Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center Builds Hybrid Quantum-Classical Supercomputer, Pairs With D-Wave / AT&T Push

The Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC), a joint effort of Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh, has announced plans to build a new hybrid quantum-classical supercomputer. The system will integrate quantum accelerators with PSC's existing Bridges-AI infrastructure, opening the door to shared workflows between classical HPC users and emerging quantum workloads.

What PSC Is Building

The new system, internally called "Neocortex-Q," will pair next-generation GPU compute with a quantum backend accessed over a low-latency interconnect. PSC has not yet named the quantum vendor, but the architecture follows the same hybrid pattern already piloted at national labs: classical nodes handle the bulk of the simulation, with quantum cores reserved for the parts of the problem where they help.

"Hybrid is not a marketing word for us. It is the actual deployment model our researchers have been asking for," said PSC director Nick Nystrom.

Researcher Access

PSC expects to allocate time through its standard peer-reviewed process, with a quota reserved for industrial users. Early targets include materials simulation, combinatorial optimization, and quantum-machine-learning benchmarks - areas where classical simulation of large quantum systems dominates supercomputer time.

The D-Wave / AT&T Parallel

The PSC announcement lands in the same week that D-Wave and AT&T unveiled their own quantum partnership targeting network optimization. Together, the two moves show how quantum is shifting from isolated laboratory demos into production-leaning deployments in two very different sectors: research supercomputing and telecom operations.

Why Pittsburgh

PSC is no stranger to hybrid architectures. Bridges-AI, deployed in 2021, was one of the first production HPC systems to make GPUs first-class citizens alongside traditional CPUs. Carnegie Mellon's long history in quantum information science gives PSC an unusually deep local user base for the new system.

Timing and Funding

PSC expects first hardware on the floor by mid-2027, with full hybrid operation by year-end. Funding combines a National Science Foundation grant with state-level support and contributions from industrial partners.