IBM moves to third phase of DARPA’s rigorous evaluation of approaches to building a fault-tolerant quantum computer

YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, N.Y., Oct. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced it has been selected for Stage C, the third phase of the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI) led by DARPA, the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. This phase will advance IBM through DARPA’s verification process, in which independent experts extensively test and measure quantum hardware, technology, systems engineering, and architectures to determine if a company can build a fault-tolerant quantum computer.

“Advancing to the third stage of DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative validates the strength of IBM’s path to building a fault-tolerant quantum computer,” said Jay Gambetta, Director of IBM Research and IBM Fellow. “IBM expects to deliver the first fault-tolerant system in 2029, and we plan to scale the value of quantum computing well beyond that timeline. We look forward to working with DARPA’s team of experts as they advance their review of approaches to fault-tolerant quantum computing into the testing phase.”

As an independent research and development arm of the U.S. Department of Defense, DARPA launched the QBI in 2024 to determine whether an industrially useful fault-tolerant quantum computer can be built by 2033. The program defines such a system as one whose computational value will exceed its cost. IBM has successfully progressed through the QBI’s assessment process, including the first two stages that analyzed comprehensive R&D plans and risk mitigation approaches.

IBM has built the strongest quantum foundation in the industry, anchored by the largest fleet of quantum computers across the globe and Qiskit, the world’s most popular quantum software. IBM’s quantum computers are already being used today as scientific tools by a network of more than 340 organizations across financial services, healthcare, materials science, academia, and government as they build industrial applications and pursue algorithms to unlock the full potential of fault-tolerant quantum computing.

Last year, IBM laid out its plans to deliver the world’s first fault-tolerant quantum computer, IBM Quantum Starling. Starling will combine advances in error correction, processor design, systems engineering, and more. Since then, IBM’s progression has remained on course, including the demonstration of core hardware components for fault tolerance and breakthroughs in efficient error correction decoding.

Advancing to Stage C

Each successful QBI performer has progressed through three stages of the program thus far:

Stage A required organizations to submit an initial technical concept of a cost-effective, fault-tolerant quantum computer that has a plausible path to realization in the near term. Several Stage A performers were announced in April 2025.Stage B called for a comprehensive research and development plan from each company detailing how to realize such a quantum computer, as well as the risks associated with this plan and mitigation approaches.Announced today, those selected for Stage C will move beyond conceptual plans and progress to evaluation by DARPA’s QBI independent verification and validation (IV&V) team as they test the companies’ hardware.

Alongside its participation in QBI, IBM continues to collaborate with partners across industry, government, and academia to accelerate the timeline toward fault-tolerant quantum computing.

For more information about the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, visit the DARPA website.

About IBM

IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider, helping clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Thousands of governments and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

For more information, visit https://research.ibm.com.

Media contacts:

Erin Angelini
IBM
edlehr@us.ibm.com

Chris Nay
IBM
cnay@us.ibm.com
 

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SOURCE IBM

Longtime partners in independent ad-quality measurement add an AI agent that automatically recovers wasted Google Ads spend for brand advertisers, globally.

NEW YORK and MUNICH, Oct. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — FouAnalytics, the independent analytics platform for digital ads, websites and mobile apps, today announced a deeper partnership with fraud0 to bring their world-first AI agent for automated ad refunds to the world’s largest advertisers.

FouAnalytics and fraud0 have been providing independent traffic and ad quality analytics to advertisers for their websites and programmatic ads, respectively. But Google Ads remained a black box, because Google’s policies prohibited all third party measurement instrumentation on their platforms – e.g. search ads, YouTube ads, PMax, etc. Other legacy verification vendors, that claimed to do measurement on these platforms, were just given data on invalid traffic, viewability, and brand safety by Google, without actually having javascript tags instrumented on the platforms to collect data themselves.

“This partnership marks a milestone in advancing greater transparency and accountability in Google Ads, enabling advertisers to recover losses from invalid traffic, false clicks, out-of-compliance ads, billing errors and platform overcharges,” said Dr. Augustine Fou. “fraud0’s AI for Google Ads Refunds makes this easy for advertisers to activate, and is the first to recover advertisers’ refunds at scale.”

“Pharmaceutical company Uriach used fraud0 AI for Google Ads Refunds to recover $28,000 in Google Ads spend in just three months.”

Large advertisers spend billions of dollars every year on Google Ads. A portion of that investment is known to be lost to invalid clicks. Identifying these losses is one challenge. Recovering them is another. fraud0’s AI for Google Ads Refunds has already audited more than $2 billion in digital advertising spend and is trusted by businesses across every industry, including leading advertisers such as HelloFresh, Condor, ABOUT YOU and the Otto Group. As a Google-certified Click Tracker, fraud0 works closely with Google’s Click Quality team to investigate suspicious activity and resolve refund claims, while its AI agent builds the required evidence and manages the process from start to finish.

To activate, advertisers simply add a JavaScript tag to their website and connect their Google Ads account. The fraud0 AI for Google Ads Refunds runs continuously in the background, monitoring traffic and handling the refund workflow automatically. Beyond recovery, fraud0 helps advertisers prevent future waste through placement blocking, audience exclusions and the continuous identification of recurring invalid traffic sources.

“Such a pleasure to be working with Dr. Augustine Fou, who has been on the frontlines of fraud detection for decades. We’re excited to roll out this new capability to even more customers globally.” said Tilman Pfeiffer, CEO of fraud0.

Advertisers interested in activating Google Ads refunds can contact FouAnalytics or fraud0 at the address below.

About FouAnalytics
Created by Dr. Augustine Fou, FouAnalytics is the most trusted, and the only truly independent analytics platform for digital ads, websites, and mobile apps. The platform provides detailed analytical data so practitioners can “see Fou themselves”™ why something is “high humanness,” and troubleshoot what is not good quality. Today FouAnalytics is used globally by advertisers like Microsoft, Inuvo, Viant, Beiersdorf and Georgia Pacific, independent agencies and every agency holding company on behalf of clients, as well as more than 10,000 SMBs and site owners. More details at www.fouanalytics.com.

About fraud0
fraud0 is a leading bot detection and invalid traffic (IVT) prevention platform, trusted by some of Europe’s largest banks, insurance companies, e-commerce businesses, and leading brands. Its privacy-friendly technology helps companies eliminate fraudulent traffic, protect ad spend, and improve marketing performance. More details at www.fraud0.com.

Media Contacts
Dr. Augustine Fou, CEO, FouAnalytics
augustine.fou@fouanalytics.com

Tilman Pfeiffer, CEO, fraud0
tp@fraud0.com

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SOURCE FouAnalytics

240,000 dry metric tonnes of spodumene concentrate to be supplied from operational Canadian mine over four yearsLocal supply supports growing North American ESS demand and strengthens regional value chainsSecuring spodumene concentrate enhances raw material flexibility across EV and ESS markets

SEOUL, South Korea, October 7, 2026 /CNW/ — LG Energy Solution (KRX: 373220) today announced it has signed a multi-year binding offtake agreement with Elevra Lithium for spodumene concentrate.

Elevra Lithium is a North American lithium producer with projects in Quebec, Canada, United States, and a joint venture in Western Australia.

Starting later this year, Elevra Lithium will supply LG Energy Solution with 240,000 dry metric tonnes of spodumene concentrate over a four-year period. The spodumene concentrate will be produced at Elevra’s North American Lithium (NAL) project in Quebec, Canada, which is already operational.

With spodumene concentrate set to be sourced from an operational North American mine and supply expected to commence later this year, LG Energy Solution is well positioned to strengthen its responsiveness to local customer needs while supporting the rapid growth of the regional ESS market.

To proactively respond to the rising market demand for energy storage systems (ESS) in North America, LG Energy Solution has five standalone and joint venture facilities in the region that are meeting customers’ growing demand for reliable and scalable ESS solutions powered by LFP batteries.

NextStar Energy, the standalone facility in Windsor, Canada, has been serving as a cornerstone of Canada’s growing battery ecosystem since commencing production last year.

Backed by more than CAD 5 billion in investment and expected to create up to 2,500 direct jobs at full-scale production, the facility, combined with local supply of spodumene concentrate, will reinforce the local value chain in Canada.

Securing a stable supply of spodumene concentrate not only diversifies the company’s raw material sourcing portfolio beyond lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide but also provides greater flexibility to optimize production based on evolving electric vehicle (EV) and ESS market demand and market conditions. As a key intermediate feedstock that can be processed into either lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide, spodumene concentrate enables greater production scalability, while enhancing supply chain resilience and supporting a stable supply of critical battery materials.

“This agreement with LG Energy Solution represents an important step in implementing the commercial strategy we outlined with our FY26 annual results. It provides Elevra with a committed customer for a meaningful portion of NAL’s production while retaining exposure to spodumene concentrate market pricing,” said Lucas Dow, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Elevra Lithium. “Securing a leading global battery manufacturer as a customer further strengthens the commercial position of NAL and supports our strategy of building a diversified portfolio of high-quality customers as we increase production and progress the NAL expansion.”

“This agreement marks another important step in strengthening our raw material supply chain in North America and supporting the region’s rapidly growing ESS market,” said Kang Yeol Lee, Procurement Center Leader of LG Energy Solution. “By securing a stable supply of spodumene concentrate from an operational North American source, we are enhancing both the flexibility and resilience of our supply chain while reinforcing our ability to meet evolving customer demand with greater speed and scale.”

About LG Energy Solution

LG Energy Solution (KRX: 373220) is a leading global manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, mobility, IT, and energy storage systems. With more than 30 years of experience in revolutionary battery technology and extensive research and development (R&D), the company is the top battery-related patent holder in the world with over 100,000 patents. Its robust global network, which spans North America, Europe, and Asia, includes battery manufacturing facilities established through joint ventures with major automakers. Committed to building sustainable battery ecosystem, LG Energy Solution aims to achieve carbon neutrality across its value chain by 2050, while embodying the value of shared growth and promoting diverse and inclusive corporate culture. To learn more about LG Energy Solution’s ideas and innovations, visit https://news.lgensol.com.

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SOURCE LG Energy Solution