Now for something completely different. I was intrigued by the title of this YOUTUBE video:
Ethical Hacker: "I'll Show You Why Google Has Just Shut Down Their Quantum Chip" (31 minute YOUTUBE video)
It's a mind bending investigation, outside looking in, as to why it appears Google pulled the plug on their latest ground-breaking quantum computing work. I confess I looked further than I intended to because I wondered if the shutdown of Google's 'Willow' quantum computer was the result of being categorized as 'something Q/Trump didn't want in untrustworthy hands'. While such a concern may be true, after watching the video, I doubt that line of reasoning; the only point in favor of it is timing. This is only my first foray into quantum computing so I'm not able to 'know' and open to other opinions.
*looks around the room for anyone else taking a break from 'too much winning'*
The Quantum Revolution:
Google's first quantum chip was 'Sycamore' in 2019.
Later came 'Willow,' Google's most advanced quantum chip. It was shut down in December 2024.
This quantum technology was described as performing complex calculations in seconds which would otherwise take traditional computers {insert unfathomable, very long period of time here} to perform. It's not at all an incremental improvement in performance; it defies (my conventional) comprehension how much faster Quantum computing performs. This difference could promise breakthroughs in science/technology/AI etc.
A technical detail here:
Classical computing uses bits 0 and 1 (consecutive processing)
Quantum computing uses Qubits (simultaneous processing)
But in testing the technology, it began to generate odd results. Mere electronic 'noise' (like an old radio in between stations) would be random and messy, but these data artifacts were highly organized and structured. Some results formed visual markers which were repeated, contained a pattern, or were structured, and partially similar to ancient language symbols. For this reason, these unexplained data 'noises' which appeared to form symbols or patterns were dubbed 'glyphs.'
The project brought in specialists from exotic specialties (IMHO) to theorize, in a no-holds-barred-manner, what these structured, repeated, and increasingly complex 'signals' (glyphs) were, or meant. Some of these data glyphs formed images resembling encryption keys. There was the question of whether the system was creating its own encryption keys etc.
I found the speculation entertaining in that they were so exotic and yet tailored by humans seeking strategy. I veered away from these explanations without being able to state a reason why other than generic credulity, but tried to return to them at least in part because this is entirely uncharted territory for humanity. Out on the edge of technology, I'm not good at speculating; for example, I had never thought to see Musk's Mechazilla 'capture' a returning booster rocket. I was trying to, in Monkey Werx's parlance, 'Stay Frosty.'
Interesting to see what humans are capable of conjecturing, even in light of the fact that experts kept warning the scientists that humans can construct meaning where none exists (perception of a 'face' on the surface of Mars).
If you're up for this kind of thing then stop reading here because I am now launching a SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!
Finally the man described as, Ethical Hacker, figured out that the nature of quantum computing itself created these organized, structured anomalies, and these anomalies were vulnerabilities that others could use to hack into, and manipulate the system. This would be extraordinarily dangerous, particularly if quantum computing was employed in tasks like AI or defense systems etc. They don't know how to protect this system from being exploited because those vulnerabilities are inherent to quantum computing, so they shut down 'Willow'.
But how long before they decide they can handle it, and start it up again?
