IBM announces new computer with rocketing speed

Dario Gil, who leads IBM’s quantum computing and artificial intelligence research division, said last week that the company’s scientists have successfully built and measured a processor prototype with 50 quantum bits, known as qubits. Gil says it’s the first time any company has built a quantum computer at this scale. He also announced building a computer that uses 20 qubits.

“Our 20-qubit machine has double the coherence time, at an average of 90 µs, compared to previous generations of quantum processors with an average of 50 µs. It is also designed to scale; the 50-qubit prototype has similar performance,” he wrote in a blog post.

“Our goal with both the IBM Q experience, and our commercial program is to collaborate with our extended community of partners to accelerate the path to demonstrating a quantum advantage for solving real problems that matter.”

Quantum computing, a technology that’s still in its early phases, uses the quirks of quantum physics to perform calculations at far higher speeds than current computers.