Google's latest headline-grabbing announcement on December 11, 2024, touted its new quantum chip, dubbed Willow, as making significant strides toward practical quantum computing. The chip demonstrated remarkable capabilities, particularly its staggering speed, achieving benchmark computations faster than any supercomputer could dream of. According to Google Quantum AI's founder, Hartmut Neven, Willow accomplished what would take today’s fastest supercomputer approximately 10 septillion years to complete—all within less than one minute.
This announcement came with more than impressive figures. Neven noted the breakthrough includes exponential reductions in error rates, meaning the technology is stepping closer to becoming not just theoretical but practically usable. Willow enables error correction processes in real-time, which is touted as one of the first successes of its kind. This is particularly significant because qubits—quantum bits—are notoriously fragile and subject to errors. By using redundancy techniques, multiple physical qubits combine to form more stable logical qubits. Willow's logical qubits apparently boast longer lifetimes than their individual counterparts, indicating progress toward building larger quantum computers.
Despite these bold claims, skepticism abounds among industry experts. While the achievement is notable, many argue it doesn’t translate directly to practical applications as businesses stand to benefit little, at least not immediately. According to Yuval Boger, chief commercial officer at QuEra Computing, “Could I solve a problem today with Willow I couldn’t solve yesterday? The answer is no.” This highlights the disconnect between technical achievements and real-world applications. QuEra takes its own unique approach to qubit construction—using neutral ions—unlike Google's focus on superconducting circuits.
While industry experts acknowledge the hurdles of scaling quantum technology, Neven optimistically stated, “practical commercial applications are as close as five years away.” Most experts, though, see the timeline extending much longer, at least ten more years. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) advises federal agencies to prepare for quantum-safe encryption to phase out classical encryption by 2035, indicating the need for proactive strategies.
Shifting to the security domain, the anticipation surrounding quantum computers should accelerate preparations for quantum-safe encryption processes. Jordan Kenyon, chief scientist at Booz Allen Hamilton, warns, “Quantum computers will eventually break the asymmetric encryption we’ve relied on for over 50 years. It’s just a matter of when.” This commentary raises alarms for Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and Chief Information Officers (CIOs) who should be contemplating strategies to migrate to post-quantum cryptographic algorithms. The ”harvest now, decrypt later” tactics—where adversaries collect valuable data now and decrypt it later using advanced quantum technology—also presents significant risks.
On the security front, companies are encouraged to adopt flexibility through “cryptographic agility” to combat changes and advancements in encryption algorithms as technologies evolve. Given the rapid advancements we see, vulnerability mitigation needs to be updated continuously. “Even if quantum decryption is years away, attackers could take advantage of stolen data today. Therefore, companies should start transitioning to more secure cryptographic options,” Kenyon explains.
To sum up its progress, Google’s Willow chip has been heralded as another stepping stone on the long road toward usable quantum computing. The hype around its speed and capabilities undoubtedly sets the stage for future projects, but it remains to be seen when or if such technology will yield beneficial applications for businesses. Meanwhile, as the security risks increase, organizations must not sit idle but should urgently begin strategizing for the quantum future.