TechCheck Takes: I Held Google's Willow Chip — What Quantum Means for the Future of AI 5/7/25

TechCheck

CNBC

Disruptors, Investing, Faang, Technology, Business, Management, Cnbc, Tech

4.8 • 56 Ratings

🗓️ 7 May 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

"Inside a secretive lab in Santa Barbara, California, scientists at Alphabet are working on one of the company's most ambitious bets yet. They're attempting to develop the world's most advanced quantum computers. Late last year, Google unveiled a breakthrough quantum computing chip called Willow, which it says can solve a benchmark problem unimaginably faster than what's possible with a classical computer. CNBC’s Deirdre Bosa gets an exclusive look inside Google quantum lab and explores whether Willow may give Google a chance to take the lead in the next technological era.

Transcript

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0:00.0	At this Santa Barbara Lab, Google's shot at regaining its edge.
0:05.2	So we're building a quantum computer, and that quantum computer will be able to solve problems that are otherwise completely impossible.
0:12.8	Quantum computing, the next big leap in technology that no one seems to agree on.
0:18.0	This is the first event in history where a company CEO invites all of the
0:22.1	guests to explain why he was wrong. But Google is all in and it could be key to winning AI. If it
0:29.7	fails, it wouldn't be the first time Google lost its lead in a race that it helped start. I'm
0:35.2	Djerbosa with the tech check, Google's next big breakthrough or bust.
0:40.3	One of the fiercest debates in quantum computing right now is timeline to real world impact.
0:53.3	And Google is out with a new countdown
0:55.4	that will excite the enthusiasts. So we think we're about five years out from a real breakout
1:01.0	kind of practical application that you could only solve on a quantum computer. It's a controversial
1:05.2	statement given the wildly divergent timeframes that have been voiced by some of the other
1:09.7	players in the space,
1:15.3	including from the godfather of computing himself, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang.
1:19.0	If you picked 20, I think a whole bunch of us would believe it.
1:22.0	Most people still think that's like a decade plus out.
1:23.4	So which is it?
1:26.9	Another tech shift that's overhyped, or are we just too early?
1:33.3	Those same questions were asked of artificial intelligence companies pre-2020, or even about computers before they became mainstream.
1:35.3	When computers were first starting to get serious, applications were primarily scientific,
1:40.3	and that was the incentive for developing the technology.
1:45.0	But then as the technology continued to advance, many applications were discovered that hadn't been anticipated by those pioneers.
	...

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