Future Tense

Future Tense

The Perpetual Five Years

How quantum computing became a future that never arrives

A Z Mackay's avatar
A Z Mackay
Feb 19, 2025
∙ Paid

Ten septillion years: that’s how long Google claimed its quantum chip would need to solve a problem it handled in five minutes. The number is so large it makes the age of the universe look like a rounding error, which is precisely the point.

The announcement triggers a familiar cascade. Investment analysts update their quantum computing forecasts. Ventur…

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