Google says it has developed landmark quantum computing algorithm

By Max A. Cherney

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -Google said it has developed a computer algorithm that points the way to practical applications for quantum computing and will be able to generate unique data for use with artificial intelligence.

The new algorithm called Quantum Echoes, which runs on the company's quantum chip, is 13,000 times faster than the most sophisticated classical computing algorithm on supercomputers, Google said.

In the future, the Quantum Echoes algorithm may be able to help measure molecular structure in molecules which could aid in drug discovery and help material science through identifying new types of materials, company executives told a media briefing last week.

Alphabet's Google is among several major tech firms including Amazon and Microsoft investing in quantum computing - which promises to speed up computing and solve problems out of reach for today's machines.

Last year, Google unveiled its quantum chip, Willow, that the company said is able to overcome a crucial problem with "qubits", the building blocks of quantum computing.

The development of the algorithm was roughly equivalent in significance to the chip, the executives said.

The algorithm is also verifiable with other quantum computers or through experiments. Verifiable data means that it can lead to practical applications.

"If I can't tell you the data is correct, if I can't prove to you the data is correct, how can I do anything with it?" Google staff research scientist Tom O'Brien said.

For artificial intelligence, Google's engineers hope to be able to use the algorithm to help create new data sets for uses in areas such as life sciences where good data sets do not exist to train AI models with.

Google published details about the Quantum Echoes algorithm in the scientific journal Nature on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Max A. Cherney in San Francisco; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

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