Fujitsu unveils a diamond-spin quantum computer prototype, its fourth hardware bet

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Fujitsu announced it has built the world's first working prototype of a diamond-spin quantum computer, incorporating tin-vacancy centers into photonic integrated circuits, developed jointly with Delft University of Technology and QuTech since 2020. The prototype operates at minus 271.6 degrees Celsius, slightly warmer than the roughly minus 273.13 degrees typical superconducting quantum computers require, and Fujitsu says it can already be used through its Hybrid Quantum Computing Platform without needing specialist knowledge

The approach is aimed specifically at modular architecture, considered one of the most promising paths to scaling quantum computers because of diamond-spin's high fidelity and efficient optical connectivity between individual modules. Fujitsu plans a multi-module diamond-spin prototype by 2027, and will also begin developing technology to integrate the diamond-spin approach with superconducting systems, aiming for practical quantum computing by 2030 and a roadmap targeting 250 logical qubits by fiscal 2030 and 1,000 logical qubits by fiscal 2035

The announcement lands in a genuinely striking contrast with NEC, another major Japanese electronics company, which reportedly quit quantum computer hardware development entirely earlier this month after being one of the field's earliest pioneers back in the 1990s. Fujitsu, meanwhile, is doubling down with a fourth distinct hardware approach alongside its existing superconducting, quantum annealing and quantum-inspired computing efforts. Curious what people think explains this split within Japan's own domestic quantum industry, one legacy company retreating from hardware while another expands into an entirely new modality in the very same month

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[Terminator]

Diamond-spin operating at a noticeably warmer temperature than superconducting qubits is a genuinely underrated practical advantage, every fraction of a degree of relaxed cooling requirement meaningfully reduces infrastructure cost and complexity