Diraq and Equinix to deploy Australia's first quantum computer inside a data centre

Quantum computing company Diraq and digital infrastructure firm Equinix have announced plans to install a Diraq quantum computer at an Equinix data centre in Sydney, in what the companies say will be Australia's first quantum computer to operate inside a commercial data centre.

The deployment is also claimed to be the world's first silicon spin quantum computer to run in a shared commercial facility.

Installation at the Sydney site is on track for completion in October 2026.

The system features a silicon chip containing eight qubits, with all cryogenic cooling and control electronics self-contained. It fits within a standard data centre rack alongside existing servers, draws less than 20kW of power, and requires minimal integration.

Diraq said scaling to higher qubit counts requires only a chip replacement, with no changes to the surrounding infrastructure.

The collaboration has three stated aims: testing real-world performance in a live commercial environment with open network connectivity; exploring hybrid quantum-classical and quantum-AI use cases alongside Equinix's existing cloud and AI systems; and, once testing is complete, giving industry partners and customers the opportunity to evaluate potential applications inside a facility that already meets enterprise data sovereignty, security and compliance requirements.

"The data centre is where quantum computing goes mainstream, and that shift starts now," said Andrew Dzurak, founder and chief executive at Diraq.

"Diraq's quantum computers integrate into operational data centres like any other rack. That's the advantage of Diraq's silicon spin qubits: as we scale to millions of qubits, our system is deployable anywhere in the world, right next to the AI systems that are reshaping the global economy."

Jarrod Nink, managing director for Australia at Equinix, said the collaboration would demonstrate how quantum computing can be securely deployed alongside AI, cloud and high-performance computing environments.

"By combining Diraq's pioneering silicon quantum technology with Equinix's global footprint, we're helping to define a new benchmark for quantum deployment while supporting Australia's ambition to become a leading global hub for quantum innovation," Nink said.

Diraq's qubits are manufactured using existing semiconductor foundries - the same processes used to produce chips in consumer devices - which the company said clears a path to millions of qubits on a single chip.

Diraq said it ultimately expects data centres to host not just one quantum computer but entire fleets of them, operating in a hybrid model alongside classical and AI infrastructure.