Google claims quantum computing milestone — but the tech can’t solve real-world problems yet
A woman bikes by a giant Google logo at Google’s Bay View campus in Mountain View, California on Aug 13, 2024 where the “Made by Google” media event was held today.
Josh Edelson | AFP | Getty Images
Google has unveiled a new chip that it says marks a major breakthrough in the field of quantum computing, an area seen as the next frontier for many tech companies.
However, while Google’s achievements have been noted for advancing the field, experts say that quantum computing still has no real-world uses — yet.
“We need a ChatGPT moment for quantum,” Francesco Ricciuti, associate at venture capital firm Runa Capital, told CNBC Tuesday, referencing OpenAI’s chatbot that has been credited with driving the boom in artificial intelligence. “This is probably not that.”
What has Google claimed?
Proponents of quantum computing claim it will be able to solve problems that current computers can’t.
In classical computing, information is stored in bits. Each bit is either a one or zero. Quantum computing uses quantum bits or qubits which can be zero, one or something in between.
The theory is that quantum computers will be able to process much larger volumes of data, leading to potential breakthroughs in areas like medicine, science and finance.
Google on Monday announced Willow, its latest quantum chip.
“Typically the more qubits you use, the more errors will occur, and the system becomes classical,” Hartmut Neven, founder of Google Quantum AI, wrote in a blog post.
Willow can reduce errors “exponentially” as the number of qubits is scaled up, the U.S. tech giant said, which “cracks a key challenge in quantum error correction that the field has pursued for almost 30 years.”
Google measured Willow’s performance using the so-called random circuit sampling (RCS) benchmark, which presents a computational task that’s difficult for classical computers to solve.
Willow performed a computation in under five minutes that would take one of today’s fastest supercomputers 10 septillion years — or 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years — Google said.
“This mind-boggling number exceeds known timescales in physics and vastly exceeds the age of the universe,” Neven said.
Has Google truly made a quantum breakthrough?
Google’s Willow chip has demonstrated a “new milestone in how quantum computers can deal with errors that happen during their operation,” according to Winfried Hensinger, professor of quantum technologies at the University of Sussex.
“Their technique becomes more effective in reducing errors the more extra qubits are being used to correct for these errors. This is a very important milestone for quantum computers.”
But despite optimism that quantum computing could one day change the world — or at least computers’ role in it — experts in the field have suggested that Google’s quantum computing breakthrough is still lacking in real-world uses.
Runa Capital’s Ricciuti said that Google’s claims of success are “based on tasks and benchmarks that are not really useful for practical cases.”
“They are trying to define a really high problem for normal computers that they can solve with quantum computers. It is amazing they can do that, but it doesn’t really mean it is useful,” Ricciuti added.
Hensinger said Willow “is still well too small to do useful calculations” and that quantum computers will require “millions of qubits” to solve really important industry problems. Willow has 105 qubits.
Meanwhile, Google’s chip is based on superconducting qubits, a technology that requires intense cooling, which could be a limiting factor in scaling up.
“It may be fundamentally hard to build quantum computers with such large number of qubits using superconducting qubits as cooling so many qubits to the required temperature – close to absolute zero – would be hard or impossible,” Hensinger said.
Still both Hensinger and Ricciuti agree the developments by Google add to the excitement around quantum computing and continued development in the space.
“This result increases confidence further that humanity will be able to build practical quantum computers enabling some of the high impactful applications quantum computers are known for,” Hensinger said.
The Hims app arranged on a smartphone in New York on Feb. 12, 2025.
Gabby Jones | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Hims & Hers Health shares closed up 5% on Tuesday after the company announced patients can access Eli Lilly‘s weight loss medication Zepbound and diabetes drug Mounjaro, as well as the generic injection liraglutide, through its platform.
Zepbound, Mounjaro and liraglutide are part of the class of weight loss medications called GLP-1s, which have exploded in popularity in recent years. Hims & Hers launched a weight loss program in late 2023, but its GLP-1 offerings have evolved as the company has contended with a volatile supply and regulatory environment.
Lilly’s weekly injections Zepbound and Mounjaro will cost patients $1,899 a month, according to the Hims & Hers website. The generic liraglutide will cost $299 a month, but it requires a daily injection and can be less effective than other GLP-1 medications.
“As we look ahead, we plan to continue to expand our weight loss offering to deliver an even more holistic, personalized experience,” Dr. Craig Primack, senior vice president of weight loss at Hims & Hers, wrote in a blog post.
A Lilly spokesperson said in a statement that the company has “no affiliation” with Hims & Hers and noted that Zepbound is available at lower costs for people who are insured for the product or for those who buy directly from the company.
In May, Hims & Hers started prescribing compounded semaglutide, the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk‘s GLP-1 weight loss medications Ozempic and Wegovy. The offering was immensely popular and helped generate more than $225 million in revenue for the company in 2024.
But compounded drugs can traditionally only be mass produced when the branded medications treatments are in shortage. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced in February that the shortage of semaglutide injections products had been resolved.
That meant Hims & Hers had to largely stop offering the compounded medications, though some consumers may still be able to access personalized doses if it’s clinically applicable.
During the company’s quarterly call with investors in February, Hims & Hers said its weight loss offerings will primarily consist of its oral medications and liraglutide. The company said it expects its weight loss offerings to generate at least $725 million in annual revenue, excluding contributions from compounded semaglutide.
But the company is still lobbying for compounded medications. A pop up on Hims & Hers’ website, which was viewed by CNBC, encourages users to “use your voice” and urge Congress and the FDA to preserve access to compounded treatments.
With Tuesday’s rally, Hims and Hers shares are up about 27% in 2025 after soaring 172% last year.
WATCH: Hims & Hers shares tumble over concerns around weight-loss business
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg holds a smartphone as he makes a keynote speech at the Meta Connect annual event at the company’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California, on Sept. 25, 2024.
Manuel Orbegozo | Reuters
Meta’s head of artificial intelligence research announced Tuesday that she will be leaving the company.
Joelle Pineau, the company’s vice president of AI research, announced her departure in a LinkedIn post, saying her last day at the social media company will be May 30.
Her departure comes at a challenging time for Meta. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has made AI a top priority, investing billions of dollars in an effort to become the market leader ahead of rivals like OpenAI and Google.
Zuckerberg has said that it is his goal for Meta to build an AI assistant with more than 1 billion users and artificial general intelligence, which is a term used to describe computers that can think and take actions comparable to humans.
“As the world undergoes significant change, as the race for AI accelerates, and as Meta prepares for its next chapter, it is time to create space for others to pursue the work,” Pineau wrote. “I will be cheering from the sidelines, knowing that you have all the ingredients needed to build the best AI systems in the world, and to responsibly bring them into the lives of billions of people.”
Vice President of AI Research and Head of FAIR at Meta Joelle Pineau attends a technology demonstration at the META research laboratory in Paris on February 7, 2025.
Stephane De Sakutin | AFP | Getty Images
Pineau was one of Meta’s top AI researchers and led the company’s fundamental AI research unit, or FAIR, since 2023. There, she oversaw the company’s cutting-edge computer science-related studies, some of which are eventually incorporated into the company’s core apps.
She joined the company in 2017 to lead Meta’s Montreal AI research lab. Pineau is also a computer science professor at McGill University, where she is a co-director of its reasoning and learning lab.
Some of the projects Pineau helped oversee include Meta’s open-source Llama family of AI models and other technologies like the PyTorch software for AI developers.
Pineau’s departure announcement comes a few weeks ahead of Meta’s LlamaCon AI conference on April 29. There, the company is expected to detail its latest version of Llama. Meta Chief Product Officer Chris Cox, to whom Pineau reported to, said in March that Llama 4 will help power AI agents, the latest craze in generative AI. The company is also expected to announce a standalone app for its Meta AI chatbot, CNBC reported in February.
“We thank Joelle for her leadership of FAIR,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement. “She’s been an important voice for Open Source and helped push breakthroughs to advance our products and the science behind them.”
Pineau did not reveal her next role but said she “will be taking some time to observe and to reflect, before jumping into a new adventure.”
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports12 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway