The quantum revolution: The race to build a quantum computer
FT News Briefing
Forhecz Topher
4.4 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 19 March 2023
⏱️ 22 minutes
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Summary
Tech companies including Google, Microsoft and IBM are all working on plans for a commercially viable quantum computer. They say that these machines will be able to solve climate change, help develop new pharmaceutical drugs and transform our economy. But harnessing quantum physics requires overcoming massive challenges.
As researchers tinker away on uber-sensitive, ultra-cold quantum computers and investors become increasingly interested in the potential commercial applications – some people in the quantum computing world aren’t buying the hype.
In this episode of Tech Tonic, FT innovation editor John Thornhill travels to the West Coast to visit Julie Love and Krysta Svore, both of Microsoft’s quantum computing programme, and tours Google’s quantum computing lab with engineer Erik Lucero. We hear from Bessemer Venture Partners’ investor David Cowan, and FT artificial intelligence editor Madhumita Murgia talks to long-time quantum computing researcher Sankar Das Sarma.
Presented by Madhumita Murgia and John Thornhill, produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon and Edwin Lane. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The FT News Briefing is supported by Equinole, the UK's energy partner. |
| 0:06.3 | Learn more at equinole.co.uk |
| 0:10.6 | I'm Mother Mita Murgea. We're keen to hear more from our listeners about the show, |
| 0:15.6 | so we're running a survey which you can find at ft.com slash tectonic survey, |
| 0:21.9 | and you will be in with a chance to win a pair of Bose Quiet Comfort earbuds. |
| 0:27.0 | ft.com slash tectonic survey. |
| 0:32.9 | So we're now entering into kind of the larger, I would say, kind of our lab floor, right? |
| 0:37.9 | In a non-descript collection of buildings in the Californian city of Santa Barbara, |
| 0:42.7 | engineers are building a revolutionary new type of computer. |
| 0:46.8 | So welcome to what we believe is the future of computing. |
| 0:50.8 | This is Eric Lucero. He's a quantum engineer at the Tech Giant Google, |
| 0:55.5 | and these buildings are the center of Google's mission to build quantum computers. |
| 0:59.8 | How many do you have here? |
| 1:01.2 | It's last time I count, I think we've got about 20 in the room. |
| 1:04.6 | Each computer is about the size of a fridge freezer. |
| 1:07.6 | I mean, the size of these systems, it's kind of like two humans could hug it. |
| 1:11.8 | They're housed in metal cylinders, and inside the cylinders is a spectacular array of gold plates, |
| 1:18.1 | wires and pipes suspended like a chandelier. |
| 1:21.5 | And then in the middle, kind of in the core of this cylinder that we're staring at, |
| 1:26.0 | is a really kind of beautiful structure of metals that are like shiny gold, |
| 1:30.6 | some copper braids. From there, we have wires that emerge and come down, |
| 1:36.3 | and basically connect to that motherboard with the quantum processor inside. |
... |
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