AI’s Next Battleground Is Quantum Computing as IQM Plans 150-Qubit Launch

Juha Vartiainen, IQM co-founder

150-qubit quantum computer due by year-end

"The quantum computing industry has reached an inflection point, moving beyond the stage of a promising technology and into real industrial use."

Juha Vartiainen, co-founder and chief global affairs officer at IQM, made the comment in a recent interview at the company’s headquarters in Espoo, Finland. He said meaningful examples of “quantum advantage” will begin to emerge in earnest this year.

Quantum advantage is the point at which quantum computers can solve problems faster and more efficiently than conventional supercomputers. The industry sees that threshold as a key milestone for commercialization.

IQM is a quantum computing hardware company founded in 2018 by researchers from Aalto University and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. It operates 13 sites worldwide. The company raised $320 million in a Series B round last year, bringing total funding to more than 600 million euros, or about $650 million. Its global market share is about 15%.

Among the 12 quantum computing companies that have signed what Vartiainen called truly meaningful contracts, IQM is the furthest ahead.

IQM is betting on next-generation data center infrastructure that combines artificial intelligence, supercomputing and quantum computing. In 2022, it integrated quantum computing with LUMI, Europe’s supercomputer. More recently, its “agentic calibration” technology, developed with Nvidia, has enabled AI to analyze a quantum computer’s state in real time and adjust it automatically, sharply reducing reliance on specialized personnel.

The company has also signed contracts with private-sector clients including Poland’s Galaxy and Japan’s Toyo Technica, expanding applications in drug development, materials, security and communications.

Quantum technology has quickly emerged as the next strategic industry after AI, with the US government recently moving to provide $2 billion in subsidies for the sector. IQM said it plans to unveil a 150-qubit quantum computer by year-end, then scale to 300 qubits and eventually 1,000 qubits. The company is also pursuing a US stock market listing.

Investment in quantum remains far smaller than in AI and blockchain, Vartiainen said. As the market expands beyond governments and research institutes into the private sector, the industry will begin to separate winners from the rest.

Espoo — Lee Young-ae, Hankyung.com reporter 0ae@hankyung.com