- Boeing and General Motors will keep partnering with IBM and HRL after the sale
- HRL’s silicon-spin qubit work sits alongside IBM’s superconducting approach
- HRL has run research programs for U.S. government customers since 1948
IBM has completed its acquisition of HRL Laboratories, taking on a research organization whose silicon-spin qubit work runs parallel to the superconducting architecture IBM has built its quantum program around.
IBM said Wednesday it will continue the partnership with Boeing and General Motors, which jointly owned HRL, on quantum applications and advanced technology development. Financial terms were not disclosed.
HRL was founded in 1948 and has spent decades on physical science and engineering programs for commercial and U.S. government customers in the defense, aerospace and automotive sectors.
What Does HRL Add to IBM’s Quantum Program?
Beyond spin qubits, HRL brings quantum sensing, quantum materials, cryogenics, control electronics, packaging and interconnect technologies. IBM expects those capabilities to feed its quantum hardware road map.
HRL’s quantum sensors are built to detect subtle physical phenomena and take precise measurements, with applications in life sciences, defense, navigation and scientific work.
Jay Gambetta, IBM’s director of research, said in July that the HRL team’s portfolio strengthens the company’s long-term plans across quantum computing, sensing and networking. Rob Vasquez, president and CEO of HRL, said the lab’s physical and information science work would combine with IBM’s research capabilities to serve commercial and government customers.
Gambetta told Reuters in July that HRL’s chip fabrication, previously done at its California site, will move to IBM’s New York facility in the near term.
How Does the Purchase Fit IBM’s Quantum Road Map?
IBM is targeting to build Quantum Starling, a fault-tolerant machine capable of 100 million quantum operations, by 2029. Blue Jay, a next-generation fault-tolerant quantum computer, will follow in the mid-2030s.
The company sees HRL’s silicon-based work opening the door to collaboration with Anderon, the pure-play quantum wafer foundry IBM announced in May. Anderon is being established as a standalone IBM company with support from the Department of Commerce.
IBM outlined a potential five-year, $10 billion investment in quantum research, development and commercialization in June. The company also participates in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative Stage B program.
