IBM to Install Europe's First Quantum System Two in Spain

The Basque Government and IBM announced plans to install Europe's first IBM Quantum System Two. It will be located at the IBM-Euskadi Quantum Computational Center on Ikerbasque Foundation's main campus in San Sebastian, Spain.

The deployment builds on the organization's partnership, which began in 2023 as part of the BasQ initiative to further establish the Basque Country as a leading technology hub. Since the initial announcement, the parties have agreed to update the original plan to install Quantum System One, to now deploy IBM's most advanced modular quantum computer, Quantum System Two, which is expected to be complete by the end of 2025.

BasQ's Quantum System Two will be powered by Quantum Heron, IBM's most performant quantum processor to date, engineered to expand to multiple processors in the future. Heron is capable of executing utility-scale algorithms beyond the capabilities of brute-force, classical simulation methods, including leveraging Qiskit software to accurately run certain classes of quantum circuits with up to 5,000 two-qubit gate operations.

The IBM-Euskadi Quantum Computational Center was announced in 2023 to promote the use of advanced technology across all the Basque Country Government and the General Deputations, further elevating research institutions by expanding international research collaborations, performing world-class fundamental scientific research, and increasing the quantum-trained talent in the region. The center will provide computational infrastructure for researchers from the Basque Government and its partners to help researchers meet these goals.