D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NASDAQ: QBTS) has launched a gate-model quantum computing simulator beta program, marking a significant milestone in the company’s gate-model development roadmap.
The Palo Alto-based company describes itself as the only dual-platform quantum computing provider offering both annealing and gate-model systems, software, and services to commercial and research customers.
The beta program gives select organizations early access to the simulator ahead of its general availability, allowing participants to experiment with error-aware programming and build quantum applications before D-Wave’s forthcoming gate-model hardware arrives.
The simulator is built around D-Wave’s dual-rail superconducting gate-model technology, which is designed to harness error detection to deliver efficient quantum error correction with significantly lower hardware overhead as systems scale.
Beta participants include BBVA, FirstQFM, Florida Atlantic University, and the Jülich Supercomputing Centre, spanning both commercial finance and academic research sectors.
“Quantum error correction is a defining challenge in the race to commercially useful gate-model quantum computing,” said Dr. Alan Baratz, CEO of D-Wave.
Baratz added that by giving leading organizations early access to the simulator, D-Wave is enabling them to explore a fundamentally more efficient approach to fault tolerance and the applications the company expects it will unlock.
A foundational element of D-Wave’s dual-rail architecture was recently validated in peer-reviewed research published in Nature, demonstrating a fast, high-fidelity two-qubit entangling gate that preserves the architecture’s inherent error-detection advantages.
The simulator is accessible via D-Wave’s Leap quantum cloud service and Ocean SDK, with the company also planning flexible development bundles combining simulator access with expert guidance for onboarding and research support.
BBVA’s quantum principal manager, Escolástico Sánchez Martínez, said the bank looks forward to exploring how D-Wave’s error-aware simulator could support applications such as portfolio optimization, fraud detection, and derivatives valuation.
Vish Ramakrishnan, CEO of FirstQFM, said his firm plans to apply proprietary foundation models to explore how detected errors, mid-circuit error signals, and real-time control can improve the quality and reliability of quantum computations.
Robert Loredo, executive director of the FAU Center for Quantum Technologies, said the beta program gives students and faculty hands-on experience with tools that will shape the quantum industry and prepare tomorrow’s quantum workforce.
Dr. Arslan Munir, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at FAU, noted that D-Wave’s simulator will allow researchers to investigate how error-aware approaches could improve the robustness of quantum machine learning models under realistic hardware constraints.
Dr. Kristel Michielsen, director of the Jülich Supercomputing Centre, called the simulator an important step forward in giving researchers practical tools to explore the potential of error-aware quantum computing.
QBTS shares were up 0.54% following the announcement, as investor interest in the company’s expanding gate-model roadmap continued to grow.
