IBM aims to debut Andhra quantum computer by March 2026; wants India to focus on app research

New York | Global tech giant IBM is aiming to open its quantum computer in Andhra Pradesh's Amaravati by March next year, a senior company official has said.

India has "strong energy" from an education and skilling perspective in the relatively newer quantum computing space, but needs to focus more on the application research side as the future winners can emerge from this front, the official has said.

Scott Crowder, vice-president for quantum adoption at the company, said the company has partnered with India's largest IT services exporter TCS to install the 'IBM Quantum System Two' and the same is projected to be ready by end of first quarter of 2026.

Speaking to reporters at the Thomas J. Watson Research Center, which is the headquarters for IBM Research, Crowder said while geographic locations are not entirely important when it comes to advanced technologies like cloud computing, sovereigns' insistence on storing data locally is part of the reasons for having a compute centre in the European Union and also in India.

IBM has announced nine quantum computational centres, of which six are operational, including ones in its home country of the US, two in Japan and one each in Canada and South Korea. Apart from the upcoming one in Amravati's Quantum Valley Tech Park, it has upcoming facilities in Spain and US' Chicago, Crowder said.

The company is keen to develop the quantum ecosystem in India and is partnering with a multitude of enterprises like IT services company LTIMindtree, government's National Quantum Mission and also educational bodies like IITs, Crowder said.

Stating that India is not the only country "under-invested" in quantum computing, which is widely expected to be the future of computing as it can undertake a slew of tasks, Crowder said India can focus more on the application research and algorithm discovery front.

"...if you really want to drive economic development, you really need to create these communities of people who are doing the algorithm application research because that is probably where the software startups of the future are going to be coming from. People can make lots of money on that," Crowder said.

Crowder said it requires large sums to build the hardware essential for quantum computing, but added that one can innovate intelligently on the software front. "The right balance is to invest adequately in infrastructure while focusing more on software and applications. Do it rationally rather than emotionally," he added.

He said there are a slew of areas including healthcare and financial services where quantum computing can be of use.

The company plans to install a 156-qubit Heron quantum processor at Amaravati, which will be made available to scientists and technologists across the country. Crowder said having a functioning facility in a country connects with people from an emotional perspective, and helps generate excitement.

QpiAI, a startup, had launched what was said as the country's first full stack quantum computer having a capacity of 25-qubit in April this year.

Pointing out that India is a close second to the US in having the number of quantum computing learners enlisted with IBM, Crowder said there is great energy on the skilling front and added that funding for deeper research can also help in sprouting of startups which would be able to commercially exploit the potential.