Inauguration of the first IBM Quantum Data Center in Europe

Alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, senior European government officials and European-based global enterprises, IBM (NYSE: IBM) today unveiled the first IBM Quantum Data Center located outside of the United States. It is the company’s second quantum data center in the world and marks a significant expansion of its fleet of advanced, utility-scale quantum systems available to global users via the cloud.

Now online in Ehningen, Germany, Europe’s first IBM Quantum Data Center includes two new utility-scale, IBM Quantum Eagle processor-powered systems, and will feature a new IBM Quantum Heron-based system. Utility-scale systems are capable of computations beyond the brute-force simulation capabilities of classical computers.

First introduced late last year, IBM Heron is the company’s most performant quantum computer yet, and advances the company’s mission of bringing useful quantum computing to the world by enabling users to increase the complexity of algorithms they are exploring on real quantum hardware.

When the IBM Quantum Heron-based system is made available at the IBM Quantum Data Center in Europe to IBM’s global quantum network of more than 250 enterprises, universities, research institutions, and organizations, it will be the third IBM Heron installed globally. IBM Heron offers up to a 16-fold increase in performance and 25-fold increase in speed over previous IBM quantum computers as they were measured two years ago.

This system, when it is made available alongside the now-available utility-scale systems installed in the new IBM Quantum Data Center, will expand the more than a dozen quantum computers IBM currently offers its clients via the cloud – the largest fleet of its kind in the world.

The opening of the new quantum data center was celebrated at a ribbon-cutting event attended by senior government officials, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Dr. Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut, Minister for Economic Affairs, Labour, and Tourism, State of Baden-Württemberg. IBM CEO and Chairman Arvind Krishna gave remarks alongside Chancellor Scholz, who also spoke at length with IBM leaders including Dario Gil, IBM Senior Vice President and Director of Research; Ana Paula Assis, General Manager of IBM EMEA; Jay Gambetta, Vice President of IBM Quantum; and IBM Quantum’s German-based team about the importance of quantum computing’s adoption and growth in the region.

Additionally, the landmark moment was attended by several senior leaders of European-based global enterprises, including Crédit Mutuel, Bosch, E.ON, Volkswagen, and others, as well as research institutions such as the Ikerbasque and Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. These organizations are among the more than 80 European-based organizations within the IBM Quantum Network which have the opportunity to access the systems within the IBM Quantum Data Center in Europe to search for the algorithms and applications of quantum computing that could solve some of the most complex challenges across their industries.

“IBM is pioneering the field of quantum computing by heavily investing in bringing advanced quantum hardware architectures and performant quantum software directly to our users,” said Jay Gambetta, Vice President, IBM Quantum. “In the past several years, our team has worked to deploy multiple generations of quantum systems with increasingly advanced performance. In doing so, we’re working with our clients to push forward the problems and algorithms on these systems that will unlock quantum advantage. We look forward to expanding this quest further with our clients accessing the new systems in Europe’s first IBM Quantum Data Center, and discovering the vast potential of quantum computers across sustainability, materials design, sustainability, life sciences, finance, and other areas.”   

“Our collaboration with IBM for the ‘scaling’ phase of quantum computing is progressing according to plan. We are working to develop concrete applications that improve the experience of our customer and members, and create value for the Group's businesses,” said Frantz Rublé, President of Euro-Information and Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale. “The availability of this quantum data center on European soil addresses our constraints in terms of processing proximity and regulatory compliance. And it also means we can look forward to the next stages of the quantum project with confidence at Crédit Mutuel, CIC and then at Targobank.”

"We believe that enabling our scientists and engineers to tackle demanding problems in materials sciences, high-energy physics, and biosciences through quantum computing, and providing state-of-the-art quantum computing access will be key to make disruptive progress in all those disciplines,” said Javier Aizpurua, Ikerbasque professor, Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC) and director of BasQ. “A combined use of quantum computing, AI, and data science, if generalized, will give rise to a scenario of new possibilities not only in fundamental research but also in industrial innovation."

“Bosch aims to drive innovation in the field of material simulation using quantum computing. In partnership with IBM our team is creating scalable algorithms that aim to revolutionize product development. This includes the creation of new materials for sustainable, carbon-free mobility and the reduction of rare earth elements,” said Dr. Thomas Kropf, President of Corporate Sector Research and Advance Engineering, Robert Bosch GmbH. “The European IBM Quantum Data Center allows us to run quantum calculations in close proximity, maintaining compliance with European data protection regulations. This accelerates our research and development efforts and bolsters the European quantum ecosystem, paving the way for advancements in mobility, healthcare, and sustainable technologies.”

Qiskit, the world’s most performant quantum software, enables IBM's ecosystem of users across Europe and globally to develop programs on the breakthrough hardware in the new data center and advance the algorithmic work necessary to reach quantum advantage: the point at which a quantum computer can solve a practical problem better than any classical method.

The IBM Quantum Data Center in Europe can be accessed through the IBM Quantum Platform, continuing IBM’s mission to enable the development of quantum computing use cases and to support clients as they press forward with algorithm discovery in the era of quantum utility, and towards quantum advantage.