This is your Quantum Bits: Beginner's Guide podcast.
The hum of ion traps and blinking LEDs has become my home—a space where the surreal meets the practical, and the boundaries between bits and qubits blur into daily reality. I’m Leo, Learning Enhanced Operator, and this week’s episode is charged with news that feels almost fictional in its magnitude.
Just days ago, Quantinuum, the quantum company led by Honeywell, unveiled Helios—their third-generation quantum computer. This is no incremental update. Imagine standing at the edge of a city at night, each building representing a trapped-ion qubit, their connections forming a luminous grid. Helios features 98 of these qubits, each fully connected and boasting a fidelity north of 99.9%. Think of fidelity as the clarity of a ringing bell in a silent hall—essential, as error-free operation is the gold standard in quantum.
What electrifies me most? The introduction of Guppy, a new Python-based programming language engineered for Helios. For years, writing quantum algorithms was like speaking Morse code in a symphony. Now, Guppy brings to quantum what high-level languages brought to classical computing—intuitive ‘if’ and ‘for’ logic, rapid compiler decisions, and seamless quantum–classical integration. Quantum programming just became almost as natural as writing a classical app. For developers everywhere, that’s like turning a hand-cranked car into an electric vehicle—friction fades, acceleration takes over.
In the Helios room, you can sense the stakes. JPMorgan Chase and SoftBank have already run commercial research projects in the two-month leadup, from simulating high-temperature superconductors to modeling quantum magnetism—problems that defied classical computation by sheer scale and subtlety. The scent of possibility is sharp, metallic, like the ozone after a summer lightning storm.
There are other seismic shifts underway. IBM just pushed new advances in quantum error correction, using FPGAs to further stabilize their systems. Meanwhile, Google’s Willow chip was at the heart of an experiment where a quantum algorithm accomplished a task no classical supercomputer could match.
All of this is reinforced by real-world urgency. Dr. Masoud Mohseni at HPE just co-launched the Quantum Scaling Alliance. Eight global tech leaders are joining forces—think Apollo 11, but for computation itself—to build what they call the world’s first industry-scale, cost-effective quantum supercomputer.
To me, this moment is like watching quantum superposition play out in society: multiple futures, possible at once, all collapsing into the choices developers, researchers, and visionaries make today. The convergence of industry, new algorithms, and innovative programming tools like Guppy means quantum is hurtling out of academic niches and into tomorrow’s boardrooms and laboratories.
As always, thank you for joining me on Quantum Bits: Beginner’s Guide. If you have questions or topics you want covered, just email me at
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