On Monday, following Alphabet Inc. GOOG GOOGL Google's unveiling of Willow, the company’s latest quantum computing chip, CEO Sundar Pichai and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk had an interesting conversation.
What Happened: Taking to X, formerly Twitter, Pichai highlighted Willow’s extraordinary capabilities, noting it solved a standard computation in under five minutes—a task that would take a leading supercomputer over 10^25 years.
The announcement sparked an intriguing dialogue with Musk, who responded with enthusiasm.
Pichai suggested they “should do a quantum cluster in space with Starship one day,” to which Musk replied, “That will probably happen.”
Their exchange quickly escalated from quantum computing to broader technological ambitions, with Musk referencing the Kardashev scale and suggesting humanity is currently at less than 5% of a Type I civilization.
Pichai and Musk converged on a shared vision of solar energy’s potential, with the Alphabet CEO pointing out that “the most obvious path is staring at our eyes, literally!”
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Why It Matters: The Willow chip represents a significant milestone in quantum computing. Developed by Google Quantum AI, it demonstrates exponential error reduction as qubit numbers increase—a 30-year challenge in the field.
With 105 qubits, Willow has already outperformed prior quantum systems, achieving breakthrough real-time error correction.
Last month, Nvidia Corporation NVDA partnered with Quantum AI to accelerate the development of cutting-edge quantum computing devices.
The collaboration was aimed at speeding up quantum simulations, shortening processes that previously took weeks, while also driving advancements in quantum hardware technology.
Price Action: At the time of writing, Alphabet’s Class A stock rose by 0.93% in after-hours trading, reaching $177, while Class C stock climbed 0.88% to $178.65. In Monday’s regular trading session, Class A shares gained 0.49%, closing at $175.37, and Class C shares increased by 0.46%, finishing at $177.10, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Photo via Shutterstock
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