Quantum Supremacy debate: Critics wonder if Google is exaggerating

Google says it sees potential uses for quantum computing in fields such as machine learning and materials science, chemistry and biology.

Google’s parent Alphabet last week published a paper claiming that it had achieved Quantum Supremacy, a feat many compared to the first aeroplane flight by the Wright brothers. Google said its quantum computer solved a problem in  three minutes and 20 seconds, which would take the fastest super computer, Summit (owned by the US government), 10,000 years to solve.

Critics, including IBM, hit back saying that Google was exaggerating its claim and making it look like quantum computers would replace classical computers soon enough. The bone of contention is that Google’s quantum computer could process 54 qubits, just one more than