IBM and RIKEN deploy first IBM Quantum System Two outside the U.S., co-located with Fugaku
On 2025-06-24 (unveiled 2025-06-23, ribbon-cutting 2025-06-24 in Kobe, Japan) IBM and RIKEN brought online the first IBM Quantum System Two deployed outside the United States, powered by IBM's 156-qubit Heron processor. The system is co-located with RIKEN's Fugaku supercomputer at the RIKEN Center for Computational Science and linked at the instruction level to support quantum-centric supercomputing, including low-latency classical-quantum communication and parallelized workloads.
The first overseas System Two and its instruction-level integration with one of the world's top classical supercomputers is a concrete, completed deployment milestone for quantum-centric supercomputing, meeting §8 band-6 (real deployment with industry implications) despite using existing Heron silicon.
Co-locating quantum hardware with Fugaku creates a national-scale testbed for hybrid quantum-HPC algorithms and strengthens IBM's position in Japan's quantum program, a template likely to be replicated with other HPC centers.