Most of what a quantum computer does is not quantum. The processor that manipulates qubits sits in a chamber cooled to about 10 millikelvin, colder than outer space. But that chamber is small. At Microsoft $MSFT +1.03%, Zulfi Alam, corporate vice president of quantum, has described the cold part as about the size of a soda can. The rest of the machine is classical hardware: control electronics, refrigeration systems, wiring, and the interface layer that connects the quantum processing unit to the CPUs and GPUs it works alongside.
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