Google\u2019s chip has brought quantum computing to the frontier of usability. GOI & India Inc must wake up<\/p>\n
Last Dec, Google claimed its quantum computing chip, Willow, had achieved \u2018quantum supremacy\u2019. It could do in five minutes what the most powerful conventional supercomputer couldn\u2019t in 10 million-billion-billion years. Experts pointed out the problem Willow had cracked wasn\u2019t a real-world problem. So 10 months on, Willow is back in the news after computing the structure of a molecule 13,000 times faster than a top-tier supercomputer.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the moment of \u2018quantum advantage\u2019, defined as a point where a quantum computer edges past conventional computers in terms of accuracy, cost, or efficiency. As late as July, IBM scientists were predicting this moment by end-2026, but it\u2019s here already, and quantum computers could be used as tools within five years. This is a very big deal. When \u2013 it\u2019s no longer if \u2013 quantum computers become available to scientists in fields like vaccine development and nuclear fusion, results will be life-changing. Equally, their use for weapons development could be cataclysmic.<\/p>\n
So, away from media glare, Big Tech, startups, and govts have been investing to win this race. IBM and Microsoft are among other known names in the field. Chinese govt has committed $15.2bn to quantum computing research, and its best chip, Zuchongzhi 3.0, is said to have 105 qubits or information units \u2013 same as Willow, although it\u2019s slower. For perspective, the first quantum computer tested at Los Alamos National Laboratory in US, in 1998, had only 3 qubits. That means, in 27 years the \u2018computational space\u2019 on the best chips has doubled 102 times. If you doubled a rupee that many times you\u2019d have 5,071 billion-billion-billion rupees!<\/p>\n
Where is India in this race? In April, our best quantum computer, made by a startup, was at 25 qubits. Our National Quantum Mission is targeting 50 cubits within five years. That\u2019s slow but unavoidable, given our low investment in R&D \u2013 NQM has a seven-year budget of $0.7bn, and India\u2019s overall R&D spend comes to hardly 0.65% of GDP, to which the private sector contributes less than 40%. To remain in the quantum race \u2013 which we must \u2013 more investment is needed, and it can only happen if the private sector steps up.<\/p>\n
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This piece appeared as an editorial opinion in the print edition of The Times of India. <\/p>\n
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