Google hedges its quantum bets, ups quantum cryptography timelines

Google has hedged its bets on quantum computing and said it will expand its research into neutral atoms while maintaining its focus on superconductors. In addition, Google said it moved up its timeline for post-quantum cryptography (PQC) migration to 2029 due to quantum computing advances.

The upshot here is that Google is betting quantum computing will be useful quicker than expected.

Google's moves are notable given that quantum computing consists of multiple techniques being chased by pure play companies. Google said its focus on neutral atom quantum computing complements its superconducting efforts.

In a blog post, Google Quantum AI said it "is expanding our quantum computing effort to include neutral atom quantum computing, which uses individual atoms as qubits" and added that neutral atoms combined with superconducting qubits are complementary.

The company said:

"We often say that superconducting processors are easier to scale in the time dimension (circuit depth), while neutral atoms are easier to scale in the space dimension (qubit count). Investing in both approaches increases our ability to deliver on our mission, sooner."

The mission is commercially relevant quantum computing based on superconducting qubits by the end of the decade.

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In the big picture, Google's bet on neutral atom quantum computing is a stamp of approval for the pure-play companies including QuEra, Atom Computing and Pasqual. Atom Computing to date has been a big Microsoft partner. Google Cloud is already an investor in QuEra.

The 2029 quantum computing timeline was also noted in a Google post outlining its PQC migration. "This new timeline reflects migration needs for the PQC era in light of progress on quantum computing hardware development, quantum error correction, and quantum factoring resource estimates," said Google.

Google said Android 17 will integrate PQC digital signature protection to joint Chrome support. The company added that attackers are already deploying store-now-decrypt-later attacks and recommended that engineering teams move up timelines.

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