IBM Switches On 120-Qubit Nighthawk System Two in Chicago

IBM has deployed its first quantum computer in Illinois: an IBM Quantum System Two running on Nighthawk, a 120-qubit processor the company calls "the most powerful quantum chip IBM has ever built." The system, unveiled Nov. 6 with the University of Chicago, the State of Illinois and the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP), is live at Hyde Park Labs on the university's campus.

For now, that's home. Later the machine moves to IQMP, a campus rising on the former U.S. Steel South Works site. Neither IBM nor the state gave a move date or a system cost.

What does the Chicago machine actually do?

The short answer: scientific work, starting now. "Today, it can deliver scientifically useful results to organizations across the state of Illinois and beyond," IBM chief executive Arvind Krishna said at the unveiling.

Nighthawk pairs its 120 qubits with square-lattice connectivity, a design choice that matters for algorithm performance. IBM also cited a recent result with the University of Chicago that it describes as quantum advantage over leading classical methods "using an approach with guaranteed correctness" — a notable qualifier, since quantum-advantage claims usually rest on statistical comparisons rather than verified answers.

At IQMP, the system will anchor the National Quantum Algorithm Center (NQAC), which Gov. JB Pritzker established in 2024 with IBM as a leading member. The center is the state's bet that quantum hardware alone doesn't build an industry; algorithms and applications do.

Who is already working on it?

IBM named the first cohort of partners at NQAC, and the mix sketches the commercial map for near-term quantum computing:

• Deloitte and AbbVie, with Northwestern University, on quantum molecular simulation for drug discovery
• EPRI and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign on quantum optimization for power grids
• Fermilab on high-energy physics and distributed quantum computing

Drug discovery and grid optimization are the classic near-term quantum targets; molecular simulation maps naturally onto qubit physics. The Fermilab work on distributed quantum computing points further out, toward linking multiple machines into larger logical systems.

Where does the jobs number fit?

IBM also plans a FutureNow Chicago center at IQMP with City Colleges of Chicago, which it says will bring 750 jobs across AI, cybersecurity, data science and quantum computing. That figure is a company projection, not a confirmed hiring count, but it signals how the state and IBM frame the payoff: workforce, not just machines.

What's the wider hardware picture?

The Chicago deployment lands days after IBM announced it is pairing a Nighthawk processor with an AMD-built supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to test quantum error correction. That pairing matters because error correction, not raw qubit counts, is the gating technology for useful quantum computing; coupling a 120-qubit chip to classical HPC infrastructure is the current proving ground.

With Nighthawk now running in Chicago and under test at Oak Ridge, IBM is pushing the same processor family into both application development and error-correction research. The Hyde Park machine gives Illinois' algorithm center working hardware ahead of the IQMP campus opening — and gives IBM an early anchor in a state competing hard for quantum industry.