Dear Qubit Community,
Welcome to the latest edition of Qubit.IL’s weekly newsletter, where we dive into the fascinating world of quantum technologies, explore groundbreaking advancements, and connect with our vibrant quantum community. Whether you’re a seasoned researcher, a curious student, or simply quantum‑curious, this is your gateway to staying informed and inspired about the quantum landscape.
Best Regards,
The Qubit.IL Team
Business, Technology and Engineering Highlights
IBM Pledges $150 Billion U.S. Investment with $30 Billion for Quantum – IBM unveiled a five‑year $150 billion spend to boost domestic tech leadership, reserving more than $30 billion for quantum‑computing R&D and manufacturing. CEO Arvind Krishna framed the move as “the next platform shift,” reinforcing IBM’s 20‑year quantum roadmap and expanding its U.S. quantum‑ready workforce. The money will scale fabrication of next‑gen qubit chips and mainframes, bolster cloud access for IBM’s 300‑member Quantum Network, and deepen partnerships with U.S. universities and labs.
For further information: https://newsroom.ibm.com/2025-04-28-ibm-unveils-150-billion-investmentXanadu Taps Applied Materials & U.S. Air Force to Industrialize Photonic Chips – Toronto’s Xanadu announced two deals this week: a collaboration with Applied Materials to build the first 300 mm, high‑volume line for superconducting transition‑edge sensors, and a four‑year R&D agreement with the U.S. Air Force Research Lab to co‑design silicon‑photonic quantum circuits. Together they target lower‑loss sources and detectors for Xanadu’s modular photonic processors, clearing a path to quantum data‑center‑scale systems.
For further information: https://betakit.com/xanadu-forges-partnerships-with-us-military-industry-to-fuel-quantum-computing-ambitions/
Research Highlights
Quantum Annealer Shows First Scaling Advantage Over Supercomputers – A USC‑led team used a D‑Wave Advantage system plus quantum‑annealing correction to solve large spin‑glass optimization problems within 1 % of optimal faster than the best classical parallel‑tempering solver. The Physical Review Letters study demonstrates a scaling quantum advantage for approximate optimization, achieved with 1,300 error‑suppressed logical qubits—an important proof that quantum annealers can beat classical hardware in practical tasks.
For further information: https://today.usc.edu/quantum-computer-outperforms-supercomputersMIT Sets Record Light‑Matter Coupling for Nanosecond Quantum Gates – MIT engineers created a superconducting “quarton coupler” that boosts nonlinear photon–qubit interaction 10‑fold relative to prior work, enabling readout and gates in just a few nanoseconds. Faster cycles bode well for active error correction and fault‑tolerance, potentially speeding future processors by an order of magnitude.
For further information: https://news.mit.edu/2025/mit-engineers-advance-toward-fault-tolerant-quantum-computer-0430