NEW YORK, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- Google on Monday unveiled a new quantum computer that may end this back-and-forth race with traditional machines and that points to a future in which quantum computers could drive advances in areas like drug discovery and artificial intelligence, according to The New York Times (NYT).
Google said its quantum computer, based on a computer chip called Willow, needs less than five minutes to perform a mathematical calculation that one of the world's most powerful supercomputers could not complete in 10 septillion years, a length of time that exceeds the age of the known universe.
"Quantum computing -- the result of decades of research into a type of physics called quantum mechanics -- is still an experimental technology," noted the report. "But Google's achievement shows that scientists are steadily improving techniques that could allow quantum computing to live up to the enormous expectations that have surrounded this big idea for decades."
Many other tech giants, including Microsoft, Intel and IBM, are building similar technology as the United States jockeys for supremacy in this increasingly important field. The mathematical calculation performed by Google's machine was a test designed solely to gauge the progress of quantum computing, it added. ■
