Japan's Fujitsu, Riken push ahead with quantum computer development
Fujitsu Ltd. and Japan's state-backed Riken research institute have jointly developed a superconducting quantum computer that uses 256 quantum bits or qubits and aim to launch a more advanced 1,000-qubit computer within two years, Kyodo reports.
Building on its 64-qubit predecessor released in 2023, the new system will be available to others in June, Fujitsu and Riken said late last month.
Quantum computers are prone to errors when disturbances occur in their environments, and improving error correction technology remains a major challenge. The technology can be upgraded by increasing the number of qubits.
To develop a quantum computer that is capable of large-scale computing with adequate error correction skills, several million qubits are needed, said Keiichi Fukagaya, manager at Riken's mathematical, computational and information science promotion division.
"We aim to develop a 1,000-qubit computer in fiscal 2026" as a next step, said Shintaro Sato, the head of the quantum laboratory at Fujitsu.
Quantum technology will be able to solve complex problems that supercomputers cannot solve or do so fast enough, International Business Machines Corp. says on its website.
Challenges that might take a classical computer thousands of years to complete might be reduced to a matter of minutes, according to IBM.
Competition over development is intensifying among countries, as quantum computing is expected to be used for a wide range of applications in the financial, pharmaceutical and other sectors.
Earlier it was reported that Japan’s child population had hit a record low for the 44th straight year.
