Fire Opal by Q-CTRL: status and timeline

Fire Opal

Get useful answers from today's noisy quantum computers before full error correction arrives, by suppressing errors at run time so users need no hardware expertise to reach a machine's best performance.

DeployStage 4 of 5

Runs on IBM's cloud and on-site systems; Sept 2026 added IBM Nighthawk support with 12x faster runs.

Updated 17d agoChecked 11 Oct0 updates this week

Milestones

No announced next step

Native integration in IBM Quantum pay-as-you-go planDec 2023Complete.
Offered as IBM Qiskit Functions (156-qubit optimisation solver)16 Sep 2024Complete.
First on-premises HPC deployment: RIKEN's IBM System Two12 Nov 2025Complete.
Claimed 3,000x speedup on a 120-qubit materials simulation6 May 2026Complete.
Support for IBM Nighthawk processors24 Sep 2026Complete.

Most important updates

Current obstacles

Advantage claims are contestedThe 3,000x result is against today's best tensor-network code; Q-CTRL notes better classical algorithms or GPUs could narrow the gap.
Bounded by the hardwareSuppression lets a device run more before noise wins, but not past its physical error rates; long algorithms still need full error correction.

Physics limits

Noise without correctionWithout error correction every gate adds a little error, so results degrade as circuits grow; suppression slows that decay but cannot stop it.

How it works

3 parts

Input

Ordinary circuits in

Users send uncompiled circuits through Qiskit; Fire Opal handles compilation and hardware tuning with no set-up.

Suppression

Prevent errors instead of averaging them out

AI-driven gate- and circuit-level optimisations suppress errors and crosstalk at run time, avoiding the extra shots mitigation needs.

Solvers

Problem in, answer out

Packaged solvers for optimisation and materials simulation let users submit a problem rather than a quantum circuit.

Spec sheet

Spec	Fire Opal
Optimisation solver size	up to 156 qubits^R (reported)
Materials benchmark circuit	120 qubits, 10,000+ two-qubit gates^R (reported)
Speedup vs best classical (claim)	3,000x^R (reported)
Runtime, Nighthawk R2 vs Heron R3	12x faster^R (reported)

^R reported by the company

Update log

4 updates

About Q-CTRL

The team behind Fire Opal

Q-CTRL

Quantum control software, error correction, quantum navigation

Q-CTRL provides quantum control software to stabilize quantum computers and enable quantum sensing for GPS-free navigation. Founded 2017 by physicist Michael Biercuk.

Sydney-based with offices in LA, Berlin, Oxford. Raised $128M total across Series A-B-2 (2019–2024).
Ironstone Opal won TIME Best Invention 2025; passed DO-160 testing (Jul 2026); maritime navigation.
Also builds Fire Opal (error suppression), Boulder Opal (hardware design), and Black Opal (learning).

q-ctrl.com (opens q-ctrl.com)Company profile →

Founded: 20179 yrs
Headquarters: Australia
Status: Private
Valuation: $1.5Best. privateJan 2025estimate
Raised: $99M3 rounds
Last round: Series B-2 Expansion · $59MOct 2024
Works in: QuantumQuantum sensing & timing
Coverage: 2 programs · 10 updateslatest 17d agochecked 11 Oct
Lead investors: GP BullhoundLockheed Martin VenturesNTT FinanceAirbus VenturesSquare Peg Capital
Partners: IBM (opens ibm.com)IonQ (opens ionq.com)Google Quantum AI (opens google.com)
Investors: Lockheed Martin Ventures (opens lockheedmartin.com)
People: Michael J. Biercuk (opens sydney.edu.au)Founder and CEO

Spec

Fire Opal

Optimisation solver size

up to 156 qubits^R (reported)

Materials benchmark circuit

120 qubits, 10,000+ two-qubit gates^R (reported)

Speedup vs best classical (claim)

3,000x^R (reported)

Runtime, Nighthawk R2 vs Heron R3

12x faster^R (reported)

Fire Opal

Milestones

Most important updates

Current obstacles

Physics limits

How it works

Ordinary circuits in

Prevent errors instead of averaging them out

Problem in, answer out

Spec sheet

Update log

Thu 24 Sep

Wed 6 May

Wed 12 Nov 2025

Mon 16 Sep 2024

About Q-CTRL

Current obstacles

Physics limits

How it works

Ordinary circuits in

Prevent errors instead of averaging them out

Problem in, answer out

Spec sheet

Update log

Thu 24 Sep

Wed 6 May

Wed 12 Nov 2025

Mon 16 Sep 2024

About Q-CTRL