In recent years, Google has made significant progress in quantum computing, such as the Sycamore quantum processor surpassing traditional processors for the first time in 2019.
However, there is still considerable uncertainty about how to harness this groundbreaking technology effectively. To address this, Google has decided to offer a substantial prize to incentivize research teams to find solutions.
In order to accelerate the practical application of quantum computing, Google Quantum AI, Google.org, XPRIZE Foundation, and GESDA (Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator) have collaborated to launch a 3-year XPRIZE Quantum Application Competition, providing a total prize pool of 5 million dollars for teams capable of implementing practical applications of quantum computing.
However, realizing quantum computing applications is far from easy. While Google’s designed quantum computers are much faster than traditional binary computers in certain mathematical benchmarks, they only compute rapidly under certain mathematical conditions, and quantum bits (qubits) have significant error rates that need to be corrected.
A qubit is the basic unit of quantum computing, which does not rely on binary processors or silicon transistors but is built upon fundamental physical systems such as electron spin. Due to the property of quantum superposition, a qubit can represent multiple values simultaneously, not just 0 or 1, which is also related to another fundamental feature of the quantum world, entanglement.
Therefore, multiple qubits can instantly share physical properties in space, thereby accelerating the speed of complex computations such as drug development, artificial intelligence, materials research, weather forecasting, etc., by several orders of magnitude.
To be eligible for the prize, Google stated that research teams must describe the quantum hardware required to perform computations and demonstrate the superiority of using quantum methods over traditional computers. They must also describe how their quantum computing applications can benefit society.
Quantum computers are expected to help solve the world’s most complex problems in areas such as sustainable development, energy, health, etc., and the XPRIZE Quantum Application Competition provides an opportunity to shape the future.
