On Tuesday, Google announced a significant step forward in commercial quantum computing, releasing test results from its Willow quantum chip.
The results show that the more qubits Google uses in Willow, the more errors are reduced and the larger the system becomes.
“Google’s success in quantum error correction is a breakthrough in quantum computing,” said Florian Neucart, chief product officer at Terra Quantum, a developer of algorithms, computing solutions, and security applications in St. Gallen, Switzerland.
“This solves one of the biggest challenges — ensuring consistency and reducing errors during computation,” he told TechNewsWorld.
Qubits, the basic information unit of quantum computing, are very sensitive to their environment. Any disturbances around them can cause them to lose their quantum properties, called “decoherence.” Keeping qubits stable (or entangled) long enough to perform practical calculations is a significant challenge for developers.
Decoherence also makes quantum computers resilient to errors, which is why Google’s announcement is so important. Effective correction is essential to developing a practical quantum computer.
Rebecca Krauthamer, CEO of QuSecure, a San Mateo, California-based security solutions provider, said: “Willow marks a significant milestone on the road to error-free computing.
“This is one step closer to commercializing quantum systems,” she told TechNewsWorld.
Progress Toward Large-Scale Quantum Computing
In a company blog post, Google VP of Engineering Hartmut Neven explained that the researchers tested increasingly larger arrays of physical qubits, from embedded 3×3 grids to 5×5 to 7×7 grids. With each step, they cut the error rate in half. “In other words, we significantly reduced the error rate,” he wrote.
“The historic achievement is known in this field as ‘below the threshold’ — the ability to reduce the error rate by increasing the number of qubits,” he continued.
“The machines are very sensitive, and noise accumulates both with each external stimulus and with the use itself,” said Simon Fried, VP of business development and marketing at Classiq, a developer of quantum computer software in Tel Aviv. Israel
“The ability to reduce noise or compensate allows longer, more complex programs to run,” he told TechNewsWorld.
“This is a significant improvement in chip technology because of the stability of the device, as well as its ability to suppress noise,” he added.
Neven also noted that, as the first system below the threshold, it is the most compelling example of a quantifiable qubit built to date. “This is a powerful and useful signal that it is possible to build large numbers of computers,” he wrote. “Willow brings us closer to using practical, proprietary algorithms that cannot be replicated on conventional computers Google.”
Willow’s Implications for the Multiverse and Security
Google also released Willow’s performance data based on the Random Circuit Sampling (RCS) benchmark. “[I’m] not sure that a quantum computer can do anything that a classical computer can’t,” Neven explained. “Any team building a quantum computer must first ensure that it can outperform classical RCS computers; otherwise, there’s good reason to doubt that it can handle many difficult quantum problems.”
Neven called Willow’s performance on the RCS target “amazing.” In less than five minutes, it was calculated to take one of the fastest computers today, 10 billion years —10, followed by 25 zeroes.
“This staggering number exceeds the known time of physics and far exceeds the universe’s age,” he wrote. “It supports the idea that quantum computing occurs in multiple parallel universes, which is consistent with the idea that we live in multiple species Google.”
Chris Hickman, chief security officer at Cleveland-based digital identity management company Keyfactor, praised Willow for being a “significant breakthrough in quantum computing” but cautioned that Willow’s advanced quantum error correction takes the realm of near-real-world applications into the realm of possibility, showing that businesses need to prioritize preparing for the inevitable disruption of a range of computing areas, such as privacy and security.
“While this development doesn’t immediately change the expected time it takes most computers to crack current encryption standards, it reinforces the idea that progress is accelerating at this point,” he told TechNewsWorld.
“The practical use cases for quantum computing go beyond applications that can benefit businesses,” he said. “Attackers will inevitably use the technology for their nefarious purposes.”
“Hackers will take advantage of the vast number of computers available to unlock sensitive information, making legacy encryption systems obsolete,” he continued. “These include algorithms such as RSA and ECC, which are currently considered unbreakable.”
Beware the Quantum Cure-All Google
Carl Holmquist, founder and CEO of Lastwall, a Mountain View, California-based provider of resilient identity and resiliency technology, agreed that the pace of development of cryptographically important quantum computers is accelerating. “But we also understand that there are sceptics who think progress is not as close as it seems or that it may never happen,” he told TechNewsWorld.
“So my question to everyone is: Given that we’re going to deploy mass resiliency solutions either sooner or later, which scenario is more dangerous?” he asked. “Do you want to understand the implications of post-cryptographic deployment, test it in your environment, and be ready to deploy quickly when needed — or risk losing your privacy?”
In his blog, Neven also explained why he switched his focus from artificial intelligence to quantum computing. “My answer is that both technologies will be the most transformative of our time, but advanced AI will benefit greatly from the discovery of quantum computing,” he wrote.
Quantum computing is naturally designed to solve complex problems, so it can be instrumental in developing artificial intelligence, said Edward Tian, CEO of GPTZero, an artificial intelligence discovery platform in Arlington, Virginia. “AI is still the best way,” he told TechNewsWorld.
“I left AI for the world of quantum computing precisely because quantum computing promises to open doors that remain in the world of classical computing,” added QuSecure’s Krauthammer.
She did, however, sound a note of caution about the technology. “A quantum computer is not just a bigger, faster, more powerful computer,” she said. “It thinks fundamentally differently and will solve different problems than we can today. It’s reasonable to be sceptical of quantum computing being touted as a panacea for complex accounting problems.