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A24 TECHNOLOGY
Thursday 24 OcTOber 2019
Google touts quantum computing milestone

By RACHEL LERMAN and though a significant effect
MATT O'BRIEN on society "may still be de-
AP Technology Writers cades away."
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The calculation employed
Google said it has achieved by Google has little practi-
a breakthrough in quan- cal use, Preskill wrote, other
tum computing research, than to test how well the
saying an experimental processor works. Monroe
quantum processor has echoed that concern.
completed a calculation "The more interesting mile-
in just a few minutes that stone will be a useful appli-
would take a traditional su- cation," he said.
percomputer thousands of The promise of such future
years. applications in commerce
The findings, published and national security has
Wednesday in the scien- attracted interest from
tific journal Nature, show governments including the
that "quantum speedup is United States and China
achievable in a real-world that are increasingly invest-
system and is not preclud- ing in the expensive basic
ed by any hidden physi- research needed to make
cal laws," the researchers quantum computers use-
wrote. ful. One feared outcome
Quantum computing is a This Friday, June 16, 2017, file photo shows the Google logo at a gadgets show in Paris. of quantum computing
nascent and somewhat Associated Press — though experts say it
bewildering technology "The rules are very simple, random sampling prob- prohibitively hard for even could be decades away
for vastly sped-up informa- they're just confounding." lem similar to dice roll or the world's fastest super- — is a computer powerful
tion processing. Quantum Google's findings, how- gambling machine to find computer, with more dou- enough to break today's
computers are still a long ever, are already facing outputs from a huge set of ble exponential growth to best cryptography.
way from having a practi- pushback from other indus- combinations of different come." President Donald Trump
cal application but might try researchers. A version numbers. Whether or not Google has last year signed into law a
one day revolutionize tasks of Google's paper leaked But IBM researchers say achieved "quantum su- congressional proposal to
that would take existing online last month and re- that Google underestimat- premacy" or not may mat- spend $1.2 billion over five
computers years, including searchers caught a glimpse ed the conventional super- ter to competitors, but the years for quantum research
the hunt for new drugs and before it was taken down. computer, called Summit, semantics could be less across the federal govern-
optimizing city and trans- IBM quickly took issue with and said it could actually important for the field of ment.
portation planning. Google's claim that it had do the calculation in 2.5 quantum research. What Google's research was
The technique relies on achieved "quantum su- days. Summit was devel- it does seem to indicate is centered at a University of
quantum bits, or qubits, premacy," a term that re- oped by IBM and is located that the field is maturing. California, Santa Barbara
which can register data fers to a point when a quan- at the Oak Ridge National "The quantum suprem- laboratory but relied in part
values of zero and one — tum computer can per- Laboratory in Tennessee. acy milestone allegedly on a Department of Energy
the language of modern form a calculation that a Google dismissed IBM's achieved by Google is a supercomputer and ex-
computing — simultane- traditional computer can't claims, asserting in a state- pivotal step in the quest perts at the National Aero-
ously. Big tech companies complete within its lifetime. ment Wednesday that it for practical quantum nautics and Space Admin-
including Google, Micro- Google's paper shows that performed its tests on an computers," John Preskill, a istration to verify the work.
soft, IBM and Intel are avid- its quantum processor, Syc- "actual supercomputer" Caltech professor who orig- Ivanka Trump, the presi-
ly pursuing the technology. amore, finished a calcula- and is now on a "totally inally coined the "quantum dent's daughter and ad-
"Quantum things can be in tion in three minutes and different trajectory" from supremacy" term, wrote in viser, on Wednesday
multiple places at the same 20 seconds — and that it classical computers. The a column after the paper called Google's break-
time," said Chris Monroe, a would take the world's fast- company said Sycamore was leaked. through a "remarkable sci-
University of Maryland phys- est supercomputer 10,000 demonstrates that it is now It means quantum com- entific achievement" that
icist who is also the founder years to do the same thing. "performing on real hard- puting research can enter will help usher in future U.S.
of quantum startup IonQ. Google calculation is a ware a computation that's a new stage, he wrote, industries.q

Eager to leave scandal, Nissan shows

off smooth-driving tech

By YURI KAGEYAMA recently invited reporters to which demonstrated how
AP Business Writer see several of its test mod- the model zipped sharply
YOKOSUKA, Japan (AP) — els. Ghosn, who led Nissan on turns and skidded less
An electric car with smooth for two decades, was ar- on wet surfaces, showing
four-wheel drive and a vir- rested last year and now super-quick responses.
tual friend for the coming awaits trial in Tokyo on fi- It also minimizes shaking in
age of automated driving nancial misconduct charg- stop-and-go situations be-
are among the technology es. The newly developed cause it more smoothly bal-
in development from Nis- "all-wheel-control" tech- ances the force usually ac-
san. nology of Nissan's electric companying such moves
The Japanese automaker, vehicle delivers a sense to those riding in the vehi- In this Oct. 18, 2019, photo, people wearing various gadgetry
remote control the virtual figures that appear in a car as Nissan
eager to leave behind the of greater control, driver cle. The electric four-wheel demonstrated such technology that is working on at its Oppama
scandal over its former star confidence and real safe- drive also promises more test driving course in Yokosuka, near Tokyo.
executive Carlos Ghosn, ty, according to Nissan, exhilarating driving. q Associated Press