IBM, Lockheed Martin Announce Swiss Quantum Innovation Hub at ETH Zurich, Anchored by Switzerland's First IBM Quantum Computer

IBM will install a Quantum System Two, its latest superconducting system with the Nighthawk processor, at the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre by the end of 2026. The installation is part of a defence-offset agreement with armasuisse and anchors a new innovation hub at ETH Zurich run with Lockheed Martin. The partners plan joint research in quantum sensing, additive manufacturing, and AI-adjacent algorithms.

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What this could mean

0–2 yearsPlausible
The Zurich hub could become an operational testbed where Lockheed Martin and Swiss researchers run defence-relevant quantum sensing and additive-manufacturing algorithms on IBM's Nighthawk processor without moving data or hardware across US export boundaries.
IBM's System Two is scheduled for installation at CSCS by end-2026, and the armasuisse defence-offset agreement creates local operational requirements. Lockheed already has a quantum partnership with IBM and defence applications in sensing and materials, so porting those workloads onto a European superconducting system is more an engineering step than a new scientific demonstration.

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