Elon Musk impressed by Google's new quantum computing chip ...
X owner Elon Musk expressed his admiration for Google's latest achievement, the Willow quantum computing chipset. This cutting-edge chip is deemed 'state-of-the-art' by Google and has the remarkable ability to significantly reduce errors when scaling up. The implications of this advancement are vast, with potential practical applications spanning areas such as drug discovery, fusion energy, and battery design.
Google's Breakthrough with Willow
In a significant announcement, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai unveiled Willow, the groundbreaking quantum computing chip. Pichai highlighted the chip's unprecedented error reduction capabilities as it scales up, overcoming a 30-year challenge in the field. In benchmark tests, Willow demonstrated its prowess by solving a standard computation in less than 5 minutes, a task that would take a leading supercomputer over 10^25 years.
Elon Musk's Reaction
Elon Musk's response to the Google Willow announcement was a resounding 'Wow'. This was followed by Pichai's intriguing proposal of creating a quantum cluster in space using Starship in the future. Musk expressed his agreement, emphasizing the importance of civilizations reaching Kardashev Type II status. He elaborated on the need to harness solar power by deploying solar panels in desert and arid regions to advance our civilization.
Musk's History with Google and AI
Prior to this exchange, Musk had engaged with Pichai during a congratulatory message to Donald Trump after the 2024 election. Musk has been vocal about his concerns regarding potential biases in Google searches, highlighting issues with search results. Despite his positive response to Google's Willow chip, Musk has been critical of Google's past acquisitions and AI developments.
Musk's role as a co-founder of OpenAI stemmed from his reaction to Google's acquisition of DeepMind, aiming to provide an alternative in the AI domain. However, disagreements led to a split with OpenAI, and Musk went on to establish his own AI company, xAI. Musk has been vocal about his reservations towards certain AI technologies and their potential impact on society.
