Google’s Willow Announcement Is ‘Exciting,’ But There Is An Alternative, Quantum Computing Expert Says

Google says its Willow chip solves a major issue with quantum computing.

Earlier this week, Google publicly introduced Willow, its latest chip for quantum computing.

In a blog post, Google Quantum AI founder Hartmut Neven said the new chip offers two breakthrough achievements in quantum computing.

First, Willow “can reduce errors exponentially as we scale up using more qubits. This cracks a key challenge in quantum error correction that the field has pursued for almost 30 years,’ Neven said.

Secondly, “Willow performed a standard benchmark computation in under five minutes that would take one of today’s fastest supercomputers 10 septillion years—a number that vastly exceeds the age of the universe,” he also posted.

Errors, Neven posted, “are one of the greatest challenges in quantum computing, since qubits, the units of computation in quantum computers, have a tendency to rapidly exchange information with their environment, making it difficult to protect the information needed to complete a computation. Typically, the more qubits you use, the more errors will occur, and the system becomes classical.”

A quantum computing expert weighed in on Google’s announcement.

"Google's announcement signifies an exciting proof point for superconducting error-corrected gate-model systems and the surface code methodology, and we congratulate the team on this achievement,” Trevor Lanting, chief development officer at D-Wave, told MES Computing in a statement.

“However, there is still much development work required to get to the ultimate error-corrected, scaled gate-model systems. While it is solid progress for scientists and researchers, Google’s announcement doesn’t translate to real-world results for commercial use. Gate-model systems are plagued by error-correction challenges, and until those are addressed, it’s unlikely gate-model quantum computers will be able to do anything useful,” he added.

MES Computing contacted Google about Lanting’s comments but has yet to receive a response.

According to Quantum Zeitgeist, gate-based quantum computing is a quantum computing method that applies a sequence of quantum gates to a set of qubits, a basic unit of information in quantum computing, comparable to a binary bit in traditional computing.

With gate-based quantum computing, “algorithms are based on the principles of quantum circuits and quantum algorithms,” Quantum Zeitgeist stated.

There is another form of quantum computing: annealing. This is the method of quantum computing that D-Wave, Lanting’s company, focuses on.

"Annealing quantum computing is the only type of quantum computing that delivers true value today for the enterprise. That’s because it’s well-suited for tackling optimization problems which are ubiquitous—from workforce scheduling to vehicle routing. While most quantum vendors are focused on building gate-model quantum computing systems that are 7-15 years away from delivering real-world value, D-Wave is the first company in the world to offer commercial-grade annealing quantum computing solutions that are helping organizations solve problems now,” Lanting said.

Quantum computing is predicted to be a significant technology focus in 2025. In fact, the United Nations declared 2025 as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology.

Vendors are racing to get quantum computers out of the research and academia spaces and into enterprises. Microsoft and Atom Computing recently announced that they have partnered to build a quantum computing machine that integrates with Azure and will ship in 2025.

IBM also announced that it will demonstrate “the first quantum-centric supercomputer by integrating modular processors, middleware, and quantum communication,” in 2025, adding that its offering will make quantum computing easier to use for its customers.

AI will help drive quantum computing into the mainstream, as AI can play a “crucial role” in managing complex quantum computing systems, according to an Nvidia blog post.