New codesign platform combines IBM quantum computers with AMD-powered high-performance computing to advance quantum error correction and hybrid quantum-classical research.
AMD is joining IBM and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to develop the classical computing infrastructure needed to support future quantum systems, with an initial focus on quantum error correction. The collaboration establishes a shared codesign platform where researchers can evaluate the hardware, software and workflows required to integrate quantum processors with high-performance computing (HPC) environments.
The first deployment colocates IBM quantum computers, including the 120-qubit IBM Quantum Nighthawk, with ORNL’s Umbra HPC system, powered by fifth-generation AMD EPYC CPUs and AMD Instinct MI355X GPUs. The platform will allow the partners to investigate how quantum and classical resources can work together to manage complex calculations, system control and error-correction workloads.
Quantum processors require substantial classical computing support. While quantum hardware performs specialised computations, classical systems handle orchestration, simulation, control, measurement feedback and the decoding of errors. Coordinating these workloads efficiently is essential to making quantum systems reliable and useful for scientific applications.
“Building useful quantum systems requires the quantum and classical computing communities to solve system design challenges together.”
— Ralph Wittig, Corporate Fellow, Head of Research & Advanced Development, AMD
AMD is contributing technologies across its computing portfolio. EPYC CPUs will support orchestration and general-purpose processing, while Instinct GPUs will accelerate simulations, optimisation and parallel scientific calculations. AMD Versal adaptive SoCs will provide low-latency control, readout and decoding capabilities close to quantum processors. The ROCm open software ecosystem will help developers integrate HPC and AI applications across the hardware environment.
“AMD brings expertise across CPUs, GPUs and FPGAs, from real-time control to leadership-class supercomputing,” said Ralph Wittig, Corporate Fellow and Head of Research & Advanced Development at AMD. He said the collaboration would help develop and test how quantum processors, classical computing and software can operate together at scale.
The initiative builds on AMD’s work with IBM in GPU-accelerated scientific calculations and FPGA-based error decoding. It also supports the US Department of Energy’s Quantum Genesis Mission and its goal of advancing a scientifically relevant quantum computer by 2028.
The partners plan to connect the platform with ORNL’s Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, which houses the Lux SI (Super Intelligence) and HPC supercomputer, powered by AMD EPYC CPUs and Instinct GPUs. This would extend the research environment to larger-scale computing resources and enable investigations spanning quantum computing, AI and scientific workloads.
The collaboration highlights a critical reality in the development of practical quantum computing: progress will depend not only on advances in quantum processors but also on the classical systems that control, support and correct them. By bringing these technologies together in a shared research environment, AMD, IBM and ORNL aim to address those system-level challenges before quantum computing reaches broader scientific use.