WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, or ORNL, has launched Pathfinder, the first commercially procured quantum computer at the federally funded research and development center.
Built and deployed by IQM Quantum Computers, the 20-qubit IQM Radiance system marks the superconducting hardware developer's first quantum computer installation in the United States.
The deployment comes ahead of IQM's planned listing on the Nasdaq Global Select Market through its business combination with Real Asset Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: RAAQ), expected to close in mid-2026.
ORNL is home to Frontier, the world's most powerful supercomputer for open science, and to one of the most consequential high-performance computing ecosystems in the world.
Pathfinder now sits inside that environment, connected to HPC systems in the National Center for Computational Sciences Technology Integration Group's test bed, where ORNL researchers will develop the methods and tools for a hybrid quantum-HPC ecosystem.
The acquisition highlights IQM's strict on-premises deployment model, distinguishing it from common cloud-only access patterns where hardware remains controlled by the manufacturer. By taking direct physical ownership of Pathfinder on its Tennessee campus, ORNL retains absolute governance over both the hardware layers and any novel intellectual property (IP) generated during operations.
The laboratory's research teams will utilize the on-premises co-processor to develop unified, system-level software tools and hybrid workflows targeting early computational advantage in advanced materials simulations, molecular chemistry, and hardware-accelerated artificial intelligence.
'Our first U.S. system now sits on Oak Ridge campus, connected to their HPC environment, owned and operated by their teams,' said Jan Goetz, CEO and Co-founder of IQM. 'Quantum becomes useful when it works inside real computing infrastructure, and there is no better place to prove that. Oak Ridge is a place where serious computing is done.'
'The debut of Oak Ridge National Laboratory's IQM Pathfinder quantum computer is a major milestone that will empower Tennessee to strengthen America's leadership in quantum science and other emerging technologies,' said Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN). 'This partnership between Oak Ridge National Lab and IQM underscores our state's commitment to advancing innovation, and I look forward to seeing the breakthroughs it will deliver for our national security and economic competitiveness.'
The ORNL deployment builds on IQM's growing commercial footprint in North America. The Finnish quantum computing hardware and software company recently established its first U.S. Quantum Technology Center in the Discovery District, Maryland, to drive quantum education and research and to collaborate with HPC service providers.
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