ORCA aims to beat classical computers with PT-3 quantum system
A London-based photonic quantum firm has also completed its first private-sector enterprise deployment, in Japan, supported by a Japanese trading company
ORCA Computing, a London-based photonic quantum computing firm, is preparing to launch a system it says will outperform classical computers on real industrial workloads, marking what it describes as the first commercial delivery of quantum advantage in data-center conditions.
The PT-3, due for release later in 2026, is designed to surpass classical machines in two application areas: large-scale optimization problems and generative artificial intelligence (AI) acceleration. The company has already signed an agreement to install the system at a major data center operator’s innovation lab in London.
“The PT-3 will be a quantum advantage machine,” Richard Murray, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of ORCA Computing, told TechJournal.uk in an interview. “It will be the first time that anyone delivers quantum advantage as a product in a way that can be installed in data centers.”
Regarding the practical significance of that threshold, Murray said the PT-3 will offer more optimal solutions with lower runtime than leading classical optimization solvers. The system will also deliver a generative AI advantage, he said, not achievable with classical hardware alone.
“Optimization is such a huge market, such a massive application space,” he said.
“We focus very much on the first near-term applications of quantum computers,” he said. “There are two categories where we think there is a commercial benefit: advancing generative AI, taking existing generative AI models and adding quantum as an accelerating layer, and optimization, running large up to 25,000-variable optimization problems on our current generation of quantum computers.”
Murray said ORCA believes it is at the cusp of commercial quantum advantage, the point at which a quantum system delivers a measurable commercial benefit over its classical equivalent. The PT-3 launch, he said, will be a landmark moment for the entire quantum industry.
ORCA Computing was founded in 2019 as a spin-out of the University of Oxford, drawing on more than 30 years of research by co-founder Professor Ian Walmsley. It is headquartered in London and maintains offices in Toronto and Austin.
By early 2025, the company had delivered 10 on-premises photonic quantum systems to customers, including the UK Ministry of Defence, the National Quantum Computing Centre, Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center in Poland and Montana State University in the US.
First enterprise deployment
Murray was speaking on the sidelines of Commercialising Quantum Global 2026, organized by Economist Enterprise and held in London on June 16.
The PT-3 announcement follows ORCA’s first installation of a quantum system at a private-sector enterprise customer. Earlier this month, the company deployed its current PT-2 system at a major Japanese industrial company, brokered by Toyota Tsusho Corporation, a Japanese trading company. The end customer has not been disclosed.
“Installing ORCA’s PT-2 quantum system within an enterprise environment in under one week highlights the maturity of ORCA’s photonic quantum technology,” Murray said. “Together with Toyota Tsusho, we are laying the foundation for commercial quantum advantage in industrial AI applications.”
Norihito Ohigashi, manager of the Digital Infrastructure Department at Toyota Tsusho Corporation, said in a press release that the collaboration reflects a commitment to enabling technologies that will shape the future of manufacturing and intelligent infrastructure.
The PT-2 system has been integrated into cloud services supporting the enterprise customer’s global operations, enabling hybrid quantum-classical workflows alongside existing high-performance computing (HPC) applications. The system is scheduled to be upgraded to the PT-3 later this year.
In May, ORCA signed an agreement with Digital Realty, the world’s largest cloud- and carrier-neutral data center provider, to install the PT-3 at its newly launched Digital Realty Innovation Lab (DRIL) in London. At least one additional customer site is also planned. The DRIL allows organizations to test emerging AI and quantum technologies in live conditions before full-scale deployment.
Seamus Dunne, Managing Director of Digital Realty UK and Ireland, said the collaboration gives customers direct access to one of the UK’s leading quantum innovators.
“Having ORCA integrated within the DRIL helps customers explore practical pathways to hybrid quantum-classical computing,” he said.
Central to ORCA’s commercial strategy is a data-center-native design philosophy. Its systems occupy two standard 19-inch server racks, each six feet high, requiring no specialized cooling or infrastructure, a form factor deliberately engineered to lower the barrier to enterprise adoption.
“ORCA was built around the idea that quantum computing should integrate directly into the infrastructure enterprises already rely on for AI and high-performance computing,” he said. “As a London-based quantum company, it is exciting to be part of the launch of the Digital Realty Innovation Lab and to demonstrate our systems operating inside a commercial data center environment.”
Inside the photonic machine
At the heart of ORCA’s systems is a photonic architecture that diverges sharply from the superconducting approach favored by many competitors. Rather than using qubits cooled to near absolute zero, the machine generates single photons, passes them through a switchable optical network, and measures the resulting quantum states, all without cryogenic cooling.
“Single photons are created; they pass through a big switchable network, which is the device that we use to program our systems, and then the photons are measured,” Murray said. “When they are measured the quantum state is destroyed, and that whole process sits next to an existing classical computer and is closely integrated inside a classical computing algorithm or operation.”
The system contains three core components: a photon source, a network of three switchable modules and detectors. Computation occurs as photons pass through the system rather than in any fixed chip. A proprietary semiconductor platform developed at facilities in Texas and New York underpins the system’s performance through ultra-low optical loss.
“Our systems operate with very low levels of optical loss,” he said. “That is a defining feature of what makes them quantum and what makes them powerful.”
The photonic approach has attracted significant investment globally. In the US, PsiQuantum has secured contracts with Australia and the State of Illinois to build large-scale systems, while Xanadu recently went public. Murray positioned ORCA as moving faster than peers toward real-world application, rather than competing purely on scale.
“Progress is really happening,” he said. “What to track on the technical side is the progress of very low-loss systems, which yield more and more photons and computational ability.”
On funding, Murray said ORCA does not publicize most of its fundraising, preferring to let technical milestones drive its public profile. He described the company’s approach as capital-efficient at a time when some peers are pursuing large headline rounds.
He drew a clear distinction between the UK and US investment environments. The US has increasingly favored domestic companies, while the UK’s £2 billion quantum commitment takes a more open, internationally competitive approach.
“The UK’s target is to attract globally leading quantum companies to build their systems in the UK, as well as to support UK companies,” he said. “I like the UK because it is more of an open marketplace.”
With the PT-3 launch scheduled for later in 2026 and its first private-sector enterprise installation now operational in Japan, ORCA enters the second half of the year with more live commercial deployments in its pipeline than at any point in its seven-year history.