World first as Google achieves Quantum Supremacy, but IBM tries to spoil the party
Until today the world's most powerful computer was Summit, a US supercomputer, now all that's changed and a new era of computing has begun.
Key takeaways
- The most powerful computer in the world Unsurprisingly though, IBM, the company that operates the supercomputer that Google claims to have beaten, and a key quantum computer competitor, is disputing their claims.
- In a blog post published pre-emptively on Monday, the company said that the same task could be performed on a classical system in just 2.5 days, rather than the 10,000 years that Google is claiming.
Cite or link to this article
Griffin, M. (2019) 'World first as Google achieves Quantum Supremacy, but IBM tries to spoil the party', 311 Institute, 23 October. Available at: https://www.311institute.com/world-first-as-google-achieves-quantum-supremacy-but-ibm-tries-to-spoil-the-party/ (Accessed: 1 October 2026).
Almost exactly two years after Google said it was just months away from achieving Quantum Supremacy, and exactly a month after researchers accidentally discovered a document on a remote server that stated Google had finally managed to achieve it, the point at which quantum computers become the most powerful computers on Earth, albeit at certain tasks, the company has now officially announced they’ve passed this historic computing milestone. They published their results in the scientific journal . Now that’s it’s official, however, the broader scientific community can fully scrutinize what Google says it’s achieved.
In the announcement Google says that its 54-qubit Sycamore processor was able to “perform a calculation in 200 seconds that would have taken the world’s most powerful supercomputer [Summit in the US that performs 200 Quadrillion calculations a second] 10,000 years.” That would mean the calculation, which involved generated random numbers, is essentially impossible on a traditional, non-quantum computer. This kind of power is also one of the reasons why these futuristic computing platforms will one day soon be able to crack over 70 percent of all encryption on the planet and staggeringly crack 2048 bit encryption in under 8 hours – something that, understandably has a lot of governments and companies on edge.
The most powerful computer in the world
Unsurprisingly though, IBM, the company that operates the supercomputer that Google claims to have beaten, and a key quantum computer competitor, is disputing their claims. In a blog post published pre-emptively on Monday, the company said that the same task could be performed on a classical system in just 2.5 days, rather than the 10,000 years that Google is claiming. IBM says that Google “failed to fully account for plentiful disk storage” when estimating how long its traditional supercomputer would take to perform the calculation.
Despite IBM’s attempts to downplay Google’s achievement, many in the research community welcomed the news, with scientists quoted by The New York Times likening Google’s breakthrough to the Wright brothers’ first plane flight in 1903. We may still be years away from having quantum computers that are useful for practical tasks, but Google’s findings could finally have provided proof that such a future is possible in the first place.
FAQ
Why does this matter?
Until today the world's most powerful computer was Summit, a US supercomputer, now all that's changed and a new era of computing has begun.
About the author
Matthew Griffin Founder, 311 Institute
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath."
Read full bio
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath." 15-time best selling author of the "Codex of the Future" series, Matthew is the Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working with royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77 governments, NGOs, and multi-national mid and mega cap firms to help them explore, shape, and lead the next 50 years of business and society.
An award-winning YouTube creator with over a million followers, with an unrivalled global reach and impact, Matthew is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, lecturer, and mentor who collaborates with global leaders through the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to shape pivotal initiatives such as the UN’s AI for Humanity program, the United Nations Conference of the Parties (UN COP), and the World Economic Forum in Davos.
As the former Global Head of Cloud, National Security, and Enterprise Sales for companies including Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, Matthew has a proven track record of building multi-billion dollar business units and turning failing divisions into market leaders. His ability to identify, analyse, and communicate the implications of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends is unparalleled, and his insights are trusted by many of the world’s most respected organisations, including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi, Coca-Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Dow Jones, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, Siemens AG and Siemens Energy, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, Walmart, Workday, Worldpay and many others.
Regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, Matthews mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.
What future do you need to see?
Choose one to get started on computing and the future of your organisation.
Sources and further reading
- Computing takes quantum leap forward blog.google
- On quantum supremacy ibm.com
- quoted by The New York Times nytimes.com
Source: first published by the 311 Institute on 23 October 2019. Cite as: Griffin, M. (2019). World first as Google achieves Quantum Supremacy, but IBM tries to spoil the party. 311 Institute. https://www.311institute.com/world-first-as-google-achieves-quantum-supremacy-but-ibm-tries-to-spoil-the-party/
You are welcome to quote this article with credit and a link to the original.