QuTech Launches Open-Architecture Tuna-17 Superconducting Processor on Quantum Inspire Cloud Platform

Quantum research center QuTech has announced the global deployment of Tuna-17, its latest superconducting quantum processor, via the Quantum Inspire public cloud platform. This 17-qubit system represents the third release in a 12-month development cycle and serves as a standardized operational baseline for an upcoming 28-qubit variant. By providing open, un-capped access to physical hardware, the launch enables researchers and engineers to execute complex quantum error correction protocols and hybrid algorithms within a transparent European value chain.

The Tuna-17 processor, developed by the DiCarlo Lab at QuTech, features a planar architecture of 17 superconducting qubits integrated with 24 tunable couplers. This specific hardware configuration is engineered to support multi-qubit Quantum Error Correction (QEC) protocols and surface-code logic gates. By utilizing tunable couplers to dynamically adjust inter-qubit frequencies, the system effectively suppresses parasitic spectator effects and residual crosstalk during parallel operations, a hardware optimization strategy detailed in the team’s peer-reviewed research published in Physical Review Letters.

Unlike closed, vertically integrated commercial quantum stacks, the Tuna platform enforces a strict open-architecture standard across its entire European value chain. The processing unit supports a universal gate set, automated self-calibration subroutines, real-time performance logging, and mid-circuit measurements, which are critical for active error mitigation, conditional logic routing, and low-depth factorization algorithms. The cloud interface is fully integrated with popular open-source software packages, including Qiskit and PennyLane, allowing users to deploy hybrid Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) algorithms with up to 100,000 shots per batch.

Financed in part through the HectoQubit consortium under the Quantum Delta NL Phase 2 framework, the Tuna-17 installation serves as an operational hardware demonstrator for the broader European Union OpenSuperQPlus Flagship project. By establishing a dedicated open-architecture system integration division in Delft, the consortium aims to transition laboratory prototypes into industry-standard, multi-vendor components. This approach is designed to ensure European technological sovereignty in semiconductor-adjacent manufacturing while simultaneously training a skilled quantum workforce via active deployment across the Delft University of Technology’s graduate curriculum.