Pay attention to NVIDIA on quantum computing
NVIDIA’s partnership with RIKEN underscores a pivotal moment in global computing because no company has more to gain or lose from the emergence of quantum systems than NVIDIA
NVIDIA’s partnership with RIKEN underscores a pivotal moment in global computing because no company has more to gain or lose from the emergence of quantum systems than NVIDIA, whose strategy depends on tightly coupling classical accelerators to quantum hardware at scale [1]. Huge generational sums of money are being spent on datacenters that have a clock ticking on each GPU they house counting down for the next 3-6 years. The integration of the GB200 NVL4 platform and the introduction of NVQLink for high-bandwidth, low-latency connectivity signal how NVIDIA intends to anchor hybrid quantum-classical workflows by ensuring that quantum processors can offload simulation, error mitigation, and orchestration tasks to GPUs without bottlenecks [2]. This architecture positions Japan’s new systems as AI and quantum ready research platforms capable of supporting national priorities across physics, climate modeling, materials science, and industrial optimization at the exact moment when countries worldwide are racing to align classical supercomputers with emerging quantum devices [3].
I’m still tracking RIKEN at 5th on the largest universal gate-based physical qubit leaderboard.
Top 10 quantum computers by universal gate-based physical qubits:
Atom Computing - 1,180 qubits (October 24, 2023) United States
IBM Condor - 1,121 qubits (December 4, 2023) United States
CAS Xiaohong - 504 qubits (December 6, 2024) China
IBM Osprey - 433 qubits (November 9, 2022) United States
Fujitsu & RIKEN - 256 qubits (April 22, 2025) Japan
Xanadu Borealis - 216 qubits (June 1, 2022) Canada
IBM Heron R2 - 156 qubits (November 13, 2024) United States
IBM Eagle - 127 qubits (November 16, 2021) United States
Google Willow - 105 qubits (December 9, 2024) United States
USTC Zuchongzhi 3.0 - 105 qubits (March 3, 2025) China
Footnotes:
[1] NVIDIA. (2025). NVIDIA and RIKEN advance Japan’s scientific frontiers with new supercomputers for AI and quantum computing. https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-and-riken-advance-japans-scientific-frontiers-with-new-supercomputers-for-ai-and-quantum-computing
[2] NVIDIA. (2025). NVQLink for quantum-classical systems. https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/solutions/quantum-computing/nvqlink/
[3] RIKEN Center for Computational Science. (2025). RIKEN Center for Computational Science. https://www.r-ccs.riken.jp/en