Over the course of the past decade, quantum computing (or the concept thereof) has ridden hype cycles, just like AI or the internet writ large. 

In the past year, however, as governments across the globe have committed north of $50 billion to the sector, and billions more have poured into quantum startups, the technology is finding itself in the midst of a particularly dramatic hype wave. 

Yet even as the money pours in, quantum remains a nascent technology that hasn’t seen any use in the real world. Among other applications, it offers enormous potential to revolutionize material discovery and molecular design, and to turbo charge clean energy tech. But how close we are to actually moving from isolated chips in a lab to bringing these real-world commercial applications to life remains a bit of a mystery.

In this episode, Shayle speaks to Bob Sorensen, chief analyst for quantum computing at Hyperion Research. They dig past the VC hype to map out the current state of quantum hardware, look at the timeline for fault-tolerant computing, and evaluate where the true performance gains lie.

Shayle and Bob discuss:

- Why recent claims of "quantum advantage" are often based on artificial constructs without much real-world relevance

- The difference between physical and logical qubits, and why reducing the "noise" is a defining hurdle for the hardware industry

- How data-driven AI models and science-driven quantum architectures complement each other differently in materials discovery

- Why 85 independent hardware vendors are far too many for the current ecosystem, and how market consolidation might impact investor confidence

Resources

- Catalyst: Quantum computing could be a critical climate solution

- Catalyst: Can AI revolutionize materials discovery?

- Latitude Media: Can quantum computing help solve the load growth problem?

Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Max Savage Levenson. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is our executive editor.

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