said in a statement that the blue chip’s investment would provide its clients with greater access to IBM’s quantum computing systems, including IBM’s recently announced 127 qubit processor, Eagle, as well as to IBM’s quantum expertise and its SDK Qiskit, to drive and develop the quantum ecosystem.

“IBM has been a great advocate for the creation of a growing quantum ecosystem as well as an early investor in Cambridge Quantum and now Quantinuum.

“We look forward to opening up a wide range of possibilities to further advance quantum computing industry applications,” Khan added.

While the terms of the investment were not disclosed Capacity estimates it could be up to $25 million based on share transaction information.

IBM has installed or announced plans to install quantum computers in the US, Canada, Germany, South Korea and Japan over the past year.

IBM recently partnered with LG Electronics, giving the company access to its quantum computing systems.

It is hoped that quantum computing will make the exploration of classically intractable problems possible for any number of industries including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, finance and complex manufacturing.