Northwestern and UCSB Scale Probabilistic Computer to One Million P-Bits

Researchers at Northwestern University and UC Santa Barbara have built a synchronous probabilistic computer operating at one million p-bits, published 28 June 2026. The synchronous architecture—harder to engineer than asynchronous alternatives—composes naturally with existing digital pipelines. Programmability allows reconfiguration for different problems, moving the design closer to general-purpose utility than fixed-topology hardware.