Tokyo, Seoul, Chicago universities in quantum computer deal

Funded by IBM, the $100m pact aims to develop a system and build a workforce

University of Tokyo President Teruo Fujii, Seoul National University President Ryu Hong Lim, University of Chicago President Paul Alivisatos and IBM Consulting Global Managing Partner Jesus Mantas at the signing of the deal in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 18. (Photo by Juliette Perreard)

JULIETTE PERREARD, Nikkei staff writer

January 30, 2024 01:46 JST

DAVOS, Switzerland -- The University of Tokyo, Seoul National University and the University of Chicago have signed an agreement to develop and build an ecosystem around a quantum computer.

In the $100 million deal funded by U.S. tech giant IBM, the parties have set a time scale of 10 years to develop a supercomputer capable of processing 100,000 quantum bits of information. Current computing systems process binary information in the form of either zero or one, but quantum computers are capable of processing both at the same time. This gives them the ability to process vast quantities of information at top speed.