Quantum computers that are "practically useful" will appear in 5-10 years, said Google CEO Sundar Pichai, comparing this revolutionary technology to the stage of development of artificial intelligence about a decade ago.
Quantum computers that are "practically useful" will appear in 5-10 years, said Google CEO Sundar Pichai, comparing this revolutionary technology to the stage of development of artificial intelligence about a decade ago.
“The quantum moment reminds me of where AI was in the 2010s, when we were working on Google Brain, and the early successes,” Pichai said at the World Government Summit, held today in Dubai, Bloomberg writes .
Governments, led by the United States and China, and corporations are pouring billions of dollars into quantum computing research in pursuit of the technology. Quantum computers dramatically increase the speed and amount of data they can process, allowing them to model complex systems, more accurately predict the outcome of different scenarios, and crack modern encryption systems.
But the technology is still largely used for research, and there is debate about when it will find practical applications. In January, Nvidia Corp. CEO Jensen Huang said that “very useful” quantum computers were likely to be available within a decade, sending shares of quantum companies tumbling .
Pichai also cited Google's recent breakthrough in quantum chips, which allowed researchers to calculate a problem in five minutes that would take existing supercomputers "more time than our universe has existed."
“The progress in quantum technology is truly impressive,” he said.
