{
  "id": 9534121,
  "title": "Japan switches on its first full-stack room-temperature quantum computer — and scientists plan to scale it up to 10,000 qubits",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/24/japan-switches-on-its-first-full-stack-room-temperature-quantum",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-09-24T09:30:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Live Science",
    "slug": "live-science",
    "url": "https://www.livescience.com/technology/quantum/japan-switches-on-its-first-full-stack-room-temperature-quantum-computer-and-scientists-plan-to-scale-it-up-to-10-000-qubits"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Researchers in Japan have activated Shunkai, a neutral atom quantum computer, which scientists anticipate to expand into a 10,000-qubit system by March 2031. Shunkai stands as Japan's first full-stack quantum computer, encompassing software, control, and hardware components essential for user interaction and result delivery, akin to a conventional personal computer. In theory, this setup should make Shunkai more accessible for researchers to utilize, with plans to extend access to external users in the near future. Project lead Kenji Ohmori, a professor at the Institute for Molecular Science, stated that researchers' utilization of Shunkai would yield significant impacts across various sectors, including industry, academia, and government worldwide.\n\nThe team intends to integrate Shunkai into an existing shared supercomputing facility, creating a quantum-GPU hybrid computing center. Quantum computers, unlike classical computers, function based on the peculiar principles of quantum physics. Qubits, the building blocks of quantum information, can represent a 1, a 0, or a superposition of both states simultaneously. However, qubits are highly susceptible to environmental disturbances, which can destabilize or destroy the information they hold, posing a considerable challenge for quantum computing accuracy. Error rates in qubits are estimated at around 1 in 1,000, compared to the 1 per billion or even 1 per trillion operations in classical computing bits, necessitating extensive research in quantum error correction to mitigate this unreliability.\n\nShunkai differentiates itself from other quantum computers by employing neutral atoms, captured and suspended using optical tweezers, as qubits, instead of supercooled circuitry. This approach allows the system to operate at room temperature, enabling researchers to fine-tune qubit arrangements and create entanglement between different pairs. These adjustments can potentially overcome two key challenges in practical quantum systems: scaling to a large number of qubits and correcting errors that arise during quantum calculations.\n\nThe project aims to evolve Shunkai from an initial setup of around 50 qubits to approximately 500 qubits, with the ultimate goal of reaching a large-scale, high-performance neutral-atom fault-tolerant quantum computer with 10,000 physical qubits and quantum error detection and correction capabilities by March 2031. This ambitious milestone would position Shunkai ahead of the 6,100-qubit neutral atom array achieved by Caltech researchers in October 2025.",
  "summary": "Japan's new quantum system, Shunkai, uses \"optical tweezers\" to trap and rearrange atoms, and will be available to researchers working on quantum error correction.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}