Insider Brief
- D-Wave has delivered its Advantage2 annealing quantum computer to Villa Saporiti in Como, Lombardy, Italy, with installation planned to provide European researchers, universities and businesses with access to the system.
- Funded by Swiss Quantum Technology SA (SQT) under a €10 million agreement, the system, named VoltaB1 within the Q-Alliance ecosystem, will be accessible through D-Wave’s Leap quantum cloud service once operational.
- The Advantage2 system features more than 4,400 qubits and is intended to support applications in optimization, materials simulation and other industrial workloads.
PRESS RELEASE — D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NASDAQ: QBTS) (“D-Wave” or the “Company”), the only dual-platform quantum computing company providing annealing and gate-model systems, software and services, today announced at Digital Innovation Forum 2026 that its Advantage2TM annealing quantum computer has arrived in Lombardy, Italy, for installation at Villa Saporiti in Como. Funded by Swiss Quantum Technology SA (“SQT”), the system, referred to within the Q-Alliance ecosystem as the VoltaB1, will give European researchers, universities and businesses access to powerful, production-grade annealing quantum computing technology once installed. Its arrival marks an important step in Q-Alliance’s work to turn Italy’s quantum ambitions into research capabilities, practical applications and industrial opportunity.
The VoltaB1 Advantage2 annealing quantum computer will be formally inaugurated at Q-Alliance’s “Quantum per l’Italia” event on October 16, at the historic Villa Saporiti. Held as part of the lead-up to the bicentennial of Alessandro Volta’s death, D-Wave CEO Dr. Alan Baratz will deliver remarks during the special ceremony, which includes representatives from research, industry and government. The ceremony follows D-Wave’s momentous signing of the Volta Declaration at the World Tech Conference in Milan in June 2026, which established a framework for cooperation on quantum, artificial intelligence and sovereign computing infrastructure.
“Bringing Italy’s first annealing quantum computer to Como marks a historic milestone toward making quantum computing a working capability for Italian innovation and industry,” said Dr. Baratz. “Italy has exceptional scientific talent and industrial strength. Together with SQT and Q-Alliance, we can give Italian teams the technology and hands-on experience to tackle complex problems, develop applications that can move into production, and build expertise in the country. That is how quantum infrastructure becomes industrial advantage.”
The system’s arrival follows a €10 million agreement between D-Wave and SQT to deploy an annealing quantum computer in Europe. Under the agreement, SQT acquired 50% of the system’s capacity for five years and holds an option to purchase the full system. Once operational, the Advantage2 system will be accessible through D–Wave’s Leap™ real-time quantum cloud service, which offers 99.9% availability and uptime.
“The arrival of the Advantage2 system in Lombardy puts physical infrastructure behind our vision for Italian quantum innovation,” said Thomas F. Darden, acting CEO, SQT. “Our investment is intended to connect researchers and businesses with advanced computing resources, support the development of useful applications and help build the expertise that will sustain Italy’s role in the quantum economy.”
Featuring more than 4,400 qubits, the Advantage2 system is D-Wave’s most advanced annealing quantum computer and has demonstrated the ability to outperform classical computing on a complex materials simulation problem that would have taken one of the world’s most powerful classical supercomputers nearly one million years and the world’s annual electricity consumption to solve. Today, some of the world’s largest organizations across aviation, manufacturing, telecommunications and health care are using the Advantage2 system to address real-world problems, spanning optimization, materials simulation and artificial intelligence.
