Google thinks it’s close to “quantum supremacy.” Here’s what that really means.

Seventy-two may not be a large number, but in quantum computing terms, it’s massive. This week Google unveiled Bristlecone, a new quantum computing chip with 72 quantum bits, or qubits—the fundamental units of computation in a quantum machine. As our qubit counter and timeline show, the previous record holder is a mere 50-qubit processor announced by IBM last year.

John Martinis, who heads Google’s effort, says his team still needs to do more testing, but he thinks it’s “pretty likely” that this year, perhaps even in just a few months, the new chip can achieve “quantum supremacy.” That’s the point at which a quantum computer can do calculations beyond the reach of today’s fastest supercomputers.