Google’s quantum chip ‘Willow’ shatters records, compressing centuries of computing into minutes

Willow performs tasks in minutes that would otherwise take 10 septillion years, paving the way for scalable quantum computing.

Photo: Google’s Willow announcement

Key Takeaways

• Google's Willow quantum chip outperforms supercomputers solving tasks in 5 minutes vs. 10 septillion years.
• No real-world applications have been identified yet, but potential uses for Willow span medicine, energy, and AI, including drug discovery and fusion energy research.

Google has unveiled its latest quantum chip, Willow, demonstrating unprecedented performance by solving tasks in minutes that would take classical supercomputers 10 septillion years.

The chip, announced by Hartmut Neven, Founder and Lead of Google Quantum AI, achieved a breakthrough in quantum error correction, a process that ensures accurate computations essential for reliable quantum computing.

Willow completed a random circuit sampling benchmark computation in under 5 minutes, a task that would require an estimated 10 septillion years on Frontier, the world’s fastest supercomputer.

The chip showed exponential error reduction as the number of qubits increased.

“Errors are one of the greatest challenges in quantum computing. Willow demonstrates that the more qubits we use, the more we reduce errors—a tipping point for scalable quantum computing,” Neven said.

The chip, fabricated at Google’s Santa Barbara facility, uses superconducting qubits, a technology also employed by IBM and Amazon.

“Our money is on superconducting qubits,” Neven said, while acknowledging the company continues to explore other approaches like neutral atom qubits.

While the advancement is notable, Google recognizes remaining challenges in achieving practical applications.

“If you cannot win at least on a problem, you won’t win on a useful problem either,” Neven explained, though he indicated commercially relevant use cases are “now getting within reach.”

While practical applications have not yet been achieved, potential future uses for quantum computing span across medicine, energy, and artificial intelligence, including areas such as drug discovery, battery design, and fusion energy research.

Neven stated that advanced AI stands to gain immensely from quantum computing, as it could unlock groundbreaking opportunities in these critical sectors.