How Quantum Technology Could Boost Google’s AI Aspirations
Inside a secretive set of buildings in Santa Barbara, California, scientists at Alphabet are working on one of the company’s most ambitious initiatives yet: developing the world’s most advanced quantum computers. “In the future, quantum and AI could really complement each other back and forth,” said Julian Kelly, director of hardware at Google Quantum AI.
Google has been perceived by many as having entered the generative AI field later than others, particularly after OpenAI made headlines with ChatGPT in late 2022. However, late last year, Google demonstrated its commitment to catching up by unveiling a breakthrough quantum computing chip called Willow. This chip is claimed to solve complex benchmark problems at speeds unimaginable for classical computers, showcasing that adding more quantum bits significantly reduces errors.
“That’s a milestone for the field,” noted John Preskill, director of the Caltech Institute for Quantum Information and Matter. “We’ve been wanting to see that for quite a while.” Willow may provide Google the opportunity to take the lead in this new technological era and turn academic research into viable commercial applications, especially as AI approaches limitations in available data. Leading AI models are finding it increasingly difficult to obtain high-quality data after having already sourced much of the internet.
“One of the potential applications for a quantum computer is generating new and novel data,” explained Kelly. He referenced AlphaFold, an AI model developed by Google DeepMind that assists scientists in studying protein structures, which earned its creators the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. “[AlphaFold] trains on data informed by quantum mechanics, which is not very common,” Kelly added. “Thus, a quantum computer could generate data that AI could then be trained on, providing a deeper understanding of quantum mechanics.”
Kelly expressed confidence that Google is only about five years away from achieving a significant, practical application that only a quantum computer could resolve. However, for Google to lead in the next major platform transition, it must successfully translate this breakthrough into a commercial venture.
