Quantinuum Unveils 98-Qubit Trapped-Ion Quantum Computer Helios

Helios uses trapped ions — charged atoms suspended in free space by electromagnetic fields — and is "radically different from other quantum computers," according to the report. Quantinuum, which has facilities in Cambridge, U.K., and Broomfield, Colorado, previously demonstrated machines operating on 32 qubits in 2023 and 56 qubits in 2025.

The new system relies on two major advances. In hardware, a four-way X junction allows the system to handle several tasks at once rather than moving data back and forth along a single line or loop, as in earlier quantum charge-coupled device machines. In software, a new classical control program called Helios runtime plans the smartest and fastest route for moving and processing data, making use of the two-dimensional freedom of the X junction.

According to the report, Helios can perform computations that cannot be performed even on the largest supercomputers using known methods within reasonable amounts of time and power consumption. This demonstrates the ability of the device and its successors to surpass the computational power of classical computers, although classical algorithms and hardware are also advancing rapidly.

However, the report notes that Helios' computations have so far been random benchmark tests, limiting the practical importance of the advance. Even under the most optimistic estimates, quantum computers of practical use in science and commerce would need to be on the order of a million qubits — far larger than today's machines.