IBM said Tuesday that it will build the world's first "large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer" by 2029, which the tech giant said will set the stage for practical and scalable quantum computing. IBM stock pushed higher, adding to a recent rally.
Dubbed IBM Starling, the computer will be built in a data center in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., the company said. When up and running, IBM expects that Starling will perform 20,000 times more operations than today's quantum computers.
"IBM is charting the next frontier in quantum computing," IBM Chief Executive Arvind Krishna said in a written statement.
On the stock market today, IBM stock added 1.5% to close at 276.24. Shares have now gained for eight consecutive trading days.
Quantum Computing Heats Up On Wall Street
Quantum computers rely on so-called qubits, or quantum bits, to process information at a significantly faster rate than traditional computers. The potential of the technology for scientific and technological breakthroughs has been on investors' radar for years.
But the debate on Wall Street about when the technology could be commercially viable has heated up after a series of announcements from major tech players.
Cloud-computing giants Amazon, Microsoft and Google parent company Alphabet have each announced quantum breakthroughs in recent months. There are also a host of smaller tech companies focused on developing the technology.
A challenge for quantum computing is that the supercomputer generate errors as it scales up, often driven by small environmental disturbances. And so the race is on among tech companies to develop a "fault-tolerant" quantum computer.
IBM said a large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer could help accelerate advances in drug development, materials discovery and chemistry, among other breakthroughs.
The tech giant also published two technical papers Tuesday that detail how it plans to build Starling.
IBM Stock Is Up 27% This Year
IBM shares have gained 27% so far this year, following a 35% rally in 2024. Shares of the more than century-old tech giant returned to record highs for the first time in a decade last September. The company's rally has been helped by Wall Street's increasing confidence the company can benefit from AI demand.
But IBM is also touting its quantum push. The company said in late April that it would invest $150 billion in the U.S. over the next five years, including $30 billion for research and development for manufacturing mainframe and quantum computers in Poughkeepsie.
While IBM stock tumbled 6.5% following its first quarter earnings report in late April, the stock quickly bounced back. IBM stock broke out on May 15 above a consolidation pattern buy point at 266.45. After pulling back slightly later that month, IBM has rallied 6.6% so far in June.
