Google claims "quantum supremacy"
Google achieved what it calls a breakthrough in computer research using this odd-looking metal cylinder full of wires and wafers.
CEO Sundar Pichai:
SOUNDBITE: GOOGLE CEO, SUNDAR PICHAI, (ENGLISH) SAYING:
"It can perform a computation in seconds, what would take the world's fastest supercomputer thousands of years to do that same calculation. In the field, this is known as quantum supremacy, and it's a really important milestone."
Official confirmation of the breakthrough in quantum computing came in a paper published in the science journal Nature, after weeks of controversy following the leak of a draft, over whether Google's claim of "quantum supremacy" was valid.
But there's a catch: Quantum researchers need to cool the qubits to close to absolute zero to limit vibration - or "noise" - that causes errors to creep into their calculations. It's in this extremely challenging task that the research team at Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc, has made significant progress.
Some skeptics say Google is over-selling its achievment. Archrival IBM says quantum computers will work in concert with classical computers and won't reign supreme over them. It contends a supercomputer with additional storage can solve the same problem with greater accuracy - in 2-1/2 days at most.
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Google achieved what it calls a breakthrough in computer research using this odd-looking metal cylinder full of wires and wafers.
CEO Sundar Pichai:
SOUNDBITE: GOOGLE CEO, SUNDAR PICHAI, (ENGLISH) SAYING:
"It can perform a computation in seconds, what would take the world's fastest supercomputer thousands of years to do that same calculation. In the field, this is known as quantum supremacy, and it's a really important milestone."
By contrast, traditional computers do their calculations by processing bits of data using ones and zeroes. Quantum computing uses quantum bits called qubits that can be both one and zero simultaneously. To eliminate errors in calculations, researchers need to cool the qubits close to absolute zero. That's where Google has made big progress.
But skeptics say Google is over-selling its achievment. Archrival IBM says quantum computers will work in concert with classical computers and won't reign supreme over them. It contends a supercomputer with additional storage can solve the same problem with greater accuracy - in 2-1/2 days at most.
