The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has bought a quantum computer from Finnish technology company IQM.
IQM confirmed the deal on Tuesday through its official X account. The company will deliver a Radiance-series quantum computer to Oak Ridge later this autumn.
The Oak Ridge lab is one of the main research centres operated by the Department of Energy. It is known for its nuclear energy research and high-performance computing systems.
The laboratory has an annual budget of more than $2.4 billion.
The value of the IQM contract has not been disclosed, but quantum computers developed for research institutions typically cost several million euros.
IQM stated that the Radiance system will be integrated directly into Oak Ridge’s supercomputing infrastructure. The integration is intended to support research that combines conventional and quantum computing methods.
“The acquisition of IQM’s Radiance quantum computer supports Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s work on integrating quantum and supercomputing hardware,” IQM said in its announcement. “Oak Ridge researchers have been recognised for their pioneering work in the field for many years.”
Mikko Välimäki, co-CEO of IQM, said the agreement shows that demand for quantum systems already exists. “This confirms that quantum computers are already proving useful and needed today,” he said.
IQM was founded in 2018 as a joint project between VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Aalto University. The company manufactures superconducting quantum computing cores at its facility in Espoo.
Since its founding, IQM has raised over $271 million across eight investment rounds.
HT
