Quantum Computing Inc. (Nasdaq: QUBT) says its next-generation Dirac-3S quantum optimization machine handles problems with up to 9,980 variables while consistently returning the optimal solution, with the first customer shipment expected in November 2026.

The Hoboken, New Jersey-based company announced the system on October 1, 2026, positioning Dirac-3S as the commercial successor to its first-generation Dirac-3, which academic researchers have used to explore quantum optimization algorithms and applications.

Nearly 10,000 variables, modular expansion

QCi demonstrated practical computation times on problems involving up to 9,980 variables, according to the company. The compact 5U base system can be extended with Expansion Modules; QCi demonstrated configurations supporting up to 9,980 variables with one Expansion Module, and the architecture accommodates additional modules as customer requirements grow.

The company says it has advanced the hardware architecture, manufacturing processes and supply chain to support increased production volumes and broader commercial deployment. Improvements include enhanced error correction, component control and operational reliability.

Dirac-3S targets a range of real-world optimization problems on a single platform through continuous, integer and higher-order optimization approaches. QCi points to applications in financial services, logistics and supply chains, manufacturing, energy, telecommunications, scientific research, and aerospace and defense. The platform runs on-premises or in the cloud and integrates into AI/ML pipelines.

"Dirac-3S takes our quantum optimization platform from demonstrating what is possible to delivering a system built for practical commercial use," said Yong Meng Sua, Chief Technology Officer of QCi. "We have increased performance and computing capacity, expanded the size and complexity of problems the system can address through a modular architecture, and advanced the hardware and manufacturing architecture needed to support broader deployment. This gives customers a flexible path to adopt quantum optimization and scale their computing capacity as their needs grow."

Benchmark claims

QCi published a Technical Review evaluating Dirac-3S on synthetic, graph-based and industry-standard optimization benchmarks, including comparisons with Projected Gradient Descent and the commercial classical solver Hexaly. On synthetic problems with known global optima ranging from 2,000 to 9,980 variables, the company reports Dirac-3S was the only evaluated solver to achieve the optimal solution across all tested instances, with solution times increasing only modestly as problem size approached 9,980 variables. On industry-standard DIMACS maximum-clique benchmarks, QCi says Dirac-3S more frequently identified the highest-quality solutions than the other evaluated methods.

These figures come from QCi's own benchmarking, published in the company's Dirac-3S Technical Reference, rather than independent third-party evaluation.

The company also published a survey paper showing how NP-hard problems can be mapped to simplex formulations native to Dirac-3S, extending potential applications across continuous, discrete and combinatorial optimization.

"Our experience with the first-generation Dirac-3 quantum optimization machine validated its potential as a powerful tool for solving meaningful optimization problems. QCi's continued innovation with the Dirac-3S, including its expanded computational capabilities, enables us to pursue significantly larger and more complex optimization challenges. We look forward to exploring new research directions and accelerating the development of practical, high-impact applications," said Professor Paul Griffin, Associate Professor at Singapore Management University.

Room-temperature photonic approach

QCi describes itself as a vertically integrated quantum systems company combining photonics and semiconductor manufacturing. It provides foundry services for photonic chips and semiconductor manufacturing, and offers a portfolio spanning photonics and electronic components, subsystems and full-stack systems. Its technologies operate at room temperature with low power requirements — a contrast to the cryogenic cooling required by superconducting quantum machines — which the company says enables practical deployment in high-performance computing, AI, cybersecurity, aerospace and defense, and sensing and imaging.

Beyond its Hoboken headquarters, QCi operates in Arizona, California, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Virginia.

The November 2026 first shipment will mark the first commercial test of whether QCi's expanded manufacturing and supply chain improvements can translate the benchmark performance of Dirac-3S into sustained deployments across its target industries.