Google has announced a significant breakthrough in the field of quantum computing. The company’s new quantum chip, Willow, can perform a complex computational task in less than five minutes, a task that would take one of the world’s fastest supercomputers 10 septillion years, or more than the age of universe. This achievement represents a notable advance compared to 2019, when Google announced that its quantum processor could solve a mathematical equation in three minutes, compared to the 10,000 years it would take for a supercomputer.
In addition to more powerful performance, Google researchers have found a way to reduce errors, one of the biggest challenges in quantum computing. Unlike bits, which represent 1 or 0, quantum computing uses qubits, units that can exist in multiple states at once. Qubits are error-prone due to their tendency to rapidly exchange information with their surroundings. However, Google researchers have discovered a method to reduce errors by introducing more qubits into a system and correcting them in real time. The research results were published in the journal Nature.
“This historic achievement is known in the industry as ‘below threshold,’ or being able to reduce errors by increasing the number of qubits,” wrote Hartmut Neven, founder of Google Quantum AI, on the Google blog. “Proving to be ‘below threshold’ is critical to showing real progress in error correction, a challenge that has remained open since the introduction of quantum error correction by Peter Shor in 1995.” Willow, which has 105 qubits, “now offers best-in-class performance,” according to Neven. Microsoft, Amazon and IBM are also working on quantum computing systems.
Google’s next goal is to perform a first calculation that is relevant to a real-world application and unattainable for traditional computers. Neven predicts that quantum technology will be “indispensable” for collecting training data for artificial intelligence, helping to discover new drugs, design more efficient batteries for electric cars, and accelerate advances in fusion and new energy alternatives.
