The Global Race To Make a Practical Quantum Computer Just Took a Big Leap Forward (phys.org)
- Reference: 0185121678
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/08/23/2348249/the-global-race-to-make-a-practical-quantum-computer-just-took-a-big-leap-forward
- Source link: https://phys.org/news/2026-08-global-quantum-big.html
But it operates with 98 qubits — making it the [2]largest trapped-ion quantum computer built so far.
> Quantinuum, the company behind the device, is based in Cambridge, U.K., and Broomfield, Colorado. It demonstrated earlier machines operating on 32 qubits in 2023 and 56 qubits in 2025...
>
> It relies on two major advances — one in hardware and one in software. First, the four-way X junction lets the system handle several tasks at once rather than one at a time, which is much faster. That was impossible in earlier QCCD
[3]quantum charge-coupled device
machines, which could only move data back and forth in a single line or loop. Second, judicious use of the freedom offered by the two dimensions of the X junction relies on new classical control software called Helios runtime, which plans the smartest, fastest route for moving and processing the data. Together, these represent a substantial advance in the engineering of quantum computers.>
> An important consequence is that Helios can perform computations that cannot be performed even on the largest supercomputers using known methods within reasonable amounts of time and power consumption. This demonstrates the ability of this device and its successors to surpass the computational prowess of classical computers — although their algorithms and hardware are rapidly advancing, too. Having said that, Helios' computations have just been random benchmark tests, so the practical importance of this leap forward is still limited. To perform quantum computations of practical importance in science and commerce, even the most optimistic estimates suggest that quantum computers must be enormously bigger and better — of the order of a million qubits.
[1] https://phys.org/news/2026-08-global-quantum-big.html
[2] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10676-4
[3] https://phys.org/news/2022-01-method-quantum.html
I Want My Personal QC With 16 Giga-cubits!!! (Score:1)
Now, please.
Re: (Score:2)
Here you go: [1]T1 [trumpmobile.com]
[1] https://enroll.trumpmobile.com/phones
Want news to stop promoting far far in the future (Score:2)
Helping here would be a minimal or nearly no reporting on quantum computing until a lab run computer or better cloud hosted computer can have 1 month of uptime running real workloads.
Luckily my Ugly Monkey NFTS are quantum proof (Score:2)
because they are cryptomagically chained to a block on the internet.
Too bad I only own the block id and not even the image itself.
Would be great to have that image above my couch instead of the QR code of the id that every jealous friend takes a picture of.
Re: (Score:2)
This conversation is about the other kind of crypto, just FYI. And no I don't mean Superman's dog.
Is Scott Aaronson eating humble pie yet? (Score:2)
What does Scott Aaronson have to say about how this is all nothing to see here, move along?
Re:Is Scott Aaronson eating humble pie yet? (Score:4, Interesting)
I have not had time to look at the Helion claims in detail, but I'm not sure why you think Aaronson should do so. His position a few years ago was that many current claims about practical quantum computing were being exaggerated (including very much the claims by D-Wave with their quantum annealing systems) but that in the near future practical quantum computers were likely. Aaronson has been careful to say that even as he's also been one of the people most vocal in arguing that the burden of proof is on skeptics of quantum computers who would claim it would never be possible. It may help to look at Aaronson's recent post, for example what he says here [1]https://scottaaronson.blog/?p=9979 [scottaaronson.blog].
[1] https://scottaaronson.blog/?p=9979
Re: (Score:2)
Can't speak for anyone else, but just speaking for myself: nothing to see here, move along.
Ok, not nothing , but we've been getting a "Major Quantum Computing Breakthrough!" news story about every two weeks for the last 20 years. Every tiny, incremental step that might or might not eventually lead to something practical is presented as a major breakthrough. Don't take any of them too seriously. When someone actually makes a real, useful quantum computer, then you should believe it. Until then, ignore the
Helios drives a big leap forward in quantum (Score:2)
... according to Quantinuum, the company that makes Helios. But realistically, it's basically just a different approach to constructing quantum computers that may or may not end up having some practical benefit over other approaches to constructing quantum computers.
Really, the most important part is at the tail end of TFS, although it's not actually saying anything that we weren't already aware of:
> Having said that, Helios' computations have just been random benchmark tests, so the practical importance of t
Re: (Score:2)
Imagine a Beowulf cluster of...
Re: (Score:2)
The artist formerly known as God already did this 14 billion years ago.
Re: (Score:2)
Who bothers with computers when you just created the World in 6 days?
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, but humans have AI now. The monkeys were never going to figure this out on their own.