Google’s new Willow Quantum Chip solves problem in 5 mins, surpassing supercomputers by 10 septillion years
Google's Willow quantum chip has achieved a groundbreaking milestone by solving a computational problem in just five minutes—an accomplishment that would take the world’s fastest supercomputers 10 septillion years. Willow outperformed the Frontier supercomputer in a benchmark algorithm, marking a significant leap in quantum technology.
FollowGoogle's Willow quantum chip has reached an extraordinary milestone by solving a computational problem in only five minutes—a feat that would require the world’s fastest supercomputers 10 septillion years to accomplish. This advancement in quantum computing was highlighted when Willow surpassed the Frontier supercomputer in a benchmark algorithm, representing a major leap forward in Google's quantum technology aspirations.
The algorithm used to evaluate Willow's performance, created solely for benchmarking purposes, demonstrated the chip's extraordinary speed. Google reported that Willow completed the task in just minutes—a challenge that would require Frontier, the world’s fastest supercomputer, a staggering 10 septillion years to solve, far surpassing the age of the universe. This achievement significantly outshines Google's 2019 milestone, where the company claimed to solve a problem in minutes that would take classical computers 10,000 years.
Taking to X, Google CEO Sundar Pichai posted, "Introducing Willow, our new state-of-the-art quantum computing chip with a breakthrough that can reduce errors exponentially as we scale up using more qubits, cracking a 30-year challenge in the field. In benchmark tests, Willow solved a standard computation in <5 mins that would take a leading supercomputer over 10^25 years, far beyond the age of the universe(!)."
A crucial element behind Willow's success is its advanced quantum error correction. Quantum computing has faced challenges due to high error rates, as qubits—the fundamental units of quantum information—are extremely sensitive to their surroundings. This sensitivity complicates the preservation of calculation accuracy, especially as quantum systems grow in size. However, Willow has overcome these limitations with significant improvements in error correction, greatly reducing errors and enhancing its performance.
In a recent paper published in Nature, Google detailed how Willow’s quantum error correction enables the chip to perform larger computations with fewer errors. The research demonstrated an exponential reduction in error rates as the number of qubits increased, transitioning from a 3x3 grid to a 7x7 grid of encoded qubits. This advancement marks a significant step in overcoming one of the key challenges in scaling quantum computing systems.
“If you cannot win at least on a problem, you won’t win on a useful problem either,” said Hartmut Neven, founder of Google Quantum AI.
“That is now getting within reach,” he added, as Google aims to deliver real-world use cases for quantum computing by next year.
Challenges:
While Willow’s performance is impressive, there are still significant challenges to overcome before quantum computers can be used for everyday tasks. One of the main obstacles is scaling up quantum systems to solve complex, real-world problems. This technology requires extremely precise control over quantum states, with every element—from qubit gates to readouts—needing meticulous tuning and integration.
Google’s focus on improving the performance of individual qubits rather than just increasing their quantity highlights its commitment to quality. With 105 qubits, Willow excels in critical metrics such as quantum error correction and random circuit sampling (RCS), which assess a quantum computer's ability to perform tasks beyond the capacity of classical systems. RCS is considered one of the most difficult benchmarks in quantum computing, and Willow's success in surpassing supercomputers on this test is a notable milestone.
Goals:
As Willow makes significant strides in quantum computing, Google is focused on its future applications. The company aims to leverage quantum technology to tackle major challenges across various sectors, including drug discovery, climate change, and artificial intelligence. With its long-term vision and recent advances in error correction and performance, Willow brings Google closer to realizing large-scale quantum computers capable of performing tasks that surpass the limits of traditional systems.
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