AMD has joined IBM and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in a new co-design platform for quantum error correction.

The platform pairs IBM quantum computers with an AMD-powered high-performance computing system to test how future hybrid quantum machines should be built.

It co-locates IBM quantum systems, including the 120-qubit IBM Quantum Nighthawk, with ORNL’s Umbra HPC system. Umbra runs on 5th Gen AMD EPYC CPUs and AMD Instinct MI355X GPUs to create a shared environment for evaluating the architectures, software and workflows needed to connect quantum processors with classical supercomputing.

Quantum computers remain highly error-prone, and error correction is widely seen as the bridge between today’s machines and systems capable of useful scientific work.

“Building useful quantum systems requires the quantum and classical computing communities to solve system design challenges together,” said Ralph Wittig, Corporate Fellow and Head of Research and Advanced Development at AMD.

The collaboration maps AMD’s portfolio to different layers of a hybrid system. EPYC CPUs coordinate complex classical-quantum workloads, Instinct GPUs accelerate simulation, optimisation and parallel scientific computation, and Versal adaptive SoCs provide low-latency control, readout and decoding close to the quantum processor.

AMD’s ROCm open software ecosystem is also part of the platform that helps developers link HPC and AI applications with quantum-classical environments.

The work supports the US Department of Energy’s Quantum Genesis Mission, which aims for a scientifically relevant quantum computer by 2028.

Plans call for connecting the platform to ORNL’s Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, including its Lux SI supercomputer, also powered by AMD EPYC CPUs and Instinct GPUs.