IBM builds out Qiskit quantum computing platform

IBM is expanding Qiskit, its quantum computing software, into a comprehensive software stack that includes middleware, serverless building blocks, and generative AI coding assistance. The company says the platform for building, optimizing, and executing programs on IBM quantum systems will also deliver better performance.

Announced May 15, the intiative builds on the Qiskit SDK 1.x, combining a stable software development kit and a portfolio of services for running complex quantum circuits on 100+ qubit IBM quantum computers. IBM said the expansion will enable members of the IBM Quantum Network to discover the next generation of quantum algorithms in their respective domains. The expansion of Qiskit includes more than 100 releases from its origins as a research tool built to study the inner workings of quantum computers.

The expanded Qiskit software stack includes:

• AI-powered optimization of quantum circuits for quantum hardware, embedded in the Qiskit Transpiler Service.
• A stable release of the Qiskit SDK 1.x, for building and visualizing quantum circuits.
• Simplified execution modes for the Qiskit Runtime Service that can be tailored for execution of quantum circuits on quantum hardware.
• Qiskit Code Assistant, which leverages Watsonx generative AI models and automates the development of quantum code.
• Qiskit Serverless, an open source tool to run quantum-centric supercomputing workloads across classical clusters and quantum hardware.

Launched in 2017 as an SDK, Qiskit is an open source tool that has enabled more than 550,000 users to build and deploy quantum circuits on IBM quantum hardware systems. This has resulted in the execution of more than three trillion quantum circuits to date, IBM said.