Google has announced the development of its new quantum computing chip, Willow.
The company stated that Willow can solve mathematical problems in five minutes that would take a classical supercomputer 10 septillion years—a period exceeding the age of the universe many times over.
A quantum leap
The key milestone Google passed was the Random Circuit Sampling (RCS) benchmark.
A "qubit" is the basic unit of information in a quantum computer. Historically, the more qubits a quantum computer used, the more errors it produced. However, Google says its latest advancements have reversed that trend. Now, as the system scales up, the errors decline.
“What we've been able to do in quantum error correction is a really important milestone,” said Julian Kelly, Google Quantum AI’s director of quantum hardware. “This has been an outstanding challenge for 30 years—since the idea of quantum error correction was conceived of in the mid-90s.”
The potential implications are broad. Google says quantum computing could eventually be used for developing new pharmaceuticals, accelerating clean energy technologies, and advancing cybersecurity. The technology’s capacity to process vast datasets at unprecedented speeds could also significantly impact machine learning and artificial intelligence.
Challenges to practical use
Despite the breakthrough, practical applications remain distant. Most experts agree that fully fault-tolerant quantum computers—capable of handling real-world applications—are still years away.
One major challenge is scaling up the number of qubits while keeping error rates low. Current quantum systems, including Google's Willow, use logical qubits—collections of physical qubits working together to reduce errors. Google's demonstration showed that as logical qubits increase in size, error rates fall. However, creating a single logical qubit can require hundreds or even thousands of physical qubits. For truly useful quantum systems, experts believe that millions of physical qubits will be required. This introduces significant complexity in terms of hardware, cooling systems, and error correction protocols.
Another challenge is the limited scope of problems that quantum computers can currently solve. The Random Circuit Sampling (RCS) benchmark used to test Willow is widely considered a technical demonstration rather than a practical tool for real-world applications. It does not directly translate to commercial uses or prove that the system can tackle industry-relevant tasks.
Market reaction
Market reaction to the announcement was swift. Alphabet's stock rose by over 5% on Tuesday, and has risen over 33% year to date. Analysts suggest that Google's clear lead in quantum error correction could reinforce its advantage over competitors, including IBM, Microsoft, Intel, Amazon and Honeywell.
Hartmut Neven, founder and lead of Google Quantum AI, remarked: “[Q]uantum processors are peeling away at a double exponential rate and will continue to vastly outperform classical computers as we scale up.”
