Baidu Inc., the dominant Chinese search engine company, unveiled its first quantum computer on Thursday and is prepared to make it accessible to outside users, joining the worldwide race to put the technology to use in real-world applications.
The “Qianshi” quantum computer, according to a statement made by Baidu, has a 10-quantum-bit (qubit) processor. The Beijing-based business also asserted that it had developed a 36-qubit quantum gadget. The potential of quantum computing, a method for doing quick computations at very low temperatures that will allow computers to run at previously unheard-of rates, has long been welcomed by governments and industries.
However, there are now only a few early clients who can use the field’s most basic real-world applications. To gain an advantage in this area, which is frequently regarded as one of the pillars on which the new global supremacy would be established, the United States, China, and the European Union have launched massively funded studies in quantum computing. By the end of 2027, global governments and businesses will spend over $16.4 billion on quantum development, predicts market analyst IDC. According to IBM, a leading name in American technology, a quantum computer with more than 4,000 qubits will be available for use in 2025. IBM has so far made available 127 qubit quantum processors. Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., also plans to create a computer with one million qubits by the end of this decade.
Quantum computers are technological systems that use the laws of quantum physics to store data and perform calculations. This might be quite beneficial for particular activities as they might be completed far more effectively than our best supercomputers. Information is stored on traditional computers, such as laptops and smartphones, in binary “bits” that can either be 0s or 1s. The fundamental memory component of a quantum computer is a quantum bit or qubit. In this application, quantum computers outperform conventional ones. Quantum computers are capable of concurrently considering many different combinations under certain circumstances.
Examples include attempting to determine a very large number’s prime factors or the most direct path between two locations. There may, however, be many circumstances in which classical computers continue to outperform quantum ones. Therefore, the computers of the future might be a hybrid of the two. Currently, heat, electromagnetic forces, and collisions with air molecules can cause a qubit to lose its quantum features, making quantum computers extremely sensitive. The system crashes as a result of this phenomenon, known as quantum decoherence, and it occurs more quickly the more particles are involved. Qubits must be shielded from outside interference by being physically isolated, kept cool, or shocked with precisely timed energy pulses in quantum computers. To fix incorrect systemic occurrences, extra qubits are required.
