Researchers in China have said that they have achieved quantum supremacy, building a quantum computer capable of carrying out calculations trillions of times faster than today’s most powerful supercomputers, reported the Financial Times.
According to a paper published in the journal Science on Thursday, the computer, developed by a team of scientists at the University of Science and Technology of China in central Hefei, completed a calculation almost 100 trillion times quicker than existing supercomputers.
The breakthrough comes a year after Google proclaimed itself the first to reach the milestone with its Sycamore machine, said the FT.
According to Lu Chaoyang, a professor in charge of the experiment at USTC, the Chinese computer achieved the breakthrough by manipulating particles of light. This contrasts with Google’s supercomputer, which relied on ultra-cold superconducting chips.