Did Google Just Achieve ‘Quantum Supremacy’?

Quantum computers’ potential and the advantages they promise over classical computers all remain largely theoretical, and hypothetically speaking, it is predicted that quantum computers will be able to solve problems that are beyond the reach of the classical computers we use today. Passing such a threshold will be considered proof of what we call “quantum supremacy.”

A leaked research paper revealed that Google has reached this level of quantum supremacy but the leak was quickly taken down leaving more questions than answers. So where do we go from here? What does a world with quantum supremacy look like? In the leaked paper posted in September 2019 on the NASA website, Google claims that for the first time ever a quantum computer used its unique quantum properties to absolutely dominate a classical computer in a specific task, demonstrating the aforementioned “quantum supremacy.”

The paper was copied and made widely available and along with many others, actual experts in quantum computing read it and weighed in on what the research and reveal means. It is important to keep in mind that the research is not yet published in a scientific journal so it might not be the final version or even peer reviewed.