Generating much buzz in the tech world, Google has divulged plans for its cutting-edge quantum chip, dubbed ‘Willow’. The advent of Willow lays the foundation for the development of a fully fledged quantum computer believed to contribute significantly to societal progress. This contribution will potentially occur through fostering scientific innovation, creating useful applications, and addressing some of the most pressing challenges society currently faces.
Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, officially communicated Willow’s development to the public via social media, garnering considerable attention.
To demystify the concept, a quantum chip like Google’s Willow, can conduct calculations that would take conventional computers a timeframe surpassing the existence of the universe. Computer benchmarks serve as a standard challenge, helping us discern which computing device exhibits superior speed or efficacy in resolving a specific issue.
Willow’s differentiating quality lies in its learning potential. Unlike standard computers that often falter during problem-solving, Google touts that Willow possesses and develops intelligence as it employs more qubits, the quantum computing equivalent to the classical bit. This is akin to constructing an impressively tall tower that conversely stabilizes as it expands rather than wobbling, as per Google’s assertions about Willow.
The firm argues that Willow’s error correction capabilities, a challenge plaguing the quantum computing domain for nearly three decades, not just persist but boost exponentially as the chip scales.
An unorthodox feature of Willow corroborated by Google is its ability to rectify its own errors in real-time. Conceptually, it’s comparable to wielding an eraser that effaces your mistakes even before you make them — an unprecedented level of accuracy in computing.
The tech behemoth also affirms that a striking feature of Willow is its ability to smoothly and precisely solve complex calculations, thus eliminating errors in the process.
According to Google, Willow’s highlight achievement to date is its ability to crack a complex mathematical conundrum in a mere five minutes. This might seem fairly unimpressive, until one realizes that it would take a regular computer approximately 10 septillion years to resolve the same problem.
Willow’s superior computing capabilities lead Google to foresee its applications in various human endeavors such as drug discovery, conceptualizing the next wave of battery technology, and identifying new ways to conserve energy on a global scale.
Though the tech industry, including Google itself, has been criticised in the past for over-hyping ‘revolutionary’ advances in quantum computing, Willow’s announcement appears to have stirred genuine enthusiasm among Google and peers alike.