Google’s Quantum Echoes Claims 13,000× Advantage

Google says its Willow quantum chip running a new algorithm called Quantum Echoes achieved a verifiable quantum advantage, completing a task about 13,000 times faster than the best classical algorithms and publishing the result in Nature on Oct. 22. The company and collaborators say the algorithm is repeatable on other quantum platforms and could produce verifiable data useful for AI, molecular-structure measurements, drug discovery and materials science. Researchers demonstrated the method on small molecules — using modest-sized systems of roughly 15 qubits with experiments cross-checked by NMR — and outlined a path toward simulating larger systems. Independent experts warn the burden of proof is high, noting improved classical algorithms have erased past quantum-advantage claims and that fully fault-tolerant, economically useful quantum machines remain years away. Google framed the advance as a milestone that, combined with hardware progress, could open practical uses within years while urging further verification and replication by the broader community.