Quantum Computing
Article

Google Unveils a Quantum chip. Could it Help Unlock the Universe's Deepest Secrets?

by
NPR
December 13, 2024
Download PDF

Summary

Google unveils "Willow," a groundbreaking quantum chip that completed a problem in minutes that would take supercomputers 10 septillion years, marking a major step toward scalable quantum computing and its transformative potential.

Google has announced a new chip it considers to be a major milestone on the road to the future of computing.

Named Willow, the chip is key to Google's plans to build a scaled-up quantum computer – a piece of tech that has the potential to solve much more complicated problems than classical computers.

Google claims that Willow was able to complete one particular problem in five minutes, while the same task would have taken today's supercomputers 10 septillion years — or 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 — to finish.

That's longer than the universe has existed.

Read this article in full here.

NPR
NPR

NPR is an independent, nonprofit media organization that was founded on a mission to create a more informed public. Every day, NPR connects with millions of Americans on the air, online, and in person to explore the news, ideas, and what it means to be human. Through its network of member stations, NPR makes local stories national, national stories local, and global stories personal.

Related
Become a Member