Ibm S Starling Supercomputer A New Era In Quantum Computing

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Dec 4, 2025, 6:40 PM

ibm s starling supercomputer a new era in quantum computing

Today IBM released a roadmap to Starling, a quantum computer with 20,000 times the processing power of today’s quantum computers. Starling won’t be built until 2029, but IBM says they’ve cracked the toughest problems on the path, and that this roadmap is trustworthy. A key breakthrough: 14X better error correction, which solves one of the most challenging problems in quantum computing: quantum decoherence. IBM will have a fully fault tolerant large-scale quantum computer by 2029, IBM fellow and director of quantum systems Jerry Chow told me on the TechFirst podcast. “We really have a path to make this viable in this timescale." IBM is aiming high.

Until today, the company says, a clear path to building a large-scale fault-tolerant quantum computer without unrealistic engineering overhead has not been published. Starling will be such a computer, and Blue Jay, the next quantum computer in IBM’s roadmap, will have 2,000 logical qubits, and could run a billion quantum operations effectively instantly. “Our expertise across mathematics, physics, and engineering is paving the way for a large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer — one that will solve real-world challenges and unlock immense possibilities for business,” says Arvind Krishna, Chairman... YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, N.Y., June 10, 2025/PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) unveiled its path to build the world's first large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer, setting the stage for practical and scalable quantum computing. Delivered by 2029, IBM Quantum Starling will be built in a new IBM Quantum Data Center in Poughkeepsie, New York and is expected to perform 20,000 times more operations than today's quantum computers. To represent the computational state of an IBM Starling would require the memory of more than a quindecillion (1048) of the world's most powerful supercomputers.

With Starling, users will be able to fully explore the complexity of its quantum states, which are beyond the limited properties able to be accessed by current quantum computers. IBM, which already operates a large, global fleet of quantum computers, is releasing a new Quantum Roadmap that outlines its plans to build out a practical, fault-tolerant quantum computer. "IBM is charting the next frontier in quantum computing," said Arvind Krishna, Chairman and CEO, IBM. "Our expertise across mathematics, physics, and engineering is paving the way for a large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer — one that will solve real-world challenges and unlock immense possibilities for business." A large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer with hundreds or thousands of logical qubits could run hundreds of millions to billions of operations, which could accelerate time and cost efficiencies in fields such as drug development,... IBM on Tuesday announced a roadmap to develop a large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer called Quantum Starling.

Part of the company's plan involves the new IBM Quantum Nighthawk processor, which is set to release later this year, according to a blog post announcing the details. "Unlocking the full promise of quantum computing will require a device capable of running larger, deeper circuits with hundreds of millions of gates operating on hundreds of qubits, at least," the company said in... "More than that, it will require a device capable of correcting errors and preventing them from spreading throughout the system. … It will require a fault-tolerant quantum computer." Fault tolerance refers to the system's ability to correct and deal with errors. The quantum race accelerated this year after Google announced its breakthrough quantum chip "Willow" in December.

Microsoft rolled out its first quantum chip Majorana 1 in February, and Amazon followed a week later with its "Ocelot" chip. The quantum computer, called Starling, will use 200 logical qubits — and IBM plans to follow this up with a 2,000-logical-qubit machine in 2033 When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. IBM scientists say they have solved the biggest bottleneck in quantum computing and plan to launch the world's first large-scale, fault-tolerant machine by 2029. The new research demonstrates new error-correction techniques that the scientists say will lead to a system 20,000 times more powerful than any quantum computer in existence today.

In two new studies uploaded June 2 and June 3 to the preprint arXiv server, the researchers revealed new error mitigation and correction techniques that sufficiently handle these errors and allow for the scaling... In today’s fast-paced world, summarizing information effectively is a valuable skill. Many people find themselves overwhelmed by the sheer volume of content available. Therefore, mastering European markets are expected to open higher today, reflecting a sense of optimism among investors. This positive sentiment is largely driven by the ongoing Ukraine

IBM has revealed its plan for the world's first large-scale fault-tolerant quantum computer, and it will be built in Poughkeepsie's new IBM Quantum Data Center. Announced on June 10, IBM's quantum computer, dubbed IBM Starling, is planned to be up and running by 2029. A second large-scale system, dubbed IBM Blue Jay, will be housed at the Poughkeepsie facility by 2033. IBM Starling aims to solve the question IBM leaders say is plaguing quantum computing: how to build something reliable out of unreliable parts. "We feel at IBM, we've cracked the code to quantum error correction," said Jay Gambetta, vice president of IBM Quantum. A fault-tolerant quantum computer, according to IBM, is a quantum computer designed to operate correctly even in the presence of errors.

Quantum bits, or qubits — which can represent both 0 and 1 simultaneously, a jump from classical computer bits, or binary units, which can only represent 0 or 1 — are extremely sensitive to... Fault tolerance works to detect and correct these errors in real time. The company says it has cracked the code for error correction and is building a modular machine in New York state. IBM announced detailed plans today to build an error-corrected quantum computer with significantly more computational capability than existing machines by 2028. It hopes to make the computer available to users via the cloud by 2029. The proposed machine, named Starling, will consist of a network of modules, each of which contains a set of chips, housed within a new data center in Poughkeepsie, New York.

“We’ve already started building the space,” says Jay Gambetta, vice president of IBM’s quantum initiative. IBM claims Starling will be a leap forward in quantum computing. In particular, the company aims for it to be the first large-scale machine to implement error correction. If Starling achieves this, IBM will have solved arguably the biggest technical hurdle facing the industry today to beat competitors including Google, Amazon Web Services, and smaller startups such as Boston-based QuEra and PsiQuantum... IBM, along with the rest of the industry, has years of work ahead. But Gambetta thinks it has an edge because it has all the building blocks to build error correction capabilities in a large-scale machine.

That means improvements in everything from algorithm development to chip packaging. “We’ve cracked the code for quantum error correction, and now we’ve moved from science to engineering,” he says. IBM researchers have unveiled an ambitious plan to construct the world’s first large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer, named Starling, by 2029. The system, housed at IBM’s R&D hub in Poughkeepsie, New York, will harness 10,000 physical qubits to support 200 logical qubits, enabling 100 million quantum operations — a feat 20,000 times more powerful than... This milestone promises to unleash quantum computing’s potential for solving problems beyond classical computational reach, from drug discovery to logistics optimization. IBM’s breakthrough centers on quantum low-density parity check (LDPC) codes, a novel error-correction paradigm that addresses the field’s most persistent challenge: scaling qubits without compounding errors.

By drastically reducing the ratio of physical qubits required to protect logical qubits, LDPC codes allow IBM to scale hardware nine times more efficiently than prior methods. Company leaders confirm “the science has been solved” for achieving fault tolerance, making future quantum scaling purely an engineering challenge. Quantum computing has long been hampered by “noise” intrinsic to qubits, which degrade operational accuracy as systems grow. Early error-correction efforts relied on surface codes—a method that required a thousand physical qubits per logical qubit, rendering large-scale systems impractical. IBM’s LDPC advance slashes this ratio, requiring just 50 physical qubits per logical qubit, letting systems scale exponentially. The company’s path to Starling builds on over a decade of incremental progress.

Its Heron architecture (2023) debuted 127-qubit chips with improved coherence, while the 2024 Flamingo chip introduced long-range qubit couplers. Yet these gains remained outpaced by error rates stymieing quantum algorithms. The LDPC-based bicycle code, first unveiled in IBM’s 2024 Nature paper, finally provides the mathematical framework for stable, large-scale computing. IBM’s LDPC codes work like a precision algorithm for quantum error correction (QEC). The system encodes logical qubits across physical qubits in groups called “gros,” each containing 144 data qubits and 144 syndrome checks. These “checks” identify errors by comparing qubit states against predefined parity patterns, akin to how classical computers detect corrupted code.

IBM announced an ambitious roadmap for quantum computing, aiming to deliver the IBM Quantum Starling, a large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer, by 2029. Key focuses include modular processor design, error correction, and scalable communication networks. The plans also extend to quantum-centric supercomputers by 2033, promoting practical applications across various industries. Quantum computing promises to revolutionize industries by solving complex problems beyond the reach of classical computers. IBM, a pioneer in quantum research, recently announced an ambitious roadmap to deliver the world’s first large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer, named IBM Quantum Starling, by 2029, with plans for quantum-centric supercomputers by 2033. On June 10, 2025, IBM unveiled a comprehensive quantum computing roadmap aimed at achieving a practical, large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer by 2029.

The announcement, detailed across various sources, outlines a full-stack strategy centered on three key pillars: modular processor design, real-time decoding for fault tolerance, and scalable quantum communication networks. The system, dubbed IBM Quantum Starling, is set to be developed at IBM’s quantum data center in New York, marking a significant milestone in the company’s quantum ambitions. IBM’s press release emphasizes incremental advancements leading to 2029. Unlike previous roadmaps that focused on qubit count milestones—such as the 1,000+ qubit chip unveiled in 2023—the new strategy prioritizes fault tolerance and scalability to achieve practical quantum computing applications. The roadmap also includes plans for quantum-centric supercomputers by 2033, capable of running 1 billion quantum gates with thousands of qubits, unlocking the full potential of quantum computing for real-world use cases like drug... “Our roadmap to 2029 is a clear path to fault-tolerant quantum computing.

By focusing on modularity, error correction, and scalable networks, we’re building a system that will deliver real value to industries and academia.” Dr. Jay Gambetta, IBM’s Vice President of Quantum ComputingSource: IBM Press Release, June 2025 (paraphrased from roadmap announcement).

Ibm S Starling Supercomputer A New Era In Quantum Computing

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