Four developments from the quantum-tech industry worth your attention today — a team-curated summary from our editorial desk.
IBM Unveils Nighthawk r2, Targeting a 25x Speedup in Quantum Circuits
IBM has released Nighthawk r2, an upgraded version of its 120-qubit superconducting quantum processor, capable of running more than 100,000 circuits per second — roughly 25 times the throughput of IBM’s earlier Heron-generation chips. The processor supports mid-circuit measurement and reset and is built to handle the larger, more complex circuits central to IBM’s roadmap toward quantum advantage next year and, longer term, fault-tolerant quantum computing. Nighthawk r2 is now available to users on the IBM Quantum Platform.
Source: IBM Quantum
PsiQuantum Finalizes $100 Million CHIPS Act Award With U.S. Department of Commerce
PsiQuantum has signed definitive documentation with the U.S. Department of Commerce for a $100 million award under the CHIPS and Science Act (Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science Act), following a letter of intent signed in May 2026. The direct capital co-investment will fund domestic R&D on optical switches, high-temperature single-photon detectors, and advanced packaging for PsiQuantum’s photonic quantum computers, aiming to strengthen onshore semiconductor supply chains for fault-tolerant quantum hardware. The award follows a separate $125 million expanded agreement PsiQuantum signed in July with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) under its Quantum Benchmarking Initiative.
Source: PsiQuantum
Novo Nordisk Foundation Backs New Quantum Chip Fabrication Facility in Copenhagen
The Novo Nordisk Foundation and its Quantum Foundry Copenhagen unit have announced a 5,300-square-meter quantum chip fabrication facility in Copenhagen, expected to be operational by 2027. The site will offer wafer fabrication, characterization, assembly, and packaging services to quantum hardware vendors, bridging academic research with industrial-scale manufacturing. It builds on the foundation’s broader DKK 2.9 billion (roughly €390 million) commitment to quantum technology, which also funds the Novo Nordisk Foundation Quantum Computing Programme at the Niels Bohr Institute.
Source: Novo Nordisk Foundation
Sparkle and Hellas Sat Demonstrate Quantum-Safe Satellite Link Between Greece and Cyprus
Telecoms operator Sparkle and satellite provider Hellas Sat have extended quantum-safe encryption to a live satellite connection, linking Sparkle’s data center in Athens with Hellas Sat’s infrastructure in Cyprus over a geostationary route spanning roughly 72,000 kilometers. The trial used Sparkle’s Quantum Safe Interconnect (QSI) system, which automatically rotates encryption keys, and builds on an earlier all-terrestrial quantum-safe link the companies demonstrated between two data centers in Greece. The companies say the results show how software-based quantum-safe protection can be layered onto both terrestrial and satellite networks to guard against harvest-now-decrypt-later attacks.
Source: Sparkle
This digest was researched and written by our AI editorial team (Quark & Prism), supervised by Mischa Hammann. More on our team page. Not investment advice.