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The big picture: In 2019, Google's Sycamore chip achieved quantum supremacy by solving a random number problem that would have taken the fastest supercomputer 10,000 years to complete. Although that feat was impressive, it had little practical relevance. Now, a new superconducting chip called Willow could enable real-world applications in medicine, materials science, and artificial intelligence - fields where quantum mechanics may soon transform how the world computes.

Google scientists say they have taken a major step toward solving one of the hardest problems in computing. Their latest experiment, they argue, provides the most convincing evidence yet that quantum computers may soon move from theoretical concepts to practical applications.

Michel H. Devoret, a Yale physicist who shared the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics for research that laid the foundation for quantum computing, helped lead the experiment. He and his colleagues at Google's Quantum AI Lab in Goleta announced this week that their quantum processor, powered by a superconducting chip called Willow, successfully executed a new algorithm known as Quantum Echoes.

The results, published in Nature, showed the machine performing certain computations 13,000 times faster than the world's most powerful supercomputers.

Yale physicist Michel H. Devoret.

Devoret told The New York Times that future versions of the technology will perform calculations beyond the reach of classical machines. He said the achievement reflects decades of progress since the 1980s, when he and collaborators at the University of California, Berkeley, demonstrated that electrical circuits could exhibit the same puzzling quantum phenomena - superposition and tunneling - that govern the behavior of subatomic particles.

That discovery, later recognized by the Nobel Committee, became the foundation for the superconducting qubits now used in Google's quantum computers.

Unlike the binary bits in conventional processors, which represent either a 1 or a 0, qubits can exist in a state of both simultaneously. This property allows quantum computers to explore many possible solutions to a problem at once.

When multiple qubits are linked - or entangled - their collective state multiplies a system's computational capacity exponentially. Yet that same sensitivity also exposes qubits to interference from heat and vibration, introducing frequent errors - a challenge researchers have long struggled to overcome.

Google's Willow chip was designed to address that challenge. The 105-qubit device operates at temperatures near absolute zero to keep electrons in a superconducting state. It employs advanced error-correction protocols that reduce mistakes exponentially as the number of qubits scales up.

According to Google, Willow achieves gate fidelities above 99.9 percent for single-qubit operations and maintains coherence for several microseconds - long enough to execute the complex sequences required by the Quantum Echoes algorithm.

The algorithm measures how quantum information reverses and interacts with itself, producing what researchers describe as "echoes" of entangled states. These echoes can be used to analyze the fine-grained structure of molecules - a crucial step toward discovering new drugs and materials. Google engineers say the method could also generate training data for artificial intelligence systems in scientific fields where usable datasets are scarce.

Tom O'Brien, a staff research scientist at Google, said at a news conference that the experiment's most important feature may be its verifiability. The results can be cross-checked on other quantum computers or reproduced through laboratory measurements. "If I can't tell you the data is correct - if I can't prove to you the data is correct - how can I do anything with it?" he said.

Quantum computing remains experimental, but independent researchers say Google's work narrows the gap between theoretical physics and real technology. Prineha Narang, a professor of physical sciences and engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles, told The New York Times that the algorithm marks meaningful progress. "We've seen tremendous advances in hardware," she said. "What this shows is that the software is catching up."

Google is competing with other major players, including IBM, Microsoft, and Amazon, as well as dozens of startups and government-backed programs in China, which has pledged more than $15 billion for quantum research. Company leaders say Willow's success represents the first "verifiable quantum advantage" - evidence that its system can perform useful tasks beyond the capabilities of classical machines.

For Devoret, who joined Google in 2023 after four decades in academia, the breakthrough connects the past and future of quantum science. "We showed for the first time that you could build atoms out of electrical circuits," he said. "Now we are showing what those artificial atoms can do."

Google's team has also published a companion paper on the preprint server arXiv, demonstrating how Quantum Echoes could enhance nuclear magnetic resonance, a technique used to map molecular interactions in chemistry and medicine. Ashok Ajoy, a chemist at the University of California, Berkeley, who co-authored the study, said the approach could transform how researchers study complex biological systems. "It's still early days," he said. "But the prospects are exciting."

Image credit: The New York Times