What is quantum advantage?
A quantum computer doing a specific task far faster than any ordinary computer could.
In 2019, Google reported a task its 53-qubit chip finished in about 200 seconds that it estimated would take a supercomputer 10,000 years. Better ordinary methods later cut that gap sharply. In 2024, its Willow chip ran a similar task in under five minutes that Google estimated would take a supercomputer far longer than the age of the universe.
These tasks were chosen because they are hard for ordinary computers, not because anyone needs the answer. Advantage on a problem people actually want solved is the harder milestone.
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