Programs an energy landscape and samples candidate solutions with superconducting flux qubits. Leap also offers solvers that combine classical processing with quantum annealing.
Know the landscape.
Compare the evidence.
Understand the technology, inspect the evidence and find where to start.
2 material evidence updates in the past 7 days →Computing hardware
Who is turning quantum hardware into usable systems?
A field guide to this sectorKnow what to compare
Match the machine to the experiment
Gate-based circuits, analog simulation and annealing offer different controls and solve different classes of problems. A larger physical-qubit count alone does not establish better useful performance.
- Gate model
- Programs a sequence of quantum gates.
- Analog simulation
- Programs an interacting physical system to model its dynamics.
- Logical qubit
- Quantum information encoded across physical qubits to control errors.
Three questions worth asking
- Can you access the named system today, and under which plan?
- Does the result report errors, circuit depth and a credible classical baseline?
- Are the qubits physical or logical, and what operations were actually demonstrated?
What matters in this sectorView scoring weights
A maturity index across hardware approaches. Scores do not compare raw qubits or prove one machine is faster.
Demonstrated system behavior, workload results and stated error conditions.
Access to an actual system, operational documentation and support.
Named external experiments or deployments with reported outcomes.
Usable tooling, developer documentation and maintained integrations.
Equal scores share a position within their sector.
Unscored means not yet assessed, not a lower score.
Combines programmable quantum processors with Qiskit tools, cloud job execution and device calibration records, giving developers a route from circuit design to experiments on hardware.
Uses controlled superconducting circuits to execute gates, delivered through cloud services and installed systems.
Provides programmable trapped-ion computers and tools for circuits with mid-circuit measurement, reset and classical feedback, alongside emulators for development.
Traps individual atoms with light and controls their interactions. Aquila programs a physical quantum evolution; Gemini uses gates and atom movement for digital and logical-qubit experiments.
Uses microwave-controlled superconducting qubits to execute quantum circuits. Its Cepheus architecture connects smaller chiplets to form a larger processor.
Makes programmable trapped-ion hardware available through its cloud and partner platforms, supporting circuit experiments and hybrid quantum-classical research workflows.
Executes circuits on superconducting coaxmon qubits and connects the quantum processor to cloud or high-performance computing workflows.
Arranges laser-trapped atoms and controls their collective interactions to study quantum dynamics or encode optimization problems. Pulser defines the pulse sequence submitted to a compatible device.
Uses laser-controlled cesium atoms for digital circuits, with Superstaq compiling programs to the hardware’s operations.
Develops quantum hardware and error-correction methods, while selected research partners use Willow for programmable scientific experiments.
Traps ytterbium atoms and uses controlled gates, movement and measurement to run circuits and investigate logical encodings.