By Mackenzie Tatananni

Quantinuum, the quantum computing company majority-owned by Honeywell International, has come a long way this year. Just ask its chief executive.

CEO Rajeeb Hazra delivered the keynote speech at Quantum World Congress 2025 on Wednesday, during which he highlighted Quantinuum's progress since last year's event.

"Every year we've kicked the can down the road, but this feels like a turning point," Hazra tells Barron's. "And we drove it with these advancements."

Two achievements in particular stood out to him: new records in quantum volume and universality. The definition of quantum volume differs between experts, but it is generally defined as a measure of the capabilities of a quantum computer. The larger the volume, the more complex problems a machine can solve.

The quantum volume benchmark was developed by International Business Machines in 2017 as a way to evaluate a system's performance, accounting for things like qubit count and error rates.

In May, Quantinuum announced that its System Model H2 had reached a quantum volume of 8 million, a world first. Since then, the company has surpassed its own record, achieving a quantum volume of 33.5 million.

"Volume tells you how useful those qubits are if you actually want to do computation on them, and it lets you measure where that usefulness dies away," Hazra says. While the number might seem ridiculously large, "it isn't some cockamamie thing, and it lets you compare quantum computers on a fair basis."

Quantinuum has consistently led its peers in quantum volume. The latest achievement also marks a significant step up from the 2,048 quantum volume benchmark it edged back in 2021.

The company also set a world record in June when it demonstrated 99.993% magic state fidelity, yet another step toward building a universal, fully fault-tolerant quantum computer by 2029.

Magic states are quantum states that allow computers to run virtually any quantum algorithm. Doing so, with high fidelity, has proven to be a challenge for scientists.

While high fidelity correlates negatively with error rate, no system is flawless. A fault-tolerant quantum computer is a machine that uses error correction to detect and prevent the amplification of mistakes.

"We have now entered the engineering phase from the research phase," Hazra says. "Before we got to universal fully fault-tolerant demonstrations, we were still looking for some Hail Marys to happen. Now, I'm not saying the engineering is easy, but we are no longer fighting laws of physics."

Quantinuum has established a name for itself in the quantum space. The company was founded in 2021 after Honeywell International's quantum division merged with Cambridge Quantum, a U.K.-based start-up.

Quantinuum has exploded in popularity this year amid mounting speculation about an initial public offering. Its relationship with Nvidia has increasingly come into focus with investors, too.

In 2022, Quantinuum became the first to integrate Nvidia's CUDA-Q platform with its own hardware. It was named as one of the founding partners of the Nvidia Accelerated Quantum Research Center earlier this year. And just this month, Nvidia invested in Quantinuum for the first time through its participation in a $600 million funding round.

The Broomfield, Co.-based company is gearing up to make its trading debut. An IPO could come as soon as 2026, Barron's reported earlier this year.

Hazra declined to delve into any specifics. "We're actively looking at multiple financial options for the company," the CEO says.

If Quantinuum enters the public market, it won't be on the defensive. "There should be collaboration among competitors," Hazra says. "We have to take charge of creating standard ontology, so the rest of the world and the industries and our customers can understand what we're saying."

This desire for cooperation extends to the federal level, too. Quantum is positioned to play a role in national security, particularly in the areas of networking and communications. In April, Quantinuum was among the companies selected for a multiyear quantum initiative under the U.S. Department of Defense.

"My pitch in Washington, D.C., all the time is, let's make it easier to work at all levels," Hazra says. "That means everything from export control to job creation, so we can take a better position against the bad actors."

Quantinuum's latest computer, Helios, is expected to come online this year. The company is eyeing the launch of Apollo, its fifth-generation system, that is slated to arrive in 2029, around the same time as IBM's "fault-tolerant supercomputer."

That is years from now, but Hazra says Quantinuum's execution on its road map is positioning the company for success.

"When I look at what we've done this year, we've accelerated the innovation rate," he says. "Unless what you're saying is coming true, standing up every year and claiming something is going to happen in the future is useless, right?"

Write to Mackenzie Tatananni at mackenzie.tatananni@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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September 17, 2025 09:20 ET (13:20 GMT)

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