IBM has announced the construction of the world’s first scalable quantum computer with 200 logical qubits. The system, called IBM Quantum Starling, will be able to perform up to 100 million quantum operations and will become the basis for the further development of quantum computing.
IBM has announced the construction of the world’s first scalable quantum computer with 200 logical qubits. The system, called IBM Quantum Starling, will be able to perform up to 100 million quantum operations and will become the basis for the further development of quantum computing.
This is stated in the IBM blog, where the company presented an updated quantum roadmap. Starling will operate in a new IBM data center in Poughkeepsie (New York) and will be able to perform 20,000 times more operations than current quantum computers.
The key innovation is a system of logical qubits—error-resistant units of quantum information created from groups of physical qubits. This allows for a significant reduction in error rates during long-running computations. IBM will use quantum qLDPC codes, which reduce the hardware overhead for error correction by 90% compared to previous methods.
This is the basis of scalable quantum computers. They allow complex algorithms to be executed without the accumulation of critical errors that slow down current quantum systems. This will allow quantum computing to move beyond the laboratory and into applications in medicine, chemistry, optimization, and artificial intelligence.
In 2026, IBM will introduce the modular Kookaburra processor, and in 2027, the Cockatoo system, which combines multiple modules. All this will pave the way for the launch of Starling in 2029, and later the Quantum Blue Jay with 2,000 logical qubits and a billion quantum operations.
IBM has been actively developing quantum technologies since 2016. The company already operates one of the world’s largest fleets of quantum computers. Its goal is to make quantum computing a practical tool for science, industry, and business, overcoming current limitations due to high error rates and the difficulty of scaling systems.
We previously reported how IBM was hit by cuts from the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). During the first quarter of 2025, the company canceled 15 of its federal contracts, representing between 5% and nearly 10% of IBM’s consulting practice.
