Our new quantum chip demonstrates error correction and performance that paves the way to a useful, large-scale quantum computer.
In 2019, our Quantum AI team achieved a beyond-classical computation by outperforming the world’s fastest classical computer. Today, a quantum processor from the Sycamore generation that accomplished this important computing milestone will be donated to the Deutsches Museum of Masterpieces of Science and Technology in Munich, Germany.
Handover of the Sycamore processor in front of Zuse‘s Z3 computer. Luise Allendorf-Hoefer, Curator electronics, Deutsches Museum, Wolfgang M. Heckl, Director General, Deutsches Museum, Markus Hoffmann, Google Quantum AI Partnerships and Hartmut Neven, Director, Google Quantum AI.
This also marks an important milestone in the collaboration between Google Research and Germany’s burgeoning quantum community. Since Google has a research presence in Munich and Berlin, it has given us the opportunity to partner with several German organisations to explore the future of quantum computing. For example, the Sycamore processor has already been used by some of our industrial research partners, like Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, and will be the foundation for experiments designed with Boehringer Ingelheim, Covestro and BASF.
Quantum computing: It sounds futuristic because until recently, it was. But today we’re marking a major milestone in quantum computing research that opens up new possibilities for this technology.
Unlike classical computing, which runs everything from your cell phone to a supercomputer, quantum computing is based on the properties of quantum mechanics. As a result, quantum computers could potentially solve problems that would be too difficult or even impossible for classical computers—like designing better batteries, figuring out what molecules might make effective medicines or minimizing emissions from the creation of fertilizer. They could also help improve existing advanced technologies like machine learning.
Today, the scientific journal Nature has published the results of Google’s efforts to build a quantum computer that can perform a task no classical computer can; this is known in the field as “quantum supremacy.” In practical terms, our chip, which we call Sycamore, performed a computation in 200 seconds that would take the world’s fastest supercomputer 10,000 years.
This achievement is the result of years of research and the dedication of many people. It’s also the beginning of a new journey: figuring out how to put this technology to work. We’re working with the research community and have open sourced tools to enable others to work alongside us to identify new applications. Learn more about the technical details behind this milestone on our AI blog.
