Why quantum computers may continue to fail a key test

In 2019, Google claimed that its quantum computer, Sycamore, could complete calculations that would take 10,000 years to run on the world’s leading supercomputer – a feat of “quantum supremacy”. Last year, however, other researchers refuted Google’s claim by completing one of the calculations on a conventional computer in just 14.22 seconds. Undaunted, Google made a second claim for quantum supremacy a few months ago, with a new quantum computer called Willow. The firm estimated that a leading supercomputer would require 10 septillion years to match…