International Business Machines Corp. (IBM  ) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD  ) are partnering to advance quantum-centric supercomputing, combining IBM's quantum hardware and software expertise with AMD's strength in high-performance computing and AI acceleration.

The collaboration, announced Tuesday, is aimed at building scalable, open-source platforms that integrate quantum and classical systems to solve problems beyond the reach of traditional computing. Target applications range from drug discovery and climate modeling to advanced optimization.

As part of the effort, AMD's CPUs, GPUs, and FPGAs will be integrated with IBM's quantum systems, supporting IBM's push to deliver fault-tolerant quantum computers before the end of the decade. The companies intend to demonstrate hybrid quantum-classical workflows later this year, a step toward bringing commercially viable applications into view.

The move comes as momentum in quantum computing accelerates globally. According to McKinsey, the quantum technology market, spanning computing, communications, and sensing, is projected to grow from $4 billion in 2024 to as much as $97 billion by 2035, with quantum computing alone potentially accounting for $72 billion.

By 2040, McKinsey estimates the sector could nearly double again to $198 billion as breakthroughs in error correction, qubit scalability, and secure communications open new frontiers in finance, defense, and life sciences. Governments worldwide have already pledged more than $10 billion in funding for 2025, underscoring the strategic importance of the field.

Competition in the space is intensifying. Alphabet's (GOOGL  ) (GOOG  ) Google Quantum AI recently unveiled its Willow chip, a superconducting system that demonstrated exponential error reduction as qubit counts scale.

Willow completed a benchmark in under five minutes that would take an estimated ten septillion years for a conventional supercomputer, marking a significant step in real-time error correction.

Nvidia Corp. (NVDA  ) has also deepened its presence in quantum through a partnership with Google Quantum AI to accelerate device development and simulation, a collaboration that Wedbush analysts have flagged as a long-term growth driver alongside Nvidia's dominance in AI semiconductors.

The IBM-AMD partnership adds another layer to the evolving ecosystem, where established players and startups alike are racing to make quantum systems practical at scale.

Price Actions: AMD stock is trading higher by 2.43% to $167.33 premarket at last check Tuesday. IBM is up 0.81%.