Japan tech major NTT, OptQC partner to advance optical quantum computing tech

(From left) Akira Shimada, President and CEO, NTT Inc with Hiroshi Takase, Representative Director and CEO, OptQC

Global technology major NTT Inc (NTT) and quantum computing development firm OptQC Corp (OptQC) have announced a collaboration to advance optical quantum computing (QC), which uses photonics in place of electronic signals in quantum computers (QCs).

The duo have set an ambition to realise a 1-million qubit optical quantum computer by 2030 through this collaboration.

Under the agreement, NTT will provide quantum error tolerance systems (needed to perform calculations on a QC while correcting errors) and optical communication technologies that are developed as part of NTT’s Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN) Initiative. When used with OptQC’s quantum computing platform, this can help commercialise practical, scalable and reliable optical quantum computers.

NTT announced the collaboration during the 2025 R&D Forum, an event hosted by NTT Group companies in Tokyo on November 18, to demonstrate the company’s leadership in optical and quantum computing, artificial intelligence, mobility, infrastructure and more. The theme of this year’s Forum is IOWN: Quantum Leap.

Akira Shimada, President and CEO, NTT Inc, told mediapersons at the event that they aim for commercialisation of scalable QCs with this collaboration. “We will expand the current levels of 100s-1000s qubits to 10,000 by 2027, and post that we will work toward a goal to achieve the 1-million qubit scale by 2030,” he said. NTT is backing the use of optical technologies in powering QCs as the efficiency of such computing systems are better as light does not need high amounts of energy and coolants that electronic systems demand, he added.

Optical quantum computers, which utilise the properties of light, are seen as a promising solution for large scale and complex computations with low power consumption. These can operate at room temperature and pressure.

As per the collaboration, NTT and OptQC will first start with joint research in QC over the next five years. In the first year, the companies will begin technical studies and collaborate with additional partners to create use cases for optical quantum computing. In the second year, the companies will build a development environment and in the third year, the companies will verify use cases.

NTT invests over $3 billion annually in its global R&D initiatives, which is roughly about 30 percent of its total profit.

Speaking at the press conference, Hiroshi Takase, Representative Director and CEO, OptQC, said that by scaling up the number of qubits, more value can be created compared to the conventional computers, and calculations that took several days can be processed in just several minutes. By 2028, we will aim at concrete use cases across AI, he added.

Among other key technologies exhibited by the company at its R&D Forum, NTT also highlighted how, in an industry first, NTT and Toshiba Corporation have demonstrated the successful remote control of manufacturing equipment using the IOWN All-Photonics Network. In a boost for smart factory innovation, NTT and Toshiba were able to control production equipment from approximately 300 km away while also performing an AI visual inspection at 4 fps (frames per second) per equipment.

(The writer is in Tokyo at the invitation of NTT Inc)

Published on November 18, 2025