Google rises as tech giant unveils ‘mind-boggling’ quantum computing chip

• Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares rose on Monday as the tech giant unveiled what it has called a “mind-boggling” quantum computing chip.
• The chip, known as Willow, is capable of handling complex calculations in a span of five minutes, while the world’s most powerful supercomputers would need 10 septillion years, the tech giant said in a study published in Nature. “Our results present device performance that, if scaled, could realize the operational requirements of large scale fault-tolerant quantum algorithms,” Google researchers wrote in the study’s abstract.
• “We see Willow as an important step in our journey to build a useful quantum computer with practical applications in areas like drug discovery, fusion energy, battery design + more,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai said in a post on X, about the discovery.
• Quantum computing stocks were mixed on Monday following the news, as Rigetti Computing (RGTI) traded higher by more than 2%. Conversely, IonQ (IONQ), Qubit Computing (QUBT) and D-Wave Quantum (QBTS) were sharply lower in late morning trading.

(This story has been updated to include commentary from Google’s CEO.)