IBM launched the Nighthawk r2 quantum processor, a 120-qubit chip built for high-speed computation. The processor executes over 100,000 quantum circuits per second. This performance represents a 25-fold throughput increase over the existing Heron fleet.
A new high-speed qubit reset architecture achieves this acceleration by actively cooling qubits to reduce execution delays. The Nighthawk r2 successfully processed complex circuits featuring more than 7,500 gates. This achievement meets a key 2026 milestone on IBM’s quantum roadmap ahead of schedule.
Researchers can now access the processor through the IBM Quantum Platform to run complex workloads and collect data faster.