D-Wave Quantum (NYSE: QBTS) disputes claims its quantum supremacy was overturned

Rhea-AI Filing Summary

D-Wave Quantum Inc. used this report to respond to claims that new classical simulation research has overturned its earlier demonstration of quantum computational supremacy in quantum simulation. The company states those claims are inaccurate and not supported by the scientific record.

D-Wave explains that the new tensor-network work from the Flatiron Institute does not reproduce the full scope of its peer-reviewed Science result, especially the hardest problem instances and measurements. It reiterates that its annealing quantum processors showed beyond-classical performance in simulating nonequilibrium magnetic spin dynamics across several lattice geometries.

The company notes prior analysis suggesting that matching its largest reported problems with matrix product state methods would require nearly a million years on the Frontier supercomputer, with impractical memory and energy demands. D-Wave welcomes advances in classical algorithms but distinguishes between meaningful classical progress and actually overturning its quantum supremacy result.

8-K Event Classification

2 items: 7.01, 9.01

2 items

Item 7.01 Regulation FD Disclosure Disclosure

Material non-public information disclosed under Regulation Fair Disclosure, often investor presentations or guidance.

Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits Exhibits

Financial statements, pro forma financial information, and exhibit attachments filed with this report.

Key Figures

Quantum simulation classical time estimate: nearly a million years Leap service availability: 99.9% availability and uptime Customer organizations: More than 100 organizations

3 metrics

Quantum simulation classical time estimate nearly a million years Time matrix product state methods would need on Frontier supercomputer for largest problems

Leap service availability 99.9% availability and uptime Leap quantum cloud service performance

Customer organizations More than 100 organizations Organizations using D-Wave quantum computing systems and services

Key Terms

quantum computational supremacy, tensor-network, BP-TNS, spin glasses, +1 more

5 terms

quantum computational supremacy technical

"recent claims that newly published classical simulation work has “overturned” D-Wave’s demonstration of quantum computational supremacy in quantum simulation"

Quantum computational supremacy is the point at which a quantum computer can solve a specific problem faster or more efficiently than the best conventional computers. For investors, it signals a potential leap in computing capability that could create new markets, disrupt existing technologies, and change the economics of industries like encryption, drug discovery, and materials — similar to when jet engines made long-distance air travel routine.

tensor-network technical

"recent tensor-network work from researchers at the Flatiron Institute and collaborators"

A tensor network is a way of breaking a very large, complex dataset or mathematical object into many smaller, linked pieces so calculations become manageable — think of mapping a giant jigsaw into connected clusters that can be solved one at a time. Investors should care because this technique powers advanced tools in areas like machine learning, quantum computing, and risk modeling, enabling faster, more accurate analysis of high‑dimensional data that can improve forecasting and decision making.

BP-TNS technical

"The Flatiron Institute’s BP-TNS algorithm is a meaningful contribution to the classical state of the art"

spin glasses technical

"BP-TNS fails for strongly coupled three-dimensional spin glasses on cubic and diamond lattices"

beyond-classical computation technical

"D-Wave’s demonstration of beyond-classical computation continues to hold up under careful scientific scrutiny"

Understanding 8-K Material Events →

0001907982FALSE00019079822026-05-262026-05-26

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

_____________________________________________________________

FORM 8-K

_____________________________________________________________

CURRENT REPORT

PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): May 26, 2026

_____________________________________________________________

D-Wave Quantum Inc.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

_____________________________________________________________

Delaware			001-41468			88-1068854
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)			(Commission File Number)			(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

2650 East Bayshore Road

Palo Alto, California

94303

(Address of principal executive offices)

(650) 285-2881

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

N/A

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

_____________________________________________________________

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

o			Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
o			Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
o			Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
o			Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class

Trading Symbol(s)

Name of each exchange on which registered

Common stock, par value $0.0001 per share

QBTS

New York Stock Exchange

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company o

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. o

Item 7.01 Regulation FD Disclosure.

On May 26, 2026, D-Wave Quantum Inc. (“D-Wave” or the “Company”) issued the following response to recent claims that newly published classical simulation work has “overturned” D-Wave’s demonstration of quantum computational supremacy in quantum simulation. The claim that D-Wave’s achievement has been overturned is inaccurate and not supported by the scientific record.

According to the Company, scientific progress in quantum computing depends on rigorous comparison between quantum and classical methods. However, the recently published work does not reproduce the full scope of D-Wave’s peer-reviewed Science result, nor does it solve the hardest problem instances and measurements reported in that work. According to Dr. Alan Baratz, CEO of D-Wave, D-Wave’s demonstration of beyond-classical computation continues to hold up under careful scientific scrutiny. The Company welcomes advances in classical methods, including recent work from the Flatiron Institute, but claims that these advances overturn D-Wave’s result are inaccurate. A copy of the press release is attached as Exhibit 99.1.

The information in this Item 7.01 to this Current Report on Form 8-K, including Exhibit 99.1, is intended to be furnished and shall not be deemed to be “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section, nor shall such information be deemed incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except as expressly set forth by specific reference in such a filing.

Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibits

Exhibit No.						Description
99.1						Press release, dated May 26, 2026.
104						Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document).

SIGNATURES

           Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

Date: May 26, 2026			D-Wave Quantum Inc.
			By:			/s/ Alan Baratz
			Name:			Alan Baratz
			Title:			President & Chief Executive Officer

Exhibit 99.1

D-Wave’s Quantum Supremacy Result Stands

Recent classical simulation work represents progress, but does not overturn D-Wave’s peer-reviewed demonstration of beyond-classical quantum simulation

PALO ALTO, Calif. — May 26, 2026— D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS), (“D-Wave” or the “Company”), the only dual-platform quantum computing company providing both annealing and gate-model systems, software and services, today issued the following response to recent claims that newly published classical simulation work has “overturned” D-Wave’s demonstration of quantum computational supremacy in quantum simulation.

The claim that D-Wave’s achievement has been overturned is inaccurate and not supported by the scientific record.

D-Wave welcomes advances in classical algorithms, including recent tensor-network work from researchers at the Flatiron Institute and collaborators. Scientific progress in quantum computing depends on rigorous comparison between quantum and classical methods. However, the recently published work does not reproduce the full scope of D-Wave’s peer-reviewed Science result, nor does it solve the hardest problem instances and measurements reported in that work. The only major change in the Flatiron work that has now been published in Science is the addition of large diamond lattice data. This supports the claim that they are using BP-TNS to extract a Kibble-Zurek exponent in a 3D system, but the same criticisms apply as a year ago: they don’t compute the same observables, nor all the geometries, nor the largest size geometries, nor all the couplings computed by D-Wave and its collaborators.

In the peer-reviewed Science paper, “Beyond-classical computation in quantum simulation,” D-Wave researchers and collaborators demonstrated beyond-classical computation in the quantum simulation of nonequilibrium magnetic spin dynamics using D-Wave annealing quantum computers. The work studied square, cubic, diamond and biclique topologies and showed that D-Wave quantum processing units produced samples consistent with quantum theory at scales where direct classical computation becomes impractical. For the largest problems studied, the paper reported that matching the D-Wave quantum processor’s simulation quality with matrix product state methods would require nearly a million years on the Frontier supercomputer, with memory and energy requirements exceeding practical limits.

“D-Wave’s demonstration of beyond-classical computation continues to hold up under careful scientific scrutiny,” said Dr. Alan Baratz, CEO of D-Wave. “We welcome advances in classical methods, including recent work from the Flatiron Institute, but claims that these advances overturn D-Wave’s result are inaccurate. A claim that strong requires reproducing the full scope of our demonstration, including the hardest cases and the full set of measurements. That has not happened.”

The Flatiron Institute’s BP-TNS algorithm is a meaningful contribution to the classical state of the art, and it is effective in some regimes. But it is not effective across the full range of problem classes studied in D-Wave’s Science paper. In a March 2025 response, D-Wave researchers and collaborators noted that the Tindall et al. work did not attempt the most complex lattice geometry, did not reproduce the largest simulations in 3D lattices, did not simulate the low-precision ensembles in which correlations grow fastest, and did not produce the full-state and fourth-order observables reported in D-Wave’s Science paper.

In the arXiv paper “Evaluating Classical Simulations with a Quantum Processor”, D-Wave researchers and collaborators further evaluated the limits of classical tensor-network simulations using a quantum processor as a reference. That work showed that BP-TNS fails for strongly coupled three-dimensional spin glasses on cubic and diamond lattices, and that loop-corrected BP-TNS is ineffective for higher-dimensional biclique problems. These are important quantum simulation regimes included in D-Wave’s original demonstration, not peripheral examples.

“The BP-TNS algorithm is effective in some regimes and ineffective in others,” said Dr. Trevor Lanting, chief development officer at D-Wave. “Our analysis showed that it fails for strongly coupled three-dimensional spin glasses on cubic and diamond lattices, and that loop-corrected BP-TNS is ineffective for higher-dimensional biclique problems. These are important cases from our Science paper, and they remain beyond the reach of current classical methods.”

D-Wave encourages continued work by the Flatiron Institute and others to advance classical simulation methods. Such progress is valuable and can help sharpen the boundary between classical and quantum capabilities. But scientific communication should distinguish between a meaningful advance in classical simulation and overturning a quantum supremacy result. The former is supported by the evidence. The latter is not.

“We should all hold ourselves to a higher standard when communicating scientific results,” Baratz added.

About D-Wave Quantum Inc.

D-Wave is a leader in the development and delivery of quantum computing systems, software, and services. It is the world’s first commercial supplier of quantum computers, and the first and only to offer dual-platform quantum computing products and services, spanning both annealing and gate-model quantum computing technologies. D-Wave’s mission is to help customers realize the value of quantum today through enterprise-grade systems available on-premises and via its Leap™ quantum cloud service, which offers 99.9% availability and uptime. More than 100 organizations across commercial, government and research sectors trust D-Wave to address complex computational challenges using quantum computing. Learn more about realizing the value of quantum computing today and how D-Wave is shaping the quantum-driven industrial and societal advancements of tomorrow: www.dwavequantum.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the following words: “believe,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “trend,” “estimate,” “predict,” “project,” “potential,” “seem,” “seek,” “future,” “outlook,” “forecast,” “projection,” “continue,” “ongoing,” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. These statements involve risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the information expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements and may not be indicative of future results. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, among others, various factors beyond management’s control, including the risks discussed under the caption “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in Part I of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K or any updates discussed under the caption “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in Part II of our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and in our other filings with the SEC. Undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements in this press release in making an investment decision, which are based on information available to us on the date hereof. We undertake no duty to update this information unless required by law.

Media Contact:

Alex Daigle

media@dwavesys.com

FAQ

What does D-Wave Quantum Inc. (QBTS) say about claims its quantum supremacy was overturned?

D-Wave says claims that new classical simulations overturned its quantum supremacy result are inaccurate. It argues the recent work does not match the full scope, hardest instances, or measurements of its peer-reviewed Science paper and therefore does not invalidate the original beyond-classical demonstration.

How does D-Wave describe the new classical BP-TNS work from the Flatiron Institute?

D-Wave calls the BP-TNS tensor-network algorithm a meaningful contribution to classical simulation that works in some regimes. However, it says BP-TNS does not handle the full range of geometries, largest three-dimensional problems, or observables examined in its Science paper, so cannot overturn its result.

What evidence does D-Wave cite to support its beyond-classical quantum simulation claim?

D-Wave points to its Science paper on beyond-classical computation in quantum simulation of magnetic spin dynamics. It reports that matching the largest D-Wave problems with matrix product state methods would take nearly a million years on the Frontier supercomputer, with memory and energy demands beyond practical limits.

Which problem types does D-Wave say remain challenging for classical BP-TNS algorithms?

D-Wave states BP-TNS fails for strongly coupled three-dimensional spin glasses on cubic and diamond lattices. It also reports that loop-corrected BP-TNS is ineffective for higher-dimensional biclique problems, which are among the important quantum simulation regimes used in its original Science demonstration.

How does D-Wave Quantum Inc. view advances in classical simulation relative to quantum computing?

D-Wave welcomes advances in classical algorithms and says they help sharpen the boundary between classical and quantum capabilities. It stresses, however, that scientific communication should distinguish between genuine progress in classical simulation and claims of overturning a quantum supremacy result, which it says are not supported here.

What products and services does D-Wave Quantum Inc. (QBTS) highlight in this disclosure?

D-Wave describes itself as a leader in quantum computing systems, software, and services, and the first commercial supplier of quantum computers. It offers dual-platform annealing and gate-model systems, including access through its Leap cloud service, which it says provides 99.9% availability and uptime for customers.

Filing Exhibits & Attachments

4 documents

Press Releases

• EX-99.1 EX-99.1 12.3 KB

Other Documents

• EX-101 XBRL TAXONOMY EXTENSION SCHEMA DOCUMENT 1.7 KB
• EX-101 XBRL TAXONOMY EXTENSION LABEL LINKBASE DOCUMENT 21.1 KB
• EX-101 XBRL TAXONOMY EXTENSION PRESENTATION LINKBASE DOCUMENT 12.2 KB