Yonsei brings IBM's Nighthawk r2 online in its first deployment outside the US

[Danny_21]

South Korea now hosts one of IBM's newest quantum processors. Quantum Computing Report says Yonsei University has brought an IBM Quantum Nighthawk r2 online in its IBM Quantum System One at the Songdo campus

It replaces the 127 qubit Eagle processor installed in 2024. Nighthawk r2 has 120 programmable qubits arranged in a square lattice, with 218 tunable couplers linking them

Throughput jumps from about 4,000 to more than 100,000 circuits per second, roughly 25 times faster, thanks to fast active reset. Accurate results are reported for circuits beyond 7,500 gates, in line with IBM's 2026 roadmap

IBM calls it the world's first deployment of its Nighthawk architecture at an on-premises client site outside the United States. Yonsei will use it for its Bio-Quantum Initiative, studying cellular kinetics, neurodegenerative disease and materials

Fewer qubits than the old Eagle might sound like a step backwards, but better connections and much faster runs matter more for real experiments. Yonsei has already done serious work on its previous machine, so this upgrade should lead to more ambitious studies. The performance figures do come from IBM and Yonsei themselves

Is connectivity more important than qubit count? And which countries do you think will lead quantum research in Asia?

Yonsei University Brings IBM Quantum Nighthawk r2 Online in First International On-Premises Deployment - Quantum Computing Reportquantumcomputingreport.com