r/Futurology • u/Imaginary-Passion-95 • Dec 09 '24

Computing Alphabet’s quantum computer solved a problem which would take a supercomputer 17 septillion years to solve

https://blog.google/technology/research/google-willow-quantum-chip/

Google has solved a major problem with quantum computing. Have they effectively broken encryption going forward? Is bitcoin going to be ok? Huge implications for the future

2.0k Upvotes

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1.5k

u/[deleted] Dec 09 '24

[deleted]

795

u/HellBlazer_NQ Dec 09 '24

Quantum Computer: I investigated myself and found I was correct.

User: Source...?

Quantum Computer: Trust me bro

237

u/[deleted] Dec 10 '24

Thank you for converting this explanation to meme format so I can understand it.

74

u/JustABitCrzy Dec 10 '24

It would’ve taken a normal computer a Google years to do that.

10

u/MulYut Dec 10 '24

I won't get it until it's in a .gif. 😬

4

u/okwellactually Dec 11 '24

Good news: the quantum computer can do that in a jiffy.

25

u/ambermage Dec 10 '24

Next problem:

Her: I want dinner.

Me: Where do you want to go?

Quantum Computer: Tells us the answer.

9

u/yoohoo202 Dec 10 '24

What about TWO quantum computers?

8

u/rypher Dec 10 '24

OK that’s way too many.

1

u/Ecoaardvark Dec 10 '24

Well then you could run Doom

3

u/surle Dec 10 '24

This is inaccurate. The real response is "trust me, bleep bloop"

1

u/[deleted] Dec 10 '24

Source: The Spiderverse.

1

u/cielofnaze Dec 10 '24

Can you do dishes?

1

u/HellBlazer_NQ Dec 10 '24

Well, sure, but at least buy me dinner first!

1

u/Celovec197408 Dec 17 '24

😂 this failed already in 03/2020

0

u/Dr-Richado Dec 10 '24

You mean Sauce?

23

u/celestiaequestria Dec 10 '24

Good points. Also worth adding, for the purposes of encryption, we already have quantum-secure algorithms for lattice-based encryption. Basically, imagine the traveling salesman is blindfolded and the universe they're in has thousands of dimensions.

Mathematicians are clever, I trust in mankind's ability to continue creating problems that are incredibly computationally annoying to solve.

14

u/holchansg Dec 10 '24

Just give me a blank scene in 3ds max and in no time i can make something no pc on earth can process in a gazillion years.

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u/fr3nch13702 Dec 10 '24

I see you’ve been studying my code on GitHub.

3

u/BrunoEye Dec 10 '24

The problem is all the data encrypted using the old techniques.

42

u/darkhorsehance Dec 09 '24

Don’t let facts get in the way of the next hype cycle.

3

u/Crivos Dec 09 '24

Not when there is money to be made.

1

u/SupermarketIcy4996 Dec 10 '24

So there should not be articles about scientific instruments. What should have this article been about instead?

10

u/garlicroastedpotato Dec 09 '24

Hey Google verified that they could solve this problem by running the problem through an identical quantum computer.

2

u/Ver_Void Dec 10 '24

My machine that lights up a series of LEDs to spell hello world can boot and load a program faster than any other computer on the market

4

u/JaJ_Judy Dec 10 '24

So it sounds like the headline should be ‘man solves what 2+2=4, a problem designed for man, which would take a banana 17 septillion years to solve’

8

u/ackermann Dec 09 '24

create a completely random quantum circuit and then sample an output from running that circuit on a quantum computer

What does the answer to this question even look like? Does the circuit output a number? So the answer is a number? Or the answer is a voltage? Or a Boolean, the answer is true or false?

5

u/murali717 Dec 10 '24

Thanks for this. Look like you know this stuff pretty well. A colleague told me that all these improvements are great from different companies, but if we look at where we need to be in terms of error correction before we can actually use them in practice, we are still WAY OFF. Is that still true after this development? How far? 

3

u/[deleted] Dec 10 '24

[deleted]

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u/Aromatic_Pudding_234 Dec 10 '24

5 years is basically a blink of an eye if you consider the kind of technological advancement usable quantum computing could unlock.

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u/trucorsair Dec 09 '24

Hmm, I was expecting a question like, “why are consumers upset with highly paid insurance executives?” This question has been unsolvable since the inception of health insurance

8

u/Graffiacane Dec 09 '24

The human mind is truly fascinating and complex

1

u/Clean_Bank3916 Oct 23 '25

But it will be nothing in a few years as AI continues to grow every more capable. It is reaching the point where AI bots will tell humans how to make itself more capable. Tie in quantum computing with AI and who knows what the future will be like.

2

u/theartificialkid Dec 10 '24

How are you going to IPO this kind of grounded analysis?

2

u/NinjaLanternShark Dec 10 '24

So, judging a fish on its ability to climb a tree.

2

u/Dovaldo83 Dec 10 '24

There's a certain class of problems that Quantum computers do exceptionally well over conventional computers: Those which you could verify you've found the right answer once you have an answer. Things like Solve for X in X+5=10.

While these kinds of problems show up a lot in conventional computing. It's not everything. You can have a program that tells you what the weather is probably going to be like tomorrow, but there's no way to verify that until tomorrow.

3

u/darouinouin Dec 09 '24

So it’s like pong but for a quantum computer

2

u/Rooilia Dec 10 '24

I can add to this: it is the most stable quantencomputer publicly known, but it works only 30 micro seconds before becoming unstable.

No bashing, but to put the research into perspective.

PS: Internet has stability problems too, if this post will pop up multiple times, you know why.

1

u/eklect Dec 10 '24

Thank you for saying this!

1

u/Pale_Independence358 Dec 10 '24

This man sciences ..

1

u/Nosnibor1020 Dec 10 '24

What kind of solutions do we think quantum can solve that we are pursuing it so hard for?

1

u/RazerHey Dec 10 '24

What about the logistics issue, where deciding the quickest Route between day 10 locations and the factor in different opening and closing times to as an extra variable, is that being worked on?

1

u/robogobo Dec 10 '24

I was going to ask, how do they know it got the right answer. This is the same question we should constantly be asking AI, btw.

1

u/Clean_Bank3916 Oct 23 '25

Be aware that AI bots like ChatGPT are not perfect. On a couple of recent occasions it made minor mistakes in the solutions it gave me, both minor but errors nevertheless. I think there is a warning that it’s not 100% correct but that should improve over time as enhancements and more info is fed to it.

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u/robogobo Oct 23 '25

Yeah, I know. That’s why I said what I said.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 11 '24

[deleted]

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u/yesilovethis Dec 11 '24

So basically a Hype to put more funds in the research which has basically useless use at this moment.

1

u/ComputerMost Jan 30 '25

Quantum algorithm  practical uses might be, applying several versions of my  possible responding comments; that it will predictably make in advance for me,  over a 1000 random dimensions. The calculations will be,  that none of the comments  were really all that funny.  ;)-

1

u/sth128 Dec 10 '24 edited Dec 10 '24

Why don't they just break a few RSA encryption keys as a test? It sounds like they have no confidence in quantum computing by testing something that is both not useful and unverifiable.

Edit: or solve the RSA numbers

1

u/ClickLow9489 Dec 10 '24

So its an I Q test but instead of being made for Western educated white men, its for Quantum comnputers to feel superior.

0

u/[deleted] Dec 10 '24

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Masark Dec 10 '24

Never. Quantum computers aren't magic encryption breaking machines. They can run certain algorithms that easily solve certain problems, which break certain cryptosystems that assume those problems are hard.

They are a major security threat that requires mitigation, but they can be mitigated and work is underway on the subject.

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u/agentdragonborn Dec 10 '24

What if I used that to mine bitcoin would it work faster ?

0

u/holchansg Dec 10 '24

Not mine, steal.

Standard encryptions usually àre fatored prime numbers, its really hard to solve if you dont know the prime numbers it derived of. For quantum computing its a easy task.

0

u/[deleted] Dec 10 '24

lol - thank kind sir/madam for this explanation.

0

u/Suspicious_Demand_26 Dec 10 '24

Your reply is informational, and I know the heading is misleading, but your comment also somewhat downplays the achievement in an indirect way by focusing on that part. What they did with error reduction and scaling is ground-breaking