QuEra Computing and AWS are expanding their partnership to bring fault-tolerant quantum computing to Amazon Braket in 2028 – marking a significant milestone in the industry’s push towards commercially useful quantum applications.
Quantum computing has spent years promising revolutionary advances in science, industry and computing, yet much of the sector has remained focused on proving that quantum hardware can work at scale. The next challenge is far more ambitious: building systems capable of performing useful computations reliably enough to solve real-world problems.
QuEra Computing believes that transition is now within sight.
The company has unveiled Libra, its first fault-tolerant quantum computer, which is scheduled to become available through Amazon Braket in 2028 as part of an expanded multi-year strategic collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS). The announcement signals what both organisations describe as a move beyond laboratory demonstrations towards practical quantum computing infrastructure that could eventually support scientific discovery and commercial workloads.
If successful, Libra would represent one of the first cloud-accessible fault-tolerant quantum computers available to enterprises, research institutions and government organisations worldwide.
The significance of fault-tolerant quantum computing cannot be overstated. While current quantum computers have demonstrated impressive capabilities, they remain highly susceptible to errors caused by environmental noise, hardware imperfections and the fragile nature of quantum states. These limitations restrict the complexity and duration of calculations that can be performed before results become unreliable.
Fault-tolerant systems aim to overcome these challenges through sophisticated quantum error correction techniques that allow computations to continue even when individual quantum components fail. The result is the potential to run longer, deeper and more reliable quantum algorithms capable of addressing problems beyond the practical reach of classical computing.
For organisations exploring advanced computing technologies, the implications could be substantial. Future applications may include molecular simulation for drug discovery, materials science research, optimisation problems across logistics and manufacturing, and advanced modelling challenges that become prohibitively expensive using conventional computing approaches.
At the centre of QuEra’s roadmap is Libra, described as a megaquop-class system. The term refers to a machine capable of performing approximately one million reliable logical quantum operations. According to QuEra, this represents a crucial threshold because useful quantum applications depend not only on the number of logical qubits available but also on the number of operations that can be executed before errors accumulate and compromise the calculation.
The planned system is expected to feature more than 256 error-corrected logical qubits and a logical error rate of 10⁻⁶ or approximately one error in one million operations. Such specifications would place Libra among the most advanced fault-tolerant quantum systems currently planned for deployment.
Andy Ory, CEO, QuEra Computing, believes the industry is entering a new phase.
“Fault-tolerant quantum computing is moving from a scientific milestone to an engineering and deployment roadmap,” said Ory.
“We have executed this roadmap in the open, with peer-reviewed milestones and validated system advances. Libra brings fault-tolerant computing to the cloud at scale in 2028. It is an important step forward, and subsequent generations will scale even further, as we will reveal in our roadmap webinar later this month. We are inviting leaders to engage now so they can build the talent, use cases and workflows needed to be ready when these systems come online.”
The announcement also deepens a relationship between QuEra and AWS that has been evolving for several years.
AWS launched Amazon Braket in 2020 as a managed service providing cloud access to a range of quantum computing technologies. The platform allows developers, researchers and enterprises to experiment with quantum algorithms while integrating them with existing cloud infrastructure and classical computing resources.
QuEra became part of that ecosystem in 2022 when its Aquila quantum computer was introduced on Amazon Braket. Aquila, a 256-physical-qubit neutral-atom system, provided researchers with access to one of the largest publicly available neutral-atom quantum processors.
Since then, both organisations have observed growing customer interest in quantum applications spanning quantum reservoir computing, financial optimisation algorithms, high-energy physics simulations and advanced scientific research.
The expanded partnership now focuses on bringing fault-tolerant capabilities to the platform.
Under the agreement, Libra will become available through Amazon Braket in 2028. Customers will be able to access the system through the same environment they use for existing quantum development, enabling hybrid workflows that combine quantum computing with traditional high-performance computing (HPC), artificial intelligence and machine learning resources.
Eric Kessler, General Manager of Amazon Braket, AWS, believes fault-tolerant quantum computing will eventually become another core computing capability available through the cloud.
“We believe fault-tolerant quantum computing will become a foundational part of how customers solve their hardest computational problems on AWS. QuEra’s technology has demonstrated a clear path to that future. By bringing these capabilities to customers through Amazon Braket, they can combine QuEra’s fault-tolerant quantum processors with the scalable AWS HPC and AI services they already rely on,” said Kessler.
The confidence expressed by both companies is rooted in a growing body of research validating the architecture behind Libra.
QuEra’s approach is based on neutral-atom quantum computing, which uses individual atoms manipulated by laser systems known as optical tweezers. These systems allow atoms to be moved, repositioned and controlled while maintaining quantum coherence.
According to QuEra and its academic collaborators at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), neutral-atom architectures offer two significant advantages for fault-tolerant quantum computing.
First, they can scale naturally to very large numbers of qubits. Researchers believe neutral-atom systems may ultimately support arrays containing tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of qubits within a single module.
Second, the ability to dynamically reposition atoms creates effectively all-to-all connectivity between qubits. This flexibility can reduce the overhead associated with quantum error correction and enable more efficient fault-tolerant algorithms.
Over recent years, QuEra and its academic partners have published a series of peer-reviewed studies demonstrating many of the foundational technologies required for large-scale fault tolerance. These include logical qubits, below-threshold error correction, logical gate operations, fast decoding methods for real-time error correction and the sustained operation of thousands of qubits through continuous atom reloading techniques.
The company says eight peer-reviewed papers published in Nature and Physical Review Letters have validated key components of the Libra architecture.
This emphasis on published research has become a defining characteristic of QuEra’s strategy.
QuEra has attempted to establish credibility through public demonstrations and peer-reviewed milestones. Company executives argue that transparent validation is essential if enterprises and government organisations are expected to commit resources to an emerging technology.
The company has also continued developing increasingly sophisticated systems beyond Aquila. One example is Gemini, a neutral-atom platform with logical-qubit capabilities that has been deployed alongside Japan’s ABCI-Q supercomputer.
Together, these systems are intended to provide stepping stones towards Libra while giving researchers practical experience with increasingly advanced quantum hardware.
Industry analysts view the 2028 target as an important benchmark.
Bob Sorensen, Chief Analyst for Quantum Computing, Hyperion Research, described the announcement as a potentially significant moment for the sector.
“QuEra’s plan to deliver fault-tolerant systems in 2028 represents a significant inflection point for the quantum computing industry. QuEra’s approach entails publishing every milestone, validating through peer review and now offering concrete QC end user engagement paths. This disciplined and visible strategy is what aspiring QC end users in HPC centers and related government programs want to see before committing substantial resources to an emerging technology,” said Sorensen.
Despite the optimism, both AWS and QuEra acknowledge that the journey towards widespread commercial adoption remains in its early stages.
Quantum computing is not expected to become a winner-takes-all technology. Different hardware modalities, including superconducting qubits, trapped ions and neutral atoms, each possess unique strengths and limitations.
AWS itself continues to invest in multiple quantum technologies. At the AWS Center for Quantum Computing, researchers are developing superconducting systems based on cat-qubit architectures through a project known as Ocelot. The company views these efforts as complementary rather than competitive with neutral-atom approaches.
The expectation is that future quantum computing ecosystems may resemble today’s classical computing landscape, where different processor architectures coexist and are optimised for specific workloads.
For organisations evaluating quantum computing, the message from QuEra is clear: preparation should begin now.
Yuval Boger, Chief Commercial Officer, QuEra, argues that waiting until fault-tolerant systems arrive could leave organisations struggling to catch up.
“Waiting until 2028 to build a quantum strategy is a competitive risk,” said Boger. “The algorithms that will harness fault-tolerant systems at this scale might not yet exist. Given that Libra will be available on the cloud in 2028 with a one-in-a-million error rate, the organizations that start co-developing now will be operational on day one, not catching up.”
The announcement highlights a broader shift occurring across the quantum computing industry. The conversation is increasingly moving away from whether fault-tolerant quantum computing is theoretically possible and towards how quickly it can be engineered, deployed and integrated into real-world computing environments.
For QuEra and AWS, 2028 is not being presented as the finish line. Instead, it marks the beginning of a new phase in which fault-tolerant quantum systems become accessible through the cloud and start the long process of proving their value in practical applications.
If that vision becomes reality, Libra could be remembered as one of the systems that helped move quantum computing from scientific promise to commercial infrastructure.
