The most exciting name in quantum computing today is Google. Last year’s time crystals breakthrough was the culmination of decades of academic effort from the Search giant, and it proved Big G is a clear front-runner in the world of cutting-edge quantum physics research.
Despite having virtually no B2B presence in the quantum computing marketplace, the Mountain View company managed to leverage itself as one of the most important players in the field.
Google’s position comes as a bit of a surprise when you consider the competition. D-Wave’s been making quantum computers for about as long as Google has been in business. And both Microsoft and IBM have focused quantum computing ecosystems generating revenue today to offset their massive research expenditures.
But Google’s not as big a newcomer to the field as you might imagine. Its quantum ambitions go all the way back to at least 2005-2006, when its AI division began working on algorithms designed to run on D-Wave quantum computing chips.
Eventually, the partnership would pay off and, in 2009, D-Wave and Google demonstrated quantum speedup for an image classification algorithm.
Fast-forward to 2022 and Google’s managed to build at least three gate-based quantum processors of its own, demonstrated a new phase of matter (time crystals), and supposedly achieved “quantum supremacy.” Not bad for a company most people wouldn’t associate with the field of quantum physics.
In fact, if you take a look at the whole picture, it’s clear that Google — or, to be more accurate, its parent company Alphabet — has its sights set on being the world’s premiere quantum computing organization.