What will it take for quantum computing to move from today’s noisy, small-scale devices to fault-tolerant, scalable, and reliable systems?
In 1984, Sun Microsystems’ executive John Gage coined a phrase that reshaped classical computing: “The Network is the Computer.” It captured a profound shift from isolated machines to distributed systems that together deliver far greater capability than any single device.
Decades later, quantum computing is approaching a similar inflection point.
Why One Giant QPU Isn’t the Answer
Many projections suggest that practical, fault-tolerant quantum computing may require millions of physical qubits, depending on architecture and error-correction assumptions. The idea that a single monolithic quantum processor will scale cleanly to that magnitude is widely debated and presents significant engineering challenges. In place of this one giant QPU, a growing body of research suggests that practical quantum advantage will require networked QPUs.
This path forward points toward modular quantum systems in which multiple QPUs interconnected through quantum networks that share entangled states, coordinate distributed quantum operations, and execute workloads as a single logical machine. This mirrors how classical high-performance computing (HPC) scaled through clusters of CPUs and GPUs working in concert. Future data centers are expected to integrate QPUs alongside CPUs and GPUs, with quantum and classical resources orchestrated together to run hybrid applications. Realizing this vision will require interconnect technologies, network-aware performance software stacks, and operational models for deploying, managing, and scaling distributed quantum workloads.
The Quantum Data Center
A quantum data center is not simply a bigger quantum computer; it is a tightly integrated system-of-systems, where many technologies must interoperate: heterogeneous QPU platforms, network interfaces, photonic links, controllers, and the software stack that coordinates computation across devices.
There are three foundational concepts for the future quantum data center:
- The quantum network is critical. Interconnecting QPUs through entanglement distribution is a foundational requirement for scaling toward fault-tolerant, modular quantum computing.
- Software and control layers must be tightly coordinated. Compilers, schedulers, orchestrators, controllers, and error-correction workflows operate across multiple timing regimes. Making the system practical requires low-latency communication and careful coordination so that these layers work together efficiently.
- This is just the beginning. Many core building blocks are advancing quickly, but there are still significant open problems, from interfaces and control systems to networking protocols and end-to-end architecture. What’s encouraging is the pace of recent progress, and the growing recognition that scalable architectures will likely involve networking and modular approaches.
Quantum computing will scale through architecture, with deliberate choices about how QPUs are connected, how entanglement is generated and managed, and how software orchestrates computation across distributed systems. Just as classical computing achieved higher impact by embracing networks, clusters, and layered infrastructure, the path for quantum computing will likely follow a modular, networked model. The work ahead spans physics, engineering, and systems design, but the direction is becoming clear. To unlock the full potential of quantum computing, we must think beyond a single machine and design the network that allows many quantum processors to function as one.
