AI and quantum computing: How IBM showed up at SXSW 2025
This past week, I was on the ground at SXSW in Austin and got to see some of the ways that IBM Research showed up around the city during the annual celebration of technology and innovation.
IBM’s Chairman and CEO gave a keynote on Tuesday to a packed auditorium in the Austin Convention Center. Arvind Krishna was there to discuss many of the topics near and dear to us at IBM Research.
In conversation with CNBC’s Jon Fortt, and special guest Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, Krishna walked the SXSW audience through some of the biggest challenges IBM is tackling today. Here’s a few of the highlights:
Get ready to be surprised by quantum. Krishna responded to comments that have bandied around the internet in recent weeks that quantum computing won’t be ready for primetime for decades, saying that before the decade is out — in, you know, less than four years — you’re going to be surprised by what quantum computers can do. Krishna listed areas where he believes quantum computers will make a meaningful impact by then, including carbon sequestration, materials discovery, pricing models, nutrition, and business optimization. So mark your calendars!
The future of quantum is happening in Illinois. Some of the biggest scientific breakthroughs of the last century happened in the Prairie State, including parts of the Manhattan project, as well as the work out of Fermilab and Argonne National Laboratory and many top-notch universities. Governor Pritzker is envisioning this streak continuing on into the quantum age. He recently unveiled the National Quantum Algorithm Center in Chicago, which will be powered by an IBM Quantum System Two by the end of 2025. Pritzker even mentioned that he recently visited our quantum team at our headquarters at Yorktown, saying that “IBM is a company who’s got some of the best scientists in the world focused on this.”
AI + quantum is the future. Some of the hardest problems facing the world will benefit from future systems that combine the best of quantum computers and AI systems. Krishna argued that the two will be complementary: Future AI systems could be fueled by information from quantum systems that aren’t pulling from our existing knowledge. “AI learns from what we know. Quantum can help us unlock how nature behaves,” he said.
AI is a tool to make humans more effective. At different times during the discussion, Krishna argued definitively that he doesn’t think the current AI systems will lead us towards AGI, or artificial general intelligence. Similarly, he said that he doesn’t think AI will be able to carry out 90% of coding tasks in six months, as others have suggested. He said he thinks the number could be closer to 30%, but that doesn’t mean we need 30% fewer coders — it just means they can do more. “If you can do 30% more code with the same number of people, are you going to get more code written or less?” he said.
Arvind Krishna’s keynote was just one part of IBM’s presence at SXSW this year. IBMers from across the company gave talks and participated in panels, and IBM hosted an interactive space in the Hilton that showed off some of the latest tech from IBM watsonx, Granite, and computer vision.
Small tables, big impact. In IBM’s space, they set up a foosball and a ping pong table, free for anyone to play. These tables had cameras that tracked your interactions. On the foosball table, an AI system tracked how often you shot, intercepted the ball, defended, and several other tendencies. Based on this information, the system gave you a personality trait — for me it said I was a passionate “Interceptor.” Using a watsonx and a Granite LLM, it then broke down in plain English my play style, my strengths and weaknesses. While I’m not expecting to go pro in foosball anytime soon, this same tech is already in use by Spain’s Sevilla FC, who are using it to better keep tabs on their players.
Countless quantum conversations. IBM Quantum researchers were all over SXSW this year, appearing on several talks that discussed the future of quantum computing as it approaches the mainstream. Charles Chung explored what needs to happen to get us to our quantum future, while Jeannette Garcia spoke with IBM partners RPI and Cleveland Clinic on the practical implications of quantum computing on fields like pharmaceuticals and cybersecurity. And Pedro Rivero demonstrated how quantum and classical computers together were able to simulate iron sulfide — often referred to as the “cradle of life molecule.” You know, the little things.
