Tech giant fires shot in supercomputer war
A quantum computer has the potential to be ridiculously more powerful than classic computers and even the best supercomputers in the world.
After 13 years of research, Google this week announced it has achieved ‘‘quantum supremacy’’ in quantum computing, pipping main rival IBM at the post, and potentially revolutionising the world as we know it.
It all sounds very futuristic, but what does quantum supremacy actually mean? Well, bear with me while I try to explain.
Classical computers that power most devices such as laptops, mobile phones and tablets are built around pieces of data called bits, that represent either zeros or ones as the basis of their calculations.
Simply put, these bits represent ‘‘yes’’ and ‘‘no’’, or ‘‘on’’ and ‘‘off’’ data. The difference here is Quantum bits can represent both, at the same time. This is called a qubit, and each additional qubit can lead to exponential increases in computing power.
What does this mean? Well, a quantum computer has the potential to be ridiculously more powerful than classic computers and even the best supercomputers in the world.
It has the ability to complete complex calculations that would take traditional computers millions of years to complete, in an instant.
In its ‘‘breakthrough’’ announcement, Google said that its 54-qubit chip, the Sycamore processor, performed a random number calculation in 200 seconds that would have taken the world’s fastest supercomputer 10,000 years – according to Google’s estimations.
Expectedly, IBM has come out swinging, saying Google has hyped up the achievement and says its Summit supercomputer could have solved Google’s random number problem in two days or fewer, and with greater accuracy.
Even so, Google is now widely acknowledged as the leader of the pack.
So what does this mean for you, me and the rest of the world?
Not a lot right now. Quantum computing is still very much experimental. But it’s the possibilities promised by Google’s breakthrough this week that is exciting.
This gives us a glimpse into a future where even today’s most advanced computing systems will look archaic.
If the zeros and ones of computing in the 1960s managed to put a man on the Moon, who knows what a future with Quantum Supremacy holds.
And Google isn’t alone. Competition is already growing, as big tech companies and startups across the world work to surpass Google’s work. So progress in this space is set to accelerate.