On June 17, one of the sixteen U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories, Sandia National Laboratories, and quantum-computer developer Quantinuum published a peer-reviewed paper on the 98-qubit Helios quantum computer. The system's average single-qubit and two-qubit operation fidelity was 99.9975% and 99.921%. The researchers also tested Helios on random Clifford circuits and in the random circuit sampling (RCS) benchmark. According to them, RCS showed the system operating "far beyond" the capabilities of classical simulation. Helios is described as a commercial Quantinuum quantum processor based on barium ions. It is built on the QCCD architecture and supports full connectivity: any qubit can interact with any other. Sandia National Laboratories reported that it evaluated and certified Helios's metrics. The laboratory used several benchmarking methods, including its own technique for mid-circuit measurements. Such operations are needed for quantum error correction. "The most important aspect of modern quantum computers is not speed but reliability," — said paper co-author Robin Blume-Kohout of Sandia. According to him, errors can arise from dozens of factors, including laser-tuning failures or the movement of individual atoms. Verifying the system's components should help in developing fault-tolerant quantum computers. The Sandia–Quantinuum partnership has been in effect for four years under a cooperative research and development agreement. In May 2026 the parties extended the agreement. Quantinuum unveiled Helios in November 2025. The company said the system is available via a cloud service and in an on-premises deployment format. Among the early users it named Amgen, BMW Group, JPMorganChase, and SoftBank Corp. Recall that in December 2025 the Singapore company Horizon Quantum launched the city-state's first quantum computer for commercial use.
Source: ForkLog
