đ„ How Quantum Computing Changes Everything
The internal combustion engine, electricity and telephony were paradigm shifts that shaped the Industrial Age. These general purpose technologies (GPTs) are powerful precisely because their benefits arenât limited to a single sector.
Weâre lucky to live at a time in which several new GPTs are on the cusp of changing our world forever. But thereâs one GPT in particular that could radically transform how we live: quantum computing.
Quantum computers harness quantum physics to represent and process information much quicker than classical computers can. That will revolutionise fields from machine learning and biology to physics and finance, helping us find answers to questions we didnât even know to ask.
On this week's podcast, I discuss the power of quantum computing with Chad Rigetti, the founder and CEO of California-based Rigetti Computing. Rigettiâs team designs and builds quantum computers and processors. Theyâre known as pioneers in full-stack quantum computing.
In our conversation, Chad and I cover:
Why Rigetti builds its own chips (and the advantages of that approach) [20.29]
How quantum machines could crack physicsâ deepest mysteries [31.29]
The geopolitical race for quantum supremacy [34.20]
Listen to the episode here, or read the transcript here.
The Big Idea
As many of you will know, classical computers represent information using âbits,â which can be either on or off â zero, or one. Quantum computers use quantum bits, or âqubits,â which can represent a number of states at once, a phenomenon known as superposition.