Rigetti launches first commercially available quantum processing unit

Rigetti quantum processing unit

Quantum computing firm Rigetti has launched the Novera QPU, the company’s first commercially available quantum processing unit (QPU).

Built at Rigetti’s Fab-1 facility in Fremont, California, the Novera QPU includes a 9-qubit chip with turntable couplers for fast 2-qubit operations and a 5-qubit chip for testing single-qubit operations.

The Novera QPU is based on Rigetti’s fourth-generation Ankaa-class architecture, which was first unveiled in August 2023.

Rigetti has previously delivered a 9-qubit QPU to Fermilab, a particle-physics laboratory in the US, earlier this year.

“Our new Novera QPU enables hands-on access to our most innovative quantum computing technology. With the same architecture as our 84-qubit Ankaa systems, researchers working with the Novera QPU can have a head start in pursuing their quantum computing work and drive the industry forward,” said Rigetti CEO, Dr. Subodh Kulkarni.

The Novera QPU implements universal, gate-based quantum computing and can be used by quantum software and algorithm developers to test different scenarios, including hybrid quantum algorithms; characterization, calibration, and error mitigation; and quantum error correction (QEC) experiments.

The Novera QPU can be integrated with commercially available dilution refrigerators and control systems and is available to order directly from Rigetti with a starting price of $900,000.

Source: datacenterdynamics.com