Google introduces state-of-the-art Willow chip capable of outpacing a supercomputer

Tue Dec 10 07:47:42 UTC 2024: ## Google Unveils Revolutionary Quantum Chip “Willow,” Promising Breakthroughs in Diverse Fields

**Mountain View, CA –** Google has announced a significant leap forward in quantum computing with the unveiling of its new chip, “Willow.” CEO Sundar Pichai touted Willow as a “major step” towards building a practical quantum computer, capable of revolutionizing fields such as drug discovery, fusion energy, and battery design.

Willow boasts 105 qubits and demonstrates a fivefold performance improvement over its predecessor. According to Google, the chip achieves “best-in-class performance” in quantum error correction and random circuit sampling (RCS). Its speed is dramatically superior to even the most powerful classical supercomputers; a benchmark computation that would take Frontier, one of the world’s fastest supercomputers, 10 septillion years, took Willow less than five minutes.

Key to Willow’s success is its ability to exponentially reduce errors as the number of qubits increases – a critical hurdle in scaling up quantum computing. The chip was fabricated at Google’s cutting-edge Santa Barbara facility, one of only a few globally dedicated to this advanced technology.

Pichai, reflecting on Google AI’s 12-year journey, emphasized the significance of this achievement in realizing the vision of a large-scale, useful quantum computer capable of harnessing the power of quantum mechanics. The announcement marks a pivotal moment in the race towards practical quantum computing, promising transformative advancements across numerous scientific and technological sectors.