ORCA Computing has launched PT-3, its newest photonic quantum computer, and says the first system is live in the Digital Realty Innovation Lab (DRIL) in London, running alongside NVIDIA accelerated computing. In a release dated 15 October 2026, ORCA calls PT-3 “the first built to deliver commercial quantum advantage.” That framing is the company’s own claim.
Data Center Dynamics, which attended the launch, says the machine is at Digital Realty’s LHR19 site in London Docklands.
What ORCA says the machine is
According to ORCA, PT-3 operates at room temperature, uses 6 kW across two standard racks and is operational within hours of installation. DCD reports that it weighs around 800 kg, that installation took three hours, and that it was fully operational within 24 hours, according to James Fletcher, ORCA’s head of solutions architecture.
Richard Murray, ORCA’s co-founder and chief executive, told DCD the company does not “hide away from the fact our system is a special-purpose quantum computer that leans on things photonics does very well,” and that it is not positioning itself as a general-purpose quantum computer.
In the release, Murray said: “By integrating our photonic quantum computer with NVIDIA accelerated computing, we have taken a critical first step in the future of hybrid quantum supercomputing.”
Performance claims — ORCA’s figures
ORCA says a hybrid quantum-classical extension of NVIDIA’s Proteína protein-design model, trained on 32 NVIDIA Hopper GPUs working with a PT-3 using 64 photons in 128 qumodes, improved “the ratio of useful proteins by 20%” over a classical baseline. That result is ORCA’s and is not presented in the release as peer-reviewed.
On optimisation, ORCA says that on JIJ’s 25,755-variable unit commitment benchmark, PT-3 runs the hybrid workflow “in about an hour, more than 12× faster than its predecessor at the same solution quality,” with results “competitive with the industry-standard commercial optimisation solver.” ORCA ties that work to a white paper with bp and the UK’s National Quantum Computing Centre.
Customers and partners
ORCA says it has installed 11 PT Series systems in customer data centres and works with over 35 customers and partners, with trials in life sciences, defence, energy and logistics. NVIDIA’s Sam Stanwyck and Digital Realty’s Séamus Dunne are quoted in the release supporting the hybrid setup at DRIL.
What this means
- The launch and London hosting are confirmed by ORCA and DCD. The system is presented as live beside NVIDIA hardware at Digital Realty.
- The big claims are ORCA’s. “Commercial quantum advantage,” the 20% protein figure and the 12× optimisation speed-up are company claims, not independent findings.
- It is special-purpose, by the CEO’s own account. Murray says ORCA is leaning into what photonics does well, not selling a general-purpose quantum computer.
Sources
- ORCA Computing via EIN Presswire, “ORCA Computing launches PT-3, the first quantum computer built for commercial quantum advantage”, 15 October 2026. https://www.einpresswire.com/article/949581165/orca-computing-launches-pt-3-the-first-quantum-computer-built-for-commercial-quantum-advantage
- Data Center Dynamics (Charlotte Trueman), “Photonics quantum firm Orca Computing deploys PT-3 system at Digital Realty’s LHR19 data center”, 15 October 2026. https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/photonics-quantum-firm-orca-computing-deploys-pt-3-system-at-digital-realtys-lhr19-data-center/
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