Google announces it has achieved something game changing — quantum supremacy. But not everybody agrees. The company claims its quantum computer called Sycamore has solved a problem that no classical computer could manage in hundreds of thousands of years. IBM wants this stricken from history. A war of words breaks out as two tech giants race to build a useful quantum computer that could change how the world works. Got feedback? Email us sciencefriction@abc.net.au Guests: Scott YoungCropping and livestock farmer in Ballan, Victoria Gideon LichfieldJournalist, former editor-in-chief of WIRED and MIT Technology Review Professor John Martinis2025 Nobel laureate in Physics Credits: Presenter: Jacinta Bowler Producer: Fiona Pepper Senior Producer: Shelby Traynor Executive Producer: Petria Ladgrove Sound Engineer: Tim Jenkins Archives Research: Lisa Chidlow, Michael Osmond This story was made on the lands of the Wurundjeri, Gadigal and Menang Noongar peoples. More information Quantum supremacy using a programmable superconducting processorOn “quantum supremacy” - IBM

01 | Dead and Alive: Battle for quantum supremacy

Science Friction

[SPEAKER_A] ABC Listen. Podcasts, radio, news, music and more. Hi, I'm Alicia Simmons. And I'm Lee Boucher. As historians, we've spent years digging into the lives of people who've changed history, for better or for worse.

[SPEAKER_B] So naturally, we are extremely qualified to gossip about them.

[SPEAKER_A] And because they're dead, they can't sue. In our podcast, we sift through Australia's most notable and notorious characters, giving you our unfiltered takes. Find it by searching for The Dead Can't Sue on ABC Listen or wherever you get your podcasts. Almost a decade ago, two of the world's tech heavyweights started an all-out war. Google and rival tech giant IBM are embroiled in a fight over quantum computing amid claims of a major breakthrough. The competitors here are Google and IBM. The battlefield is quantum computing. The outcome could decide the direction of a technology that may hail a second computer age. And of course, make those involved lots and lots of money. Are we entering the era of computers with limitless power? And could they eventually help solve some of our biggest challenges? In 2019, Google, by its own account, declared a major victory. Google now claims it's achieved quantum supremacy. Quantum supremacy.

[SPEAKER_B] This moment when a quantum computer can do something that no classical computer can for the first time.

[SPEAKER_A] After Google's announcement, one expert suggested quantum computing had taken flight.

[SPEAKER_B] For Google, quantum supremacy was this milestone. In their words, it would be like the Wright Brothers moment for quantum computing.

[SPEAKER_A] This first flight moment is exactly why Google attempted to conquer the quantum space in the first place.

[SPEAKER_C] When you show that a quantum computer can be as or more powerful than the best classical computer, that gets people's attention.

01 | Dead and Alive: Battle for quantum supremacy

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.

01 | Dead and Alive: Battle for quantum supremacy

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast, not the earnings call.

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.