Has Google really cracked quantum computing?

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  Sundar Pichai with one of Google's quantum computers in the Santa Barbara lab. A quantum computer can reduce a calculation that would ordinarily take years to minutes.

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  Quantum computers are able to process multiple possibilities at once, solving problems at a much faster rate.

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  A component of Google's Quantum Computer in the Santa Barbara lab. Today’s computers function using something called bits, which are arranged in a combination of ones and zeroes. Quantum computers use quantum bits, or "qubits", which mean they are capable of solving calculations a traditional computer could never answer. Reuters

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  Quantum computers are as fragile as they are complex. They require an ultra-cold temperature to operate, keeping the environment stable with less chance of the qubits flipping between states.

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  Sundar Pichai and Daniel Sank with one of Google's quantum computers in Santa Barbara. In late 2019, Google announced it had achieved "quantum supremacy", when its quantum computer became the first to solve a calculation in less than four minutes that would have taken the world’s most powerful supercomputer 10,000 years to complete.

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  Quantum computing could help solve everything from the mundane, such as finding the most efficient route, to huge breakthroughs in science, including creating new cancer treatments – or possibly even finding a cure for cancer.They may even one day answer questions about the origins of the universe and address mysteries of space and time. AFP

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  Quantum computers will also able to sort through reams of data on complicated subjects like climate change to predict how it will progress. AFP

Alphabet's Google said on Wednesday it had achieved a breakthrough in computing research by using a quantum computer to solve in minutes a complex problem that would take today's most powerful supercomputer thousands of years to crack.

Google researchers expect that quantum computers within a few years will fuel advancements in fields such as artificial intelligence, materials science and chemistry.

The company is racing rivals including IBM and Microsoft to be the first to commercialise the technology and sell it through its cloud computing business.

"We're hoping that when people start using this and looking at performance stability and cloud interface, they'll get really excited about what we have to offer at Google," said John Martinis, the company's chief scientist for quantum hardware.

The breakthrough was described in a paper published in science journal Nature. It followed weeks of controversy since a draft leaked over whether Google's claim of "quantum supremacy" was valid.

IBM said a supercomputer employing a different set-up could solve the same challenge in under three days, while chipmaker Intel said "quantum practicality" remained years away.

Google defended its position, but did not dispute rivals' contentions. It has manufactured a handful of chips with 54 "qubits", vastly more powerful than the standard 64-bit chip in many consumer devices. However, for the technology to be useful to customers it would need to make chips with thousands of qubits.

Martinis said Google sees "a pathway" to a computer with 1,000 qubits and expressed confidence that it had a reliable process to make its new chip, dubbed Sycamore.

The US and Chinese governments have led in the burgeoning quantum technology field, pledging billions of dollars in funding to corporate and state researchers to fast-track quantum development and mitigate possible issues, including the tech's expected ability to break digital encryption.

Google has been among the beneficiaries of the American support. "The United States has taken a great leap forward in quantum computing," said US chief technology officer Michael Kratsios on Wednesday.

For decades, computer scientists have sought to harness quantum physics, laws governing the behavior of particles that are smaller than atoms and can simultaneously exist in different states.

Quantum bits, or qubits, can be set to one and zero at the same time, unlike today's computer bits that are either ones or zeros. This superposition property multiplies exponentially as qubits become entangled with each other, meaning the more qubits connected, the vastly more powerful a quantum computer becomes.

But there is a catch: Quantum researchers need to cool qubits to about absolute zero (-273°C or -460°F) to limit vibration – or "noise" – that causes errors in calculations. It is in this challenging task that Google, which has designed much of its own electronics and used liquid helium for cooling, has made significant progress.

Chief executive Sundar Pichai compared the achievement to building the first rocket to leave the Earth's atmosphere and touch the edge of space, an advance that brought interplanetary travel into the realm of the possible.

"For those of us working in science and technology, it's the 'hello world' moment we've been waiting for – the most meaningful milestone to date in the quest to make quantum computing a reality," Mr Pichai wrote in a blog.

Sycamore, measuring about 10 millimetre across, is made using aluminum and indium parts sandwiched between two silicon wafers. In their experiment this year, the researchers were able to get 53 of Sycamore's qubits to interact in a quantum state.

They then had the quantum computer detect patterns in a series of seemingly random numbers, and it succeeded in 3 minutes and 20 seconds. They estimated that the same problem would take 10,000 years for a Summit supercomputer – the most powerful in the world today – to solve.

While the peer-reviewed research has drawn plaudits, with MIT's William D. Oliver comparing it to the Wright brothers' first flights, skeptics say Google is over-selling its achievement.

IBM said a supercomputer with additional disk storage can solve the random number problem in at most two and a half days  and with greater accuracy. It also said Google risked misleading the public by implying the new-style computers would replace existing ones.

"Quantum computers will never reign 'supreme' over classical computers, but will rather work in concert with them, since each have their unique strengths," Dario Gil, director of research at IBM, wrote in a blog

Torsten Siebert, manager of the quantum computing research programme at Germany's Fraunhofer Society, agreed that "progress was likely to be achieved through such hybrid combinations".

Researchers also have expressed concern about quantum computers being used, for example, to unseal secure data and passwords or enable new forms of surveillance.

But before quantum computers can break codes, security experts have plenty of time to adapt, Mr Martinis said.

"We're pretty confident we'll all stay safe and secure in the future," he said.