IBM and RIKEN coupled a quantum processor with Japan’s Fugaku supercomputer to model iron-sulfur clusters, a class of strongly correlated molecules central to biological electron transfer.
The hybrid setup targets chemistry problems that overwhelm classical machines, because molecular quantum states scale exponentially with particle count while quantum hardware can represent them more directly.
IBM says even a 24-atom caffeine molecule would need about 10^48 classical bits for exact simulation, underscoring why approximations such as density functional theory break down on the hardest reactions.
The result fits a broader push toward near-term quantum chemistry: Quantinuum reported an end-to-end chemistry workflow in May 2025, and IonQ and partners later claimed a 20-fold reaction-simulation speedup.
McKinsey estimates quantum computing could unlock $400 billion in life sciences by 2035, with early gains also expected in chemicals, energy and materials.
In early 2026, IBM and RIKEN achieved a major breakthrough in quantum chemistry by combining the power of the Fugaku supercomputer with advanced quantum computing. This collaboration enabled the largest and most accurate chemistry simulation on a quantum computer so far. A key innovation was the integration of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) as accelerators within quantum-classical workflows, which made it possible to scale up complex computations. By merging classical high-performance computing with emerging quantum technologies, the team opened the door to solving problems that were previously impossible for either approach alone, paving the way for more precise and sophisticated scientific simulations.