Quantum/Machines/Alice & Bob 18-Cat-Qubit System at TGCC
France · planned · Superconducting circuits
Alice & Bob 18-Cat-Qubit System at TGCC
Alice & Bob 18-Cat-Qubit System at TGCC is a superconducting circuits quantum computer operated by GENCI in France. It has 18 physical qubits. It ranks 56 of 74 superconducting machines in this table by physical qubit count. 4 sourced specs are in the spec sheet. 1 published benchmark or milestone record are listed below, each marked by who measured it.
Also known as GENCI cat-qubit quantum computer
GENCI and Alice & Bob signed the procurement contract on 17 June 2026 at VivaTech, the first state acquisition of a cat-qubit machine. It will sit at CEA's TGCC in Bruyeres-le-Chatel next to Ruby (pasqal-ruby) and Lucy (lucy), is funded entirely by the HQI initiative under France 2030 after a negotiated public procurement, and is to open to researchers in 2027 free of charge for open research with allocations through EDARI. A later phase is meant to tie it to the Alice Recoque exascale system. CEA is quoted calling it the third HQI machine at TGCC. QCR describes it as a Helium-class system, the same family as the vendor-hosted alice-bob-helium; the price is undisclosed and no benchmark data exists yet.
Co-located supercomputer: Joliot-Curie Rome. This machine is integrated with, or hosted beside, that system.
Spec sheet
Technical details as the builder or a paper states them, each with its own source. A blank is a fact we could not source, not a zero. Fidelity and coherence figures are in the benchmark table below.
| Spec | Value | Basis | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Processor | 18 cat-qubit quantum computer from Alice & Bob, Helium class | Vendor reported | QCR calls it a Helium-class system; TQI does not name a model. | thequantuminsider.comquantumcomputingreport.com |
| Qubit type | error-biased cat qubits that natively suppress bit-flip errors | Vendor reported | Vendor claim that bit-flip protection lifetimes can exceed an hour and overhead falls up to 200 times versus transmons. | quantumcomputingreport.comthequantuminsider.com |
| Access and pricing | Free for academic and industrial open research, allocations via EDARI; access expected 2027 | Vendor reported | Procured by GENCI with HQI funding under France 2030; price not disclosed. | thequantuminsider.comquantumcomputingreport.com |
| Roadmap | Later phase to be tied to the Alice Recoque exascale supercomputer | Vendor reported | Initial integration is with GENCI's Joliot-Curie supercomputer at TGCC. | quantumcomputingreport.comthequantuminsider.com |
Milestone claims
- GENCI and Alice & Bob signed the public procurement contract for the 18-cat-qubit machine at VivaTech (2026-06-17, vendor reported) thequantuminsider.comquantumcomputingreport.com
Timeline
- 2026-06-17: Announced
- 2026-06-17: Status checked: planned
More from GENCI
- Pasqal Ruby (operational, 100 qubits)
Comparable superconducting machines
Closest in physical qubit count within the same technology. Counts of different qubit types are not interchangeable across technologies.
| Machine | Operator | Qubits | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alice & Bob Helium | Alice & Bob | 18 | operational |
| Quantum Inspire Tuna-17 | QuTech | 17 | operational |
| ORNL Pathfinder | Oak Ridge National Laboratory | 20 | operational |
| IQM Garnet | IQM Quantum Computers | 20 | operational |
| IQM Radiance 20 for TOYO at G-QuAT | TOYO Corporation | 20 | planned |
| KRISS 20-Qubit System | KRISS | 20 | operational |