Why Google’s new chip is so ‘incredible’
Why ‘Trillions of times faster than the world’s fastest supercomputer’:
Google has claimed to have developed a chip that it claims is billions of times faster than the world’s fastest supercomputer. Google says its chip can do a task in just five minutes that would take the world’s fastest supercomputer 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years (a septillion, a one followed by 24 zeros!) to complete.
Google’s new chip is the latest innovation in the world of Quantum computing. It is an attempt to create a new type of computer using the principles of particle physics.
According to Google, their new chip, Willow, incorporates breakthroughs in quantum computing that pave the way for the development of new, useful quantum computers that work on a large scale. However, experts believe that Willow is still an experimental device, which means that the invention of a quantum computer that can solve all kinds of problems is still a long way off.
How do quantum computers work?
The way quantum computers work is completely different from the computers in your laptop or smartphone. These computers work many times faster than traditional computers using quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics refers to the behavior shown by extremely small particles that are being tried to be understood.
It is hoped that quantum computers will be able to take advantage of these capabilities, as a result, they perform even the most complex tasks in a very short time, such as preparing medicines, etc.
However, there are also concerns that these quantum computers could be used for malicious purposes, such as accessing sensitive data protected by encryption.
In February this year, Apple announced that it had made the encryption of Apple’s iMessage quantum-proof so that these messages cannot be accessed using quantum computers.
Hartmut Niven is the head of Google’s Quantum AI Lab, which created Willow.
Niven told the BBC that Willow will be used in some practical applications. Unfortunately, no additional details were shared regarding this.
He says it will still take years to create a quantum chip that can be used in commercial applications.
According to Niven, these applications will initially be used to simulate tasks where quantum effects are important, such as the design of nuclear fusion reactors, the production of medicines, the creation of better car batteries, and other tasks of this nature.
According to him, Willow is the best quantum computer built to date.
Will quantum computers replace traditional computers?
Niven calls it a breakthrough, a challenge that has been attempted to be solved for the past 30 years.
Professor Woodward says that these results are encouraging for all those who are trying to build practical quantum computers.
However, even though Google admits ts that developing practically useful quantum computers, the error rate must be much lower than Willow’s current rate.
Willow is being built in Google’s purpose-built plant in California.
Other countries around the world are also investing in quantum computers. The UK recently opened its National Quantum Computing Centre.
The head of the center, Michael Cuthbert, sees the Willow as more of a milestone than a breakthrough. But he says it is still very impressive.
He says a time will come when quantum computers will help with a range of tasks, including “logistics problems such as the distribution of cargo on planes or the routing of telecom signals or the transmission of stored energy across the national grid.”
There are 50 quantum businesses in the UK, employing 1,300 people and having attracted £800m in investment so far.
Oxford University and Osaka University in Japan published a research paper on Friday. The paper says that trapped ion qubits have a very low error rate.
Their quantum computer is different because it can operate at room temperature, while Google’s chip requires extremely low temperatures.
The results of Google’s quantum chip Willow have been published in the scientific journal Nature External.
Professor Alan Woodward, a computing expert from the University of Surrey, says that quantum computers will be able to do many tasks much better than traditional computers, still, they are not a replacement for the computers we use in our daily lives.
He warned that Willow’s capabilities should not be exaggerated based on just one test.
He says that Google’s program for testing Willow’s performance is designed for quantum computers, which cannot be taken to mean that this chip is much faster than traditional computers.
However, Woodward also acknowledges that Willow is a sign of progress in quantum computing, particularly in error correction.
Simply put, the more qubits a quantum computer has, the better it can perform. In this advanced field, a qubit, or quantum bit, serves as the fundamental unit of information.
However, a fundamental problem with this technology is that it is very prone to errors, and as you increase the number of qubits, these errors increase.
But Google says it has found a solution to this problem and the new chip is programmed to reduce the number of errors as the number of qubits increases. Niven calls it a breakthrough, a challenge that has been attempted for the past 30 years.
Professor Woodward says the results are encouraging for all those trying to build practical quantum computers.
But even Google acknowledges that to build a practical quantum computer, the error rate must be much lower than Willow’s current rate.
Willow is being built at Google’s purpose-built facility in California.
Other countries around the world are also investing in quantum computers. The UK has recently inaugurated the National Quantum Computing Centre, marking a significant step forward in the realm of quantum technology.
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