Billion-dollar bet on quantum computing

Quantum 101

The Australian government has announced a pledge of $940 million to PsiQuantum, a quantum computing start-up, to build the world’s first “useful” quantum computer in Brisbane, Australia.  

Quantum computing is an emerging technology and is yet to be perfected. Ideally, quantum computers will be able to solve complex issues that traditional computers are unable to. This will be helpful in applications like cracking codes, discovering new materials, modelling climate and weather, and solving other tough computational problems.

However, there is debate on how to create the ideal quantum computer. Currently, quantum computers experience a high rate of errors, in what is called the “noise intermediate scale quantum phase”. The nature of quantum computing means that correcting these errors is a major technical hurdle.

An Australian quantum future

PsiQuantum has proposed the use of individual particles of light, called photons, to process quantum data. This is expected to be more accurate than other approaches and would also allow the computer ‘self-correct’, a skill which is currently not possible.

The announcement has been met with concerns on the transparency and selection process of PsiQuantum as the beneficiary. Critics have argued there is a lack of detail on why PsiQuantum, a start-up based in Silicon Valley, was chosen over local competitors.

While the selection process is under scrutiny, it highlights a bigger need for education of quantum computing. Public trust is difficult to establish when little to no effort has been made to educate people on this emerging technology.  

In the coming decade, education and training will be crucial, not only to support this investment, but also to expand Australia’s expertise so that it may become a leading exporter in the quantum industry.

Australia has made its quantum hardware bet. But it will only be valuable if we have people who know how to use it.  

Christopher Ferrie
A/Prof, UTS Chancellor's Postdoctoral Research and ARC DECRA Fellow, University of Technology Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 
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