We are in the middle of what the journal Nature has called the “quantum gold rush”. Governments around the world are ramping up their investments in quantum computing. Venture capitalists are pouring billions of dollars into startups sprouting out of university departments. Established technology companies like IBM, Google, Microsoft, Intel, Amazon and Honeywell have recruited highly qualified teams to build quantum computers.
On the websites of these companies, you will find a dazzling array of offerings – ranging from software libraries for quantum computing to consulting services. Their slick marketing collaterals may lead you into thinking quantum computers are already commonplace and are routinely being used to solve problems in finance, transportation, materials science, energy and defence, etc.
But if you look beyond the shiny whitepapers and posters, you might be disappointed. For all their promises of the future, humankind still doesn’t have a working quantum computer that can solve problems of practical importance faster than your laptop can. The ones we have are barely more than lab prototypes, and the promises are erected on the speculative profits of billions of dollars in the future. These prospects aren’t yet real.
So when will we build a useful quantum computer?
To read more, click here.