The Chinese search engine giant Baidu Inc. introduced his first quantum computer on Thursday and is ready to make it accessible to outside users, thus joining the global quantum technology race for practical applications.
Quantum computer called Qianshi has a 10-cubic processor, says the company's application. Baidu also developed a 36-cube quantum chip. By modern standards, that's not much -- there are systems with a large number of cubes, but there's something to start with.
Governments and companies around the world have been focusing for several years on the development of quantum computers, new high-speed computing devices that operate at low temperatures and achieve unprecedented processing speed in certain tasks.
At present, however, real advances in this area are still very modest and represented by a small group of devices at an early stage of development. The United States, China and the EU have initiated large-scale projects to finance quantum computers, hoping to make progress in this area, which is often seen as one of the cornerstones on which the new global superiority will be based.
According to an IDC market researcher, by the end of 2027, world governments and companies will have invested about $16.4 billion in quantum technology development.
Alphabet Inc also intends to develop a computer with 10,000 cubes by the end of this decade.