Google's Quantum Chip Willow Acheives Milestone

Google's quantum chip, Willow, completes a benchmark computation in under five minutes, that would take today's fastest supercomputers 10 septillion years

Nations and tech giants are investing billions to harness the potential of quantum mechanics for computational tasks previously thought impossible.

This race has intensified as quantum computing moves from theoretical possibility to practical reality, with each advancement bringing us closer to solving complex problems in fields ranging from cryptography and drug discovery to climate modelling and financial analysis.

Amidst this pursuit of quantum computing supremacy, Google has created its latest breakthrough: the Willow quantum chip.

Google's journey in quantum computing, which began over a decade ago, has been marked by several milestone achievements, including their 2019 claim of quantum supremacy with the Sycamore processor.

Willow is the latest evolution in this trajectory, building upon years of research and development at Google Quantum AI, a division that has consistently pushed the boundaries of what's possible in quantum computing.

Unlike previous quantum processors that struggled with error rates and scalability, Willow achieves exponential error reduction and unprecedented computational speed, completing a task in under five minutes that would take one of today’s fastest supercomputers 10 septillion years - a number that vastly exceeds the age of the Universe.

Google’s quantum chip: Willow

Willow’s ability to complete a task in under five minutes sparks a new level of possibility for the global tech industry.

According to Hartmut Neven, Founder and Lead of Google Quantum AI, Willow is instrumental to Google’s advancement in quantum computing: “The Willow chip is a major step on a journey that began over 10 years ago.

“When I founded Google Quantum AI in 2012, the vision was to build a useful, large-scale quantum computer that could harness quantum mechanics — the “operating system” of nature to the extent we know it today — to benefit society by advancing scientific discovery, developing helpful applications and tackling some of society's greatest challenges.

“As part of Google Research, our team has charted a long-term roadmap and Willow moves us significantly along that path towards commercially relevant applications.”

What sets Willow apart from other chips, is that it  demonstrates two key achievements from previous quantum computing efforts.

Firstly, Willow can reduce errors exponentially as it scales up using more qubits, addressing a fundamental challenge in quantum error correction that has persisted for nearly 30 years.

Secondly, Willow’s remarkable performance on a standard benchmark computation.

Exponential quantum error correction: a historic milestone

One of the well known and most significant challenges in quantum computing, has been managing errors that occur due to the fragile nature of qubits, the basic units of quantum information.

Typically, as more qubits are used, more errors occur, potentially causing the system to lose its quantum properties.

However, Google reports that Willow has achieved what is known in the field as "below threshold" performance.

This means that as the number of qubits increases, the error rate decreases exponentially.

The company tested progressively larger arrays of encoded qubits, from a 3x3 grid to a 7x7 grid and found that each increase in size resulted in halving the error rate.

This achievement is particularly notable, as it demonstrates real-time error correction on a superconducting quantum system, a crucial requirement for any useful quantum computation.

https://technologymagazine.com/articles/how-googles-willow-is-a-quantum-leap-in-computing-tech

Russia and BRICS launching AI Alliance

Addis Ababa, December 12, 2024 (FBC)
The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has announced the launch of an alliance within the BRICS group aimed at joint development of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

RDIF chief executive, Kirill Dmitriev made the announcement on Wednesday on the sidelines of the AI Journey conference in Moscow. Over 20 companies from six of the bloc’s member-states (Russia, China, India, Brazil, Iran and the UAE) have already joined the BRICS+AI alliance, RT reported.

Among the 50+ companies reportedly in favour of creating an alliance are universities, medical companies, pharmaceutical developers, financial infrastructure developers, telecommunications innovators, manufacturers of electric batteries and of semiconductors, according to Dmitriev.

The new alliance will focus on digital technologies in the public and commercial sectors, according to RDIF.

“This is particularly important given the fact that many Western countries are seeking to limit the access of BRICS to AI technologies,” Dmitriev said, underlining the “important role” of the new alliance.

The alliance could ensue that the BRICS group develops AI technologies “faster and more powerfully,” through joint developments, the RDIF chief executive stressed.

RDIF is Russia’s sovereign wealth fund created by the government in 2011 to make investments in companies of high-growth sectors of the Russian economy.

The idea of creating BRICS+AI alliance was presented to Russian President Vladimir Putin during the BRICS Kazan Summit in October.

Addressing the AI conference on Wednesday, Putin said that the development of the technology is crucial for Russia’s scientific and ideological sovereignty, while stressing the country’s readiness to partner internationally with innovators.

BRICS was initially comprised of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, and expanded when Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates officially became members on January 1, 2024.

Last month, Russian ally Belarus announced that it had also officially become a BRICS partner country. Such status has been also awarded to Indonesia, according to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Pankin.

‘Partner country’ status provides for permanent participation in special sessions of BRICS summits and foreign ministers’ meetings, as well as other high-level events. Partners can also contribute to the group’s outcome documents.

Bolivian Foreign Minister Celinda Sosa Lunda revealed in November that her nation had received an invitation from Russia to become a partner country of BRICS, saying they “responded positively to the invitation.”

The list of aspiring partners has not been officially announced, but media reports have also mentioned Algeria, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Türkiye, Uganda, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam as potential candidates.

https://www.fanabc.com/english/russia-announces-bricsai-alliance/

Where Is The Creator Economy Headed In 2025?

Emma Cortes Ellendt
Nov 26, 2024,04:58pm EST
Updated Dec 5, 2024, 11:35am EST

As we end 2024 and enter a new year, the creator economy is projected to grow. As stated in Deloitte’s Creator Economy in 3D report, the creator economy is now projected to be worth $250 billion. The creator economy encompasses influencers, content creators, celebrities, musicians, chefs, and anyone who creates content online and shares it on digital platforms.

Here are 5 insights on the creator economy in 2025:

1. Creator Marketing Is A Top Marketing Investment In 2025

A recent study conducted by LTK x Northwestern University found that 93% of brands reported that they’ll either increase their creator budgets or increase the role of creators in their overall strategy. The surveyed brands also shared that 41% are investing at least half their digital marketing budget on creators and influencers.

2. Brands Plan To Use Creator Content In Connective TV

While boosting creator content on social media has continued to be a part of the brand’s creator/influencer strategy, creator content will start to be leveraged outside of social media platforms. Creator content is used and repurposed across at least four channels within and outside digital media.

About 43% of the brands surveyed in the LTK x Northwestern University study shared that they plan to use creator content in connective TV (CTV) ads.

A few other ways brands plan to use creator content include:

- Content marketing (56%)
- Sponsorships (44%)
- Television Advertising (39%)
- Affiliate Marketing (31%)

3. News Influencers Are Rising In Popularity

People may have their favorite beauty or fashion influencers. Still, one type of influencer on the rise is a “news influencer,” as described in a Pews Research Center. News influencers are individuals who share current news, issues, political events, and more on social media. While a news influencer may be a journalist, they may also be an independent content creator without a news organization affiliation.

According to Pew Research, one in five Americans report that they regularly get their news from social media influencers.

Over two-thirds of news influencers are men (63%)

The platforms news influencers typically are on are X (Twitter), Instagram, and Youtube. About 85% of news influencers are on X.

4. Gen Z And Millennial Consumers Reported Having 5-10 “Favored Creators”

Gen Z and millennials consume more time on social media, about 26%-37% more than other generations, as Deloitte’s Creator Economy in 3D report reported. The two generations shared that there are creators on social media they catch up with, like a favorite TV show.

The average Gen Z consumer reported having 10 favored creators that they actively seek out for new content and updates, while the average millennial consumer reported having 5 favored creators they engage with.

Some Gen Z and millennial consumers (45%) report admiring these creators for their lifestyles. These generations shared that these favored creators provide more relatable and personable content on digital platforms compared to what they see in traditional media.

5. Content Creators Help Brands Solve Marketing Challenges Like Brand Awareness

Brands reported that awareness is one of the most important metrics for creator campaigns. Roughly 58% of the brands surveyed in the LTK x Northwestern University study shared that creators helped increase brand or product awareness and higher in categories like beauty (72%) and fashion (67%).

Other brand priorities for in working with creators include:

- Generating content
- Loyalty and retention
- Generating sales
- Return on Ad Spend

https://www.forbes.com/sites/emmalynnellendt/2024/11/26/where-is-the-creator-economy-headed-in-2025/