With new chip, IBM promises to achieve quantum superiority in two years

IBM has announced the development of a new chip for quantum computing, which it believes will give quantum systems superiority over classical computers in some tasks, and within the next two years.

The Eagle chip has 127 qubits that can represent information in quantum form. Classical computers work with bits - they take a value of 0 or 1 at a time, but qubits can be both 1 and 0 at the same time.

IBM says the new techniques that the company's engineers mastered in building the chip will eventually allow for more qubits, combined with other advances in cooling and control systems for quantum computers.

The company also said it plans another "Osprey" quantum chip with 433 qubits in 2022, followed by a "Condor" chip with 1,121 qubits. IBM will then pursue what it calls "quantum superiority" - the point where quantum computers can surpass classical computers.

But quantum computers won't supplant traditional computers in one fell swoop, stresses Dario Gill, IBM's senior vice president and head of research. Instead, IBM predicts that for the foreseeable future, some parts of computing applications will run on traditional chips and others on quantum chips, depending on which technology is better suited to a particular task.

Source: engadget, gadgettendency

Illustration: IBM