Google and IBM Believe First Workable Quantum Computer is in Sight (ft.com)
(Wednesday August 13, 2025 @11:36AM (msmash)
from the shape-of-things-to-come dept.)
IBM and Google report they will build industrial-scale quantum computers containing one million or more qubits by 2030, following IBM's June publication of a quantum computer blueprint [1]addressing previous design gaps and Google's late-2023 breakthrough in scaling error correction.
Current experimental systems contain fewer than 200 qubits. IBM encountered crosstalk interference when scaling its Condor chip to 433 qubits and subsequently adopted low-density parity-check code requiring 90% fewer qubits than Google's surface code method, though this requires longer connections between distant qubits.
Google plans to reduce component costs tenfold to achieve its $1 billion target price for a full-scale machine. Amazon Web Services quantum hardware executive Oskar Painter told FT he estimates useful quantum computers remain 15-30 years away, citing engineering challenges in scaling despite resolved fundamental physics problems.
[1] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/06/13/218205/ibm-says-its-cracked-quantum-error-correction
Current experimental systems contain fewer than 200 qubits. IBM encountered crosstalk interference when scaling its Condor chip to 433 qubits and subsequently adopted low-density parity-check code requiring 90% fewer qubits than Google's surface code method, though this requires longer connections between distant qubits.
Google plans to reduce component costs tenfold to achieve its $1 billion target price for a full-scale machine. Amazon Web Services quantum hardware executive Oskar Painter told FT he estimates useful quantum computers remain 15-30 years away, citing engineering challenges in scaling despite resolved fundamental physics problems.
[1] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/06/13/218205/ibm-says-its-cracked-quantum-error-correction