Google is turning heads with the announcement of its new quantum chip, Willow. One of the individuals “wowed” by this innovation is the world’s richest man, Elon Musk. Taking to X, he showed interest in Google Quantum AI’s latest quantum chip and engaged in a virtual conversation with Sundar Pichai.
Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Picha piqued Musk’s interest when he shared the news of Willow on X. The Space X CEO promptly posted his one-word reaction—“Wow.” Pichai upped the ante by suggesting that maybe one day they can place a “quantum cluster in space with Starship.” He referred to SpaceX’s starship, which, according to the official website, is “designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond.”
Sundar Pichai and Elon Musk’s conversation:
In his post, Pichai introduced Willow to the world, calling it a “new state-of-the-art quantum computing chip with a breakthrough that can reduce errors exponentially.” He further shared a few words about the quantum chip’s exceptional performance. Reacting to the post, Musk wrote, “Wow.”
In response, Pichai posted, “We should do a quantum cluster in space with Starship one day.” Musk responded, “That will probably happen,” and discussed a cosmic philosophy, referencing Kardashev scale.
Take a look at how the conversation continued:
Elon Musk’s response and Sundar Pichai’s reaction:
What happened next?
What did social media say?
Expectedly, this conversation between the tech geniuses captured the attention of social media users, who posted their opinions in the comments section.
Space entrepreneur and engineer James Yenbamroong reacted to the conversation and wrote, “Quantum mechanics in action. Will be keen to see it in space application soon. Quantum cluster space data center sounds like the way to go forward! Keep it coming.”
Praising X, an individual commented, “This conversation right here is the reason why X is superior to every other social media or news app.” A third expressed, “Space solar is nice but you still need to get the energy to earth. Personally I say, in the short term, use nuclear fission and also scale production of newer conventional solar panels.
A fourth joined, “This is the kind of tech breakthrough that makes your hair stand on end. Quantum computing was always the Sword of Damocles hanging over cryptography and it just took a massive step closer. If Willow can solve in 5 minutes what a supercomputer takes 10^25 years to crack, Bitcoin’s encryption is definitely on borrowed time. Buckle up. The future of decentralized finance may need a post-quantum overhaul & fast.”
About Willow:
Google announced in a blog post that Willow “demonstrates error correction and performance that paves the way to a useful, large-scale quantum computer.”
What are your thoughts on this conversation between Elon Musk and Sundar Pichai?