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Google's Sycamore quantum computer chip can now outperform the fastest supercomputers, new study suggests

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Quantum computers can outpace our fastest classical computers in very specific areas, a groundbreaking experiment suggests.

Google Quantum AI researchers have discovered a "stable computationally complex phase" that can be achieved with existing quantum processing units (QPUs), also known as quantum processors.

This means that when quantum computers enter this specific "weak noise phase," they can perform computationally complex calculations that outpace the performance of the fastest supercomputers. The research — which was led by Alexis Morvan, a quantum computing researcher at Google — was published Oct. 9 in the journal Nature.

"We are focused on developing practical applications for quantum computers that cannot be done on a classical computer," Google Quantum AI representatives told Live Science in an email. "This research is a significant step in that direction. Our next challenge is to demonstrate a 'beyond classical' application with real-world impact."

However, the data produced by quantum computers is still noisy, meaning they still need to do fairly intensive quantum "error correction" as the number of qubits rises in order for the qubits to remain in the "weak noise phase," they added.

Related: History of quantum computing: 12 key moments that shaped the future of computers

Qubits, which are embedded in QPUs, rely on the principles of quantum mechanics to run calculations in parallel, whereas classical computing bits can only process data in sequence. The more qubits are on a QPU, the more exponentially powerful a machine becomes. Due to these parallel processing capabilities, calculations that would take a classical computer thousands of years to perform could be accomplished by a quantum computer in seconds.

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