Charina Chou, COO of Google Quantum AI, on the need for government investment in quantum computing
Charina Chou, COO of Google Quantum AI, argued for government investment in the quantum computing market, arguing that no company could develop the technology successfully on its own.
“The transistor … was funded by U.S. government fundamental research investments in science,” Chou explained while speaking at the SXSW conference in Austin on Wednesday.
“That is what has given rise even to a lot of the advances we have in quantum computing today — it’s all based on basic science … No one company is going to do this on their own. No one team can do it on their own. You’ve got to have a whole community of researchers. And government investment in this is critical,” she said.
In addition, Chou pointed out that China is currently outspending the U.S. two to one on quantum research. Not only would that mean the U.S. could fall behind in critical areas, but there’s also the potential that quantum computing could break the encryption that today protects secure communications.
“It’s important to note that that’s expected to take a computer that is one or two orders of magnitude more powerful than that would be required for chemistry materials, so it is farther down the road, but you can imagine that has massive national security implications,” Chou said. “And you would want the U.S. to have that capability.”
Chou also talked about the broader potential for quantum computing, the types of problems it could solve, and other mysteries and misunderstandings about the technology.
She pointed to possibilities like cancer drug testing, creating a mathematical model of a cell; breaking encryption; building better batteries and solar cells; helping solve the climate crises; optimizing anything from shipping routes to investments, fusion energy, more efficient energy use, and more.
“If you took home just one message, it would be that quantum computers are capable of solving problems that are impossible for AI or supercomputers,” Chou said.
