What changed
On 15 October 2026, Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) announced the first-season awards of its NEDO Quantum Challenge. All nine prize-winning teams used IBM quantum computers during their research for the competition. Six of these teams relied on IBM quantum computers exclusively, with each of the three competition tracks—Society 5.0, Quality of Life, and Cool Japan—having at least one winner that ran exclusively on IBM quantum hardware.
What this means in practice
IBM provided participants with access to five of its quantum computers, along with technical guidance, workshops, and educational content. The company also offered personalized Quantum Clinic consultations and technical support. IBM’s involvement extended to advising the Society 5.0 third-place winning team on its algorithm and joining the Cool Japan third-place winning team as a co-researcher.
The competition, organized by NEDO, aimed to explore how quantum computing could address societal issues and identify promising early-stage technologies. Teams tackled problems difficult for classical computers, with projects ranging from disaster prevention and drug discovery to music generation and anime production.
IBM Quantum became the most widely selected platform, with 65 of the 80 participating teams choosing it, running 11,159 jobs and using over 5,900 minutes of quantum compute time.
Limitations and availability
The supplied announcement does not specify the exact models or versions of IBM quantum computers used. It also does not detail the specific quantum processors or hardware configurations accessed by the teams. IBM’s support included access to its latest processors, but the exact specifications of these systems are not provided in the source. The competition’s results highlight the growing role of quantum computing in real-world applications, with some teams already launching companies based on their work.
