AT&T Expands Quantum Computing Partnership With D-Wave for Network Operations

(WS News) – AT&T has signed an agreement to expand its use of D-Wave’s quantum computing technology across its network operations, after early testing showed the system could cut a key optimization task from roughly an hour to under 15 seconds.

The expanded partnership builds on AT&T’s existing use of D-Wave’s annealing quantum computing technology, a specialized analog approach designed to find the single best option out of millions of possibilities, distinct from gate-model quantum computing, which applies step-by-step digital logic to run any quantum algorithm. AT&T’s initial focus is on layering that annealing technology into the tools already powering its agentic AI systems, which the company says helped reduce customer downtime by 12 million hours in 2025 through improved outage detection and management.

Beyond network optimization, the companies said they plan to explore additional applications including outage response, technician routing, network build planning, and traffic management, as AT&T scales its fiber and 5G networks to meet rising AI-driven demand. AT&T is also evaluating D-Wave’s forthcoming gate-model systems for potential quantum security and communications applications, an area telecom operators increasingly view as strategically important as quantum computing matures.

News of the expanded deal sent D-Wave shares up more than 20 percent, coinciding with the company’s move to transfer its stock listing from the New York Stock Exchange to Nasdaq. Rival quantum computing stocks also rallied on the news, with Rigetti Computing gaining more than 10 percent and Infleqtion climbing over 8 percent, while IBM added nearly 1 percent, as investors weighed the deal as a sign that quantum computing is beginning to find practical, revenue-generating applications in large-scale telecom operations.