{"id":199629,"date":"2025-10-03T14:27:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T14:27:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/199629\/"},"modified":"2025-10-03T14:27:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T14:27:07","slug":"is-quantum-computing-poised-for-another-breakthrough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/199629\/","title":{"rendered":"Is quantum computing poised for another breakthrough?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Quantum is taking the leap.<\/p>\n

Six years after Google announced<\/a> it had reached quantum supremacy\u2014that their quantum computer had performed a calculation a regular computer could not\u2014the technology continues to push boundaries.<\/p>\n

Classical computing relies on bits (which can be either a 1 or 0) and classical computations involve a single input, algorithm, and output. Quantum computing<\/a> relies on \u201cqubits,\u201d which exist not only as ones and zeros but in a \u201csuperposition\u201d state in-between, allowing quantum computers to analyze multiple solutions and outputs simultaneously. The technology has promise in the encryption space as well as simulations and research applications.<\/p>\n

Google\u2019s quantum supremacy was achieved through random circuit sampling, a complicated technical breakthrough that involves registering the output of a set of qubits. This sampling requires a level of processing power that\u2019s not possible with standard computers, even powerful ones. Sergio Boixo, Google\u2019s director of quantum computing, told IT Brew that the discovery was a watershed moment akin to the Wright brothers first taking flight.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the first demonstration that there is a new, different paradigm of computation that allows you to do some things which are practically impossible for classical, traditional computers,\u201d Boixo said. \u201cIt was not a commercial application yet, that\u2019s still part of the journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before Google\u2019s paper came out asserting the success of quantum supremacy, the idea of quantum computing\u2019s viability was still being debated (IBM, which is also a big player in the quantum computing space, is still skeptical<\/a>), superconducting quantum integrated circuit firm Rigetti Computing CEO Subodh Kulkarni told IT Brew. Now it\u2019s no longer a question of if quantum computers will eventually become commercially viable, but when.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlmost all of us in the quantum computing field are absolutely convinced,\u201d Kulkarni said. \u201cBut even the skeptics who always thought this was something of the future and never really going to materialize, I think, can concur with us that this is going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Different strokes. Timing is everything, and not everyone is going to agree on the watershed moments. Quantum computing has been in the works for decades. IBM Quantum CTO Oliver Dial is enthusiastic about the overall possibilities of the quantum community, but he points to a slightly earlier mark than Google\u2019s quantum supremacy as key to the technology\u2019s evolution. Back in 2016<\/a>, IBM Quantum Experience\u2019s cloud quantum processors opened the algorithms underlying the technology to a larger group of researchers, he said, which created an opportunity for anyone in the world to use the quantum hardware for research.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s not so much the democratization of this research, although that\u2019s part of what it did, but it\u2019s really kind of making that step from, \u2018Were building toys for us to play with ourselves,\u2019 to where we are creating a tool for other people to use and do research with,\u201d Dial said. \u201cSo, to me, 2016 is the watershed moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

One challenge faced by quantum computers is how to cool the hardware. Dial told IT Brew that IBM bases its quantum computers on supercomputing qubits, which can only operate at low temperatures. The devices are cooled to 0.02 degrees Kelvin above absolute zero, which Dial said is \u201ccolder than deep space.\u201d While effective for quantum computers, it\u2019s not a commercially viable technology.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is absolutely not something you want in your desktop,\u201d Dial said. \u201cIt\u2019s noisy, it\u2019s loud, it\u2019s maintenance-intensive. It belongs in a facility like a data center where we can give it the care and attention that it needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

User questions. Quantum processors currently provide physicists and other scientists with the tools to do big research projects that simply aren\u2019t realistic with other computers. That\u2019s the main use of the technology for now, Boixo said, but as things continue to move forward, the pool of who will use quantum computers will grow.<\/p>\n

Of course, it\u2019s not just scientists trying to uncover the limits of quantum technology who are using the computers. Marc Lijour, a researcher with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, told IT Brew that attackers are interested in how quantum computers can potentially crack encryption much faster than traditional computers. They\u2019re probably already playing with the technology, and waiting until the computers are widely available.<\/p>\n

\u201cAttackers\u2026are downloading everything they can at the moment and storing it, basically copying the internet and anything they can so they can open it later [using quantum technology],\u201d Lijour said.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s still a ways in the future. Boixo estimated chaining together 50\u2013100 logical qubits is about five or so years away. With a number of firms looking at developing the next level of quantum computing, it\u2019s a race. But the real adversary isn\u2019t another company, it\u2019s the limitations of material reality.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are, indeed, substantial, fundamental challenges to overcome,\u201d Boixio said. \u201cThere is a broad community in quantum computing, there\u2019s a lot of research that gets published by academia, but also industry groups, including ourselves and others. So, the whole field is sort of marching forward, and we\u2019re still competing mostly against nature.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Quantum is taking the leap. Six years after Google announced it had reached quantum supremacy\u2014that their quantum computer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":199630,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[191,74],"class_list":{"0":"post-199629","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-computing","8":"tag-computing","9":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199629\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}