D-Wave and the University of Southern California Renew Multiyear Agreement to Advance Annealing Quantum Computing Research and Adoption

D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS) (“D-Wave” or the “Company”), a leader in quantum computing systems, software, and services and the world’s first commercial supplier of quantum computers, and the University of Southern California (USC) today announced a renewed multiyear partnership. Under the agreement, the USC Viterbi School of Engineering will continue to house a D-Wave state-of-the-art Advantage quantum computer, facilitating ongoing exploration and adoption of annealing quantum computing solutions for businesses, researchers, and government.

The continued collaboration supports USC’s decade-long relationship with D-Wave’s annealing quantum technology, reinforcing the value it brings to USC’s quantum research efforts. Together D-Wave and USC are providing organizations with real-time access to D-Wave’s first U.S.-based system via D-Wave’s Leap quantum cloud service, enabling them to harness the power of annealing quantum computing to tackle real-world optimization challenges today. Featuring the highly connected Pegasus topology and 5,000+ qubits, the Advantage system is helping address highly complex computational problems spanning artificial intelligence (AI), logistics, manufacturing, national defense, supply chain resilience, and sustainability. Numerous research and benchmarking studies have been conducted by USC on D-Wave’s quantum hardware, producing significant results on the performance and application of annealing quantum computing, including the establishment of coherent quantum evolution at large scale, the development of quantum annealing error correction methods, and the exploration of quantum machine learning in important problems such as Higgs-boson detection.

The agreement also advances the university’s efforts to achieve the research and education objectives of USC President Carol Folt’s Frontiers of Computing “moonshot,” a more than $1 billion initiative that supports the ethical advancement of technologies such as AI, robotics and quantum computing.

“We’re thrilled to continue our partnership with USC, which has been a pioneering academic institution in quantum computing research and education,” said Dr. Alan Baratz, CEO of D-Wave. “Our long-standing relationship is built on a common commitment to pioneer advancements in quantum computing that drive monumental impact. By providing access to the only annealing quantum computing system currently available in the U.S., we’re furthering USC’s reputation as a global leader in quantum education and research while providing businesses, researchers and government agencies with the remarkable opportunity to see quantum computing’s true potential through practical applications today.”