Just when we were trying to figure out what artificial intelligence is, quantum computing starts getting some serious financial media attention.
What is quantum computing?
It is based on quantum physics and asserts that particles can exist in multiple states simultaneously. Rather than using traditional, classical bits that are either zero or one, quantum computing employs a type of bit known as a qubit that can exist in both states at the same time.
While today’s computers can handle only one set of inputs and one calculation at a time, quantum computers can do multiple calculations with multiple inputs simultaneously.
In short, quantum computing applies the power of quantum mechanics to solve problems faster than any supercomputer.
How much faster? If one item needed to be found in a list of one trillion items, and each item took one microsecond to check, it would take a regular computer one week to find it, while a quantum computer would do the job in one second!
No wonder Microsoft (MSFT) spends some $300 million annually on quantum research. The quantum computer race is primarily between America and China, but the South Koreans, the Europeans and the Japanese are in the mix.
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Classical computers are programmed with bits as data units (0 and 1). Quantum computers use so-called qubits, which can represent a combination of both zero and one at the same time, based on a principle called superposition. It’s this difference that gives quantum computers the potential to be exponentially faster than today’s mainframes and servers.
Quantum computers would revolutionize healthcare, finance, cybersecurity, blockchain, AI, logistics, defense, and even agriculture.
The quantum advantage is the crossover point at which quantum computers exceed the abilities of the best conventional ones.
IBM (IBM) is working on larger clusters of quantum chips that it expects will enable large-scale quantum computing in the next five years.
They work by leveraging the magical quantum characteristics of matter at the atomic level, allowing the computer to explore many potential solutions to certain problems almost instantaneously.
Companies like IBM and Alphabet (GOOG) are already making hardware based on this science.
IBM’s liquid helium cooling system and its own microchip fab are advantages allowing the development of its existing computers, like Quantum System Two. The company expects to unveil its first large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer in 2029.
Google is on the second stage of a six-stage journey toward releasing a robust and useful quantum computer and has been selected for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) effort to evaluate the claims of quantum computer makers.
All the quantum computer rivals face two big challenges: how to cool their quantum chips to near absolute zero, and how to correct errors when a disturbance impacts the information in their qubits.
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