China’s New Quantum Machine Runs One Million Times Faster Than Google’s

A new quantum computing breakthrough has sent shockwaves through the tech world. Researchers at USTC unveiled Zuchongzhi-3, a 105-qubit machine that processes calculations at speeds that dwarf even the most powerful supercomputers.

It marks another leap forward in the quest for quantum supremacy, with the team demonstrating computational power orders of magnitude beyond Google’s latest results.

Breakthrough in Quantum Computing with Zuchongzhi-3

A research team from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, along with its partners, has made significant progress in random quantum circuit sampling using Zuchongzhi-3, a superconducting quantum computing prototype equipped with 105 qubits and 182 couplers.

Zuchongzhi-3 operates at an astonishing speed, performing computations 10¹⁵ times faster than the most powerful supercomputer available today and one million times faster than Google’s latest published quantum computing results. This achievement marks a major breakthrough in quantum computing, building on the success of its predecessor, Zuchongzhi-2.

The study, led by Jianwei Pan, Xiaobo Zhu, Chengzhi Peng, and other researchers from both China and abroad, was published as a cover article in Physical Review Letters.

The Road to Quantum Supremacy

Quantum supremacy, the ability of a quantum computer to perform tasks beyond the reach of classical computers, has been a key goal in the field. In 2019, Google’s 53-qubit Sycamore processor completed a random circuit sampling task in 200 seconds, a feat estimated to take 10,000 years on the world’s fastest supercomputer at the time.

However, in 2023, USTC researchers demonstrated more advanced classical algorithms capable of completing the same task in 14 seconds using over 1,400 A100 GPUs. With the advent of the Frontier supercomputer, equipped with expanded memory, this task can now be performed in just 1.6 seconds, effectively challenging Google’s earlier claim of quantum supremacy.

Pushing the Boundaries: Jiuzhang and Zuchongzhi Milestones

Subsequently, using the optimal classical algorithm as its benchmark, the same team at USTC achieved the first rigorously proven quantum supremacy with the Jiuzhang photonic quantum computing prototype in 2020. This was followed in 2021 by a superconducting demonstration using the Zuchongzhi-2 processor.

In 2023, the team’s development of the 255-photon Jiuzhang-3 demonstrated quantum supremacy that surpassed classical supercomputers by 10¹⁶ orders of magnitude. In October 2024, Google’s 67-qubit superconducting quantum processor, Sycamore, demonstrated quantum supremacy by outperforming classical supercomputers by nine orders of magnitude.

Zuchongzhi-3: A Leap in Quantum Performance

Building upon the 66-qubit Zuchongzhi-2, the USTC research team significantly enhanced key performance metrics to develop Zuchongzhi-3, which features 105 qubits and 182 couplers. The quantum processor achieves a coherence time of 72 μs, a simultaneous single-qubit gate fidelity of 99.90%, a simultaneous two-qubit gate fidelity of 99.62%, and a simultaneous readout fidelity of 99.13%. The extended coherence time provides the necessary duration for performing more complex operations and computations.

To evaluate its capabilities, the team conducted an 83-qubit, 32-layer random circuit sampling task on the system. The results demonstrated a computational speed that outpaces the world’s most powerful supercomputer by 15 orders of magnitude and surpasses Google’s latest quantum computing results by six orders of magnitude, establishing the strongest quantum computational advantage in a superconducting system to date.

Expanding the Future of Quantum Research

Following the achievement of the strongest “quantum computational advantage” with Zuchongzhi-3, the team is actively advancing research in quantum error correction, quantum entanglement, quantum simulation, and quantum chemistry. The researchers have implemented a 2D grid qubit architecture, improving qubit interconnectivity and data transfer rates.

Utilizing this architecture, they integrated surface code and are currently developing quantum error correction using a distance-7 surface code, with plans to extend this to distances of 9 and 11. These efforts aim to enable large-scale integration and manipulation of quantum bits.

Global Recognition and Impact

The team’s work is profoundly significant and has received widespread acclaim. One journal reviewer described it as “benchmarking a new superconducting quantum computer, which shows state-of-the-art performance” and a “significant upgrade from the previous 66-qubit device (Zuchongzhi-2).”

In recognition of the study’s critical importance, at the same time, Physics Magazine featured a dedicated viewpoint article that provided an in-depth exploration of its innovations and emphasized its broader significance.

Reference: “Establishing a New Benchmark in Quantum Computational Advantage with 105-qubit Zuchongzhi 3.0 Processor” by Dongxin Gao, Daojin Fan, Chen Zha, Jiahao Bei, Guoqing Cai, Jianbin Cai, Sirui Cao, Fusheng Chen, Jiang Chen, Kefu Chen, Xiawei Chen, Xiqing Chen, Zhe Chen, Zhiyuan Chen, Zihua Chen, Wenhao Chu, Hui Deng, Zhibin Deng, Pei Ding, Xun Ding, Zhuzhengqi Ding, Shuai Dong, Yupeng Dong, Bo Fan, Yuanhao Fu, Song Gao, Lei Ge, Ming Gong, Jiacheng Gui, Cheng Guo, Shaojun Guo, Xiaoyang Guo, Lianchen Han, Tan He, Linyin Hong, Yisen Hu, He-Liang Huang, Yong-Heng Huo, Tao Jiang, Zuokai Jiang, Honghong Jin, Yunxiang Leng, Dayu Li, Dongdong Li, Fangyu Li, Jiaqi Li, Jinjin Li, Junyan Li, Junyun Li, Na Li, Shaowei Li, Wei Li, Yuhuai Li, Yuan Li, Futian Liang, Xuelian Liang, Nanxing Liao, Jin Lin, Weiping Lin, Dailin Liu, Hongxiu Liu, Maliang Liu, Xinyu Liu, Xuemeng Liu, Yancheng Liu, Haoxin Lou, Yuwei Ma, Lingxin Meng, Hao Mou, Kailiang Nan, Binghan Nie, Meijuan Nie, Jie Ning, Le Niu, Wenyi Peng, Haoran Qian, Hao Rong, Tao Rong, Huiyan Shen, Qiong Shen, Hong Su, Feifan Su, Chenyin Sun, Liangchao Sun, Tianzuo Sun, Yingxiu Sun, Yimeng Tan, Jun Tan, Longyue Tang, Wenbing Tu, Cai Wan, Jiafei Wang, Biao Wang, Chang Wang, Chen Wang, Chu Wang, Jian Wang, Liangyuan Wang, Rui Wang, Shengtao Wang, Xiaomin Wang, Xinzhe Wang, Xunxun Wang, Yeru Wang, Zuolin Wei, Jiazhou Wei, Dachao Wu, Gang Wu, Jin Wu, Shengjie Wu, Yulin Wu, Shiyong Xie, Lianjie Xin, Yu Xu, Chun Xue, Kai Yan, Weifeng Yang, Xinpeng Yang, Yang Yang, Yangsen Ye, Zhenping Ye, Chong Ying, Jiale Yu, Qinjing Yu, Wenhu Yu, Xiangdong Zeng, Shaoyu Zhan, Feifei Zhang, Haibin Zhang, Kaili Zhang, Pan Zhang, Wen Zhang, Yiming Zhang, Yongzhuo Zhang, Lixiang Zhang, Guming Zhao, Peng Zhao, Xianhe Zhao, Xintao Zhao, Youwei Zhao, Zhong Zhao, Luyuan Zheng, Fei Zhou, Liang Zhou, Na Zhou, Naibin Zhou, Shifeng Zhou, Shuang Zhou, Zhengxiao Zhou, Chengjun Zhu, Qingling Zhu, Guihong Zou, Haonan Zou, Qiang Zhang, Chao-Yang Lu, Cheng-Zhi Peng, Xiaobo Zhu and Jian-Wei Pan, 3 March 2025, Physical Review Letters.
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.090601

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