Quantum computing company QuEra connected a Claude AI agent directly to real laboratory equipment via Anthropic’s Model Hardware Standard, letting it modify control code, run experiments, and adjust its strategy in real time. The agent recovered the laser frequency needed to keep atom-based qubits stable with a 99.3% success rate (695 of 700 tests) across seven disturbance types, fixing simple drift in 0.9–5.4 seconds and complex mode-hop events in 10–14 seconds—including all 43 natural mode-hops without human help.

Claude then optimized 12 coupled laser control parameters over ~12,500 iterations, cutting residual frequency noise roughly 5× and surviving a 19-hour autonomous test with zero lock losses (down from ~1.6/hour before optimization). In one night it also tuned a second laser band that normally takes specialists weeks of manual work.

Related: Microsoft Unveils Majorana 2 Quantum Chip

QuEra technical write-up · Interesting Engineering coverage · Anthropic’s Model Hardware Standard announcement