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    Quantinuum

    Quantinuum is a quantum computing company in Broomfield, Colorado, that builds trapped-ion machines; its 98-qubit Helios, launched in November 2025, reports 99.921% two-qubit gate fidelity.[1][2][3] In 2026 its researchers reported 48 error-corrected logical qubits on its 98-qubit Helios, though not yet full fault tolerance.[4][5]

    Editor reviewedUpdated WikiQuantum computing, Computing, Physics
    Key facts

    Overview

    Quantinuum builds trapped-ion quantum computers using what DARPA describes as a quantum charge-coupled device (QCCD) architecture, and is based in Broomfield, Colorado.[1] Its systems trap charged atoms with electromagnetic fields and control them with microwaves and lasers, an approach the company says gives high fidelity and long coherence.[6][7] In November 2025 it reported more than 630 employees, over 370 of them scientists and engineers, across the US, UK, Germany and Japan.[8]

    Helios

    Quantinuum launched Helios commercially on 5 November 2025, calling it the most accurate general-purpose commercial quantum computer; it uses 98 barium-ion qubits.[2] The company reports 99.921% two-qubit and 99.9975% single-qubit gate fidelity, with all qubits fully connected.[3] Its ion trap was manufactured by Honeywell, and it adds a real-time control engine and a Python-based language, Guppy, for programs that mix quantum and classical steps.[9][10] It is available through Quantinuum’s cloud service and on premises, and the company named Amgen, BMW Group, JPMorganChase and SoftBank Corp. among its first enterprise customers.[11] At launch Quantinuum also said it would connect NVIDIA GB200 systems to Helios through NVIDIA’s NVQLink and use the NVIDIA CUDA-Q platform, with its own Guppy programming language, for real-time error correction.[12] Early users named at launch include Amgen, exploring hybrid quantum machine learning for biologics, BMW Group, researching fuel-cell catalysts, JPMorganChase, studying financial analytics, and SoftBank Corp., exploring organic materials for batteries and solar cells.[13] Quantinuum also signed a partnership with Singapore’s national quantum agencies that includes in-country access to Helios.[14] See nvidia for that company’s role in AI computing.

    Logical qubits

    At launch Quantinuum reported 94 error-detected and 48 error-corrected logical qubits on Helios.[15] In a preprint posted on 25 February 2026 and a company blog post on 4 March, its researchers reported computations using up to 94 error-detected logical qubits and up to 48 logical qubits protected by concatenated error-correcting codes, built on “iceberg” codes in which many logical qubits share a small error-checking layer.[4] The preprint reports beyond-break-even performance across fault-tolerant and partially fault-tolerant benchmarks with between 48 and 94 logical qubits.[16] Quantinuum said it used 64 logical qubits to simulate quantum magnetism at a scale that is hard for classical computers.[17] Logical gate errors were around one in ten thousand, better than the physical gates.[4] The work was described as partially rather than fully fault-tolerant.[5] These codes depend on full connectivity, which is less available on chip-based superconducting machines that use the surface-code.[3][18]

    Position in the field

    Quantinuum’s reported 99.921% two-qubit fidelity, like IonQ’s reported 99.99%, is higher than the 99.62% reported for China’s superconducting Zuchongzhi 3.0.[3][19][20] It entered DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative Stage B in November 2025.[21] On 7 October 2026 DARPA moved Atom Computing, Diraq, IBM and IonQ to Stage C; Quantinuum was not named in that group.[22] ContentLora found no primary source explaining why. DARPA says QBI is not a competition and does not pick winners, that Stage B examined each team’s plans and risks, and that it expects more companies to move to Stage C.[23][24][25]

    Next in the crash course

    Quantum computing

    DARPA Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI)

    DARPA's Quantum Benchmarking Initiative tests whether any quantum computer can reach utility scale by 2033. Its stages, teams and October 2026 Stage C.

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    Questions readers ask

    What is Quantinuum's Helios?

    A 98-qubit trapped-ion quantum computer that Quantinuum launched commercially on 5 November 2025, using barium ions.[2]

    How accurate is Helios?

    Quantinuum reports 99.921% two-qubit and 99.9975% single-qubit gate fidelity, with all 98 qubits fully connected.[3]

    Is Quantinuum's machine fault-tolerant?

    Not fully. Its March 2026 results with up to 48 error-corrected logical qubits were described as partially fault-tolerant.[4][5]

    Is Quantinuum in DARPA's final evaluation stage?

    Quantinuum entered QBI Stage B in November 2025. It was not among the four teams moved to Stage C on 7 October 2026.[21][22]

    Sources

    · 25 claims from 7 publishers

    Each numbered claim is a statement we checked against the sources listed with it. Tap a number in the text to see its sources in place.

    1. [1]

      DARPA lists Quantinuum, based in Broomfield, Colorado, as pursuing a trapped-ion quantum charge-coupled device (QCCD) architecture. confirmedas of 2025-11-06

    2. [2]

      Quantinuum launched its Helios trapped-ion computer commercially on 5 November 2025; it uses 98 barium-ion qubits. confirmedas of 2025-11-05

    3. [3]

      Quantinuum reports Helios two-qubit gate fidelity of 99.921% and single-qubit gate fidelity of 99.9975%, with all 98 qubits fully connected. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    4. [4]

      In March 2026 Quantinuum researchers reported computations with up to 94 error-detected and 48 error-corrected logical qubits on Helios, using iceberg and concatenated codes, with logical gate errors around one in ten thousand - better than the physical gates. confirmedas of 2026-03-10

    5. [5]

      The March 2026 Quantinuum results were described as partially rather than fully fault-tolerant computation. confirmedas of 2026-03-10

    6. [6]

      Trapped-ion quantum computers hold charged atoms (ions) in electromagnetic fields and manipulate and encode information in them with microwave signals and lasers. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    7. [7]

      Quantinuum says trapped-ion qubits offer high fidelities and longer coherence times than other technologies. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    8. [8]

      As of November 2025 Quantinuum said it had more than 630 employees, including more than 370 scientists and engineers, across the US, UK, Germany and Japan. confirmedas of 2025-11-05

    9. [9]

      Quantinuum says the Helios ion trap was manufactured by Honeywell. confirmedas of 2025-11-05

    10. [10]

      Quantinuum says Helios has a real-time control engine and a Python-based programming language, Guppy, that lets developers combine quantum and classical computation in a single program. confirmedas of 2025-11-05

    11. [11]

      Helios is offered through Quantinuum's cloud service and on premises, and Quantinuum named Amgen, BMW Group, JPMorganChase and SoftBank Corp. among its initial enterprise customers. confirmedas of 2025-11-05

    12. [12]

      At the Helios launch Quantinuum said it would integrate NVIDIA GB200 systems with Helios through NVIDIA NVQLink and switch to NVIDIA accelerated computing, using its Guppy language with the NVIDIA CUDA-Q platform for real-time error correction. confirmedas of 2025-11-05

    13. [13]

      Quantinuum said its early Helios users include Amgen exploring hybrid quantum machine learning for biologics, BMW Group researching fuel-cell catalyst materials, JPMorganChase researching financial analytics and SoftBank Corp. exploring organic materials for batteries and solar cells. confirmedas of 2025-11-05

    14. [14]

      At the Helios launch Quantinuum signed a partnership with Singapore's National Quantum Office and National Quantum Computing Hub that includes in-country access to Helios, and said it would set up an R&D and operations centre in Singapore. confirmedas of 2025-11-05

    15. [15]

      At launch Quantinuum reported 94 error-detected logical qubits and 48 error-corrected logical qubits on Helios, the latter performing better than the physical qubits. confirmedas of 2025-11-05

    16. [16]

      The Quantinuum preprint reports beyond-break-even performance across both fault-tolerant and partially fault-tolerant benchmarks using between 48 and 94 logical qubits. confirmedas of 2026-02-25

    17. [17]

      Quantinuum said it used 64 of its logical qubits on Helios to simulate quantum magnetism at a scale that can be very difficult for classical computers, and that its logical qubits beat their physical counterparts. confirmedas of 2026-03-04

    18. [18]

      In the surface code, data qubits and measure qubits are interleaved on a square lattice; repeated measurements flag physical errors without disturbing the stored logical information. confirmedas of 2026-01-13

    19. [19]

      In October 2025 IonQ reported 99.99% two-qubit gate fidelity using its Electronic Qubit Control technology, which drives qubits with precision electronics instead of lasers. confirmedas of 2025-10-21

    20. [20]

      Zuchongzhi 3.0 reported 72-microsecond coherence, 99.90% single-qubit and 99.62% two-qubit gate fidelity. confirmedas of 2025-03-06

    21. [21]

      On 6 November 2025 DARPA moved 11 companies to QBI Stage B - Atom Computing, Diraq, IBM, IonQ, Nord Quantique, Photonic, Quantinuum, Quantum Motion, QuEra, Silicon Quantum Computing and Xanadu. confirmedas of 2025-11-06

    22. [22]

      On 7 October 2026 DARPA advanced Atom Computing, Diraq, IBM and IonQ to QBI Stage C, joining Microsoft and PsiQuantum, which entered from the US2QC pilot. confirmedas of 2026-10-07

    23. [23]

      DARPA says QBI is not a competition between companies and is not intended to pick winners and losers, but to assess whether different approaches offer credible paths to utility-scale operation. confirmedas of 2026-10-07

    24. [24]

      DARPA says that during the year-long Stage B it examined each organisation's research and development plans, technical risks, mitigation strategies and the prototypes needed to show progress. confirmedas of 2026-10-07

    25. [25]

      DARPA said QBI had evaluated more than 20 companies since its mid-2024 launch, that Quandela joined Stage A in May 2026, and that it expects more companies to advance to Stage C. confirmedas of 2026-10-07

    Revision history (2)
    1. Page created.
    2. Added Quantinuum's own blog and preprint as primary sources for its March 2026 logical-qubit results, the 64-qubit magnetism simulation, and its NVIDIA partnership.

    Created Oct 10, 2026. Last reviewed by an editor on Oct 10, 2026. Next scheduled review: Jan 10, 2027.

    Cite this page

    "Quantinuum." ContentLora, updated Oct 10, 2026. https://contentlora.com/wiki/quantinuum

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