Quantum network goes live in New Mexico as state builds hub

Qunnect launched ABQ-Net, an entanglement-based open-access quantum network in Albuquerque funded in part by $25 million in state economic development funds, while lawmakers approved $32.8 million for a DARPA-partnered Quantum Benchmarking Initiative aimed at exploring utility-scale quantum computing by 2033.

A first-of-its-kind entanglement-based quantum network called ABQ-Net has gone live in Albuquerque. Qunnect, a New York-based quantum computing company, announced the network and opened an Albuquerque office anchored at a data center campus on 123 Central NW. The facility launch was supported by $25 million in state funds awarded by the New Mexico Economic Development Department to Roadrunner Venture Studios as the first phase of the Roadrunner Quantum Lab. Separately, lawmakers approved $32.8 million for a Quantum Benchmarking Initiative that DARPA will match as part of a broader effort to explore utility-scale quantum computing by 2033. Key details: - ABQ-Net is described by Qunnect as America’s first open-access entanglement-based quantum network and is associated with a network name, Carina. - The Albuquerque site is anchored at Qunnect’s new office and the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, a DOE user facility operated by Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratory. - The $25 million state award to Roadrunner Venture Studios helped open the first phase of the Roadrunner Quantum Lab on a data center campus owned by bigbyte.cc Corp. - Lawmakers allocated $32.8 million to the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, which Rep. Meredith Dixon said DARPA will match and which can be part of a larger agreement that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has described as potentially totaling up to $120 million over four years. - The New Mexico Economic Development Department announced a Quantum Technologies Award program accepting applications for grants up to $200,000 for early-stage quantum technology companies. Summary: State and federal-linked funding has helped bring an entanglement-based quantum network online in Albuquerque, and officials describe the project as part of a broader push to build a local quantum ecosystem. Undetermined at this time is the full scale of follow-on activity, though the state has opened grant programs and lawmakers have signaled continued investment as the initiative proceeds.