IBM’s Nighthawk r2 reportedly ran a million-sample quantum benchmark in 19 seconds

ZME Science reports that researchers used 61 qubits on IBM’s Nighthawk r2 processor to generate one million random-circuit samples in 19 seconds. They estimate that reproducing the results with comparable fidelity on the Frontier supercomputer would take about 110 years using a particular classical simulation method. The result is described in a preprint that has not been peer-reviewed. The benchmark has no practical application, and better classical methods could substantially shorten the estimate.