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IBM: Google didn't achieve Quantum Supremacy
Last updated on Oct 23, 2019, 12:19 pm
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Last month, a leaked paper from Google made the claim of having achieved quantum supremacy, a major benchmark in the world of quantum computing.
The publication drew immediate attention from tech enthusiasts around the globe but was soon taken down.
Now, a group of researchers from IBM, which is another player in the quantum computing arena, has disputed that claim.
Here's why.
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Meaning
First, you should know what is quantum supremacy
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For years, leading tech giants, including Google and IBM, have been building quantum computers - machines leveraging the phenomena of quantum mechanics to deliver exceptional computing power.
However, it is one thing to develop a quantum computer and completely another to achieve quantum supremacy. The latter, in particular, is the breakthrough point at which a quantum computer solves problems that a classical computer cannot.
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Google's claim
Google claimed to have achieved quantum supremacy
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In the last week of September, a Google researcher claimed that the tech giant has achieved quantum supremacy with its own 53-qubit quantum computer - the Sycamore.
He said, in the leaked paper, that the quantum machine took just 3 minutes and 20 seconds to perform a calculation that IBM Summit, the world's most powerful classical computer, would handle in 10,000 years.
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IBM's stance
IBM's quantum research head, however, disputes the paper
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As Google's paper drew attention, Dario Gil, the head of quantum research at IBM, described the news as indefensible and misleading.
"Quantum computers are not 'supreme' against classical computers because of a laboratory experiment designed to essentially implement one very specific quantum sampling procedure with no practical applications," he had said while refuting Google's achievement.
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Proof
More evidence released by IBM
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Now, backing-up Gil's point, IBM has released a paper proving Google made an error in estimating that the calculation they nailed with their quantum computer would have been handled in 10,000 years by a classical machine.
"An ideal simulation of the same task can be performed on a classical system in 2.5 days," the company said, adding that 2.5 days is the worst-case scenario.
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Error
Google made an error in estimating RAM consumption
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The IBM report added Google made an error in estimating the RAM requirement for running a quantum simulation in a classical computer.
It assumed that the task would eat more RAM, ultimately getting to the overstated 10,000-year estimate.
On the contrary, IBM used both RAM and hard drive for the task as well as other performance optimization techniques to come to the 2.5-day result.
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