In summary
- Google presented Willow, a quantum chip capable of solving problems in minutes that would take supercomputers millennia.
- Willow addresses quantum errors, a crucial advance for reliability in qubit calculations.
- This development could accelerate enterprise adoption of quantum computing in the coming years.
Google has unveiled Willow, its latest quantum computing chip, claiming it can perform tasks that would normally take the fastest supercomputers an unthinkable amount of time, in less than five minutes.
The tech giant’s announcement comes amid a race to bring quantum computers to market, with companies such as IBM, Microsoft, Amazon and Nvidia investing billions in the next-generation technology. Google claims that Willow can significantly reduce errors or interruptions at the quantum level during calculations as more qubits are used in real time.
“Errors are one of the biggest challenges in quantum computing, as qubits, the computing units in quantum computers, have a tendency to rapidly exchange information with their environment, making it difficult to protect the information needed to complete a calculation,” stated Hartmut Neven, founder and leader of Google Quantum AI. “Typically, the more qubits you use, the more errors will occur, and the system becomes classical,” meaning the system loses its quantum properties such as superposition and entanglement, often due to quantum noise.
By addressing this important challenge in quantum error correction, Google aims to make quantum computers reliable and practical enough to use in a production environment.
Long considered the next big technological breakthrough, quantum computers will supposedly be able to better tackle problems ranging from climate modeling to discovering new drugs and understanding string theory. Quantum computers will also be able to break commonly used encryption schemes, such as RSA, and as such, are considered a potential threat to Blockchain-based systems.
“Error correction is huge for quantum computing in general, and what is error correcting for them is coherence time; they are able to make their qubits live longer,” Dr. Erik Garcell, told Decrypt, Director of Quantum Business Development at Classiq. “They’re not accumulating as much noise while you’re doing calculations, and this is a really good improvement for superconducting qubits.”
What is a Quantum computer?
Unlike classical computers that process data using bits (0s and 1s), quantum computers use qubits, which can exist in a superposition state—representing 0, 1, or both simultaneously. This unique property allows quantum computers to perform multiple calculations at once and explore numerous possibilities much faster than traditional silicon-based computing.
Entanglement links qubits so that their states are interconnected, allowing quantum computers to solve problems that classical ones cannot.
Commercial Implications of Quantum Computing
Google’s progress with Willow isn’t just theoretical, according to Garcell. They are paving the way for quantum computers to enter the business world in the coming years.
“Google’s advancement in quantum computing with Willow puts the likelihood of companies using quantum computers within the next two to three years,” Dr. Garcell said. “This advancement that Google is introducing definitely accelerated my personal view of when quantum will start bringing value to businesses. People are already researching how to put these machines alongside their high-performance computers.”
Google tested Willow against the Random Circuit Sampling benchmark, a test developed by Google’s Quantum AI division in 2019. This benchmark measures the performance of a quantum computer against a classical computer. While Willow’s success demonstrates significant progress, Google recognizes that the next challenge is testing a “useful, beyond-classical” computation relevant to real-world applications.
“What will really matter is when you start making money,” Garcell said. “People are going to figure out whether it makes more sense to use a classical computer or a quantum computer. And that’s really the benchmark we’ll use at the end of the day.”
Edited by Josh Quittner and Sebastian Sinclair
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