Quantinuum has set a new world record for quantum error correction, reaching 99.9995% logical fidelity on its Helios commercial quantum computer. This performance corresponds to five errors per million operations, marking a 10-fold improvement over the company's previous record set last month.
The result represents a 100-fold improvement over the best published figures from other hardware platforms, including superconducting systems. During testing, increasing the code distance resulted in a 12-fold reduction in logical errors, demonstrating a path toward scalable fault tolerance.
The company utilized its proprietary error-correction architecture and trapped-ion technology to achieve these metrics. CEO Rajeev Hazra stated that the current performance levels align with the targets for Apollo, a universal fault-tolerant quantum computer scheduled for release by 2029.
Independent expert Robin Blume-Kohout from Sandia National Laboratories observed that the logical qubit quality significantly exceeds that of its constituent physical qubits. He estimated that a scaled system could achieve required reliability levels using fewer than one million physical qubits.
Previous testing in September 2026 on the same Helios hardware utilized the Helix code, which required 10 physical qubits per logical qubit. The new color code approach uses up to 37 physical qubits but offers a lower error rate, providing flexibility for specific computational tasks.
