Google has announced the development of Willow, a state-of-the-art quantum chip that demonstrates error correction and performance capabilities that pave the way for a useful, large-scale quantum computer, according to the search giant. The chip, which boasts 105 qubits, has achieved best-in-class performance in both quantum error correction and random circuit sampling.
"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," Google chief Sundar Pichai wrote on X, Monday. "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(!)."
Willow shows an impressive performance on the random circuit sampling (RCS) benchmark, completing a computation in under five minutes that would take one of today’s fastest supercomputers 10 septillion years. This achievement demonstrates the exponential suppression of errors, a significant milestone in the development of practical quantum computers.
The chip improves on its predecessor, Sycamore, in three key ways: it has more physical qubits, improved individual qubit quality, and refined fabrication processes. These advancements enable the chip to maintain its delicate quantum state five times as long and have lower error rates.
"Errors 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," Google writes in a blog post announcing Willow. "Typically the more qubits you use, the more errors will occur, and the system becomes classical."
The company continues, "We tested ever-larger arrays of physical qubits, scaling up from a grid of 3x3 encoded qubits, to a grid of 5x5, to a grid of 7x7 — and each time, using our latest advances in quantum error correction, we were able to cut the error rate in half. In other words, we achieved an exponential reduction in the error rate. This historic accomplishment is known in the field as “below threshold” — being able to drive errors down while scaling up the number of qubits. You must demonstrate being below threshold to show real progress on error correction, and this has been an outstanding challenge since quantum error correction was introduced by Peter Shor in 1995."
The development of Willow marks a significant step towards the creation of a useful, large-scale quantum computer that can harness quantum mechanics to benefit society. Google’s advancements in quantum computing have the potential to tackle some of society’s greatest challenges.
"We see Willow as an important step in our journey to build a useful quantum computer with practical applications in areas like drug discovery, fusion energy, battery design + more," Pichai added on X.
Google's Willow Sparks Concerns Over Impact Of Quantum Computing On Bitcoin Encryption
Meanwhile the crypto community on social media is abuzz with concerns over the impact of quantum computing with chips like Willow, on the Bitcoin network encryption.
However, Bitcoin's cryptographic algorithms -- like the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) for signatures and SHA-256 for mining, -- require millions, if not billions, of qubits to be effectively compromised by quantum computing.
Breaking Bitcoin's encryption in a feasible timeframe would necessitate a quantum computer with approximately 13 million to 1.9 billion qubits, significantly more than Willow's 105 qubits.
While Willow is still considered experimental and far from the scale needed to pose an immediate threat to Bitcoin's security, the crypto community and developers are already working on future quantum-resistant solutions.
There is consensus that any real threat from quantum computing to Bitcoin's encryption is likely years, if not decades, away. This gives ample time for the implementation of new cryptographic methods or protocol upgrades, like soft forks, to enhance Bitcoin's security against future quantum computing advancements.
