Moscow State University (MSU) has partnered with Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation for the deployment of a 72-qubit neutral-atom quantum computer prototype.

According to a report from the Russian news agency TASS, the demonstration of the system by researchers from the university’s physics department represents the third Russian quantum computer with more than 70 qubits.

In 2020, the Russian government approved a national quantum roadmap, targeting the development of fault-tolerant quantum computers with several hundred qubits by 2030. In 2024, the government issued a separate mandate to scale neutral-atom systems with 50 qubits or more, a mission the system at MSU helps to support.

The report noted that according to Stanislav Straupe, head of the quantum computing sector at MSU’s quantum technology center, the quantum computer is built on a new architecture that allows computer registers to be divided into three zones – one designed for computing operations and the other two used for long-term storage of quantum states and information readout.

"Reaching the 72-qubit mark on an atom-based platform confirms the systematic development of the domestic quantum project and our strong position in quantum research and the creation of quantum computer prototypes,” said Yekaterina Solntseva, director of quantum technologies at Rosatom State Corporation, per the report. “It is especially important that the scientists have taken another step toward progressively improving the reliability of operations.”