Quantum "Supremacy"?
Oxford quantum physicist Nikita Gourianov tore into the quantum computing industry this week, comparing the 'fanfare' around the tech to a financial bubble.. Despite billions of dollars being poured into quantum computing, Gourianov argues, the industry has yet to develop a single product that's actually capable of solving practical problems... Contemporary quantum computers are also 'so error-prone that any information one tries to process with them will almost instantly degenerate into noise,' he [said]...
Despite the industry's less-than-stellar results, investors are still funneling untold sums into quantum computing ventures. 'In essence, the quantum computing industry has yet to demonstrate any practical utility, despite the fanfare,' Gourianov wrote. 'Why is then so much money flowing in? Well, it is mainly due to the fanfare.' The money, he argues, is coming from investors who typically don't have 'any understanding of quantum physics,' while 'taking senior positions in companies and focusing solely on generating fanfare.'
In short, Gourianov believes it's only a matter of time until the 'bubble will pop' and the 'funding will dry up' — at which point, it's already too late"
Science magazine.. article [says].. Ordinary computers can beat Google’s quantum computer after all... The very short summary is that by now classical algorithms are ten orders of magnitude faster than those used in the Google paper and hence the [quantum comp] speed-up is ten orders of magnitude lower than Google’s fantastic claims.
[See] The quantum computing bubble at the Financial Times, where Nikita Gourianov argues that there’s a speculative bubble going on in this field, [he says]:
'Well, when exactly the bubble will pop is difficult to say, but at some point the claims will be found out and the funding will dry up. I just hope that when the music stops and the bubble pops, the public will still listen to us physicists'...
I think Gourianov makes an important point for physicists to keep in mind. Having this sort of hype blow up in physicist’s faces is not going to help with the credibility problems physics already has with the public due to decades of hype about non-existent breakthroughs in fundamental physics.
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